Latest News and Comment from Education

Thursday, October 4, 2012

Special Late Nite Cap UPDATE 10-4-12 #SOSCHAT #EDCHAT #P2


Nite Cap UPDATE

UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE



LAUSD & NO ON PROPOSITION 32 - CONNECTING THE DOTS

Crosby, Stills, Nash.jpg
(For a national view of public education reform see the end of this blog post)There was a No On Proposition 32concert by Tom Morello and The Nightwatchmen opening forCrosby, Stills, & Nash last night at Nokia Theater in Downtown Los Angeles. On its face Proposition 32 purports to change state 

Romney Tax Cut: What's The Point?!

This is out of my usual wheelhouse, but...

Romney says he will close a bunch of "loopholes" (most favor the rich) and get rid of tax deductions - that will bring in about $5 trillion.

He then wants to cut tax rates by that same $5 trillion (most of that would go to the rich). He says this plan is "revenue neutral."

OK...

What the hell is the point?!

He'll be taking in just as much money in taxes after his plan as before. So it doesn't provide more money to 

America's Invisible Poor Children

I can't claim to have read all of the reporting and punditry following the debate. But it's remarkable that Diane Ravitch seems to be one of the very few people who noticed that childhood poverty is not a topic worthy of a presidential candidate's notice:

The Word Not Mentioned in the Debate


Poverty.

Lots of talk about the middle class. Tax cuts for the middle class. Saving the middle class. Doing more 

Americans for Prosperity Blasts Common Core

I had a brief conversation with Tim Phillips of Americans for Prosperity Foundation about the Common Core at RightOnline in Las Vegas, but I don’t know if I’m the one who put it on their radar.  The Common Core State Standards was the focus of their August 2012 “Need to Know” newsletter.  I’m just glad they focused on it because it seems like it would be a good fit for them to take on as an issue.
An excerpt:
Common Core’s catch is that the federal government has a long history of mismanaging education, 

What Newt Gingrich told us about Mitt Romney

is perhaps relevant to what was saw last night
Popout
Somebody who will lie to you to get to you get to be president will lie to you when they are President.
He is asked "are you calling Mitt Romney a liar?And Gingrich's answer is simple:  Yes.
What do you think?

The goal of the war against teachers: A conjecture

VILIFY and PUSH OUT TEACHERS, replace with temps and technology, make a lot of money for the .01%.
S. Krashen

"No matter how cynical you get, it is impossible to keep up." - Lily Tomlin,


The goal of the war against teachers is to eliminate the concept of teaching as a profession, to be replaced by temps (Teach for America, or TFAs) and eventually be replaced altogether by technology (ultimate goal of flipped 

Stealing wheelbarrows and the move to digital texts

Comment on “Arne Duncan calls for textbooks to become obsolete in favor of digital,” Huffington Post, Oct 2.
S. Krashen
Posted on:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/02/education-chief-wants-tex_0_n_1933469.html#postComment


Remember the old joke about the worker who left the factory everyday with a wheelbarrow full of sand? The 

On Stuyvesant High School and Having One Cocoa Puff In A Bowl of Milk [Why We Write]


Bowl of Cocoa Puffs
In high school, my family used to get assorted flavors of high-sugar cereals. Frosted Flakes, Froot Loops, and Corn Pops frequented the top of my fridge, and every morning, my brother and I would have a huge bowl of them just because. We’d pour so much milk into our bowls that we bought a gallon of milk every week (I later learned this wasn’t considered normal). When we found the magical crunch of chocolate cocoa puffs, we dug in. We’d have a bowl for breakfast, and a bowl on Friday and Saturday nights, just to hold us over during our midnight 

The in box. Glen Brown writes to Diane Ravitch on teacher pensions. Update. Ravitch responds.

Dear Diane Ravitch:
You are a powerful, reasonable, and articulate voice and an invaluable resource and forum for teachers in this country. Your blog offers rebuttals to many injustices, including educational reform, corporate privatization of public schools, and the denigration of teachers. Teachers need 

Ed Week’s: Bridging Differences

A reminder that Pedro Noguerra and I are just starting to figure out how to deal with our differences–and the prospect really excites me. Precisely because we agree on so much, the sharp disagreements we also have raise for me (and hopefully readers too) important further exploration!
Meanwhile keep your eyes out for Diane Ravitch’s many posted blogs. Terrific resource for us all.
And finally, if you have trouble finding Bridging Differences, look for my home page: deborahmeier.com

I'm So Tired of UNO

I know Juan Rangel is this huge unstoppable force, but Gott in himmel I'm tired of his shtick.

This the heart of one of the most irksome things:

I mention that because charter supporters usually whine that it's unfair to compare them with higher-scoring schools whose students come from wealthier families. Which is the exact argument they disdain 


Two Things You Could Do

Looks like Glen Brown has convinced Diane Ravitch to wade into the pension-raid crisis, and that's a good thing. I'm not sure exactly how the pension category is going to work within the architecture of her blog, but this is a good step.

It's weird that a 74 year-old historian in New York has such rock star power, but she does, and everyone knows it.

Please at least go leave a comment so that we can get some momentum over there. And definitely participate in 

Has attorney general confused charter school question? As Nancy Grace says, bring in the lawyers.

As I noted yesterday, the charter school amendment battle has turned into a legal minefield, with charges and counter charges flying back and forth.
Olens was approached by pro-amendment interests, who haven’t been identified by their attorney Glenn Delk. They were aghast at the public opposition to the amendment by GOP school chief John Barge and by many school boards around the state. They thought it crossed a line.

The Invisible Children, Left Out of the Obama-Romney Debate

Jersey Jazzman wonders how our two candidates for President spent two hours discussing domestic issues without noticing our nation’s greatest scandal: the nearly one in four children who live in poverty.

Perth Amboy Insanity

I didn't think the madness in Perth Amboy could get worse. I was wrong:
State education officials today ordered Perth Amboy Schools Superintendent Janine Caffrey reinstated, overturning a city school board decision to place her on administrative leave, and marking the third time Caffrey was removed and then returned to office.
Assistant Commissioner Barrier Erlichson ordered the superintendent be returned to 

Parent-teacher communication



Communication between K-12 teachers and parents has become increasingly prevalent in recent years. Parent-teacher communication represents a primary form of parental support or involvement, elements which have recently received much attention given the connections between parental support and academic achievement. In fact, parental involvement at the K-12 level represents a major component in recent education policies at the 



What Makes Self-Directed Learning Effective?



In recent years, educators have come to focus more and more on the importance of lab-based experimentation, hands-on participation, student-led inquiry, and the use of “manipulables” in the classroom. The underlying rationale seems to be that students are better able to learn when they can control the flow of their experience, o



Factors to Help Parents and Professionals Recognize Teens in Distress



Suicide is the third-leading cause of death for teens, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Now, a University of Missouri public health expert has identified factors that will help parents, 




South LA Schools team up to fight reconsitution

The conflict between activists and LA Unified Superintendent John Deasy over the district’s reconstitution of Dorsey High School is coming to a head. Just as the final deadline to prevent a school takeover looms for Dorsey (it has until Oct. 31 to submit a school reform plan), Crenshaw High School faces a similar process.
That’s why the two South LA schools joined forces and organized a public meeting tonight to inform Crenshaw 



Ain’t Too Proud to Beg? Parent/Teacher Communication!

I attend the same church as one of  my students’ parents. I know her mom very well.  After service she made, I guess what she thought was a joke, and said, “I have never had a teacher email the parents as much as you do! I asked my mom if you have a life?” I [...]