Big Education Ape: Big Education Ape Nite Cap 11-7-12 #SOSCHAT #EDCHAT #P2

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Big Education Ape Nite Cap 11-7-12 #SOSCHAT #EDCHAT #P2

James Baldwin said it best:

"For these are all our children, and we will profit by or pay for whatever they become."

A BIG EDUCATION APE NITE CAP

New English Language Development Standards - State Approval of Instructional Materials Aligned to Common Core State Standards

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 7 minutes ago

New English Language Development Standards - Year 2012 (CA Dept of Education): State Schools Chief Tom Torlakson Announces Adoption of New Standards for English Language Development SACRAMENTO—State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson announced today that the State Board of Education formally adopted new English Language Development Standards aligned to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and designed to help English learners build critical knowledge and skills. "These new standards will help California's English learners make academic progress as they also dev... more »

NYC Educator: Act of God? Contract? Forget it, Says Walcott

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 16 minutes ago

NYC Educator: Act of God? Contract? Forget it, Says Walcott: Act of God? Contract? Forget it, Says Walcott by NYC Educator NYC Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott will not let natural disasters deter him from his mission. Kids must sit in school as long and as much as possible. Living through a disastrous hurricane never taught anyone anything, he reasons, and kids must make up the time they'd have spent preparing for standardized tests. After all, the more time they spent in school, the more circles will be correct, and the more likely it will be that his boss, Michael Bloomberg, wi... more »

NYC Public School Parents: Bloomberg -- and corporate reform -- lose big in last night's elections

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 17 minutes ago

NYC Public School Parents: Bloomberg -- and corporate reform -- lose big in last night's elections: Bloomberg -- and corporate reform -- lose big in last night's elections by Leonie Haimson There was plenty of good news in last night’s election in terms of education initiatives, despite huge spending by the SuperPacs, billionaires and astroturf groups to push pro-privatization, free market corporate reform provisions through. Though pro-charter school initiatives in Georgia and Washington won, while outspending the opposition by millions of dollars, the Gates-supported proposit... more »

Gov. John Kitzhaber: Parents, educators need to vote to raise taxes before schools shrink class sizes, add back days | OregonLive.com

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 hour ago

Gov. John Kitzhaber: Parents, educators need to vote to raise taxes before schools shrink class sizes, add back days | OregonLive.com: Gov. John Kitzhaber: Parents, educators need to vote to raise taxes before schools shrink class sizes, add back days by Betsy Hammond, The Oregonian [image: Kitzhaberschool.JPG]Gov. John Kitzhaber wants schools to deliver better results, but says he can't deliver more money until voters approve tax increases.Faith Cathcart / The Oregonian Gov. John Kitzhaber responded testily Wednesday when he was reminded that parents, educators and students all ... more »

Mother Crusader: The New, Stark Reality Of School Board Elections In New Jersey

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 hour ago

Mother Crusader: The New, Stark Reality Of School Board Elections In New Jersey: The New, Stark Reality Of School Board Elections In New Jersey by darciecima From former Highland Park School Board President Sharon Krengel Dear Darcie, You didn’t lose the school board election yesterday. Turns out you never had a prayer – but that was through no fault of your own! It was because your name came out of a hat fourth out of four candidates for three seats on our local board. The numbers clearly show that many people chose to vote 1, 2, 3 on the tiny section of the ballot devoted to... more »

Glenda Ritz Wins Superintendent Job In Indiana, Upsetting Republican Incumbent Tony Bennett

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 2 hours ago

Glenda Ritz Wins Superintendent Job In Indiana, Upsetting Republican Incumbent Tony Bennett: Glenda Ritz Wins Superintendent Job In Indiana, Upsetting Republican Incumbent Tony Bennett by Joy Resmovits NEW YORK -- When Indiana won the "Education Reform Idol" competition organized by the right-wing think tank Thomas B. Fordham Institute, it was policy love at first sight for Michael Petrilli, the organization's executive vice president. Under the leadership of Superintendent for Public Instruction Tony Bennett, a former basketball coach, the state created the nation's largest sch...more »

Fox News festival of election night failure : blue cheddar

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 2 hours ago

Fox News festival of election night failure : blue cheddar: Fox News festival of election night failure November 7, 2012 By bluecheddar [image: Share] Caricature of O’Relly is by DonkeyHotey, creative commons use. Last night while Fox News was spinning on the floor like a toddler refusing to leave WalMart, I was happily bouncing between twitter and facebook. You might have had better things to do too. So I gathered what I could locate of the faux news troupe’s delightfully pained broadcast right here. I’ll also leave a link here for Andrew O’Hehir’s excellent play-by-play of the even... more »

86.6% want elected school board for Chicago Parents United for Responsible Education

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 2 hours ago

Parents United for Responsible Education » Blog Archive » 86.6% want elected school board for Chicago: 86.6% want elected school board for Chicago by admin Victory! Here’s just one West Side ward’s results, courtesy of Valerie Leonard, who writes, “A preliminary review indicates that voters overwhelmingly want an elected school board. This is significant, as Lawndale and East and West Garfield are Ground Zero for school closings and other school actions that are disruptive to student learning and cause community de-stabilization…. “Thank everyone who helped in any way: Provided tec... more »

A call for President Obama to change course on education

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 2 hours ago

A call for President Obama to change course on education: A call for President Obama to change course on education Posted by Arthur H. Camins on November 7, 2012 at 4:04 pm - [image: Smaller Text] [image: Larger Text] Text Size - Print - Reprints - Share: - - - More » Education Secretary Arne Duncan(left) and President Obama. (Yuri Gripas/REUTERS) * Arthur H. Camins is director of the Center for Innovation in Engineering and Science Education at the Stevens Institute of Technology in New Jersey.* With the election behind us, it is time for the Obama administr... more »

UPDATE: Rejection of “education reform” proposal in Bridgeport will have repercussions - Wait, What?

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 2 hours ago

Rejection of “education reform” proposal in Bridgeport will have repercussions - Wait, What?: You know those “just run government like a business” guys… by jonpelto One of the larger individual donors to Residents for a Better Bridgeport, the Political Action Committee behind Mayor Bill Finch’s anti-democracy initiative that went down to defeat in Bridgeport yesterday, is a hedge fund manager named Zachary Zeitlin, a Westport resident who is or was a partner with Silver Point Capital in Greenwich. In the “small world department,” Zachary Zeitlin is also one of Governor Malloy’s a... more »

Daily Kos: A Mormon impact - on the election & the future of the Republican party?

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 3 hours ago

Daily Kos: A Mormon impact - on the election & the future of the Republican party?: A Mormon impact - on the election & the future of the Republican party? by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken) Let me posit something for sake of discussion - had Mitt Romney not been a Mormon he might have won, and it is possible that therefore Evangelicals within the Republican base will argue there is no reason for them to dial back on the social issue rhetoric. Le's take the first. We have been told that the Evangelical participation in the electorate dropped 7%. Remember that something over 30% o... more »

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: An Open Letter to President Obama from Bill Ayers

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 3 hours ago

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: An Open Letter to President Obama from Bill Ayers: An Open Letter to President Obama from Bill Ayers by Mike Klonsky *Dear President Obama: Congratulations!* *I’m sure this is a moment you want to savor, a time to take a deep breath, get some rest, hydrate, regain your balance, and take a long walk in the sunshine. It might be as well a good time to reflect, rethink, recharge, and perhaps reignite. I sincerely hope that it is, and I urge you to put education on your reflective agenda.* *The landscape of “educational reform” is currently littered w... more »

One lesson from Milwaukee: efforts to suppress the vote backfired « Larry Miller's Blog: Educate All Students!

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 3 hours ago

One lesson from Milwaukee: efforts to suppress the vote backfired « Larry Miller's Blog: Educate All Students!: One lesson from Milwaukee: efforts to suppress the vote backfired by millerlf *From Barbara Miner’s Milwaukee Journal Sentinel blog: View from the Heartland Nov. 7, 2012* One lesson from the City of Milwaukee results: people don’t like efforts to suppress the right to vote; it only makes them more determined. Or, to put it another way, the Republican game-plan backfired. In the 2008 presidential election, 275,042 ballots were cast in the City of Milwaukee, for an 80.33 perc... more »

Anybody want a used Tea Party? « Fred Klonsky

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 3 hours ago

Anybody want a used Tea Party? « Fred Klonsky: Anybody want a used Tea Party? by Fred Klonsky *538 blogger Nate Silver.* I received a comment this morning: *This is probably not the right spot for this comment, but I want to thank Fred for keeping everyone informed regarding HJRCA49. I am sure that the continuous information supplied by this blog was instrumental in defeating this self-serving change to the Illinois Constitution. Thanks to the postings in this blog, both active and retired employees will continue to have their pensions protected by the Constitution, which is a maj... more »

Nationwide education update on ballot issues re: education | Seattle Education

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 3 hours ago

Nationwide education update on ballot issues re: education | Seattle Education: Nationwide education update on ballot issues re: education by seattleducation2011 Diane Ravitch has been churning out election results on her blog and I just received this recap from a list serv source. *Voters defeated* *Michigan’s 2011 emergency manager law* that allowed the state to appoint managers for municipalities and school districts deemed to be in fiscal emergencies and then allowed those emergency managers summarily to throw out previously agreed-upon collective bargaining agreements and u... more »

THE PERIMETER PRIMATE: Much greater than expected: 2010-2011 Gulen charter school enrollment was 44,727

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 5 hours ago

THE PERIMETER PRIMATE: Much greater than expected: 2010-2011 Gulen charter school enrollment was 44,727: Much greater than expected: 2010-2011 Gulen charter school enrollment was 44,727 In August 2010, *USA Today’*s Greg Toppo wrote that Gulen movement-associated charter schools*“educate as many as 35,000 students — taken together they'd make up the largest charter school network in the USA — and have imported thousands of Turkish educators over the past decade.”* At long last, the actual enrollment for the 2010-2011 school year has been tallied. The total is*44,727*, nearly 10,... more »

Failed DC Chancellor Michelle Rhee Didn't Read The Fine Print

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 5 hours ago

Failed DC Chancellor Michelle Rhee Didn't Read The Fine Print

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Election hangover

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 6 hours ago

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Election hangover: Election hangover by Mike Klonsky I'm feeling a little hung-over this morning but still trying to get some of my election-night notes down on the blog. First and most importantly, I lost my $5 bet by badly underestimating the number of electoral votes for Obama. As you all know, I predicted 290 and it appears that he got (with the late addition of Florida) 332. Sorry Nate Silver, I should have kept the faith. Second, Obama owes his victory to his well-positioned field workers, an abysmal cast of Limbaugh Party opponents, and to a... more »

UPDATE: A real miss at Ole Miss: Students protest Obama re-election with racial epithets | Get Schooled

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 6 hours ago

A real miss at Ole Miss: Students protest Obama re-election with racial epithets | Get Schooled: Ole Miss chancellor on Obama protest: “Very immature and uncivil approach” to election results by Maureen Downey Here is the official statement from the University of Mississippi Chancellor Dan Jones on t*he reaction last night of some Ole Miss students to President Obama’s victory* over Gov. Mitt Romney. University police were notified by students shortly before midnight Tuesday that Twitter chatter was indicating students were gathering near the student union to protest the results o... more »

Diane Diane in the Evening 11-7-12 Election Reviews Diane Ravitch's blog

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 6 hours ago

Diane Ravitch's blog: ALERT! Washington State Results Have Not Been Finalized! by dianerav I promise this is the last thing I will post about the charter referendum in Washington State until there really is a final tally. Someone sent me what she thought was a final tally but it was NOT a final tally. The votes are still being counted. The election is close. The charter advocates were ahead but there are still hundreds of thousands of uncounted Privatization Leaders Praise President Obama by dianerav I received the following news release from the National Alliance for Charter... more »

Reflections on Teaching » Blog Archive » Which side are you on?

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 6 hours ago

Reflections on Teaching » Blog Archive » Which side are you on?: Which side are you on? by alicemercer [image: 2012-11-03_11-05-44_217] This was a long, hard, slog of a campaign in California, even without there being a contest at the top of the ticket. Winning on 30 and defeating 32 was not done by magic, or by throwing money into a media campaign, it was done one phone call at a time. If you were one of the 500-700 teachers and education supporters that I called (and I was not even one of the most productive callers at my local), I’m sorry I interrupted your dinner, but phone ca... more »

Save CCSF's Diversity Departments**! Save Ethnic Studies, Women's Studies, LGBT Studies, Labor Studies and Interdisciplinary Studies!

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 6 hours ago

Save CCSF's Diversity Departments**! Save Ethnic Studies, Women's Studies, LGBT Studies, Labor Studies and Interdisciplinary Studies!: Save CCSF’s Diversity Departments**! Save Ethnic Studies, Women’s Studies, LGBT Studies, Labor Studies and Interdisciplinary Studies! by Danny Weil [image: Interim Chancellor: Support the Diversity Collaborative Departments. Don't eliminate us!] Sign the petition: https://www.change.org/petitions/interim-chancellor-support-the-diversity-collaborative-departments-don-t-eliminate-us Check out our event page:https://www.facebook.com/events/2968695504187... more »

Schools Matter: Eye of Education Storm in New Jersey

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 6 hours ago

Schools Matter: Eye of Education Storm in New Jersey: Eye of Education Storm in New Jersey by Judy Rabin As Chris Christie and Bruce Springsteen continue their love fest here in New Jersey, more than 60 percent of school districts in the state are still closed and many have no heat or are in dangerous and precarious conditions. What's next for education reform and RTTT in NJ? Before NJ goes the way of NOLA, time to get ahead of the next tsunami of closures, privatization and union busting that no Springsteen song can stop. Christie might be happy he finally got to meet Bruce, but h... more »

High stakes testing and what that means in Seattle | Seattle Education

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 6 hours ago

High stakes testing and what that means in Seattle | Seattle Education: High stakes testing and what that means in Seattle by seattleducation2011 No one is calling the Initiative 1240 race yet but this is not the time to stop and wait to see what happens. We must move on. There is much to do. Starting in January, Parents Across America will begin offering bi-monthly webinars on various subjects related to education. The first topic will be on high stakes testing and opting out. Our guests will beMonty Neil with Fair Test as well as Shaun Johnson and Tim Slekar founders ofUnited Opt O... more »

Missouri Education Watchdog: How Did We Get Here?

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 6 hours ago

Missouri Education Watchdog: How Did We Get Here?: How Did We Get Here? by Anngie Half the country today is thrilled with yesterday's results. The other half is shaking their heads wondering, "How did we get here?" The answer is surprisingly simple and obvious to probably 95% of the people who read this blog. We carefully trained people in our classrooms to vote this way. If you read Charlotte Iserbyt *The Deliberate Dumbing Down of America* or John Gotto *The Underground History of American Education*, you already know the history. From B.F. Skinner to outcome based education, we ... more »

Big win for schools as Prop 30 defies polls | EdSource Today

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 7 hours ago

Big win for schools as Prop 30 defies polls | EdSource Today: Big win for schools as Prop 30 defies polls - by Kathryn Baron and John Fensterwald by Kathryn Baron and John Fensterwald California schools’ rendezvous with rock bottom is over. A massive grassroots campaign, an eleventh hour surge in advertising and strategic targeting of likely voters pulled Proposition 30 over the halfway mark yesterday, giving both Gov. Jerry Brown and California public schools and community colleges a victory. With all of the vote reported, Prop 30 led 53.9 to 46.1 percent. The initiative is ex... more »

If you want to see the two Georgias, look at map of where charter school amendment passed and failed | Get Schooled

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 7 hours ago

If you want to see the two Georgias, look at map of where charter school amendment passed and failed | Get Schooled: If you want to see the two Georgias, look at map of where charter school amendment passed and failed by Maureen Downey [image: Charter Schools - Dividing Communities since 1991] Wow. If you want to see the two Georgias in stark relief, take a look at the AJC map on which counties supported and which opposed the charter schools amendment. The amendment passed 58 percent to 42. (*Click on the charter amendment tab on top of the map.*) The amendment had its greatest sup... more »

Modern School: The Inconvenient Truth About Wages: They’ve Dropped 19% Since 1970 For Men and 6% for Women Since 2000

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 7 hours ago

Modern School: The Inconvenient Truth About Wages: They’ve Dropped 19% Since 1970 For Men and 6% for Women Since 2000: The Inconvenient Truth About Wages: They’ve Dropped 19% Since 1970 For Men and 6% for Women Since 2000 by Michael Dunn Huck/Konopacki Labor Cartoons I have written repeatedly in this blog about the declining wages and living standards for American workers over the past 30-40 years (see here, here, here and here). A new report out by Michael Greenstone and Adam Looney (both fellows at the Brookings Institution) adds some more data to support this conclusion (the rep... more »

FCMAT » Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 7 hours ago

FCMAT » Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team: Education Headlines *Wednesday, November 7, 2012* Panama-Buena Vista, Standard voters appear to authorize school bondsVoters in the Panama-Buena Vista Union School District seemed headed Tuesday night toward approving a $147 million bond measure to upgrade the district's aging infrastructure. Chaffey Joint's $848M school bond gets thumbs up in early votingIf voters approve Measure P, district residents will pay an additional $19 annually per $100,000 of assessed value on their property tax bills. Proposition 30 wins: Gov. Jerr... more »

How Sec. Duncan Helped the Teachers Unions Take Out Tony Bennett :: Frederick M. Hess

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 8 hours ago

How Sec. Duncan Helped the Teachers Unions Take Out Tony Bennett :: Frederick M. Hess: How Sec. Duncan Helped the Teachers Unions Take Out Tony Bennett *by Frederick M. Hess • Nov 7, 2012 at 10:25 am Cross-posted from Education Week* Print Send RSS [image: Share] Share In Indiana, all-world superintendent Tony Bennett lost last night--53 to 47. I'd like to find an eloquent way to say it, but I'm a simple guy: Bennett is a stud. He's also a good friend, and I'm not even going to try to pretend to be objective or dispassionate here. He's smart, passionate, and relentless. And, giv... more »

Shanker Blog » The Educational Attainment Of Girls And Boys: Two Sides of the Same Coin

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 8 hours ago

Shanker Blog » The Educational Attainment Of Girls And Boys: Two Sides of the Same Coin: The Educational Attainment Of Girls And Boys: Two Sides of the Same Coin by Esther Quintero Last month, Malala Yousafzai, a 14-year-old Pakistani girl, was shot in the head, in an attempted assassination by Taliban militants. Her “crime” was daring to advocate for girls’ education. In a *New York Times* column, Nicholas Kristof observes that we in the West find it “easy to dismiss such incidents as distant barbarities,” and uses the example of sex trafficking to illustrate that we “have a bli... more »

Results in key education races Posted by Valerie Strauss

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 8 hours ago

Results in key education races: Results in key education races Posted by Valerie Strauss on November 7, 2012 at 10:11 am - [image: Smaller Text] [image: Larger Text] Text Size - Print - Reprints - Share: - - - More » Here are the results of some of the important races around the country that matter to public education: 1) *Florida* voters rejected a bid to allow the use of state funds to go to religious institutions, including religious schools. Had it passed, a statewide voucher program would have been likely. 2) *In Georgia* and *Washington*, it appears th... more »

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Public Education Election Updates

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 8 hours ago

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Public Education Election Updates: Public Education Election Updates by Melissa Westbrook [image: Charter Schools - Dividing Communities since 1991] There are still one million ballots to count in Washington State so *I-1240 *is still in flux at about 51-49%. According to KUOW, the Yes group was very confident last night until the first numbers came in. (I do find it funny that they kept their "guests" from the media at their event. I don't get that.) Apparently a LEV spokesperson said their campaign kept things "factual". Factual? That's a... more »

The Educated Reporter: Election Results: Charter Schools Have Narrow Lead in Washington State, Missouri Says No To Tobacco Tax Hike for Education

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 9 hours ago

The Educated Reporter: Election Results: Charter Schools Have Narrow Lead in Washington State, Missouri Says No To Tobacco Tax Hike for Education: Election Results: Charter Schools Have Narrow Lead in Washington State, Missouri Says No To Tobacco Tax Hike for Education by Emily Richmond There will be plenty of discussion in the coming days and weeks about what a second-term Obama administration will mean for education. But first I wanted to follow up on some statewide initiatives and ballot contests mentioned here earlier in the week: - A ballot measure to allow charter schoo... more »

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Student Walk Out over BEX IV Plan

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 9 hours ago

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Student Walk Out over BEX IV Plan: Student Walk Out over BEX IV Plan by Charlie Mas This story in the Seattle Times, Rainier Beach students protest lack of remodel plans for their school, about students demanding a remodel of their school building. Page 96 of this building condition report rates Rainier Beach as a 2.9 on a scale of 1 to 5 with 1 being the best condition and 5 being the worst. It was marked down some for having an enrollment far under capacity. From the report: "Rainier Beach is housed in a middle aged facility that has worn very ... more »

Daily Kos: some education related electoral good news from last night

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 10 hours ago

Daily Kos: some education related electoral good news from last night: some education related electoral good news from last night by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken) In Indiana, the State Superintendent, Tony Bennett, was defeated by Democrat Glenda Ritz, a democrat who received heavy support from teachers unions. Bennett was a champion of more charter schools, even though those in Indiana do NOT perform better than public schools. He was a nationally known champion of what Pasi Sahlberg has labeled "GERM" - the Global Education Reform Movement - which includes heavy reliance upon ... more »

What Hurricane Sandy is Teaching Us About Students Under Stress - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 11 hours ago

What Hurricane Sandy is Teaching Us About Students Under Stress - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher: What Hurricane Sandy is Teaching Us About Students Under Stress by Anthony Cody This week as the East Coast cleans up after Hurricane Sandy, we are hearing from teachers how they are responding to the trauma and stress their students are bringing to class. From Brooklyn Heights Montessori teacher Launa Schweizer, we learn how her students are coping. As the day wore on, I discovered that the children who had spent the week without power, who were displaced by rising wate... more »

ELECTION UPDATE: LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 11-7-12 Diane Ravitch's blog

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 11 hours ago

Diane Ravitch's blog: [image: Click on picture to Listen to Diane Ravitch] Michigan’s Emergency Manager Law Repealed by dianerav Michigan Governor Rick Snyder was rebuked by voters yesterday as they repealed the law that gave dictatorial powers to emergency managers appointed by the governor to control fiscally distressed districts. Public Act 4 of 2011 was rejected by a vote of 52-48. Snyder installed emergency managers to take control of public education in Detroit, Highland Park, and Muskegon Heights. The managers in the two small districts abolished public education and handed ... more »

Barack Obama's victory speech – full text | World news | guardian.co.uk

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 11 hours ago

Barack Obama's victory speech – full text | World news | guardian.co.uk: Barack Obama's victory speech – full text US president addresses supporters in Chicago after decisively winning a second term Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. (Sustained cheers, applause.)At a rally on Wednesday in his hometown of Chicago, Barack Obama delivers a victory speech Link to this video Tonight, more than 200 years after a former colony won the right to determine its own destiny, the task of perfecting our union moves forward. (Cheers, applause.) It moves forward because of you. It moves ... more »

Jersey Jazzman: California Billionaires Mostly Fail in Perth Amboy

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 11 hours ago

Jersey Jazzman: California Billionaires Mostly Fail in Perth Amboy: California Billionaires Mostly Fail in Perth Amboy by Duke As I reported last week, a group of wealthy Californians and Coloradans - many affiliated with Rocketship Education, a charter management company - poured a ton of money into the Perth Amboy, NJ school board race. How they decided on Perth Amboy, a district 3,000 miles away, remains a mystery. The tens of thousands of dollars they spent got them one seat in the small city, even though they backed four candidates on the "Better Schools Now!" ticket. Anothe... more »

Students Last: Election Results: Public Education Loses

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 11 hours ago

Students Last: Election Results: Public Education Loses: Election Results: Public Education Loses by Students Last *New York City *- From their broadcast studios at 30 Rockefeller Center in New York City, MSNBC called tonight's election. At 9:01pm EST, Rachel Maddow announced that public education had lost the election. "With only 1% of precincts reporting, MSNBC can confirm with a 0% margin of error that public education has lost." Citing the 100% likelihood that either President Obama or Mitt Romney would win Maddow said, "Given that both candidates support policies that promote... more »

SELF-DEFENSE FORM AGAINST THE LAUSD'S TEACHER WITCH HUNT - Perdaily.com

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 12 hours ago

SELF-DEFENSE FORM AGAINST THE LAUSD'S TEACHER WITCH HUNT - Perdaily.com: SELF-DEFENSE FORM AGAINST THE LAUSD'S TEACHER WITCH HUNT by Leonard Isenberg [image: Constitution.jpg] *With hundreds of teachers being targeted and removed from their teaching positions with the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) on trumped up charges without even basic constitutional guarantees of due process of law and in complete derogation of their rights as clearly laid out in applicable legal precedent, it is important that teachers so targeted seize the initiative, while not passively submittin... more »

Teacher Evaluation for Effectiveness — Whole Child Education

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 12 hours ago

Teacher Evaluation for Effectiveness — Whole Child Education: THE WHOLE CHILD BLOG [image: Megan Wolfe]Teacher Evaluation for Effectiveness November 6, 2012 by Megan Wolfe Teachers know it, parents know it, and even students know it, but there seems to be no consensus across states, districts, and schools about how to measure it and ensure that it is measured fairly. I'm talking about teacher evaluations. Having an effective teacher at the head of the class is the most important in-school factor influencing student learning and teacher evaluation systems are supposed to assess just ... more »

Online Instruction Outsources Jobs | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 12 hours ago

Online Instruction Outsources Jobs | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice: Online Instruction Outsources Jobs by larrycuban Imagine the perfect online teacher Highly mobile, fully equipped, and ready at a moment’s notice to appear before a camera and teach. Humor aside, the “perfect online teacher” is also the efficient answer to spiraling education costs. In both higher education and K-12, fulltime permanent teachers are major budget items. To reduce labor costs, both colleges and universities and K-12 districts have resorted to outsourcing. Look at higher education... more »

School ‘Politicians’ In Mock Elections | toteachornototeach

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 12 hours ago

School ‘Politicians’ In Mock Elections | toteachornototeach: School ‘Politicians’ In Mock Elections by aristotlethewise School ‘Politicians’ In Mock Elections Promise Good School Lunches, Less Homework As voters head to the polls today, groups of younger, not-quite-18 voters are taking part in democratic elections of their own. At a time when studies show that civic education — which includes lessons on citizenship, government, law and current events — is lacking in most school curriculums, students are taking advantage of this year’s election cycle to defy the trend. In a report fo... more »

School Tech Connect: Dear Illinois Legislature

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 12 hours ago

School Tech Connect: Dear Illinois Legislature: Dear Illinois Legislature by noreply@blogger.com (Tim Furman) Please note two things: *First, the people of Chicago have spoken *very clearly (over 86% of those voting) indicated that they want to vote for the members of their school board, like residents of every other town in the state. These people have utterly no faith in the politically appointed board's competence, especially with regard to the mayor's radical 100-school closure plan, which is accompanied by a bizarre, destructive, 60-charter school opening plan. So, while CP... more »

An Open Letter to President Obama from Bill Ayers | Education on GOOD

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 19 hours ago

An Open Letter to President Obama from Bill Ayers | Education on GOOD: An Open Letter to President Obama from Bill Ayers Dear President Obama: Congratulations! I’m sure this is a moment you want to savor, a time to take a deep breath, get some rest, hydrate, regain your balance, and take a long walk in the sunshine. It might be as well a good time to reflect, rethink, recharge, and perhaps reignite. I sincerely hope that it is, and I urge you to put education on your reflective agenda. The landscape of “educational reform” is currently littered with rubble and ruin and wreckage on ... more »

Major school reformer ousted by teacher as Indiana schools superintendent

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 19 hours ago

Major school reformer ousted by teacher as Indiana schools superintendent: Major school reformer ousted by teacher as Indiana schools superintendent by Valerie Strauss In a major upset that will delight school reform foes around the country, Indiana voters tossed out controversial state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett and elected veteran teacher Glenda Ritz in his place, the Indianapolis Star reported. The vote has resonance beyond Indiana because Bennett was a leader of the national market-driven school reform movement who pushed through a statewide voucher prog... more »

All Education Matters: Good News for Student Loan Debtors! Elizabeth Warren Wins in Massachusetts

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 21 hours ago

All Education Matters: Good News for Student Loan Debtors! Elizabeth Warren Wins in Massachusetts: Good News for Student Loan Debtors! Elizabeth Warren Wins in Massachusetts by Cryn Johannsen Elizabeth Warren once said, long before she won this election this evening, that "student loan debt collectors have power that would make mobsters envious." As I write this short update, Senator Brown is giving his concession speech. With Warren on the Hill, I suspect we're going to see some good outcomes for people who are struggling or unable to pay back their loans. This is a *major *win fo... more »

In Bridgeport, Mayor Bill Finch’s anti-democracy ballot question defeated! - Wait, What?

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 21 hours ago

In Bridgeport, Mayor Bill Finch’s anti-democracy ballot question defeated! - Wait, What?: A Huge Victory for Public Education in Connecticut as Bridgeport Voters Shoot Down Attempt to Eliminate a Democratically Elected Board of Education by jonpelto So many important victories tonight – but one of the biggest was right here in Connecticut. The corporate “education reform” movement was stunned as the voters of Bridgeport stood up on behalf of public education and their democratic rights. Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch, “education reformers” and elite members of the corporate communi... more »

Schools Matter: The Work Starts on November 7

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 22 hours ago

Schools Matter: The Work Starts on November 7: The Work Starts on November 7 by Jim Horn Make your celebrations brief. The work starts now to save our gains from the guy we just elected. Work continues tomorrow— to save Medicare and Social Security from Obama and the Wall Street Democrats; to boycott and kill high stakes standardized testing; to stop the spread and to shut down corporate welfare charter schools; to dump the Common Core testing delivery system; to kill teacher evaluation based on test scores; to save Title I from extinction; to replace NEA and AFT leadership... more »

10³ (My 1,000th Post and Running) | The Jose Vilson

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 22 hours ago

10³ (My 1,000th Post and Running) | The Jose Vilson: 10³ (My 1,000th Post and Running) by Jose Muhammad Ali, Running Last night starts off with you telling the world that you have no idea what you’re going to write for your 1,000th post. Do you bunt it and just write “This is my 1000th post?” Do you try to hit a homerun with a colossal montage of highlights and achievements since the first time you ever attempted hitting “Publish” on your WordPress screen? No. You post incessantly on your two Facebook pages and your Twitter page, play with your son, talk to your lady, and try to ig... more »

Milpitas to build satellite college building on high school campus - San Jose Mercury News

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 23 hours ago

Milpitas to build satellite college building on high school campus - San Jose Mercury News: Milpitas to build satellite college building on high school campus By Sharon Noguchi snoguchi@mercurynews.com Posted: 11/06/2012 12:20:07 PM PST Updated: 11/06/2012 12:20:08 PM PST *WOOHOO!!!* MILPITAS -- In a collaboration born of necessity, Milpitas High School will get a new building on campus to offer community college courses for adults and to help high-schoolers get a jump on college. The facility, which will take a few years to build, fulfills a promise the San Jose-Evergreen Commun... more »

Kimble's Corner: Kimble and Romney Hopeful

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 23 hours ago

Kimble's Corner: Kimble and Romney Hopeful: ' Kimble and Romney Hopeful by Representative Kimble Both Jack Kimble and Mitt Romney remained extremely hopeful as voters rushed out to cast their ballots in today's huge election. Romney himself cast an early vote for the cameras while Jack Kimble, having neglected to register, cheered on voters at Heritage Valley High School before being chased off by an overzealous poll worker for electioneering. While Romney is in a tough race for President, Kimble has experienced smooth sailing in his bid against Glendale Valley attorney William F... more »

Merced teachers union backs controversial federal grant proposal - latimes.com

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 23 hours ago

Merced teachers union backs controversial federal grant proposal - latimes.com: Merced teachers union backs controversial federal grant proposal A Merced teachers union has voted to back a controversial federal grant program, but only after extracting district guarantees that student test scores would not be used to evaluate individual instructors. Sheila Whitley, president of the Merced Union High School District Teachers’ Assn., said Tuesday that 67.6% of 191 teachers surveyed said they would support the Race to the Top grant application as long as the district honored its pled... more »

International observers blocked from polls in nine states - POLITICO.com

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 23 hours ago

International observers blocked from polls in nine states - POLITICO.com: International observers blocked from polls in nine states - 34 - Comments (4) By DONOVAN SLACK | 11/6/12 7:35 PM EST A group of international electoral observers has been blocked from polling places in nine states and has had to take precautions in the face of security threats. "We had to tell our people, don't approach a polling place within 100 feet," said Ambassador Daan Everts, who is leading the delegation from the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, a division of the O... more »

UPDATE: Diane in the Evening 11-6-12 Diane Ravitch's blog

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 23 hours ago

Diane Ravitch's blog: Meet Glenda Ritz by dianerav Glenda Ritz upset Tony Bennett. She stands for genuine education reform. She believes in teachers. She was a teacher for 33 years. She opposes vouchers, merit pay, letter grades for schools, and evaluating teachers by test scores. She is a breath of fresh air. Georgia Charter Amendment Likely to Pass by dianerav With half the vote counted, Georgia voters are likely to pass an amendment to the state constitution re charters. The governor will be able to create a commission to approve charters, giving charters a way to bypass loc... more »

Open Letter; Governors Christie, Cuomo and Mayor BloombergSave Our Schools

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago

Open Letter; Governors Christie, Cuomo and Mayor BloombergSave Our Schools: Open Letter; Governors Christie, Cuomo and Mayor Bloomberg by Server An Open Letter to Governors Christie, Cuomo and Mayor Bloomberg *By Denny Taylor* *Originally Published on November 4, 2012* *Hurricane Sandy; Research Findings on Children and Trauma Support the Halting of Testing in K-12 Public Schools* *Dear Governor Christie, Governor Cuomo, and Mayor Bloomberg,* I write to applaud your rapid response to Hurricane Sandy. You have been decisive in your decision making and tireless in your efforts to care ... more »