Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Special Late Nite Cap UPDATE 12-5-12 #SOSCHAT #EDCHAT #P2


Nite Cap UPDATE

UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE





Parents Opposed to Citizens of the World Charter: Hundreds, Parents in Favor: 4

by ed notes online
The NY State Dept. would allow the Hitler Youth Charter to breeze through and not only would they authorize the Ku Klux Klan Charter School for Racial Harmony but they would wash the sheets.  -- Norm at charter hearing

I actually made it to the Hearing on the proposed co-location of Citizens of the World Charter School in JHS 126 tonight and it was great seeing so many old pals from District 14 where I spent my entire career. Citizens of the World charter is the brainless child of Eric Grannis, Eva Moskowitz husband in their attempt to take over the lucrative vigorish in the gentrified areas of Brooklyn. I've been to so many of these hearings -- this one by the useless -- actually, harmful, State Ed Department charter authorizing agent which lost its beard with the departure of Pedro Noguera could no longer defend their actions in authorizing anything. As I pointed out in my speech -- I was the final speaker -- they would allow the Hitler Youth Charter to breeze through and not only would they authorize the Ku Klux Klan 

NEW TEACHERS – STAY AWAY FROM ILLINOIS, – OTHERWISE KNOWN AS, “LA LA LAND”

by alkleen
There is a new “pension reform” proposal being talked about among Illinois legislators. The plan has several components, but a couple of the sections deal specifically with younger teachers. Under the proposal, retirement ages would not rise for people 46 and older, but a phase- in would increase retirement ages by as much as five years for people 34 and under. Employee contributions would rise 1 percentage point the first year and another percentage point the second year. Clearly, the younger you are, the more you would contribute with the increase over your lifetime of teaching. New public school teachers would be part of a cash-balance pension plan, sort of a hybrid between a plan that guarantees employees a certain benefit and also partly relies on investment returns. (Not really a guaranteed pension).
With these three parts of the new proposal, Illinois legislators have made a loud and clear statement, “New and

Patrick Walsh: A Talk on Education, Democracy and Freedom: The Unspeakable Price of Corporate Education Reform

by ed notes online
Patrick will use Pearl Harbor Day to bomb the ed deformers into submission. I went to Patrick's talk a few years ago -- and I even taped it -- when full power is back I promise to put it up. Such valuable points doth the man make. 

For the past two years, as part of the Catholic Worker Friday Night Lecture Series, I have given talks on the corporate and oligarchic campaign to expropriate the American public school system, corporatize all aspects of education, and obliterate the teachers’ union all in the name of “education reform.”  The campaign continues unabated.
This year I will be speaking on what I perceive to be the price of said “education reform” on our already anemic democracy and the unspoken motivations, ideological as well as monetary,  behind it.
The talk will be held at Mary House on December 7, 2012 and begin at 7:45.  It will last about 45 minutes and be followed by a Q and A.
The event is free and all are welcome.
Mary House is located at 55 East 3rd St, NY, NY 10003 between 1st and 2nd Ave near the F train as well as the 4, 5, and 6 trains.
Telephone: 212 777 9617
Hope to see you there.

Gates gives Philly schools $2.5 million to work together

by thenotebook
by Benjamin Herold for NewsWorks, a Notebook news partner
Philadelphia's traditional public schools, charters and Catholic schools historically have been rivals.
Now they are receiving $2.5 million over the next three years from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to foster 

Pa. considers 8 new cyber charters, while critics question cost and quality

by thenotebook
by Benjamin Herold for NewsWorks, a Notebook news partner
Amid concerns about quality, cost, and corruption in Pennsylvania's extensive system of cyber charters, state officials are considering eight new proposals for independently managed schools providing mostly online 

ALEC Myths Exploded!!!

by Democurmudgeon
The AFL-CIO brought to light a new study, that "Shatters ALEC, Laffer Economic Myths."

I'm going to cut right to the facts of the study, but suffice it to say, ALEC's policies are bad for our economy:
A new study of proposals from the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) shows that policies the organization promotes do more to harm the economy than help it, despite the claims of the group's lead researcher and author, Arthur Laffer. States that are highly rated in ALEC's annual Rich States, Poor States report, actually do worse economically than states ALEC rates 

800 Public Schools to Expand Access to AP STEM Courses Thanks to Grant

The College Board is announcing the AP® STEM Access program, created to increase the number of traditionally underrepresented minority and female high school students who participate in Advanced Placement Program® courses in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) disciplines. A $5 million grant from Google as part of its Global Impact Awards to DonorsChoose.org will make it possible for this program to invite over 800 public high schools across the country to start new AP math and science courses and to encourage traditionally underrepresented minority (black/African American, Hispanic/Latino and American Indian/Alaska 


Remember when merging CSU & Community Colleges was going to save money so they could hire more faculty…

by jonpelto

Tags: 
They said it was all about adding faculty for Connecticut’s public colleges. While the number of students had increased dramatically, the number of full-time faculty had declined by 10 percent over the past eight years. First came Malloy’s merger of the Connecticut State Universities and the Community Colleges.  The promise was that the plan would [...]
(Read more...)

Discomfort is the Starting Point, Not the End Goal When It Comes To Race [Edutopia]

by Jose

Tim Howard, Goalkeeper
An excerpt from my widely-distributed Edutopia article on race:

1. Discomfort is the Starting Point, Not the End Goal

Discussions about big ideas like race, religion and politics necessitate some discomfort. By discomfort, I mean that people who participate in the discussion have a degree of soul-searching and reassessment about their own perceptions and biases. For instance, does one person find that their opinions get listened to more readily than those of certain school colleagues? Do they always sit with people of similar interests, or does it go deeper than that? How often do they interact with people that don’t look like them or speak like them? As long as people begin with a clear understanding that the discussion won’t start off with warm, fuzzy feelings, then the next few steps become easier.
Read and read again. Like. Share. Use in your discussions. Thank you.
Jose, who doesn’t shy away from the tough discussions in spaces where others do …







District 6: SEIU & UTLA Endorsements*

by Hillel Aron
SEIU Local 99 has endorsed Antonio Sanchez for school board in District 6, which covers the East San Fernando Valley, according to a longtime politico.
The endorsement isn’t a huge surprise since Sanchez, a former employee of the LA County Federation of Labor, was always expected to be a union-friendly candidate. In addition to Sanchez, the three other candidates who have qualified for the March ballot in District 6 are Maria Cano, Monica Ratliff, and Ernie Cardenas, brother of the newly elected Congressman Tony Cardenas.
Meanwhile, UTLA is expected endorse all four District 6 candidates tonight at the House of Representatives 

LAO says adult education needs comprehensive restructuring

The Legislature’s effort in 2009 to give cash-strapped schools flexibility in the use of billions of dollars in categorical money has helped diminish the status of adult education programs operated by K-12 districts, the non-partisan Legislative Analyst reported Wednesday.

Resistance gathers to parsing school administrative credential

Members of a statewide organization representing school administrators are lobbying the Commission on Teacher Credentialing to drop plans for creating separate, qualified certification authorizations for school leadership positions.


Mayor Villaraigosa tours Partnership for LA Schools

by Vanessa Romo
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa got a chance to show off several of his Partnership schools today. He toured the campuses with the State Superintendent of Public Instruction and ended the visit with a commendation.

Villaraigosa and Superintendent Tom Torlakson took short tours of 99th Street Elementary School and Gompers 
at