Gee, no eight. « Fred Klonsky

Gee, no eight. « Fred Klonsky:

Gee, no eight.

by Fred Klonsky

Obama says he is moving the G8 meeting out of Chicago to Camp David, Maryland.

He says the reason is to facilitate the free flow of discussion.

Obama must have been watching the latest discussion over school closings and decided Chicago under Rahm is not a a good place for free flowing discussion.

There’s an old Chicago joke about how the first Mayor Daley and three Alderman were on a boat out on Lake Michigan. The boat sprung a leak and they decided that the only way they could get back to shore in time was for three to jump overboard in order to save the one. They took a vote on who would survive and Daley won, five to

Has Florida Republican Senator David Simmons Been Making the Case Against Parent Trigger? | Scathing Purple Musings

Has Florida Republican Senator David Simmons Been Making the Case Against Parent Trigger? | Scathing Purple Musings:

Has Florida Republican Senator David Simmons Been Making the Case Against Parent Trigger?

by Bob Sikes

Altamonte Springs republican senator David Simmons is an independent sort and shown that he doesn’t always talk the party line on education. Simmons was so concerned about public school funding levels last summer that he publicly called on Rick Scott to bring a special session to restore funding. Last fall, Simmons expressed concern that the large number of charter school failures, “are costing not only a human toll but a financial one.” Simmons wandered off the reservation again today when he asked Governor Rick Scott to delay the new FCAT scoring system for a year.

Sen. David Simmons has pulled his request for a delay in implementing the state’s new FCAT scoring system from the legislative process.

Instead, he has appealed to Gov. Rick Scott to halt, for a year, a plan he fears will label many

Aljazeera: THE DISMANTLING OF CALIFORNIA’S SCHOOLS - The most populous US state spends more than five times as much on prisoners than students.

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: Aljazeera: THE DISMANTLING OF CALIFORNIA’S SCHOOLS - The most populous US state spends more than five times as much on its prisoners than on its students.:

Aljazeera: THE DISMANTLING OF CALIFORNIA’S SCHOOLS - The most populous US state spends more than five times as much on its prisoners than on its students.

BY ROSE AGUILAR | OPINION - AL JAZEERA ENGLISH HTTP://AJE.ME/ZDT6AZ

Last fall, University of California students struck in solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street movement [GALLO/GETTY]

05 Mar 2012 13:34 | San Francisco, CA - I recently invited University of California-Davis sophomore Sarena Grossjan-Navarro to join my radio show - focusing on the Occupy Education actions taking place across the country, and the recent plan to descend on Sacramento to Occupy the Capitol, but she wasn't available. She's taking a heavy load this term, hoping to incur as little debt as possible. She was almost forced to drop out last term because the financial aid she receives is not enough to cover the basics. She's currently sleeping on friends' couches because she can't afford housing.

Grossjan-Navarro was one of the UC-Davis students who got pepper-sprayed by a police officer wearing riot gear during a peaceful

Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top Early Evening Posts 3-5 #SOSchat #p2 #edreform

Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top Mid Day Posts 3-5 #edreform #soschat

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 3 minutes ago

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: WEEKEND QUOTABLESBig Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All)-10 minutes agoMike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: WEEKEND QUOTABLES:WEEKEND QUOTABLESby Mike Klonsky31 were arrested at Virginia protest against law requiring women to have an ultrasound before getting an abortion.Rep. Delores McQuinn"The men and women who marched on Capitol Square have a right to peacefully protest without the threat that they will be arrested for exercising that right. At several recent women’s rights events, there has been an overabundance of police ... more »

Four Warriors, Their Teacher and directions to the White House - Lily's Blackboard – Lily's Blackboard

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Four Warriors, Their Teacher and directions to the White House - Lily's Blackboard – Lily's Blackboard:Four Warriors, Their Teacher and directions to the White Houseby LilyThere are four children who just left my office in DC. They are actual warriors and so they would probably hate being called children, but teachers and parents can call their children “children” until they graduate and then get jobs and then have children of their own – and even then they will be our ... more »

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Now Taking Private Student Loan Complaints | U.S. Department of Education

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Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Now Taking Private Student Loan Complaints | U.S. Department of Education:Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Now Taking Private Student Loan ComplaintsMARCH 5, 2012Contact: Office of Public Affairs, (202) 435-7170Washington, D.C. — The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is now accepting complaints from borrowers having difficulties with their private student loans. The CFPB will assist all borrowers experiencing problems taking out a private student loan, repaying their private student loan, or managing a student loan that has gone ... more »

PURE» PSAT for 3-6-12: Crunch time for Senate bill 3239

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Parents United for Responsible Education » Blog Archive » PSAT for 3-6-12: Crunch time for Senate bill 3239:PSAT for 3-6-12: Crunch time for Senate bill 3239by adminTomorrow’s Illinois Senate Education Committee hearing will determine whether the Chicago school closing moratorium bill goes ahead or not.The hearing will take place in Springfield tomorrow, Tuesday, March 6, at 4 pm in Capitol Hearing Room 409.Included on the docket as well is SB 3362 which seeks to reduce class size in Chicago schools. ... more »

Life in Rahm’s Chicago: Penny Pritzker. When charitable giving is nothing more than a scam. « Fred Klonsky

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Life in Rahm’s Chicago: Penny Pritzker. When charitable giving is nothing more than a scam. « Fred Klonsky:Life in Rahm’s Chicago: Penny Pritzker. When charitable giving is nothing more than a scam.by Fred KlonskyA reader of this blog wrote to me insisting that my criticism of the billion dollar Pritzker family was unfair. Investigators from Unite Here, the union that represents Hyatt Hotel employees had uncovered that the Pritzker family doesn’t pay their fair share of property taxes in Chicago. ... more »

Millionaires Tax of 2012 : Home Page

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Millionaires Tax of 2012 : Home Page:Students organize to protest debt slavery. Join us in Sacramento March 5. Sign the Petition. Support the Millionaires Tax.The Basics of the Millionaires TaxWhat is it? A statewide ballot measure that asks Californians who make over $1 million per year to pay a little bit more to invest in California after years of devastating cuts. Why do we need it? Since 2008, budget cuts have led to big increases in K-12 class sizes, nearly ... more »

Bronx Students Release 10-Point List of Demands to Reform NYPublic Education

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Coalition for Public Education/Coalición por la Educación Pública:Bronx Students Release 10-Point List of Demands to Reform NYPublic Education Popout In November of 2011, a group of young activists from the Bronx say they’re being deprived of a quality education, and they’re prepared to fight for something better.The Resistance, which was formed through a youth arts organization called The DreamYard A.C.T.I.O.N Project, have developed a 10-point education platform for New York City public schools. The group has also launched aFacebook page ... more »

Home page | First Focus Campaign for Children

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Home page | First Focus Campaign for Children: Help for Homeless KidsKids shouldn’t be denied the help they need because government can't agree on defenitions. But U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development regulations deny more than 700,000 homeless children and youth help finding a safe place to stay, counseling to manage the trauma of losing a home, and meeting basic needs like food and clothing.The Homeless Children and Youth Act, sponsored by Illinois Republican Congresswoman Judy Biggert, fixes the ... more »

California Academic Decathlon Website

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California Academic Decathlon Website: California Academic DecathlonVOLUNTEERS NEEDED!March 17, 2012, SacramentoThe California Academic Decathlon (CAD) invites you to volunteer for the state championship scheduled for March 17, 2012, in Sacramento, CA. For the past 33 years, CAD has provided this country’s most prestigious academic competition thanks to the support of our volunteers.This year we are expecting 600 high school students, representing 42 counties throughout California, to compete in the CAD championship with the winning school advancing to the national finals ... more »

Why STEM is not enough (and we still need the humanities) - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

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Why STEM is not enough (and we still need the humanities) - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post:Why STEM is not enough (and we still need the humanities)by Valerie StraussThis was written by Cathy N. Davidson, Paula Barker Duffy, and Martha Wagner Weinberg, who are all council members of the National Council on the Humanities.Davidson is a Duke University professor, and author of Now You See It: How the Brain Science of Attention Will Transform the Way We Live, ...more »

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: WEEKEND QUOTABLES

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 5 hours ago

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: WEEKEND QUOTABLES:WEEKEND QUOTABLESby Mike Klonsky31 were arrested at Virginia protest against law requiring women to have an ultrasound before getting an abortion.Rep. Delores McQuinn"The men and women who marched on Capitol Square have a right to peacefully protest without the threat that they will be arrested for exercising that right. At several recent women’s rights events, there has been an overabundance of police presence. In fact, the Capitol Police tactical team has been at all of ... more »

Teachers, students rally against standardized testing

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 5 hours ago

Teachers, students rally against standardized testing:Teachers, students rally against standardized testing Calling for fewer standardized tests, about 65 teachers, students and activists marched Friday from the Capitol to the building that houses the Texas Education Agency."More teaching, fewer tests: education at its best," they chanted, building off comments made by the state's education commissioner in January that questioned whether testing in Texas public schools has gone too far.Students begin taking the new State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness this ... more »

Get Ready For The Edu-Debt Crisis | California Progress Report

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Get Ready For The Edu-Debt Crisis | California Progress Report:Get Ready For The Edu-Debt Crisisby meganBy Jeff BryantLast week the US House of Representatives, with bipartisan support, passed a bill, H.R. 2117, with the misleading title of The Protecting Academic Freedom in Higher Education Act.The title is misleading because the bill has absolutely nothing to do with "protecting academic freedom" and everything to do with making our country more vulnerable to a rapacious campaign to turn America's entire system of ... more »

Occupy the Capitol for Education! | The Sacramento Coalition to Save Public Education

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Occupy the Capitol for Education! | The Sacramento Coalition to Save Public Education:Occupy the Capitol for Education!by adminMonday, March 5, 2012 - 10:00amOCCUPY THE CAPITOL!Monday, March 5, 201210 AM: Mass March * Southside Park (6th T Sts)11 AM: Rally at the Capitol Building12:30 PM: Lunch at the Capitol Building3:30 PM: General Assembly and Nonviolent Direct Action Training to Occupy the Capitol!5:30 PM: RALLY NORTH STEPS in Solidarity with Occupy the CapitolThousands of students, parents, teachers, and workers will flood into ... more »

Editorial: Refreshingly, school board is mending fences - Editorials - The Sacramento Bee

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 5 hours ago

Editorial: Refreshingly, school board is mending fences - Editorials - The Sacramento Bee:Editorial: Refreshingly, school board is mending fencesSharePublished: Monday, Mar. 5, 2012 - 12:00 am | Page 9ALast Modified: Monday, Mar. 5, 2012 - 12:17 amThursday night's cordial meeting of the Sacramento City Unified School District board of trustees stands in stark and welcome contrast to several contentious recent board sessions.The main agenda item of the night was a school closure, always a hotly debated subject, but not last ... more »

Seventy-five percent of the students left Milwaukee’s voucher program. Journal says that’s a success? « Fred Klonsky

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 5 hours ago

Seventy-five percent of the students left Milwaukee’s voucher program. Journal says that’s a success? « Fred Klonsky:Seventy-five percent of the students left Milwaukee’s voucher program. Journal says that’s a success?by Fred KlonskyThe Milwaukee Journal, editorializing about a longitudinal study of the city’s voucher program, says:A multiyear study tracking students in both Milwaukee’s private voucher schools and Milwaukee Public Schools found that the voucher schools were exceeding the public schools in several key areas. The report’s findings may be significant, especially ... more »

Missouri Education Watchdog: Now in the Florida Senate. Coming Soon to a Legislature in Your State?

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Missouri Education Watchdog: Now in the Florida Senate. Coming Soon to a Legislature in Your State?:Now in the Florida Senate. Coming Soon to a Legislature in Your State?by stlgretchenEducation reform looks more and more like health care reform but with one important caveat. This reform, unlike the Health Care Reform pushed through the US Senate and House, is bi-partisan. Keep an eye out on your state legislature and its stance on school reform. Florida is perhaps the one of the ... more »

Charters choose Brown’s tax plan | Thoughts on Public Education

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Charters choose Brown’s tax plan | Thoughts on Public Education:Charters choose Brown’s tax planShareLoyal to governor whose support they can count onPosted on 3/05/12 • Categorized as 2012 election, Charters, Initiatives, Jerry Brown, State Budget, Student spending, TaxesBy John Fensterwald - Educated GuessCharter schools and the state’s largest teachers union rarely find anything to agree about. But the California Charter Schools Assn. is now the second major education group, next to the California Teachers Assn., to endorse Gov. Jerry Brown’s ... more »

NYC Educator: To Know or Not to Know?

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NYC Educator: To Know or Not to Know?:To Know or Not to Know?by NYC EducatorMayor Bloomberg is a stalwart supporter of "value-added" scores being released to the public. After all parents need to have this information. The fact that it is thoroughly unreliable, with margins of error so wide you could drive tanks through them is of no importance whatsoever. They need to know!However, there are also things they don't need to know. For example, they don't need to know ... more »

To train and control or to teach and learn: is there a choice? « Cooperative Catalyst

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To train and control or to teach and learn: is there a choice? « Cooperative Catalyst:To train and control or to teach and learn: is there a choice?by educatedtodeathOriginally posted at educatedtodeath.comIt seems that the goal of institutions is dominion over mankind. Organizations function to tame wild spirits and make them act civilly. This is not a terrible thing— people acting civilly. But, do the rulers act civilly? Not just the grand rulers, the government, corporations, etc., but the smaller ... more »

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Write to Your Legislator NOW

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Seattle Schools Community Forum: Write to Your Legislator NOW:Write to Your Legislator NOWby Melissa WestbrookFrom afar I have been following the machinations of the State Senator Republicans (and the 3 Roadkill Dems including Rodney Tom) and the state budget.I can only say that, like Nick Hanauer, this is no way to show loyalty to your party. I think if Senator Tom wants to be a Republican, he should go back to being one (he acts like one anyway). I also ...more »

School Tech Connect: In Which I Admit I'm Squatting....

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School Tech Connect: In Which I Admit I'm Squatting....:In Which I Admit I'm Squatting....by noreply@blogger.com (Tim)Scout In PursuitHere's an image from the day, mashed up in Fotoflexer. So here's a conundrum. I have a number of different URL's that I pay for--- none of them have anything to do with these topics--- and I keep up the payments for those URL's through my web hosting service, A Small Orange, a company I can't say enough good things about. If you ... more »

NYC DOE "Chancellor" Dennis Walcott Says That "Just Cause" in 3020-a Arbitration is Harmful To His Agenda - ParentAdvocates.org

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Parent Advocates - ParentAdvocates.org:NYC DOE "Chancellor" Dennis Walcott Says That "Just Cause" in 3020-a Arbitration is Harmful To His AgendaGovernment Lies, Corruption and Mismanagement | Posted 3/4/2012 at 4:28 PMWalcott gets my award for the most despicable member of any education administration currently in office. Cant we get rid of him? The reason for my saying this is that I know how school administrators push good people out of their jobs, just read my post on this blog and on ... more »

The Future of the Florida Senate: Will the Anti-Privatization Coalition Extend to Schools | Scathing Purple Musings

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The Future of the Florida Senate: Will the Anti-Privatization Coalition Extend to Schools | Scathing Purple Musings:The Future of the Florida Senate: Will the Anti-Privatization Coalition Extend to Schoolsby Bob SikesWhat follows is an analysis by a long time observer of Florida politics. The writer desires to be recognized by a pseudonym, Lois Pace.Will the emerging center coalition in the Florida Senate flex its muscle as we enter the last two weeks of the legislative session? Will those Senators who ... more »

One Teacher's Perspective: A Public Challenge to Privatizing Schools

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One Teacher's Perspective: A Public Challenge to Privatizing Schools:A Public Challenge to Privatizing Schoolsby Imagine WisconsinThis week’s guestperspective comes from Bill Conway—Wisconsin’s 2009-2010 PTA Teacher of the Year.Conway is a veteran social studies teacher at Parker High Schoolin Janesville, WI.I read recently, with greatconcern, a JanesvilleGazette article about a private organization from Florida offering to keeptwo rural Wisconsin elementary schools open at a fraction of the currentoperating costs.It sent chills down my spine to read how this privateorganization cam... more »

Schools Matter: Confessions of a "Bad Teacher"

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Schools Matter: Confessions of a "Bad Teacher":Confessions of a "Bad Teacher"by Judy RabinFrom the New York TimesMarch 3, 2012Confessions of a ‘Bad’ TeacherBy WILLIAM JOHNSONI AM a special education teacher. My students have learning disabilities ranging from autism and attention-deficit disorder to cerebral palsy and emotional disturbances. I love these kids, but they can be a handful. Almost without exception, they struggle on standardized tests, frustrate their teachers and find it hard to connect with their peers. What’s more, these ... more »

Schools Matter: Teacher, Julie Cavanagh, on Test Scores

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Schools Matter: Teacher, Julie Cavanagh, on Test Scores:Teacher, Julie Cavanagh, on Test Scoresby Jim HornFrom the NYDaily NewsAccording to the numbers, I am a highly effective New York City public school teacher. But you won’t see me jumping for joy over the news.My teacher data report, along with those of 18,000 other teachers, was released last week by the Education Department after a lengthy legal battle. That report says I have a career rating that falls at or above the ...more »