Latest News and Comment from Education

Sunday, November 11, 2012

Obama’s Tears and No Voter Left Behind | Cedar's Digest

Obama’s Tears and No Voter Left Behind | Cedar's Digest:


Obama’s Tears and No Voter Left Behind

Like many progressive Obama supporters, I was moved by his tears as he thanked his Chicago staff and volunteers this past week. Whether or not you believe he is a great president, it is pretty clear he is a good man and genuinely grateful for his audience’s service to his cause. This rare crack in the remarkable poise reminded me of Charles Pierce’s piece on the greatness of Obama in his Esquire blog:
Part of what drives people crazy about him — and if you wanted to see crazy, you should have seen the fugue state that overcame the Fox election all-stars last night, because I’ve seen jollier police lineups — is that he so clearly understands his own genuine historical stature, and that he wears it so easily, and that he uses it so deftly. It is not obvious. He does not use it brutally or obviously. It is just… there with him, a long and deep reservoir of violence and sorrow and tragedy and triumph out of which comes almost everything he does.
As most of Pierce’s writing, this is well worth your time and attention. Later, Pierce describes Obama’s big project, the virtual (and vital) referendum that we voted on last week, as “the creative project of self-government.” These are the notes Obama strikes 

OCCUPY EDUCATION - (via Imagining Learning | Why Contribute) JOIN US...

OCCUPY EDUCATION - (via Imagining Learning | Why Contribute) JOIN US...:


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Thinking About Schools: Dear Mr. President, Part 1

Thinking About Schools: Dear Mr. President, Part 1:


Dear Mr. President, Part 1


Dear Second Term President Obama:

You are in an enviable position, perhaps the most enviable in the educational world today.  You do not need to worry about re-election.  You’ve got a good three years to affect substantial, meaningful change.  You can say whatever the hell you want (sorry, but it's time to throw some Bill Russell elbows, Mr. President).  You’ve got the microphone, the votes, and the next Supreme Court nomination(s). You’re a dad. You know the roots of American students, you know what it means to dream, and you went to Harvard.  

Actually, the only way you can screw this up is by replacing Arne Duncan with Michelle Rhee. 

The problems with public education today are not rooted in unions, lack of accountability, or Finland-envy.  The problems are the politicians.  Period.  And, unlike all of those other local, state, and national posers, you Mr. President, no longer need to worry about getting elected.  No politics.  No fund raising.  No debating 

Big Education Ape Nite Cap 11-11-12 #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




Diane in the Evening 11-11-12 Diane Ravitch's blog

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 6 minutes ago
Diane Ravitch's blog: Teachers’ Facebook and Phone Campaign for Obama by dianerav Two teachers have started a campaign to take their message to the White House: stop the Race to the Top! The message of their campaign: Give all students the same education your girls are getting! Abandon Race to the Top and stop privatizing public schools. Join them! EduShyster Credits Stephanie Rivera for SFER Expose by dianerav Earlier, I published a post about Students for Education Reform, linking to a post by EduShyster. SFER is a junior version of Democrats for Education Reform, the group form... more »

A Novel and Worthy Cause « Teaching Between the Lines

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 12 minutes ago
A Novel and Worthy Cause « Teaching Between the Lines: A Novel and Worthy Cause by Laura You are frustrated with the testing emphasis in education, and you really resent politicians and non-educators trying to tell teachers what to do in their classrooms. You are especially upset over the shift away from creative, artistic pursuits in the classroom as drill-and-kill math and reading replace the arts. So what can you do to make a difference? Don’t despair, my friend! The Office of Letters and Light is a non-profit organization that believes in “*ambitious acts of the imagination... more »

Reflections on Teaching » Blog Archive » Being Right vs. Being Relevant….

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 14 minutes ago
Reflections on Teaching » Blog Archive » Being Right vs. Being Relevant….: Being Right vs. Being Relevant…. by alicemercer As I’ve said before, the saying goes that California is like the rest of the country, only sooner. The GOP in the Golden State has only remained politically relevant because of the bizarre requirement for a two-thirds majority to pass state budgets. Now they may have even lost that perk. I’ll share a couple of observations from what happened here that I think may be germane to the current situation nationally. The state GOP has never shaken the bad reputation ... more »

Update for Occupy DOE 2.0: The Battle for Public Schools | United Opt Out National

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 15 minutes ago
Update for Occupy DOE 2.0: The Battle for Public Schools | United Opt Out National: Update for Occupy DOE 2.0: The Battle for Public Schools by admin This week please share this brief update on Occupy DOE 2.0, The Battle for Public Schools, April 4-7, 2013. We return to DC this year and will occupy the Dept. of Ed. for four days. Our schedule is filling quickly. Here is a sneak peek of what we currently have confirmed, followed by information on hotels, free sleeping arrangements and a few additional details . Please click on each name to learn more – we will have a full schedul... more »

NYC Public School Parents: PEP's Mayoral Bloc Rejects Call for Delay in Charter School Co-locations

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 17 minutes ago
NYC Public School Parents: PEP's Mayoral Bloc Rejects Call for Delay in Charter School Co-locations: PEP's Mayoral Bloc Rejects Call for Delay in Charter School Co-locations by Patrick J. Sullivan Thursday's Panel for Educational Policy meeting at Frank Sinatra HS started forty minutes late as Vice Chair Freida Foster waited for enough mayoral bloc appointees to ensure the mayor's super-majority was in place to approve resolutions. *Deferral of Co-Location Votes or "The People's Business"* Brooklyn representative Kelvin Diamond introduced a resolution to defer co-location votes fr... more »

School Tech Connect: Do Elections Have Consequences?

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 17 minutes ago
School Tech Connect: Do Elections Have Consequences?: Do Elections Have Consequences? by noreply@blogger.com (Tim Furman) We'll just see... One of the things I've learned in the past year is to not be shy about inviting policymakers to meetings. Just sent an email to my state representative.

Malloy’s decision to coddle the rich = State Budget Deficit - Wait, What?

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 20 minutes ago
Malloy’s decision to coddle the rich = State Budget Deficit - Wait, What?: Malloy’s decision to coddle the rich = State Budget Deficit by jonpelto When Governor Malloy proposed his $1.5 billion tax increase last year, anyone making over $1 million dollars was spared any increase in the state income tax rate. Concerned that the super-rich in Fairfield County might leave Connecticut – despite the fact that the income tax rate is higher in New York and New Jersey – and much higher in New York City – Malloy’s tax package only increased the income tax rate on people making LESS THAN $1... more »

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Should Student Tweets Be Revealed?

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 23 minutes ago
Seattle Schools Community Forum: Should Student Tweets Be Revealed?: Should Student Tweets Be Revealed? by Melissa Westbrook Here's a dilemma (or maybe not). Over at the Jezebel blog, they found that there were a number of teens who, after the reelection of President Obama, sent out very hateful and racist tweets. Jezebel looked these teens up and where they went to school, checked their school's code of conduct, and then contacted their respective administrations. In many cases, either the school code of conduct and/or student athletic code of conduct was violate. Jezebel say... more »

Fresh Awesome in the Teachbad Store!! | Mr. Teachbad

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 24 minutes ago
Fresh Awesome in the Teachbad Store!! | Mr. Teachbad: Fresh Awesome in the Teachbad Store!! by teachbad Fresh Awesome in the Teachbad Store!! As mid-autumn teacher depres­sion and anx­i­ety finds its sweet spot, and in time for thought­ful hol­i­day gift-giving, Mr. Teach­bad is delighted to offer two BRAND NEW prod­ucts to our grow­ing line of *Strictly Home-Use Teacher Gifts*. Check ‘em out. I espe­cially like the *Pretty Good Teacher* mug.

Last Stand for Children First: Michelle Rhee's Policies Proven a Rousing Success

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 26 minutes ago
Last Stand for Children First: Michelle Rhee's Policies Proven a Rousing Success: Michelle Rhee's Policies Proven a Rousing Success by Last Stand for Children I was overjoyed yesterday to see the Washington Post trumpeting a new report by the New Teacher Project trumpeting Michelle Rhee's success as Chancellor of the Washington D.C. schools. We've always known Ms. Rhee was a force of nature since she first appeared on our radar when she founded the New Teacher Project back in 1997. As Chancellor, Mr. Rhee was something of a lightening rod for controversy, but even the Washington... more »

Kimble's Corner: Congressman Kimble Meets the Nation to Talk about GOP Future

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 27 minutes ago
Kimble's Corner: Congressman Kimble Meets the Nation to Talk about GOP Future: Congressman Kimble Meets the Nation to Talk about GOP Future by Representative Kimble Greg Roberts: The echoes of Tuesday night's crushing defeat for Mitt Romney and the rest of Republican candidates still echo through the beltway. The fiscal cliff awaits, but it seems what everybody is talking about is how the Republicans rebound with demographics seemingly working against them for years to come. Our guest, Jack Kimble from California was a rare Republican winner on Tuesday night, winning his home di... more »

Math Can Be Truly Painful, Brain Study Shows | toteachornototeach

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 31 minutes ago
Math Can Be Truly Painful, Brain Study Shows | toteachornototeach: Math Can Be Truly Painful, Brain Study Shows by aristotlethewise *Math Can Be Truly Painful, Brain Study Shows* *For math-phobes, anticipation of math work activates pain centers in brain. * by Jeremy Berlin Does the thought of 1+1= ouch? If you hate math, it might—literally. According to a new study, the mere prospect of a math problem causes pain centers to light up in number-phobic brains. Researchers at the University of Chicago measured the neural activity of 28 adults—14 who’d been identified with high math anxi... more »

2012 election lessons. We don’t have to accept bad legislation. Oust those who proposed it. Build a democratic union. « Fred Klonsky

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 31 minutes ago
2012 election lessons. We don’t have to accept bad legislation. Oust those who proposed it. Build a democratic union. « Fred Klonsky: 2012 election lessons. We don’t have to accept bad legislation. Oust those who proposed it. Build a democratic union. by Fred Klonsky John Wilson is the former Executive Director of the National Education Association. Before that he led the N.C. Association of Educators. He taught special education for 23 years. He is a past chair of the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, the Learning First Alliance, and the N.C. Covenant for Children. Wilson pos... more »

Jersey Jazzman: The Deeply Flawed TNTP Report on DC Schools

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 34 minutes ago
Jersey Jazzman: The Deeply Flawed TNTP Report on DC Schools: The Deeply Flawed TNTP Report on DC Schools by Duke UPDATE: Matt DiCarlo has, as is usual, an excellent analysis. I especially like what he says about the survey TNTP conducted: Unless I’m missing something, TNTP does not present any basic characteristics of their survey sample, to say nothing of trying to compare them with those of the larger DCPS group (the same was true of the districts in the “Irreplaceables” report). This is always required (even with random samples), but it’s especially important given that TNTP is... more »

All Education Matters: Rolling Jubilee: You Are Not A Loan

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 37 minutes ago
All Education Matters: Rolling Jubilee: You Are Not A Loan: Rolling Jubilee: You Are Not A Loan by Cryn Johannsen Occupy Wall Street has launched an ingenious campaign, something that is truly beyond capitalism. Just as they have stepped in to help victims of Sandy (OPERATION Occupy Sandy), the collective group of dreamers, activists, and community lovers have decided a new angle to the solving the debt crisis - *a bailout for the people and by the people.* The People's Bailout, cleverly called a Rolling Jubilee, begins on November 15th!

Short Notes: In a Kendrick Lamar and Lady Gaga Sorta Vibe | The Jose Vilson

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 39 minutes ago
Short Notes: In a Kendrick Lamar and Lady Gaga Sorta Vibe | The Jose Vilson: Short Notes: In a Kendrick Lamar and Lady Gaga Sorta Vibe by Jose Kendrick Lamar A few notes: - Lady Gaga posted a version of Kendrick Lamar’s “Don’t Kill My Vibe” which originally featured … her. Awesome. [Twitter / @LadyGaga] - According to Slate, NASA is also very happy with Obama’s re-election. To space and beyond. [Slate] - I’m not a fan of war, nor am I happy we have troops in places we don’t need to. This Wilfred Owen poem is a good reminder for us. [via Twitter / Alec Couros]

School Tech Connect: Put This On Your Calendar

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 10 hours ago
School Tech Connect: Put This On Your Calendar: Put This On Your Calendar by noreply@blogger.com (Tim Furman) I'll be at this event with some of the members of the new group up here, Rogers Park Neighbors for Public Schools. Come join us if you're up here, or even if you're close by. You folks down in Edgewater are going to have to organize locally as well, as far as I can tell.

Support for Elected School Board Growing in Chicago « Larry Miller's Blog: Educate All Students!

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 10 hours ago
Support for Elected School Board Growing in Chicago « Larry Miller's Blog: Educate All Students!: Support for Elected School Board Growing in Chicago by millerlf *Aldermen push for city-wide referendum on elected school board* BY FRAN SPIELMAN AND ROSALIND ROSSI Staff Reporters November 8, 2012 Chicago Sun Times Independent Chicago aldermen vowed Thursday to push for a citywide referendum on an elected school board opposed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel, emboldened by 86 percent support from voters in parts of 35 wards. Despite a parliamentary maneuver by a mayoral ally that blocked refere... more »

Tavis Smiley & Dr. Cornel West on Poverty: “The Rich and the Rest of Us: A Poverty Manifesto” | Seattle Education

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 10 hours ago
Tavis Smiley & Dr. Cornel West on Poverty: “The Rich and the Rest of Us: A Poverty Manifesto” | Seattle Education: Tavis Smiley & Dr. Cornel West on Poverty: “The Rich and the Rest of Us: A Poverty Manifesto” by seattleducation2011 From Democracy Now: *As the most expensive presidential election in U.S. history comes to an end, broadcaster Tavis Smiley and professor, activist Dr. Cornel West discuss President Obama’s re-election and their hopes for a national political agenda in and outside of the White House during Obama’s second term. At a time when one in six Americans is poor,... more »

Time on testing: 738 minutes in 3 weeks

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 10 hours ago
Time on testing: 738 minutes in 3 weeks: Time on testing: 738 minutes in 3 weeks Posted by Valerie Strauss on November 11, 2012 at 11:30 am - [image: Smaller Text] [image: Larger Text] Text Size - Print - Reprints - Share: - - - More » How much time do teachers and students spend on standardized tests? That’s one of the big questions in public education today, which Adam Heenan, a Chicago school teacher and member of the Chicago Teachers Union addresses here. By Adam Heenan A few days ago, a colleague walked into our social studies department with a bubbled... more »

Shanker Blog » Describing, Explaining And Affecting Teacher Retention In D.C.

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 11 hours ago
Shanker Blog » Describing, Explaining And Affecting Teacher Retention In D.C.: Describing, Explaining And Affecting Teacher Retention In D.C. by Matthew Di Carlo The New Teacher Project (TNTP) has released a new report on teacher retention in D.C. Public Schools (DCPS). It is a spinoff of their “The Irreplaceables” report, which was released a few months ago, and which is discussed in this post. The four (unnamed) districts from that report are also used in this one, and their results are compared with those from DCPS. I want to look quickly at this new supplemental analysis, not ... more »

Schools Matter: The Hard Bigotry of Low Expectations in Florida

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 11 hours ago
Schools Matter: The Hard Bigotry of Low Expectations in Florida: The Hard Bigotry of Low Expectations in Florida by Judy Rabin With the ink barely dry on the outcome of the Presidential election in Florida, the FL school Board is now looking for new and innovative ways to keep the FCAT, virtual schools and private money machine rolling. This way Jeb Bush's buddies. K-12 and other for-profit education outfits who make their money off the backs of the poorest and most vulnerable children and their teachers can keep their wheels greased till 2018 under this proposal. The soft bigot... more »

The Sunday Mail. « Fred Klonsky

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 11 hours ago
The Sunday Mail. « Fred Klonsky: The Sunday Mail. by Fred Klonsky *Veteran of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade (my dad) Robert Klonsky. Phot0: Life Photographer Peter Stackpole 1938.* *General Petraeus*. Maybe it wasn’t just about his zipper. *The day I retired, my school district cut off my email access at 2:30.* Mittens didn’t wait* that long* to cut off his people. *Bill O’ Reilly says we just want stuff.* He’s right. Medicare. Social Security. Health Care. Collective bargaining. An end to deportations. Access to safe abortions. Stuff. Lots of stuff. *Will Democratic Party super-majo... more »

George Lucas: Education the key to robust future - Marin Independent Journal

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 11 hours ago
George Lucas: Education the key to robust future - Marin Independent Journal: George Lucas: Education the key to robust future By Nels Johnson George Lucas intends to use his wealth to benefit education. Lucas, who sold Lucasfilm to Disney last month for $2 billion in cash and $2 billion in Disney stock, indicated he will use most of his wealth to educate children in a written statement elaborating on earlier word that educational endeavors will be the big beneficiary of his philanthropy. "As long as I have the resources at my disposal, I will seek to raise the bar for future gener... more »

Why Florida’s High School End of Course Exam Regime May Cause a New Surge in Drop Outs | Scathing Purple Musings

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 13 hours ago
Why Florida’s High School End of Course Exam Regime May Cause a New Surge in Drop Outs | Scathing Purple Musings: Why Florida’s High School End of Course Exam Regime May Cause a New Surge in Drop Outs by Bob Sikes Looking to curry favor with skeptical voters, Rick Scott’s been going around telling everybody that there won’t be any new tests for a while. He’s right, but the decision was in place before he became governor. In Florida high schools, the transition away from FCAT to course specific end-of-course exams was made during Charlie Crist’s governorship. Kids entering high s... more »

Cyber-charter schools: Are they making the grade? - News

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 13 hours ago
Cyber-charter schools: Are they making the grade? - News: Cyber-charter schools: Are they making the grade? Spending school days online, not in classroom Con Academy Browse Con Academy library of over 3,100 educational videos... By MARY BETH SCHWEIGERT and CHIP SMEDLEY Staff Angela Altrichter home-schooled all three of her sons through eighth grade. But as her boys got older, Altrichter realized she didn't want to teach high school. She looked for a program with a low student-to-teacher ratio and eventually chose 21st Century Cyber Charter School in Exton. Altrichter's youn... more »

Should this school be saved? The fight over Chicago's Dyett High | Reuters

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 13 hours ago
Should this school be saved? The fight over Chicago's Dyett High | Reuters: Should this school be saved? The fight over Chicago's Dyett High (Reuters) - By just about any definition, Walter H. Dyett High School has failed. Just 10 percent can pass the state math exam; barely one in six is proficient in reading. The technology lab is so ancient, some of the computers still take 3-inch floppy disks. More teens drop out than graduate. Yet when the Chicago Board of Education announced plans to shut the place down, it sparked a community uprising. Students, parents and teachers have sta... more »

#mozfest: Open schools for open societies « Cooperative Catalyst

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 13 hours ago
#mozfest: Open schools for open societies « Cooperative Catalyst: #mozfest: Open schools for open societies by Chad Sansing #mozfest began a conversation about schooling that I hope continues over the course of the next year. I hope that in our care and commitment to raising a generation of webmakers who write the world, we increase kids’ access to writable experiences inside school, as well as outside school. While it’s mostly true that to a teacher every problem looks like a school, it’s worth noting that 81.5 million children are enrolled in schools in the United States alone. ... more »

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 11-11-12 Diane Ravitch's blog

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 13 hours ago
Diane Ravitch's blog: [image: Click on picture to Listen to Diane Ravitch] The Teacher Bashers Lost by dianerav This is a very good analysis of the election results that should gladden the hearts of teachers. John Wilson points out that in one state after another, those who disparaged and demeaned teachers lost. They blame their loss on the unions, but the unions have limited numbers. And most of the rightwing candidates (maybe all) had far greater resources from Wall Street than the teacher-back candidates. Don’t Forget the Hurricane Victims by dianerav Robert Pondiscio writes m... more »

Daily Kos: Today we honor veterans of military service - but that is not enough

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 13 hours ago
Daily Kos: Today we honor veterans of military service - but that is not enough: Today we honor veterans of military service - but that is not enough by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken) and it is appropriate because there is something about those who give up some of their freedoms and potentially put themselves at risk of life and limb on behalf of the ideal of this nation. Some may have served involuntarily in the days when we still had conscription. Others, like me, volunteered, even if we might have objected strongly to the military conflict of our era as I did to Vietnam. I volu... more »

NYC Educator: Role Reversal

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 13 hours ago
NYC Educator: Role Reversal: Role Reversal by NYC Educator

Chicago Voters Overwhelmingly Support an Elected School BoardSave Our Schools

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 14 hours ago
Chicago Voters Overwhelmingly Support an Elected School BoardSave Our Schools: Chicago Voters Overwhelmingly Support an Elected School Board by Server Chicago Voters Overwhelmingly Support an Elected School BoardYesterday, voters in 327 precincts throughout 35 wards of the city had the opportunity to vote on the referendum question regarding whether Chicago should have an elected school board, as opposed to the current mayoral appointed school board. Voters overwhelmingly voted yes to an elected school board, with 86.6% voting yes. The final tally amounted to 65,763 people voting ... more »

Going Down The Quality Review Tubes at PS 154x.southbronxschool.com

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 14 hours ago
http://www.southbronxschool.com: Going Down The Quality Review Tubes at PS 154x by noreply@blogger.com (Bronx Teacher) In 1974, or maybe 1973, Senator Howard Baker then the ranking minority member of the then Senate Watergate Committee asked this famous question during the Watergate hearings; *"What did the President know and when did he know it?"* Well we here at SBSB are asking the same question of Yolanda Torres, Superintendent of District 7 in regard toPS 154 being put on the closure list, *"What did Yolanda Torres know and when did she know it?"* What has Yolanda Torres know... more »

David Frum: Republicans Have Been Fleeced, Exploited, and Lied To by Rig...

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago
[image: Corporate Media = Corporate Lies] Conservative columnist David Frum had some choice words on Morning Joe for the industry that has swelled to basically steal money from republican voters. Republicans have been fleeced, exploited and lied to by a conservative entertainment complex...there are too many to name. Because the followers, the donors and the activists are so mistaken about the nature of the problems the country faces...just a simple question, and I went to Tea Party rallies and asked this question, have taxes gone up or down in recent years? They can't answer ... more »