Big Education Ape - Mid Day Banana Break
Central Park East I & II’s Future
Dear friends,
Please support the wonderful, historic, progressive Central Park East I and II elementary schools as they try to expand into a middle school to provide a much-needed progressive middle school alternative in upper Manhattan. Their proposal to open a middle school has been turned down by the DOE four years in a row, most recently because there was allegedly no space for the middle school. But at the same time a new charter school, the East Harlem Scholars’ Academy, was allowed to open on the third floor of CPE I’s building. It was supposed to be temporary, for two years only, but now they have applied for a three-year extension and in addition–on the basis of their “proven” year-and-a-half of excellence (!)– to start a second school, East Harlem Scholars’
Parents and Students Demand Nationwide Moratorium on School Closings
Popout
BUT... Melissa Harris-Perry Buries The Lead Story on National Wave of Public School Closings
By BAR managing editor Bruce A. Dixon
When print or broadcast news outlets grab a compelling story, only to distract attention away from what the public needs to know, that's called “burying the lead.” That's what Melissa Harris-Perry did in her Jan. 26 segment on whether the nationwide wave of public school closings were “racist” or not.
Melissa Harris-Perry devoted an eight minute segment of her January 26 MSNBC show to the question of whether the
What's Fit For Poor Kids
Check out this picture from a member of the Dubois Elementary School community at last night's school-closing marketing session. I saw this picture on the Raise Your Hand Twitter stream.
Yes, that's a destroyed room that hasn't been fixed. Water damage? It's hard to tell. It's factored in as an "ancillary" room at Dubois, and as such, it contributes to the nonsensical utilization rating that CPS is using to plan its attack on the Dubois community.
These rooms are all over the city. There's one at Gale in Rogers Park. An unusable room. I know the parents at Gale--- I spoke to one this morning. Trust me, if CPS would fix that room, Gale would find an excellent use for it,as they have for every single room in the building.
However, in the city, public school students must be crammed into buildings where 77% of the classrooms are
Yes, that's a destroyed room that hasn't been fixed. Water damage? It's hard to tell. It's factored in as an "ancillary" room at Dubois, and as such, it contributes to the nonsensical utilization rating that CPS is using to plan its attack on the Dubois community.
These rooms are all over the city. There's one at Gale in Rogers Park. An unusable room. I know the parents at Gale--- I spoke to one this morning. Trust me, if CPS would fix that room, Gale would find an excellent use for it,as they have for every single room in the building.
However, in the city, public school students must be crammed into buildings where 77% of the classrooms are
Fault lines emerge in mayoral hopefuls’ consensus on schools
Mayoral candidates mingle after discussing education at an event Wednesday hosted by the principals union.
If education policy discussions among mayoral candidates were a song, the second verse would be the same as the first.With two recent entrants to the Republican race absent, the lineup for Wednesday evening’s discussion, hosted by the Council of School Supervisors and Administrators, was identical to the first education debate held in
Morning Read: UTLA Backs Garcetti for Mayor
Teachers Union Backs Eric Garcetti for Mayor
The Los Angeles Teachers Union voted late Wednesday to endorse Eric Garcetti for mayor and Mike Feuer for city attorney in the March 5 primary election. LA Daily News
See also: LA School Report
GOP Legislators Propose California School Districts Arm Teachers
Democratic legislators say bill that would allow districts to spend education funds to train teachers, administrators and janitors in gun use doesn’t have a chance. LA Times
Charter School Growth Fund Paying Off, Study Says
For the past seven years, an organization called the Charter School Growth Fund has been providing those schools with millions of dollars in grants and low-interest loans, after putting them through a screening process to try to gauge whether their promise is worth the investment. EdWeek
Principal at Center of LAUSD’s Latest Sex Abuse Scandal May Lose Credential
The Commission on Teacher Credentialing will decide today whether to suspend a principal for allegedly failing to report abuse by one of her teachers. KPCC
Support Builds for Tougher School Safety Plan Requirements
Bipartisan support appears to have coalesced behind a proposal to better enforce a state requirement that all schools have updated safety plans. SI&A Cabinet Report
6 LAUSD High Schools to Compete for Participation in National Cooking Contest
LAUSD high school students will go head-to-head in a cooking contest Thursday for a chance to participate in a national cooking competition. CBS LA
School Boards and Parents Should Consider the Rising Pay of District Chiefs
Californians should be equally upset to learn about the bigger paychecks going to superintendents of many of the state’s struggling school districts. LA Daily News Editorial
Californians Upbeat on Ed Budget, Poll Finds
Californians are expressing a long-lost sentiment: optimism. A new survey by the Public Policy Institute of California found growing support for Gov. Brown, for his education finance proposal and for making it easier for local communities to pass parcel taxes to help fund their schools. EdSource
Banning High in Wilmington to Host Meeting on Plans to Split School
The public is invited to a meeting Thursday night at Banning High School in Wilmington to discuss a plan by the Los Angeles Unified School District to split the school into two separate schools with two principals come next fall. Daily Breeze
International Space Station Patch Designed by Astronomy Buffs at Granada Hills’ Valley Academy of Arts and Sciences
Narek Baghosian and Florian Storz, members of the Astronomy Club at Valley Academy of Arts and Sciences in Granada Hills, have designed a patch that will be carried on a privately funded flight to the International Space Station. LA Daily News
The Los Angeles Teachers Union voted late Wednesday to endorse Eric Garcetti for mayor and Mike Feuer for city attorney in the March 5 primary election. LA Daily News
See also: LA School Report
GOP Legislators Propose California School Districts Arm Teachers
Democratic legislators say bill that would allow districts to spend education funds to train teachers, administrators and janitors in gun use doesn’t have a chance. LA Times
Charter School Growth Fund Paying Off, Study Says
For the past seven years, an organization called the Charter School Growth Fund has been providing those schools with millions of dollars in grants and low-interest loans, after putting them through a screening process to try to gauge whether their promise is worth the investment. EdWeek
Principal at Center of LAUSD’s Latest Sex Abuse Scandal May Lose Credential
The Commission on Teacher Credentialing will decide today whether to suspend a principal for allegedly failing to report abuse by one of her teachers. KPCC
Support Builds for Tougher School Safety Plan Requirements
Bipartisan support appears to have coalesced behind a proposal to better enforce a state requirement that all schools have updated safety plans. SI&A Cabinet Report
6 LAUSD High Schools to Compete for Participation in National Cooking Contest
LAUSD high school students will go head-to-head in a cooking contest Thursday for a chance to participate in a national cooking competition. CBS LA
School Boards and Parents Should Consider the Rising Pay of District Chiefs
Californians should be equally upset to learn about the bigger paychecks going to superintendents of many of the state’s struggling school districts. LA Daily News Editorial
Californians Upbeat on Ed Budget, Poll Finds
Californians are expressing a long-lost sentiment: optimism. A new survey by the Public Policy Institute of California found growing support for Gov. Brown, for his education finance proposal and for making it easier for local communities to pass parcel taxes to help fund their schools. EdSource
Banning High in Wilmington to Host Meeting on Plans to Split School
The public is invited to a meeting Thursday night at Banning High School in Wilmington to discuss a plan by the Los Angeles Unified School District to split the school into two separate schools with two principals come next fall. Daily Breeze
International Space Station Patch Designed by Astronomy Buffs at Granada Hills’ Valley Academy of Arts and Sciences
Narek Baghosian and Florian Storz, members of the Astronomy Club at Valley Academy of Arts and Sciences in Granada Hills, have designed a patch that will be carried on a privately funded flight to the International Space Station. LA Daily News
HotSeat Interview: Former Duncan Comms Guy Peter Cunningham
Finally on the HotSeat, Cunningham credits Joanne Weiss for making Race to the Top a big success, and Carmel Martin for the NCLB waiver program. (Despite all my feeble attempts to give him credit/blame for naming RTTT, he says it wasn't him.) Cunningham describes how difficult it is to do parent engagement from
New pre-kindergarten moves quickly in Mississippi
Mississippi is one step closer to funding state-wide pre-kindergarten after a new bill passed the Senate Education Committee Thursday morning. The bill would phase in a pre-k program, and mandate early childhood programs in underperforming school districts, in a state that has adamantly refused to prioritize early childhood education for years. The proposal, and subsequent passage by the Senate Education Committee, comes as a surprise to advocates of early childhood education. Mississippi is the only state in the south, and one of 11 in the nation that does not currently fund pre-k. Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant has stated that education will be the focus of this year’s legislative session, but his budget proposal left out funding for pre-k except for a
UFT--Champion of Junk Science
In fact, now, with the mayor insisting that any junk science system we institute must be written in stone and carry the gravatas of the Ten Commandments, you'd think the union would say, "Well, any system ought to be subject to review, and when the mayor chooses to be reasonable, we'll be happy to negotate." I guess you'd be wrong again.
Because when Andy "I am the government" Cuomo announced he wanted to simply impose a system, the UFT President said, in
Kochs pour $24M more into phony think tanks, schools
And believe it or not, they did it through nonprofit "charitable" foundations.
The Center for Public Integrity reported that the Kochs run foundations with a staggering $310 million in assets last
Business leaders urge Congress to rewrite No Child Left Behind
A group of chief executive officers at leading U.S. companies is urging Congress to rewrite No Child Left Behind as part of its recommendations for policies that promote business growth in 2013. The Business Roundtable, an association of chief executive … Continue reading →
Obama’s 2nd-term Education Agenda: Where Do Latinos Fit?
By Gabriel Sanchez Zinny, Huffington Post Latino Voices
Amidst all of the election-year sniping, education reform never became a major issue in the 2012 presidential campaign. Even though both candidates released their competing proposals, the closest education came to center stage was a couple of sharp exchanges during the debates, quickly forgotten.
This is unfortunate, because the evidence on educational attainment, as demonstrated by recently released reports, including the important TIMSS and PIRLSS reading
Has Testing Reached A Tipping Point?
(This article also appeared on the SmartBlog on Education.)
It wasn’t that long ago that suggesting America’s schools had become test-obsessed was a lonely endeavor. Although organizations like FairTest and campaigns like Time Out From Testinghave been decrying the flawed logic behind high-stakes tests for years, the reality is that for the past decade, many of us kept our complaints reserved for the privacy of the parking lot
People vented. Policymakers nodded. And absent any real noise, the tests continued.
In 2008, however, the election of Barack Obama seemed to
LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 1-31-13 Diane Ravitch's blog
Diane Ravitch's blog: [image: Click on picture to Listen to Diane Ravitch] Walton Funds School Closing Hearing in Chicago by dianerav This is amazing. According to the Chicago education research journal Catalyst, the Chicago Public Schoolsreceived nearly half a million dollars from one of the nation’s most rightwing foundations to sponsor “community engagement” on school closings. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel wants to close as many as 200 schools. He also wants to open more charters, which would be non-union and would mean another dramatic decline in the number of African-American ... more »