Big Education Ape - Mid Day Banana Break
CORPORATE ED REFORM
Update on parent trigger proposal in Texas
From PAA Houston member Karen Miller: This morning the Senate Ed Comm did pass the parent trigger bill, SB 1263 with some amendments, one, by bill sponsor Sen Taylor would require the school to be defined as low performing for three years rather than two. Sen Lucio was concerned about governing body of open enrollment charter school cannot coerce, bribe or induce a parent to sign a petition for the parent trigger. Intent is to assure this is grassroots parent … →
More Texas testing resistance!
From Karen Miller: The Texas House of Representatives voted 3/26 to reduce high stakes tests required for Texas high school graduation from 15 to 5 tests: English II reading and writing, algebra I, biology and US history. House public education committee chair, Jimmie Don Aycock, R-Killeen, began the marathon nine hour debate by asking the members four questions: *Are we over-testing our students? *Is it ok for a child to find a path outside of a four year college degree? … →
Chicago testing forum with Seattle’s Jesse Hagopian
Garfield High School teacher and MAP test boycott leader Jesse Hagopian told the crowd at the Mt. Carmel Missionary Baptist Church in Chicago last Thursday night that he agreed with Arne Duncan that education is the civil rights movement of our time. But history teacher Jesse reminded us that the last major civil rights movement started with a boycott….and this time it might just be a test boycott. All the speakers for our “The Case Against High-Stakes Standardized Testing” forum … →
Voucher amendment to Senate budget failed
PAA Board member Karen Miller shared this update on the threatened voucher amendment to the Senate budget proposal which she alerted us to last week: The US Senate pulled an all nighter last Friday, passing its first formal budget in four years. The Democratic-drafted budget was approved narrowly by a 50-49 vote, largely along party lines with all Republicans opposing the plan. They were joined by Democratic Senators Baucus (Montana), Hagan (North Carolina), Pryor (Arkansas), Begich (Alaska). Eighty nine year … →
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee looks to add $1.2 billion to basic education funding
The additional school money comes from closing more than $500 million in tax breaks and extensions on both the beer tax and some business and operations taxes otherwise set to expire next year.
What We Don’t Know, But Should, About Student Loans
For the last several months, we’ve seen the results of more than a dozen studies to remake the federal student-aid system, part of the Reimagining Aid Design and Delivery project funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The idea behind the effort is to seed ideas for the future of financial aid in advance of the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act.
The reports include many solid ideas for reforming student aid. But in reading the reports, one comes to another conclusion: despite the billions we spend on student aid, we don’t know as much as we should about how it’s
The reports include many solid ideas for reforming student aid. But in reading the reports, one comes to another conclusion: despite the billions we spend on student aid, we don’t know as much as we should about how it’s
Education for the Greater Good
Lack of social ethics is one of the causes of violence and it is at the root of our present social and economic crises
We live in a world in turmoil, a world of collapsing ideas, unfulfilled promises, and crashed ideologies and we experience the forces of change invading our classrooms every day, and at the same time, the voices of the discontents demanding radical reform of public education at all levels, including higher
National Science Standards Are Needed for Stupid Parents
From Mother Nature Network, mnn.com and Climate change education in new federal standards:
Federal science standards coming later this month will recommend that public schools educate students about climate change. Once students understand, they may just educate their parents.
What little my boys know about climate change, they know from me or their own reading,
This is what building empathy in kids looks like
Imagine if every school did this?
Perversion
From Corpus Christie's Caller.com by Ray McMurrey:
CORPUS CHRISTI — Exiting Texas Commissioner of Education Robert Scott caught headlines before leaving office in 2012 when he claimed that high-stakes testing in Texas has become a “perversion.” Thank you Robert Scott for telling the truth.
Testing begins this week and the perversion is upon us. The public school calendar has 180 instructional days, 45 devoted to testing and countless others invested in test preparation. Current high-stakes testing undermines student learning and the general health of children. . . . .
Read the rest here.
Association of California School Administrators to honor Sutter Principal - Valley Community Newspapers
 Valley Community Newspapers |
Association of California School Administrators to honor Sutter Principal
Valley Community Newspapers The Association of California School Administrators has selected five Sacramento City Unified School District administrators to be honored at its annual awards ceremony in May. Congratulations to: Becky Bryant, Special Education Administrator; Paula ... |
From the lunch line to the stage: LAUSD cafeteria worker featured in new play
Joel Jimenez, Frank Boeheim (center) and Jasmine Rosales in the new play "Lunch Lady Courage."A new play that tackles healthy eating in schools by following the life of a lunch lady opens tonight. Among the performers is a Los Angeles Unified School District cafeteria worker who will take to the stage for the first time at age 58.
Frank Boeheim is part of the 21-person cast, which features 17 students from Los Angeles High School of the Arts. Boeheim was part of a group of LAUSD cafeteria workers interviewed by playwright Peter Howard last fall.
ICE Meeting Today: Better Not Shout, Better Not Pout, George Schmidt is Coming To Town
At ICE's scheduled meeting today we will have the bonus of special guest Substance, telling us all about what's happening in Chicago with the school closing protests and the CORE re-election campaign. As one of CORE's founding members, George will also talk about the evolution of CORE from an 8 person group of people in 2008 reading Naomi Klein's "Shock Doctrine" to running the Chicago Teachers Union by July 2010. The theme of George's talk will be from dissidents to the realities of power.
George Schmidt, the founder, publisher and editor of
And that is an interesting theme given many Unity Caucus comments over the years that it is easy for a group like ICE or MORE to be critical when it doesn't have to deal with running a union. And those are not points to
George Schmidt, the founder, publisher and editor of
