Rally for Public Schools in Olympia, Washington, April 27
This just in:
Could you help to encourage educators, parents and community members to attend the rally for Public Education in Olympia, WA. On April 27 at 9:30 a.m., WEA Representative Assembly delegates will stand on the capitol steps in the final hours of the legislative session to make one last stand for our students, our professions and our schools. Please join us!
https://www.facebook.com/events/239545506170761/
Could you help to encourage educators, parents and community members to attend the rally for Public Education in Olympia, WA. On April 27 at 9:30 a.m., WEA Representative Assembly delegates will stand on the capitol steps in the final hours of the legislative session to make one last stand for our students, our professions and our schools. Please join us!
https://www.facebook.com/events/239545506170761/
The Logo for Common Core?
A reader offers this observation:
“Before teaching, I worked in software development. If our company released a major product revision with no quality assurance testing and no trial beta release, we would be out of business in a week as well as the laughing stock of the industry.
“Common Core is a corporate initiative written from ivory towers. Teachers had little say. The standards are poorly written and suppress innovation and learning. We have no idea if they are effective or relevant. The logo for Common Core should be a picture of lemmings going over a cliff.”
“Before teaching, I worked in software development. If our company released a major product revision with no quality assurance testing and no trial beta release, we would be out of business in a week as well as the laughing stock of the industry.
“Common Core is a corporate initiative written from ivory towers. Teachers had little say. The standards are poorly written and suppress innovation and learning. We have no idea if they are effective or relevant. The logo for Common Core should be a picture of lemmings going over a cliff.”
Doe$ Everyone Need Algebra 2?
Jason Stanford wonders why Texas Instruments wants every student to pass Algebra 2 as a graduation requirement. That is the current requirement. And why Texas Instruments feels so keenly about it that it hired high-powered lobbyist Sandy Kress to work the Legislature. Stanford explains why TI is so passionate about this particular subject.
Kress was the architect of No Child Left Behind. He also lobbies for Pearson. He is an outstanding lobbyist. Pearson won a $500 million contract to test kids in Texas even as the state cut funding by more than $5 billion for public schools.
Once you start following the money, it’s hard to stop.
Kress was the architect of No Child Left Behind. He also lobbies for Pearson. He is an outstanding lobbyist. Pearson won a $500 million contract to test kids in Texas even as the state cut funding by more than $5 billion for public schools.
Once you start following the money, it’s hard to stop.
Major Rally in Louisiana Today at 3 PM
Educators in Louisiana will rally today against Bobby Jindal’s radical privatization “reforms.”
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Media writers, reporters, editors, webmasters, bloggers:
TODAY at the Capitol — Unified Education Organizations to Address Jindal Agenda
WHO: Major State Education Organizations representing Louisiana public schools
WHAT: Press conference to announce unified opposition to re-enacting elements of Acts 1 and 2 of the 2012 Session
WHEN: TODAY — Tuesday, April 23, 2013 at 3 p.m.
WHERE: Steps of the Louisiana State Capitol — located at 900 N. 3rd Street in Baton Rouge
WHICH Organizations:
Coalition for Louisiana Public Education
Louisiana School Boards Association (LSBA)
Louisiana Association of School Superintendents (LASS)
Louisiana Association of School Executives (LASE)
Louisiana Association of Educators (LAE)
Louisiana Federation of Teachers (LFT)
An unprecedented alliance of education organizations will hold a joint press conference at 3 p.m. Tuesday, April 23, to announce their opposition to the re-enactment of elements of Governor Bobby Jindal’s education agenda.
Act 1 and Act 2 of the 2012 Legislative Session have both been declared unconstitutional by district courts.
Instead of working with stakeholders on meaningful, research-based education reform, the governor and his allies seem intent on rehashing the same failed policies that have frustrated educators and school boards around the state.
Leaders of organizations including the Louisiana Association of Educators (LAE), Louisiana Association of School Executives (LASE), Louisiana Association of School Superintendents (LASS), Louisiana Federation of Teachers (LFT), and Louisiana School Boards Association (LSBA) will announce their unity plans at the press conference.
Look for these contacts today at the Capitol, or call them for more details:
CONTACT: LSBA — Executive Director Scott Richard – (225)769-3191
LASS — President Mike Faulk – (225) 791-0365
LAE — Communications Specialist Ashley Davies – (225) 343-9243 ext. 119.
LFT — Director of Public Relations Les Landon – (225) 923-1037
Coalition for Louisiana Public Education — Founder/Chairman Jack Loup — 985-373-1781
— jackloup@wildblue.net
Thank you for your coverage,
Mary K. Bellisario
Member, Coalition for Louisiana Public Education
bayouduo@bellsouth.net
Check us out on Facebook!
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Media writers, reporters, editors, webmasters, bloggers:
TODAY at the Capitol — Unified Education Organizations to Address Jindal Agenda
WHO: Major State Education Organizations representing Louisiana public schools
WHAT: Press conference to announce unified opposition to re-enacting elements of Acts 1 and 2 of the 2012 Session
WHEN: TODAY — Tuesday, April 23, 2013 at 3 p.m.
WHERE: Steps of the Louisiana State Capitol — located at 900 N. 3rd Street in Baton Rouge
WHICH Organizations:
Coalition for Louisiana Public Education
Louisiana School Boards Association (LSBA)
Louisiana Association of School Superintendents (LASS)
Louisiana Association of School Executives (LASE)
Louisiana Association of Educators (LAE)
Louisiana Federation of Teachers (LFT)
An unprecedented alliance of education organizations will hold a joint press conference at 3 p.m. Tuesday, April 23, to announce their opposition to the re-enactment of elements of Governor Bobby Jindal’s education agenda.
Act 1 and Act 2 of the 2012 Legislative Session have both been declared unconstitutional by district courts.
Instead of working with stakeholders on meaningful, research-based education reform, the governor and his allies seem intent on rehashing the same failed policies that have frustrated educators and school boards around the state.
Leaders of organizations including the Louisiana Association of Educators (LAE), Louisiana Association of School Executives (LASE), Louisiana Association of School Superintendents (LASS), Louisiana Federation of Teachers (LFT), and Louisiana School Boards Association (LSBA) will announce their unity plans at the press conference.
Look for these contacts today at the Capitol, or call them for more details:
CONTACT: LSBA — Executive Director Scott Richard – (225)769-3191
LASS — President Mike Faulk – (225) 791-0365
LAE — Communications Specialist Ashley Davies – (225) 343-9243 ext. 119.
LFT — Director of Public Relations Les Landon – (225) 923-1037
Coalition for Louisiana Public Education — Founder/Chairman Jack Loup — 985-373-1781
— jackloup@wildblue.net
Thank you for your coverage,
Mary K. Bellisario
Member, Coalition for Louisiana Public Education
bayouduo@bellsouth.net
Check us out on Facebook!
A Great News Source for The Struggle to Save Public Education
The Network for Public Education has developed an excellent news source of stories from across the nation.
Follow it to stay informed.
And please consider joining the Network. It is only $20 for membership. Join with your friends and allies as we push back against those who are imposing failed ideas on our children and our schools.
Follow it to stay informed.
And please consider joining the Network. It is only $20 for membership. Join with your friends and allies as we push back against those who are imposing failed ideas on our children and our schools.
Louisianans to Jindal: Enough Is Enough
Many people in Louisiana are fed up with a Bobby Jindal’s war on the public sector.
A rally is planned for April 30.
For Immediate Release
For more information contact:
Mike Stagg, Forward Louisiana
Phone: 337-962-1680
eMail: mstagg@forwardla.org
Enough Is Enough!
Louisianans to Rally For the Common Good on April 30th
BATON ROUGE — Thousands of Louisianans will gather on the steps of the state Capitol April 30th calling on
A rally is planned for April 30.
For Immediate Release
For more information contact:
Mike Stagg, Forward Louisiana
Phone: 337-962-1680
eMail: mstagg@forwardla.org
Enough Is Enough!
Louisianans to Rally For the Common Good on April 30th
BATON ROUGE — Thousands of Louisianans will gather on the steps of the state Capitol April 30th calling on
Billionaires vs. Unions: Who Is David? Who Is Goliath?
Leo Casey, a long-time union activist, here reviews a recent report by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute decrying the immense power of teachers’ unions. Michael Petrilli of TBF described the unions as “Goliaths” battling the weak, underfunded “Davids” of the corporate reform movement.
Casey challenges the report and the characterization, pointing out that corporate reformers have deployed vast amounts of money–far greater than the teachers’ unions could ever muster–to destroy the last vestige of teacher
Casey challenges the report and the characterization, pointing out that corporate reformers have deployed vast amounts of money–far greater than the teachers’ unions could ever muster–to destroy the last vestige of teacher
Children: Get High Scores or Your Teacher Will Be Fired
This is such a powerful post that I hope you will read it in full. It was written by a parent in California.
The testing mania is spinning out of control. It is turning into child abuse. It demoralizes teachers. It offers the fodder to kill schools. It must be reined in. What kind of person would claim credit for such madness?
Start here:
A parent’s vignette of the CST from child-level:
Two minutes late for the appointed retrieval time, I receive a frantic phone call from the middle-schooler. By the
The testing mania is spinning out of control. It is turning into child abuse. It demoralizes teachers. It offers the fodder to kill schools. It must be reined in. What kind of person would claim credit for such madness?
Start here:
A parent’s vignette of the CST from child-level:
Two minutes late for the appointed retrieval time, I receive a frantic phone call from the middle-schooler. By the
Cody: Teachers Had No Role in Writing the Common Core Standards
While David Coleman insists that the Common Core standards were written by primarily by teachers, Anthony Cody wrote in 2009 that the standards were drafted by “the secret 60,” only one of whom was a classroom teacher.
The drafting process was done in secret sessions, said Cody, with no input by teachers
The drafting process was done in secret sessions, said Cody, with no input by teachers
David Coleman: Teachers Wrote the Common Core Standards
This is a very interesting story on NPR that pits one education expert against another.
On one side, David Coleman, the acknowledged architect of the Common Core standards. He thinks the standards will make all students ready for college or careers.
On the other, Karl Krawitz, the principal of Shawnee Mission East High School in Kansas. His school sends 98% of its graduates to college. He says his school doesn’t need Common Core.
Coleman: “The most important thing to know is that it was actually teachers who had the most important voice in
On one side, David Coleman, the acknowledged architect of the Common Core standards. He thinks the standards will make all students ready for college or careers.
On the other, Karl Krawitz, the principal of Shawnee Mission East High School in Kansas. His school sends 98% of its graduates to college. He says his school doesn’t need Common Core.
Coleman: “The most important thing to know is that it was actually teachers who had the most important voice in
Diane in the Evening 4-22-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: What Michelle Rhee Told the LA Times About Teacher Evaluation by dianerav Michelle Rhee was recently invited to meet with the Los Angeles Times editorial board. The interview occurred after John Merrow published his bombshellpost about the mysterious memo, the one showing that Rhee was informed about the likelihood of widespread cheating and did nothing about it. Rhee forgot about the cheating memo or didn’t think it important. In the same post on his blog, Merrow said that the public schools were worse off af... more »