Nite Cap UPDATE
UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE
CORPORATE ED REFORM
TOMORROW: Support Whittier School's Battle to Keep LSC-Selected Principal Zoila Garcia
Meeting Tuesday, April 30th, 3 PM at Whittier School
On April 4, 2013, the principal at Whittier Elementary School in Pilsen, was removed by the Pilsen/Little Village Network Chief Stephen Zrike and reassigned temporarily to work from home. Principal Zoila Garcia had been at Whittier for 9 years and her contract was renewed by the Whittier Local School Council last year.
Faculty was informed of the decision on April 4th at 10:00 pm and an important faculty meeting was scheduled for the next morning at 7:15am.
At that meeting, staff were informed and introduce to the new "Administrator-in-charge." Parents were informed that afternoon by letter and then several days later in a meeting to introduce the new administrator.
The move is not supported by the vast majority of parents and faculty. It undermines the Local School Council powers and the democratic process. The community demands the reinstatement of our principal Zoila Garcia.
The Whittier Community will gather in the Xochiquetzal Garden, across the street from Whittier School, 1900 W 23rd St. at 3:00 on Tuesday, April 30 to discuss our next steps.
School closings traumatize vulnerable children
Last Thursday, I stumbled onto a meeting of a University of Chicago group called the Education and Mental Lives of Children study group of the Society for Psychoanalytic Inquiry.
Not my usual crowd, but a neighbor was making a presentation and the topic was, “Closing Schools, Vulnerable Students.”
The evening turned into a very compelling discussion of the traumatic effects of school closings on children. The group plans to discuss the same issues with respect to the effect on children of standardized testing in a future meeting.
Besides my neighbor, education consultant Bruce Thomas, the other presenter was Erika Schmidt, a child and adult psychoanalyst on the faculty of the Institute for Psychoanalysis, where she is the Director of the Center for Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy.
Both Bruce and Erika have worked with schools on this year’s closing list, and are against the closing plan. Bruce testified at a hearing on behalf of one school, and Erika and her staff at the Institute wrote a letter to Barbara Byrd-Bennett (see next post) asking her to consider allowing another school to stay open to maintain it
On Being "College Ready"
Reblogged from An Antique Teacher: My son has taken his parents for quite a "ride" over the last few months as he waited and waited to make a decision about which of the three colleges where he was accepted he would attend. As May 1 seemed to be looming, his father and I kept at [...]
Student asked to take NY state test from hospital bed
Here’s the story. Question. Who is the education, with a college degree, likely a graduate degree, that complied with this order? Or, they took their own initiative to walk into a hospital room and administer a test? I wonder about their fitness to serve young people in any professional capacity. To a certain extent, we [...]
@dianeravitch wonders about a letter sent from @dfer_news and others to USDE
So do we. Actually, aside from the very banal and uninspired content of the letter itself, which weakly advocates for the persistence of statewide accountability in CA despite the state’s desire for a waiver, the letter itself is extremely easy to replicate and satirize. I respect some of these organizations for the work they do. [...]
Parent/teacher Grassroots Rally, as 500 Oppose High Stakes Testing - Social Justice Unionism
High stakes testing - the civil rights issue of our time.
You don't get 500 people out to a rally without organizing or an organization to do the organizing. This is the face of social justice unionism, an event at which Unity and New Action were absent. Change the Stakes was the outgrowth of the work of GEM as has been MORE. Both groups work together. CTS joined with Parent Voices and Time Out From Testing to put this event together. More are coming and we expect the MORE caucus, now that elections are over, to be MORE involved in this movement.
The entire structure of ed deform and the assault on teachers and children emanate from the high stakes testing agenda. Note the vicious attacks on the editorial pages against parents who are opting out. They cannot blame the teachers for this one, so instead they attack the parents. So far this movement has come from the white middle class public school parents but people of color, especially in poor communities are taking note of the
Stop Blaming Schools for Inequality!
In a terrific opinion piece that was prominently featured in the Sunday New York Times, Sean Reardon of Stanford University wrote that the gap between the children of the rich and the children of the poor has grown by 40% in the past 30 years.
Reardon puts to rest virtually every reformer myth: schools don’t cause inequality; schools don’t cure inequality: the achievement gap(s) begin before the first day of school. Stop blaming schools for conditions beyond their control. Poverty matters.
Reardon writes : “We are still talking about this despite decades of clucking about the crisis in American education and wave after wave of school reform.Whatever we’ve been doing in our schools, it hasn’t reduced
Reardon puts to rest virtually every reformer myth: schools don’t cause inequality; schools don’t cure inequality: the achievement gap(s) begin before the first day of school. Stop blaming schools for conditions beyond their control. Poverty matters.
Reardon writes : “We are still talking about this despite decades of clucking about the crisis in American education and wave after wave of school reform.Whatever we’ve been doing in our schools, it hasn’t reduced
Math Instructional Videos In Spanish
In my post, The Best Multilingual & Bilingual Sites For Math, Social Studies, & Science, I share various links to online content knowledge and how to use them effectively with English Language Learners.
I’m adding some additional resources related to math instructional videos in Spanish though, at the same time, I
I’m adding some additional resources related to math instructional videos in Spanish though, at the same time, I
Turmoil swirling around Common Core education standards
As public schools across the country transition to the new Common Core standards, which bring wholesale change to the way math and reading are taught in 45 states and the District, criticism of the approach is emerging from groups as divergent as the tea party and the teachers union.
Read full article >>
Read full article >>
No Child Left Behind District Waivers Derided By Civil Rights, Disabilities Groups
As droves of states wiggle out from some of the toughest components of the much-maligned federal No Child Left Behind Act, school districts in states that were denied waivers from the law's strictures want a piece of the action. Not so fast, says a coalition of eight civil rights groups.
In a letter these groups wrote to U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan -- and forwarded to The Huffington Post Monday morning -- they argue that the price of giving school districts that kind of flexibility is too high, espeically when it comes to student achievement.
"We're asking you to hold the line now," the groups wrote. "Moving away from a system of statewide
In a letter these groups wrote to U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan -- and forwarded to The Huffington Post Monday morning -- they argue that the price of giving school districts that kind of flexibility is too high, espeically when it comes to student achievement.
"We're asking you to hold the line now," the groups wrote. "Moving away from a system of statewide
Indiana Testing Halted by Computer Glitch
Teachers’ salaries in Indiana will be based on state test scores, but the administration of the computer-based tests came to a stop today because the computer servers stopped serving.
There was a time long ago when teachers were trusted to write their own tests and grade them. But that was when states assumed that teachers were professionals. Now the states trust out-of-state corporations and computers.
There was a time long ago when teachers were trusted to write their own tests and grade them. But that was when states assumed that teachers were professionals. Now the states trust out-of-state corporations and computers.
Remainders: A teacher learns a lesson about N.Y.’s test secrecy
- A teacher who tweeted about N.Y’s tests knows now that the state is serious about secrecy. (RL Ratto)
- A series of graphs show striking changes in UFT membership and voter turnout over time. (JD2718)
- A teacher argues that apathy is the main reason that active teachers rarely vote. (Chaz’s School Daze)
- A teacher says retirees should vote in union elections, but only for certain positions. (NYC Educator)
- A math teacher says his experience struggling with topology at Yale helps him help students. (Slate)
- The feds give free breakfast and lunch to poor students. Wealthy students will now get brunch. (Onion)
- Added security at city high schools means recent alums can’t always come back for a visit. (Yahoo News)
- A teacher has an insider’s take on the hours of instructional time that’s lost to testing. (Accountable Talk)
- NBA player Jason Collins’s high-profile coming-out story includes advice for teachers. (Teaching Now)
- Andy Rotherham: Democrats made an unforced error by making the Common Core an issue. (Eduwonk)
- A student with autism successfully auditioned for a selective school, but others did not. (Insideschools)
- Obama’s big second-term education problem is his first term policies ignored equity. (Answer Sheet)
- Indiana is hitting “pause” on Common Core implementation, the latest state to push back. (Politics K-12)
- A Long Island high school reopened today after $10 million to repair Sandy damage. (SchoolBook)
- Foster parents blog about their challenges getting help from the Department of Education. (Fosterwee)
Judge dismisses suit to make co-located charter schools to pay rent
A judge dismissed a lawsuit seeking $100 million in rent from charter schools that have for years occupied space for free in public school buildings.
The lawsuit, filed by parents and advocates nearly two years ago, claimed that the city Department of Education was in violation of state education law by giving city-owned space to privately managed charter schools at no charge. The parents estimated that the annual free ride cost more than $96 million, a total they sought to steer
The lawsuit, filed by parents and advocates nearly two years ago, claimed that the city Department of Education was in violation of state education law by giving city-owned space to privately managed charter schools at no charge. The parents estimated that the annual free ride cost more than $96 million, a total they sought to steer
May 2013: Illinois Pension Attackers and Defenders
Illinois pensions, especially scapegoated teacher pensions, are under attack – again, again and repeatedly again. Legislators who have taken an oath to defend the Illinois constitution are openly breaking their oaths by ignoring the clause that protects pensions – earned benefits, delayed compensation. Why would they do this? Ask the billionaire members of the Civic Committee of the private Commercial Club of Chicago.
Why? $$$$$$$$$
We Are One Illinois has a solid message with a solid request to contact legislators NOW. Let them know we are here and demanding to be heard and represented.
We Are One Illinois is a solid defender of public pensions. Please contact legislators via their site and pass this message along.
Why? $$$$$$$$$We Are One Illinois has a solid message with a solid request to contact legislators NOW. Let them know we are here and demanding to be heard and represented.
We Are One Illinois is a solid defender of public pensions. Please contact legislators via their site and pass this message along.
Action Alert! Pension-Cutting “Mega-Bill” Could Move in May
Please click to read message from WE ARE ONE: http://www.weareoneillinois.org/news/action-alert-pension-cutting-mega-bill-could-move-in-may
TAKE ACTION NOW!!!!!!
And what about the Illinois Retired Teachers Association, IRTA, that continues to collect membership dues from
The NY Times Editorial Endorsing Common Core
Several readers asked me to comment on the New York Times editorial endorsing the Common Core.
I held off because there didn’t seem to be anything to say other than that the Times’ editorial board is repeating what they were told by promoters of the Common Core. The Common Core has serious problems, and there is no evidence that the Times gave any thought to those problems.
It really does matter that no one knows how these standards will work in practice.
No one knows if they will narrow or widen the achievement gaps. Given Sean Reardon’s article in the same
I held off because there didn’t seem to be anything to say other than that the Times’ editorial board is repeating what they were told by promoters of the Common Core. The Common Core has serious problems, and there is no evidence that the Times gave any thought to those problems.
It really does matter that no one knows how these standards will work in practice.
No one knows if they will narrow or widen the achievement gaps. Given Sean Reardon’s article in the same
U.S. Education Secretary to Speak at American Educational Research Association 94th Annual Meeting and Tour Cross Cultural Family Center in San Francisco
U.S. Department of Education Secretary Arne Duncan will travel to San Francisco on Tuesday, April 30, for a three-day tour of the region to highlight the need for more high-quality early learning programs and innovative teaching strategies.
Secretary Duncan to Host Press Call to Discuss Changes to Student Financial Aid Application
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan will host a press call today at 3 p.m. to discuss upcoming changes to the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) that will help the Department to more accurately and fairly discuss students' need for aid. Justin Draeger, president of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, will join Duncan on the call.
Resources From All My Blogs
In addition to this blog, I regularly post at several other sites:
Engaging Parents In School:
Weekly Posts At Classroom Q & A With Larry Ferlazzo:
Monthly Posts At The New York Times Learning Network on Teaching English Language Learners:
Periodic Posts at Edutopia:
All My Class Blogs:
Engaging Parents In School:
LA Unified board member wants improvements to Breakfast in the Classroom program
On Monday LA Unified board member Bennet Kayser called for improvements to the school district’s one-year old Breakfast in the Classroom program, not its elimination.
The statement was prompted by a move by Superintendent John Deasy to put to a vote of the school board the future of a program that's the first project of LA Fund For Public Education, founded by Deasy and an LA philanthropist. The program has fed more than 200,000 students at a third of the district’s schools by moving
The statement was prompted by a move by Superintendent John Deasy to put to a vote of the school board the future of a program that's the first project of LA Fund For Public Education, founded by Deasy and an LA philanthropist. The program has fed more than 200,000 students at a third of the district’s schools by moving
The Three Biggest TFA Lies
When I was a kid, around ten years old I guess, my father told me a joke that began with the question “What are the three biggest lies?” I said I didn’t know and he proceeded to tell me that the first biggest lie is “The check is in the mail,” which as a ten year old I really didn’t get. The second biggest lie was, apparently, “Some of my best friends are Black,” which also didn’t make much sense coming from my father, considering that some of his best friends were, in fact, Black. The third, well, was a bit too X-rated for this blog, and definitely for me as a ten year old. Not everyone is a perfect parent, I know, and I don’t hold this against him, though I do try to limit his unsupervised time with my own two kids.
As someone who is, I suppose, a big “friendly critic” (an expression TFA coined as the need to describe the growing number of frustrated alumni) of TFA, I think the biggest problem with TFA is all the lying. Though the individual people I’ve known on staff aren’t huge liars, themselves, the sum of all the lies add up to an
As someone who is, I suppose, a big “friendly critic” (an expression TFA coined as the need to describe the growing number of frustrated alumni) of TFA, I think the biggest problem with TFA is all the lying. Though the individual people I’ve known on staff aren’t huge liars, themselves, the sum of all the lies add up to an
UFT Elections: votes for New Action, MORE
In the election that ended last week, New Action lost to MORE in every division except retirees. I knew we would lose high schools, and win retirees. That did happen. I thought we would win functionals, and that the races in middle school and elementary school would be close. That did not happen.
Look at those numbers. MORE would seem to have won a substantial victory. (I/T/M refers to any and all of ICE, TJC, and MORE)
Looking at the numbers from 2010 and today, it seems that MORE flipped a chunk of votes from New Action.
Looking at the numbers going back two elections, a different pattern seems to emerge. New Action flips votes from ICE/TJC in 2010, but they come back to MORE in 2013.
Pushing the returns back to 2004, it now looks like the anomalous year was 2010. And 2013 is neither the worst year for New Action, nor the best for ICE/TJC/MORE. That’s actually bad news for New Action – this election was, in relation to the other opposition caucus, fairly normal.
But back to 2010, what might explain the shift? It was, I believe, a more optimistic year. Mulgrew was new, and we preferred his style, and when Weingarten proposed a lousy teacher evaluation system, he said she didn’t get it. He didn’t agree to the outline of the NY State teacher evaluation law until after the election. New Action’s 2010 vote total may have been swelled by voters who wanted to support Mulgrew, but refused to do so on the Unity line.
The ICE/TJC/MORE vote seems to match up most closely between 2007 and 2013, as does the New Action vote, though slightly depressed in 2013 for both caucuses. The Retiree category is an exception, with both groups stronger among retirees in 2013 than they were in 2007.
Look at those numbers. MORE would seem to have won a substantial victory. (I/T/M refers to any and all of ICE, TJC, and MORE)
| Year | ELEM | MS/JHS/IS | High School | Functional | Retirees | |||||||||
| NAC | I/T/M | NAC | I/T/M | NAC | I/T/M | NAC | I/T/M | NAC | I/T/M | |||||
| 2013 | 534 | 1,140 | 161 | 398 | 452 | 1,430 | 754 | 951 | 1880 | 1,490 | ||||
| Year | ELEM | MS/JHS/IS | High School | Functional | Retirees | |||||||||
| NAC | I/T/M | NAC | I/T/M | NAC | I/T/M | NAC | I/T/M | NAC | I/T/M | |||||
| 2010 | 978 | 703 | 421 | 248 | 774 | 1,369 | 1175 | 708 | 2234 | 1,037 | ||||
| 2013 | 534 | 1,140 | 161 | 398 | 452 | 1,430 | 754 | 951 | 1880 | 1,490 | ||||
| Year | ELEM | MS/JHS/IS | High School | Functional | Retirees | |||||||||
| NAC | I/T/M | NAC | I/T/M | NAC | I/T/M | NAC | I/T/M | NAC | I/T/M | |||||
| 2007 | 562 | 1,337 | 273 | 444 | 521 | 1,524 | 548 | 1,032 | 1616 | 1,061 | ||||
| 2010 | 978 | 703 | 421 | 248 | 774 | 1,369 | 1175 | 708 | 2234 | 1,037 | ||||
| 2013 | 534 | 1,140 | 161 | 398 | 452 | 1,430 | 754 | 951 | 1880 | 1,490 | ||||
| Year | ELEM | MS/JHS/IS | High School | Functional | Retirees | |||||||||
| NAC | I/T/M | NAC | I/T/M | NAC | I/T/M | NAC | I/T/M | NAC | I/T/M | |||||
| 2004 | 556 | 1,239 | 311 | 422 | 700 | 1,417 | 512 | 990 | 1558 | 872 | ||||
| 2007 | 562 | 1,337 | 273 | 444 | 521 | 1,524 | 548 | 1,032 | 1616 | 1,061 | ||||
| 2010 | 978 | 703 | 421 | 248 | 774 | 1,369 | 1175 | 708 | 2234 | 1,037 | ||||
| 2013 | 534 | 1,140 | 161 | 398 | 452 | 1,430 | 754 | 951 | 1880 | 1,490 | ||||
The ICE/TJC/MORE vote seems to match up most closely between 2007 and 2013, as does the New Action vote, though slightly depressed in 2013 for both caucuses. The Retiree category is an exception, with both groups stronger among retirees in 2013 than they were in 2007.
Full of questions, Council makes no commitment on more funds for District
By Bill Hangley
District officials were in City Council today to warn that unless Council, the state legislature, and the teacher’s union don’t pitch in, next year’s “dire” budget will transform schools into bare-bones operations stripped of all but the most basic staff and programming.
But City Council president Darrell Clarke said, dire or not, there’s a long way to go before Council can find the $60 million District officials are requesting as the city’s share to plug an unprecedented $300 million structural deficit.
“To suggest that there’s going to be any additional taxes … I think is a stretch at this time,” Clarke said. “I can personally say that without a significant increase in funding from the state, I don’t think there’s going to be any
District officials were in City Council today to warn that unless Council, the state legislature, and the teacher’s union don’t pitch in, next year’s “dire” budget will transform schools into bare-bones operations stripped of all but the most basic staff and programming.
But City Council president Darrell Clarke said, dire or not, there’s a long way to go before Council can find the $60 million District officials are requesting as the city’s share to plug an unprecedented $300 million structural deficit.
“To suggest that there’s going to be any additional taxes … I think is a stretch at this time,” Clarke said. “I can personally say that without a significant increase in funding from the state, I don’t think there’s going to be any
Quarter of students in grades five and eight fail STAAR
Nearly a quarter of fifth and eighth grade students in Texas failed the math or reading sections of the STAAR exam this spring, putting them in jeopardy of being denied promotion in the fall. New test results released Monday by the Texas … [visit site to read more]Cut Down Testing, new student group, check them out
APRIL 29, 2013 BY LEAVE A COMMENT