Latest News and Comment from Education

Saturday, May 18, 2013

May ← 2013 ← NPE News Briefs

May ← 2013 ← NPE News Briefs:







UTLA Member to Leadership: Let’s SupportMonica NOW! | Diane Ravitch’s blog

by a United Teachers Los Angeles member – If Sanchez wins and becomes (as could be expected) Monica Garcia’s and Deasy’s biggest ally on the board, no one will hear excuses from you (UTLA leadership) that you could not change the endorsement. You certainly have not tried very hard to change it, nor to notify ...

Chicago Teachers Union | President Karen Lewis Re-elected

Chicago – National Board Certified Teacher Karen GJ Lewis has retained her position as president of the Chicago Teachers Union, according to unofficial, preliminary results from today’s election, receiving an overwhelming 80 percent of the votes.  In addition, the Caucus of Rank and File Educators (CORE) has also retained the remaining officer positions including Jesse Sharkey ...

inBloom might be withering in Jefferson CountyColorado – Susan Ohanian Speaks Out

by Susan Ohanian – Jefferson County parents fight for their children’s privacy rights. School Belongs to the Children is fighting the fact that Jefferson County is one of nine “pilot” states that have agreed to share confidential student and teacher data with a Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation-funded operation called the “Shared Learning Collaborative” or ...

Students Last: Pearson Product Placement NoError | Diane Ravitch’s blog

by Diane Ravitch - Students and teachers complained about the commercial brands that were represented in the recent Pearson tests for the a Common Core testing in New York State. According to the authoritative satirical blogger Students Last, this was no error. This is now state policy and a clever way to raise new funding. ...

PBS in Houston: Watch the Faces of the Students | Diane Ravitch’s blog

by Diane Ravitch and a reader of her blog – A reader from Houston suggests that we watch the PBS documentary on Houston’s Apollo program and watch the faces of the students: He writes: To see how many kids react to an overemphasis on testing, watch Dropout Nation. PBS Frontline’s Dropout Nation series featured HISD ...

May 17 in Our History: How Soon We Forget | Diane Ravitch’s blog

by Diane Ravitch – On May 17, 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court declared that segregation of the races in public school was unconstitutional. At the time, segregation was the law in 17 states and many districts. For years, the states where segregation was outlawed resisted the court decision. Their favorite ploy was school choice. They ...

Is the School of the Future in the Cloud? | Diane Ravitch’s blog

by Diane Ravitch – Having studied the history of education for some decades, I have a built-in resistance to claims about the school of the future, particularly when it involves the end of schooling. Over many years, I have seen predictions about that Great Day when all children are self-motivated, all learning comes naturally, and ...

Concord Rebellion Stirring Over Dismissal ofUnion Leader | Diane Ravitch’s blog

by Diane Ravitch – Parents and teachers in Concord, Massachusetts, are outraged over the firing of the teachers’ union leader, an 18-year teacher of third grade, allegedly for ineffectiveness. “The catalyst for the protest was the decision by Thoreau Elementary School Principal Kelly Clough not to renew the contract of veteran third grade teacher and ...

N.Y. Chancellor Tisch Sends Conflicting Message to School Leaders – Finding Common Ground – Education Week

by Peter DeWitt – “We have always expected that scores will drop initially. But that’s not a sign that our education community is doing something wrong. It’s a sign that we’re doing something right.” Meryll Tisch During these times of increased accountability, school leaders are looking to state leaders for guidance on what they can ...

Open Letter to Secretary Duncan from PAAMichigan affiliate leader | Parents Across America

by Steve Norton, head of Michigan Parents for Schools – Sec. Duncan visited two schools in Detroit, one of them an EAA school, and the Perry Child Development Center in Ypsilanti. Our letter points out the conflict between the educational values Sec. Duncan has espoused, and which are the foundation of Perry’s High/Scope model, and ...