Latest News and Comment from Education

Thursday, July 4, 2013

7-4-13 @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER

@ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER:

gears




How AFT and NEA Became Partners of CorpEd
Coming to understand that NEA and AFT have been hijacked by corporate money and the insider machinations of corporate stooges is the first step in reclaiming teacher unions at the national level.  As Susan Ohanian notes in comments at the end of the original piece from Schools Matters that is re-posted below, I hold union […]

Eradicating Not Expanding Bad Ed. Policy
” For those who support high-stakes testing and the Common Core, how about we mandate that ALL schools, public, private, or charter use these policies?” (Chris Cerrone)  First, why would we want to mandate such garbage for all schools?  We must preserve those places which are not a part of the corporatization of schools.  Public […]


@unitedoptout Declares Our Independence from Corporate #edreform
United Opt Out National releases its full Declaration of Independence. Here’s what you need to share with everyone: The entire post and introduction to the Declaration; The full-text of UOO’s Declaration in PDF; State by State opt-out or test refusal guides; The Official Get Tough Guide for Education Activism; A short teaser trailer for the Declaration; […]


Full-Page Ad for VAM-Based Teacher Evaluation and Common Core, Paid for by Gates and AFT
BY VICKI PHILLIPS AND RANDI WEINGARTEN [from March 25, 2013 The New Republic] Sponsored content by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and American Federation of Teachers. Some see us as education’s odd couple—one, the president of a democratic teachers’ union; the other, a director at the world’s largest philanthropy. While we don’t agree on everything, we firmly […]

NYSED Commish Declares Independence from his own policies.
Normally I would subscribe to the idea that the children of public figures , such as politicians, bureaucrats, and celebrities, should be off limits for discussion.  I make a strong exception for those in power who advocate policy for “other people’s children” that do not apply to their own.  President Obama, Bill Gates, and New […]
Explicating the Broad Prize Trophy
For second year running, KIPP, Inc. has has been snubbed in their lathered quest for the Broad (rhymes with Toad) Charter Reform School Prize.   Last year KIPP clone, Yes Prep, won; this year it was KIPP knock-off, Uncommon Schools, that carried away the trophy and the cash.  But, then, as Feinberg mused, it’s a […]
PROPOSAL: The Arne Duncan Reader
Typically, a collection titled a “reader” is a compilation of works by a notable writer or thinker, but this proposal is more like a virtual book shelf created for Secretary of Education (and lifelong political appointee who has never taught) Arne Duncan. I think this should be a community project, so I’ll just get us […]

YESTERDAY

SKrashen: Van Roekel asks “What do you want instead (of the common core)?” My response.
I usually just provide a link through to Professor Stephen Krashen’s posts, but this one merits full reproduction here. Van Roekel asks “What do you want instead (of the common core)?” My response. NEA president Dennis Van Roekel has asked: “If you don’t want it (common core), what do you want instead?” The question assumes […]


@ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER
@ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER: NEA’s Van Roekel Uses Duncan Lies to Pimp for Common Core: Calls Critics “Confused”From AJC: The opposition to Common Core:  “If you don’t want it, what do you want instead? And what is in the standards that you don’t want a child to know? One of the things that makes those standards so amazing is that 45 states agreed on the same thing. Democratic and Republ