NPE News Briefs ← from The Network for Public Education:
Pilsen parents call fieldhouse demolition a ‘betrayal’ — CPS cites safety concerns | Chicago Sun-Times
BY MAUDLYNE IHEJIRIKA Staff Reporter August 17, 2013 12:08AM Updated: August 17, 2013 12:45AM The demolition of the Whittier Elementary School fieldhouse in Pilsen began under cover of night late Friday. The mission from Chicago Public Schools brass: Demolish the fieldhouse, aka La Casita, which Whittier parents had fought to save in 2010, staging a ...read moreThe post Pilsen parents call fieldho
State report lists large number of South Florida charter schools operating with a deficit | South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com
By Scott Travis, Sun Sentinel 3:39 p.m. EDT, August 16, 2013 As South Florida’s charter schools prepare to open for the new school year Monday, a new state Auditor General’s report warns several may be on shaky financial ground. The report said 17 of Broward County’s 73 charter schools ended the 2011-12 financial year with ...read moreThe post State report lists large number of South Florida chart
A conversation with Philadelphia public school teachers | WHYY
August 15, 2013 Guests: JOHN COATS, SUSAN LEE and HILLARY LINARDOPOULOS The ongoing battle to remedy the Philadelphia public school funding crisis took on a new twist earlier this week when Governor Corbett tied $45 million in state funds to the terms of a new teachers’ contract. The Governor is demanding that the teachers’ union ...read moreThe post A conversation with Philadelphia public school
Billionaire-financed Astroturf Group Coming to North Carolina | Parents Across America
PAA affiliate Mecklenburg ACTS just learned that the astroturf “Campaign for Achievement Now” has targeted our state for its next legislative drive. According to the website, the Campaign plans to spend more than $700,000 in our state to advance its charter and testing-focused agenda in 2012 alone, most of it apparently financed by the Bill ...read moreThe post Billionaire-financed Astroturf Group
NC Education Leaders Want the Governor to Call Special Session Over Education Budget Cuts | WFDD
More than 100 teachers, parents and community members gathered in Winston-Salem Wednesday to rally against education budget cuts. A similar rally was also held in Greensboro. The education rallies are among several protests across North Carolina, after state lawmakers passed a budget late last month. The crowd at Grace Court in the West end of ...read moreThe post NC Education Leaders Want the Gov
Head Start limiting enrollment, cutting programs as sequester kicks in | Hechinger Report
By Lillian Mongeau Thousands of children across the state are likely to be shut out of preschool in September as the federal sequestration cuts to Head Start take effect. The across-the-board reductions to large portions of the federal budget were triggered in March, when Congress failed to reach an agreement on balancing the budget by ...read moreThe post Head Start limiting enrollment, cutting p
Extremely Speculative Use of NAEP Data by “Reformers” | SCHOOLS MATTER @ THE CHALK FACE
AUGUST 16, 2013 BY JOHN THOMPSON As much as I respect Steve Sawchuk, his “When Bad Things Happen to Good NAEP Data” is an example of When Good Reporters Face Bad Spin. He recounted examples of “misnaepery” or the misuse of NAEP data. In doing so, Sawchuk demonstrated a false equivalency between egregious violations of ...read moreThe post Extremely Speculative Use of NAEP Data by “Reformers” | SCH
Paul Karrer: Will Technology Widen the Achievement Gaps? | Diane Ravitch’s blog
Paul Karrer teaches elementary school in Southern California, where many of his students are English language learners. Karrer worries that the demand for more expensive tools will not be a panacea. Instead, he fears, it will widen achievement gaps and reduce the schools’ budget for art, music, and other essential studies. Two years ago, Karrer ...read moreThe post Paul Karrer: Will Technology Wid
New York Legislature to Reconsider Testing, Common Core | Heartlander Magazine
Lawmakers will review New Yorks recent education reform agenda, including Common Core national education standards, in public September hearings. The quality of Common Core, state assessments, and student privacy are the main issues the hearings will address after widespread public outcry largely centered on testing. “We are holding the hearings to see if we’re getting ...read moreThe post New Yor
Louisiana Replaces Failed Charters with More Charters | Diane Ravitch’s blog
Veteran educator Mike Deshotels writes here about Louisiana’s relentless drive to privatize public education. At a recent meeting of the state board of education, packed with Bobby Jindal extremists thanks to out-of-state money in the last board election, the board continued to approve more charters to replace failing charters. Deshotels writes: via Louisiana Replaces Failed ...read moreThe post L
YESTERDAY
Maine education commissioner resigns to take national post | Bangor Daily News
Aug. 16, 2013, at 4:09 p.m. AUGUSTA, Maine — Maine Education Commissioner Stephen Bowen announced Friday that he will resign effective Sept. 12 to take a job with the national Council of Chief State School Officers, according to a statement from Gov. Paul LePage. Bowen, who was appointed by LePage in March 2011, has been ...read moreThe post Maine education commissioner resigns to take national po
Washington warned by feds on teacher evaluation | The News Tribune
Published: August 15, 2013 Updated 21 hours ago By Debbie Cafazzo — Staff writer The U.S. Department of Education said Thursday that Washington state’s new teacher evaluation system fails to meet federal standards for measuring how much teachers contribute to student academic growth. Department officials said they’re placing Washington’s request for a waiver from provisions of ...read moreThe post
Mike Klonsky’s SmallTalk Blog | There’s nothing wrong with Common Core Standards, except…
There’s nothing wrong with schools having high academic standards There’s plenty wrong with having those standards handed down from on high and then bringing in multi-million-dollar ramrods on no-bid contracts to “retrain” teachers and principals into passive compliance. There is even more wrong with Common Core and it “rigorous” testing regimen being used to sort ...read moreThe post Mike Klonsky
TFA Teachers and Alumni Continue to Challenge Its Influence | Alternet
August 16, 2013 | Teach for America is at universities, recruiting high-achieving graduates to teach in the nation’s underserved urban and rural areas. It’s at school boards, lobbying districts to renew its contracts and import hundreds of its members. It’s in corporate boardrooms, asking for tens of millions in funding. With more than 32,000 alumni, its ...read moreThe post TFA Teachers and Alu
Jersey Jazzman | A Crib Sheet for the Rhee/Perry Tour
Friday, August 16, 2013 Looks like someone is desperately trying to become relevant again: Michelle Rhee wants to have a candid conversation with her fiercest critics. And she’s asking local teachers union leaders and activists — long her most vocal opponents — to be a part of each event. According to the invitations sent Wednesday, ...read moreThe post Jersey Jazzman | A Crib Sheet for the Rhee/P
Why Does a “Turnaround” District Need to Purchase Buildings? | deutsch29
August 16, 2013 When the Recovery School District (RSD) was formed, it was supposed to “turn around” schools and return the schools to the original distircts: Intended as a mechanism for restructuring and reform, the RSD was never meant to be a permanent part of the public school governance landscape in New Orleans. Instead, the ...read moreThe post Why Does a “Turnaround” District Need to Purchas
Jersey Jazzman: Dear NJ Teacher Voting For @GovChristie: ARE YOU INSANE?!?!
Friday, August 16, 2013 Dear Fellow NJ Public School Teacher Getting Ready To Vote For Chris Christie This Fall: Are you out of your freakin’ mind?!?! Christie presented his major accomplishment as breaking the back of public-sector unions with government employees while simultaneously wooing private-sector unions. “We have the endorsement of 24 building-trade unions,” he ...read moreThe post Jers
Does the U.S. Education Department Have a Dirty Data Problem? | Politics K-12 – Education Week
By Michele McNeil on August 16, 2013 1:24 PM Over at Charters and Choice, my colleague Katie Ash wrote about a new Government Accountability Office report finding big problems with charter schools reporting accurate enrollment numbers for English-language learners. Her headline was: “GAO: Many Charter Schools Are Not Reporting Data on ELLs”. The headline could ...read moreThe post Does the U.S. Ed
Most Voucher Applicants in Wisconsin Attend Private Schools | Diane Ravitch’s blog
At the behest of Governor Scott Walker, the Wisconsin legislature expanded the voucher program statewide, even though it did not raise test scores in Milwaukee over the past 22 years. As critics of the program feared, 75% of those who applied for vouchers are are not currently enrolled in public schools. Two-thirds are enrolled in ...read moreThe post Most Voucher Applicants in Wisconsin Attend Pr
It’s time for teachers to stand against outside influences | A Better Iowa
August 8, 2013 You may remember the scene from the Disney movie A Bug’s Life when the leader of the grasshoppers explains to his gang that, even though they may be bigger and scarier, if the ants ever figure out that their strength and numbers are far greater they will no longer allow themselves to ...read moreThe post It’s time for teachers to stand against outside influences | A Better Iowa appe
Is This the Future of Urban Districts? | Diane Ravitch’s blog
This teacher describes a series of moves in Philadelphia to save money by hiring uncertified nurses and replacing experienced teachers with TFA. Superintendent Hite is a Broad Academy graduate. She writes: “It is a discouraging day for Philadelphia teachers. The school district has been scrambling/fighting to find $50 million to call back laid off employees ...read moreThe post Is This the Future
College Board’s Indiana connections | The Journal Gazette
August 15, 2013 6:59 p.m. Karen Francisco | The Journal Gazette Education Week reports that the College Board is the latest education services provider to jump on the Common Core bandwagon, creating tests aligned with the controversial national standards. EdWeek’s Catherine Gewertz reports (subscription only) that the company is “talking with policymakers and educators in ...read moreThe post Coll
Best Quote of the Day | Diane Ravitch’s blog
In a front page story in the New York Times about the budget crisis in Philadelphia, parent leader Helen Gym said this: “The concept is just jaw-dropping,” said Helen Gym, who has three children in the city’s public schools. “Nobody is talking about what it takes to get a child educated. It’s just about what ...read moreThe post Best Quote of the Day | Diane Ravitch’s blog appeared first on NPE Ne
A ‘School to Prison Pipeline?’ Lawyers Ask AISD to Rethink Ticketing Students | KUT News
Mon August 12, 2013 By Syeda Hasan and Wells Dunbar, KUT News Austin attorneys say the criminalization of student discipline is unfairly putting kids in the legal system. The Austin Lawyers Guild wants Austin schools to end disciplinary policy of ticketing students for minor misbehaviors – a practice it says creates a “school-to-prison pipeline” for troubled students. ...read moreThe post A ‘Schoo
School reformers give a lesson in corruption | Salon.com
THURSDAY, AUG 15, 2013 06:59 PM EDT The recent scandal ousting Florida’s top education official shows where the privatization movement’s priorities lie BY DAVID SIROTA Paradoxes come in all different forms, but here’s one that perfectly fits this Gilded Age: The most significant lesson from the ongoing debate about American education has little to do ...read moreThe post School reformers give a le
Education Commissioner Pryor: Test scores dropped because we were teaching to the wrong test… – Wait, What?
Aug 16, 2013 According to the CT Mirror, “Pryor said some of the more pronounced decreases in lower grades may be due to the shift to the Common Core curriculum, which has a different pace and a more analytical approach. Students using the new curriculum haven’t covered some of the areas in the test.” So ...read moreThe post Education Commissioner Pryor: Test scores dropped because we were teachin
Common Core Gravy Train: Profit for Coleman, College Board, and Testing Mania | SCHOOLS MATTER @ THE CHALK FACE
AUGUST 16, 2013 BY PLTHOMASEDD Along with Michelle Rhee’s gravy train of hypocrisy, public education in the U.S. is under assault from the gravy train of profit driven by Common Core: The College Board is redesigning four of its testing programs so they reflect the Common Core State Standards and can be used for accountability, ...read moreThe post Common Core Gravy Train: Profit for Coleman, Coll
NYC Educator | Elections Obsolete, Declares Reformy John King
Thursday, August 15, 2013 Elections Obsolete, Declares Reformy John King Buffalo has not jumped when Reformy John King snapped his fingers, and that is unacceptable to Reformy John. Being King, Reformy John has decreed that the elected school boards ought to be replaced. Evidently, Reformy John is using the New York model. When Emperor Bloomberg ...read moreThe post NYC Educator | Elections Obsole
How Much Value Added for Divorce? | SCHOOLS MATTER @ THE CHALK FACE
AUGUST 15, 2013 BY FREETOTEACH How about having some freakin’ Common Core Standards on how to teach kids about surviving their parents’ divorce? Watching this HBO documentary, “Don’t Divorce Me!” got me thinking about how utterly ridiculous and destructive this entire high stakes accountability policy actually is in the real world, where most of us live. How ...read moreThe post How Much Value Add
On education, mayoral hopefuls don’t talk about their limitations | GothamSchools
by Geoff Decker, at 7:53 pm One mayoral candidate wants to ban testing. Another has pledged to close charter schools. And one wants to raise city income taxes to fund early childhood education. Despite coming from different candidates, the pledges have one thing in common: They can’t be fulfilled from inside City Hall, despite mayoral ...read moreThe post On education, mayoral hopefuls don’t talk
City of Philadelphia Borrows $50 Million to Enable School District to Open School Year | janresseger
Tonight the New York Times reports that the City of Philadelphia will borrow $50 million through general obligation bonds to help the school district open the school year on time. The city will risk its own credit rating, “taking on medium-term debt to pay for day-to-day operations — a practice that is widely seen by ...read moreThe post City of Philadelphia Borrows $50 Million to Enable School Di
State Board to Revoke Licenses of Effective Teachers | Schooling Memphis
Friday, August 16, 2013 State Board to Revoke Licenses of Effective Teachers Tomorrow, the State Board of Ed will consider changes to the state’s teacher licensing process. This comes on the heels of their unfortunate decision to lower the already-low floor of this state’s teacher salaries. So what is this about? The state wants us ...read moreThe post State Board to Revoke Licenses of Effective
The Answer Sheet | How students are being set up to fail
By Valerie Strauss, Published: August 16 at 4:00 amE-mail the writer Are school children being set up to fail? Jeff Bryant, an associate fellow at the Campaign for America’s Future, thinks so and explains in this post. Bryant is the owner of a marketing and communications consultancy that serves organizations including Human Rights Watch, Doctors ...read moreThe post The Answer Sheet | How student
My Advice to the Next Mayor of New York City | Diane Ravitch’s blog
In November, New Yorkers will elect a new mayor. It matters a lot for the future of public education in the city. The mayor has complete control of the city school system. The mayor appoints 8 of 13 members of the city school board, who serve at his pleasure. If one of his appointees dares ...read moreThe post My Advice to the Next Mayor of New York City | Diane Ravitch’s blog appeared first on NP
Indianapolis Public Schools asks for records that led to the takeover of 4 schools | WISH TV
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – Indianapolis Public Schools officials are asking for all public records regarding the 2011 takeover of four of the district’s schools. This comes after the recent A-F accountability system scandal . Officials say the school district deserves a review of the circumstances “given the recent media reports concerning IDOE’s treatment of Christel House and a ...read moreThe post I