NPE News Briefs ← from The Network for Public Education:
YESTERDAY
Bush, the Florida BOE, and Leadership Post-Bennett | Scathing Purple Musings
Posted on August 2, 2013 by Bob Sikes Today’s Florida Board of Education emergency meeting was suitably somber. While voting unanimously to appoint Pam Stewart as the interim commissioner a solid decision - this takeaway stood out. Consider this from Kathleen McGrory’s post in the Buzz: During the conference call Friday, board member Kathleen Shanahan called for ...read moreThe post Bush, the Flor
Mike Klonsky’s SmallTalk Blog: Here comes the annual back-to-school media campaign
‘Research shows…’ Twenty-seven students who will enter fifth grade at receiving school, Brennemann, 4251 N. Clarendon Ave., stood along the wall behind the podium during the event, all receiving handshakes from the mayor when he entered the room. (DNAInfo) Amid the chaos of Chicago’s mass school closings and draconian school budget cuts,the Mayor Rahm & ...read moreThe post Mike Klonsky’s Sma
MSNBC – All In | Education commissioner resigns over boosting charter schools grade
August 01, 2013 Education commissioner resigns over boosting charter school’s grade As state chief of Indiana schools, Tony Bennett implemented an A-F grading system, giving the schools a letter grade, just like students. But when a GOP donor’s charter school was going to receive a poor grade, Bennett and his staff scrambled to figure out ...read moreThe post MSNBC – All In | Education commissione
Tony Bennett’s Day of Reckoning Has Come: Is Corporate Reform Far Behind? | Living in Dialogue – Education Week Teacher
By Anthony Cody on August 2, 2013 1:06 PM For months the question has hung in the air: When will the weight of deception bring the corporate reform project crashing down? For some, the day of reckoning has come already. The emails of one of the nation’s leading “Chiefs for Change,” Tony Bennett, were simply ...read moreThe post Tony Bennett’s Day of Reckoning Has Come: Is Corporate Reform Far Behi
Teach for America Apostates: a Primer of Alumni Resistance | truth-out.org
By Owen Davis, Truthout Brianna stands beside the conductor’s podium in the band hall of Chicago’s Uplift High School. An engrossed audience is packed on the risers. Mirrored sunglasses obscure her expression, and her only sign of nervousness is in the movement of her hands, clasping and unclasping before her. Brianna was a public school ...read moreThe post Teach for America Apostates: a Primer o
McCrory claims NC education budget largest in history (Fact check) | The Progressive Pulse
Post on August 1, 2013 by Lindsay Wagner Gov. Pat McCrory unveiled his latest vision for public education this morning at the NC Chamber of Commerce’s Education Summit. The plan includes a $30 million “Education Innovation Fund” that would come from federal Race to the Top grant money and a call to reduce excessive testing. ...read moreThe post McCrory claims NC education budget largest in history
Countdown, Day 39: Hite says staffing levels ‘nowhere near sufficient’ | Philadelphia Public School Notebook
by Dale Mezzacappa on Aug 01 2013 Superintendent William Hite said that his voice might stay calm, but he is definitely not calm about whether he will be able to open schools on time. He was expecting at least to have access by now to $50 million in new funds from the city — and ...read moreThe post Countdown, Day 39: Hite says staffing levels ‘nowhere near sufficient’ | Philadelphia Public School
A Really Cool Reformy Event | Diane Ravitch’s blog
Here they are, folks, the “classics” of the reform movement, devoted to the privatization of American public education. The lead event is when Tony Bennett, the ex-Commissioner of Education in Florida, presents an award for education reform to William J. Bennett, the Secretary of Education during the Reagan administration. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 1, 2013 ...read moreThe post A Really Cool Ref
Test Defenders Feeling the Heat from Test Critics | Diane Ravitch’s blog
The Washington Post has an opinion piece today by Norman Augustine, former CEO of Lockheed Martin, defending the regime of standardized testing and high stakes that has created a vigorous opt-out movement among parents, teachers, and school board members. This is actually a victory for the critics of high-stakes testing because it shows that those ...read moreThe post Test Defenders Feeling the He
Shining examples of moral bankruptcy: Tony Bennett and Michelle Rhee | teacherbiz
Just hours after Florida education commissioner Tony Bennett resigned because of allegations that he manipulated Indiana’s grading system to ensure a friend’s charter school would get an “A” rating, queen of the education reform movement Michelle Rhee tweeted the following: It should be no surprise that Michelle Rhee is so quick to praise Bennett–even as ...read moreThe post Shining examples of mo
Florida’s Education Chief Quits Amid Report That He Changed a School’s Rating – NYTimes.com
By MOTOKO RICH Published: August 1, 2013 Florida’s commissioner of education, a rising star in a national movement pushing for test-based accountability in public schools, resigned on Thursday after just seven months in office, after news reports surfaced that he had changed the grade of an Indiana charter school founded by a prominent campaign donor ...read moreThe post Florida’s Education Chief
Education Gap Goes Beyond Educators | Thinking Arizona
July 28, 2013 Some of the state’s school districts are eagerly anticipating, while some no doubt are dreading, the imminent announcement of this year’s school grades from the state Department of Education. The high performers will be ballyhooed, as the state has every reason to do. But after a year-long study of last year’s state grades, I am convinced that ...read moreThe post Education Gap Goes
The smoking gun. In this video, the Civic Committee’s Ty Fahner admits he colluded with the bond rating agencies to destroy Illinois pensions. | Fred Klonsky
AUGUST 1, 2013 Thanks to Tim Furman for providing this video segment. There is nothing the fat cats in Illinois won’t do to destroy public employee pensions. The Civic Committee’s Ty Fahner demonstrated this when he spoke to a gathering of the Chicago Union League Club last month. Fahner openly admits that he colluded with ...read moreThe post The smoking gun. In this video, the Civic Committee’s
Ed Notes Online | Network for Public Education Update: Tony Bennett Left His Heart in Tallahassee
Lots of good stuff in this update on Tony Bennett, the Chicago Teachers Union protest against ALEC on Aug. 8 (darn, we’re not getting into town until the 9th), and Diane Ravitch’s new book. via Ed Notes Online: Network for Public Education Update: Tony Bennett Left His Heart in Tallahassee.The post Ed Notes Online | Network for Public Education Update: Tony Bennett Left His Heart in Tallahassee ap
Arne Duncan on Tony Bennett, NCLB Waivers, and ESEA Renewal – Politics K-12 – Education Week
By Michele McNeil on August 1, 2013 11:08 PM Yesterday, I sat down with U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan for a 30-minute, wide-ranging interview, which produced these key takeaways: He doesn’t seem worried at all about the larger implications of the Tony Bennett grading scandal. A decision about the California CORE waiver is not ...read moreThe post Arne Duncan on Tony Bennett, NCLB Waivers
The disturbing shift underway in early childhood classrooms | The Answer Sheet
By Valerie Strauss, Published: August 2 at 4:00 amE-mail the writer Increasingly we hear that academic work, including test prep, is reaching down into the lowest grades, even preschool. Here’s a post with teacher concerns on the issue, written by Geralyn Bywater McLaughlin, Nancy Carlsson-Paige, and Diane E. Levin. They run the nonprofit called Defending ...read moreThe post The disturbing shift
Pasi Sahlberg: Testing and Choice Don’t Work | Diane Ravitch’s blog
Pasi Sahlberg, Finland’s education ambassador to the world, recently warned the British government that high-stakes testing would not improve student achievement and that choice would undermine equity. Pasi’s excellent book “Finnish Lessons” has been translated into 15 languages. Finnish education is the reverse of everything we do, yet their students excel on international tests. When ...read mor
School Superintendent Tony Bennett’s Mega-Millionaire Charter School: What Else You Should Know | MyFDL
By: Doug Martin Wednesday July 31, 2013 6:18 pm As everyone by now knows, former Indiana (and now Florida) supt. of public schools Tony Bennett was recently caught rigging the grades of an Indy charter school run by multi-millionaire exchange vocation princess, Republican (and Democrat) campaign donor, mansion owner, and current Indiana Education Roundtable member ...read moreThe post School Super
What the Bush Foundation’s Spin to Defend Tony Bennett Tells Us About Them | Scathing Purple Musings
Posted on August 2, 2013 by Bob Sikes Patricia Levesque, the woman who heads both of Jeb Bush’s foundations, set the tone for the defense of Tony Bennett when the grade fixing story broke Sunday night when she said “they fixed a problem to be accurate and fair — any accusation otherwise is false and ...read moreThe post What the Bush Foundation’s Spin to Defend Tony Bennett Tells Us About Them | S
Why Did CPS Award a $20 Million No-Bid Contract? | Diane Ravitch’s blog
How many times have we heard that the a Chicago Public Schools are broke? Isn’t that why CPS laid off thousands of teachers and closed 50 elementary schools? But wait: this week, CPS gave a $20 million no-bid contract to a for-profit corporation called Supes Academy to train principals. CPS Superintendent Barbara Byrd-Bennett worked for ...read moreThe post Why Did CPS Award a $20 Million No-Bid C
AUG 01
Arne Duncan Worries About Effect of Fla. State Chief’s Resignation | Politics K-12 – Education Week
By Michele McNeil on August 1, 2013 4:27 PM U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, in his first public remarks about the Indiana grading controversy that led to the resignation of Florida Commissioner of Education Tony Bennett, said he “desperately” hopes the state can find a new state chief who will “stay the course.” With ...read moreThe post Arne Duncan Worries About Effect of Fla. State Chie
Why Can’t DFER Deal Will Education Evidence? – SCHOOLS MATTER @ THE CHALK FACE
AUGUST 1, 2013 BY JOHN THOMPSON 1 COMMENT Mac LeBuhn, of Democrats for Education Reform (DFER), started his six-part book club series on Jal Mehta’s The Allure of Order with the solid statement on its conclusion that the standards-based accountability policy paradigm “is an ill-conceived and inadequate response to America’s domestic and international achievement gaps.” ...read moreThe post Why Can
5 Messages About Public Education That Don’t Sell (and Ones That Will) | Alternet
Some messages about education should not be used August 1, 2013 | The following is from a talk given at a meeting of the Young Elected Officials last week in Washington, D.C. Thanks for having me here today. I’m feeling a little out of context at a meeting for the Young Elected Officials. And it’s not ...read moreThe post 5 Messages About Public Education That Don’t Sell (and Ones That Will) | A
On Vultures and Red Wings: Billionaire Gets New Sports Arena in Bankrupt Detroit | The Nation
The headline juxtaposition boggles the mind. You have, on one day, “Detroit Files Largest Municipal Bankruptcy in History.” Then on the next, you have “Detroit Plans to Pay For New Red Wings Hockey Arena Despite Bankruptcy.” Yes, the very week Michigan Governor Rick Snyder granted a state-appointed emergency manager’s request to declare the Motor City ...read moreThe post On Vultures and Red Wings
StudentNation | The Nation
July 31, 2013 – 12:40 PM ET On August 1, students from across the country—Dream Defenders, Moral Monday arrestees, high schoolers resisting school closings and police brutality, statewide organizers from Ohio, New York, California and beyond—will descend on Madison, Wisconsin, for the second annual National Student Power Convergence. Last year, Columbus, Ohio, hosted the first. ...read moreThe pos
Won’t you please come to Chicago. ALEC will be there. August 8th. | Fred Klonsky
AUGUST 1, 2013 You pick up a rock and shine a light. The bugs scatter. Until a few years ago, nobody heard of ALEC. The American Legislative Exchange Council. I first heard of them during the Battle in Madison where Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker carried out the ALEC agenda in taking away collective bargaining rights for ...read moreThe post Won’t you please come to Chicago. ALEC will be there.
Gov. Mike Pence stands by Indiana’s ‘A-F’ school grading system | The Courier-Journal | courier-journal.com
FORT WAYNE, IND. — Gov. Mike Pence said Wednesday he is standing by Indiana’s system of assigning “A-F” grades to schools based on their performance despite reports that the state’s former schools chief worked to change the grading formula to ensure a top GOP donor’s school received an “A.” Pence said Wednesday that the system ...read moreThe post Gov. Mike Pence stands by Indiana’s ‘A-F’ school g
Students for Education Reform: The Rebellion Within | The Nation
August 1, 2013 – 12:41 PM ET In the midst of the Chicago school closings, New York City’s new high-stakes testing teacher evaluation method, and the accelerating privatization of the American education system, it often seems that the corporate throttle on education reform is unshakeable. One glimmer of hope for public education comes from an ...read moreThe post Students for Education Reform: The
Bennett’s Break to Charter Schools Could Have Saved Two Public Schools From Takeover | Scathing Purple Musings
Posted on August 1, 2013 by Bob Sikes From IndianaStar.com reporter Scott Elliott: Two Indianapolis Public Schools might never have been taken over by the state if then-Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett had offered the district the same flexibility he granted a year later to the Christel House Academy charter school. The issue was ...read moreThe post Bennett’s Break to Charter Sch
Stotsky: Why I Oppose Common Core | Diane Ravitch’s blog
Sandra Stotsky was in charge of developing the outstanding academic curriculum frameworks in Massachusetts in the 1990s. She served on one of the committees that participated in the shaping of he Common Core. She certainly believes in standards and testing. She is now one of the most outspoken critics of Common Core. In this article, ...read moreThe post Stotsky: Why I Oppose Common Core | Diane R
Jersey Jazzman: Derrell Bradford’s Fraudulent Voucher Argument
Thursday, August 1, 2013 Derrell Bradford’s Fraudulent Voucher Argument Andy Smarick, former New Jersey Deputy Commissioner of Education, interviewed B4K’s Derrell Bradford for the Fordham Institute’s Flypaper Blog. Masochist that I am, I just couldn’t resist: Lots of ed reformers, especially those on the political left, still oppose publicly funded voucher programs that would enable ...read moreT
Tony Bennett Resigns | Diane Ravitch’s blog
Despite the excuses for his actions, despite the efforts by his friends to defend him, despite the fact that the Fordham Institute named him “the reformiest reformer” in 2011 for his full-throated support of testing and privatization, Tony Bennett resigned today as Florida superintendent of education. He resigned because of the email trail showing he ...read moreThe post Tony Bennett Resigns | Dia
Connecticut’s Governor and elected officials play: “It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)” – Wait, What?
During the last gubernatorial campaign, each side claimed that they had a deeper commitment to fiscal responsibility and government transparency. Now more than two and a half years later we are further away from both concepts than most people could have possibly conceived of. In an announcement that will come as no surprise to Wait, ...read moreThe post Connecticut’s Governor and elected officials
NYC Educator | Schools as Big Business
Thursday, August 01, 2013 Schools as Big Business If you don’t think our corporate pals are gunning for your job, take a look at this lineup from the US Chamber of Commerce Foundation. By their name, you might assume they are some branch of government. While they aren’t, considering the likes of Arne Duncan and ...read moreThe post NYC Educator | Schools as Big Business appeared first on NPE News
Jersey Jazzman: Ultimate Chiefs For Change Fail: B’bye, Bennett!
Thursday, August 1, 2013 Ultimate Chiefs For Change Fail: B’bye, Bennett! Hey Tony, on your way out, don’t let the door hit you on the… Less than eight months after starting his job, Florida’s education commissioner Tony Bennett resigned on Thursday, amid a growing scandal over policy changes he made while serving as schools superintendent in Indiana. ...read moreThe post Jersey Jazzman: Ultimate
Matthew Tully: Tony Bennett’s wife now works at for-profit corporation he picked to run IPS schools | Indianapolis Star | indystar.com
Aug. 1, 2013 11:35 AM Written by Matthew Tully In June of 2011, Tony Bennett, then Indiana’s superintendent of public instruction, picked a for-profit education company in Florida to run a group of Indianapolis public schools. The company, Charter Schools USA, set up operations in Indianapolis soon after the announcement and officially began running Manual High ...read moreThe post Matthew Tully:
The biggest loser in the Tony Bennett resignation
By Valerie Strauss, Published: August 1 at 2:03 pm Now this gives new meaning to Jeb Bush’s Chiefs for Change school reform group. Tony Bennett, founding Chiefs member, just resigned as Florida’s superintendent of public schools amid a scandal about his actions when he was Indiana’s schools chief. He was forced out of that job late ...read moreThe post The biggest loser in the Tony Bennett resigna
Bullard: Education commissioner should resign | Naked Politics
Add Sen. Dwight Bullard, D-Miami, to the list of state lawmakers calling for Education Commissioner Tony Bennett’s resignation. Bullard wrote the following in a letter to Gov. Rick Scott on Wednesday: “In light of the recent reports from the Associated Press and other news outlets on Department of Education chief Tony Bennett’s grade changing activities ...read moreThe post Bullard: Education comm
Florida GOP feels conservative backlash over Common Core | Tampa Bay Times
Saturday, July 27, 2013 8:24pm Former Gov. Jeb Bush supports Common Core, but his influence is waning in the party. Long after he left the Governor’s Mansion in 2007, Jeb Bush remained the strongest force in shaping Florida’s education policies, stronger than his successors, Charlie Crist and Rick Scott. But whether it’s due to high-stakes ...read moreThe post Florida GOP feels conservative backla
Kindergarten CCSS madness? Buckle up Robin! – SCHOOLS MATTER @ THE CHALK FACE
JULY 31, 2013 BY CHRIS CERRONE My recent post of first grade vocabulary from the New York State Education Department’s EngageNY website created a tremendous discussion. Is Common Core curriculum produced by Core Knowledge© age appropriate? Is this a symptom of the Common Core in general? Does the Common Core address the cognitive development of ...read moreThe post Kindergarten CCSS madness? Bu
School Superintendent Tony Bennett’s Mega-Millionaire Charter School: What Else You Should Know | MyFDL
By: Doug Martin Wednesday July 31, 2013 6:18 pm As everyone by now knows, former Indiana (and now Florida) supt. of public schools Tony Bennett was recently caught rigging the grades of an Indy charter school run by multi-millionaire exchange vocation princess, Republican (and Democrat) campaign donor, mansion owner, and current Indiana Education Roundtable member ...read moreThe post School Super
JUL 31
Jersey Jazzman | Tony Bennett’s Own Staff Contradicts His Denials
Wednesday, July 31, 2013 Tony Bennett’s Own Staff Contradicts His Denials Rick Hess (who else?) gives Tony Bennett a platform to make the case that he only changed the grade for a charter school – whose founder gave him $90,000 in campaign contributions – to correct a small statistical anomaly: Rick Hess: So, Tony. You know ...read moreThe post Jersey Jazzman | Tony Bennett’s Own Staff Contradicts
A Story About Michelle Rhee That No One Will Print | Taking Note
by JOHN MERROW on 31. JUL, 2013 in 2013 Michelle Rhee lobbies across the country for greater test-based accountability and changes in teacher tenure rules. She often appears on television and in newspapers, commenting on a great range of education issues. Easily America’s best-known education activist, she is always introduced as the former Chancellor of ...read moreThe post A Story About Michel
NCLB Waiver Implications From Indiana Grade-Changing Controversy – Politics K-12 – Education Week
By Michele McNeil on July 31, 2013 1:09 PM Regardless of what you think about Florida state chief Tony Bennett’s decision to change the grading scale for schools when he held the same post in Indiana, there are some important questions from a federal policy perspective: • Since his grading scale was part of Indiana’s ...read moreThe post NCLB Waiver Implications From Indiana Grade-Changing Controv
Lies, Damn Lies, Statistics and RSD AP | Crazy Crawfish’s Blog
Posted on July 31, 2013 0 Sometimes it’s not just what you say, but what you don’t say that tells the true story as one of my contributors from St Tammany recently pointed out. Recently John White and our local media have been proudly crowing from every tower and tree about how well our students ...read moreThe post Lies, Damn Lies, Statistics and RSD AP | Crazy Crawfish’s Blog appeared first on N
Walton Foundation Gives $20 Million to TFA | Diane Ravitch’s blog
The most reactionary and anti-union of the major foundations–the billionaire Walton Family Foundation–has awarded $20 million to Teach for America to send bright, ill-prepared new college graduates into the nation’s classrooms. The largest contingent –700–will go to Los Angeles. That city has a large number of nonunion charter schools. TFA aids the Walton ambition to ...read moreThe post Walton Fo
Locals blast Bennett for school grades flap : Hammond News
Some local educators and politicians said they are not surprised former Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett may have manipulated the A-F school grading formula developed by his office in favor of charter schools. The Associated Press reported Monday that Bennett and his staff scrambled last fall to ensure that Christel House Academy, a ...read moreThe post Locals blast Bennet
‘It’s a feeling of desperation’ for thousands of Moral Monday protestors | News-Record.com
Posted: Monday, July 29, 2013 11:00 pm | Updated: 11:22 pm, Mon Jul 29, 2013. By Travis Fain travis.fain@news-record.com RALEIGH — Thousands of North Carolina teachers marched on the state capitol Monday, saying they’ve had enough of the frozen salaries, budget cuts and Republican policy shifts that are wrecking public education. The weekly “Moral Monday” ...read moreThe post ‘It’s a feeling of de
Bush’s foundation backs Bennett | Tampa Bay Times
Lisa Gartner, Times Staff Writer Tuesday, July 30, 2013 5:29pm Embattled Florida Education Commissioner Tony Bennett received support Tuesday from Foundation for Florida’s Future, the education organization helmed by former Gov. Jeb Bush. Bush, of course, pioneered Florida’s system of school grades. Bennett was accused Monday of meddling with Indiana’s school grading system to benefit ...read more
Greetings from Choice-o-Rado | EduShyster
Posted on July 31, 2013 The ‘C’ is for ‘Choice’ Is there such a thing as too much choice? Reader: this is what is known as a rhetorical question—and the rhetorical answer is “no.” But don’t allow me to make up your rhetorical mind for you. I insist that you accompany me on an extra-special ...read moreThe post Greetings from Choice-o-Rado | EduShyster appeared first on NPE News Briefs.
Gov. Rick Scott says Tony Bennett is “doing a great job” | Tampa Bay Times
Wednesday, July 31, 2013 11:39am EDMUND D. FOUNTAIN | TimesGov. Rick Scott and Florida Education Commissioner Tony Bennett met with superintendents, teachers and principals from around the state in December. After a couple days of radio silence about the scandal involving Florida’s education commissioner, Gov. Rick Scott finally has something to say. He told Channel ...read moreThe post Gov. Rick
Arne Gets Angry at Georgia | Diane Ravitch’s blog
A few days ago, Georgia announced that it was dropping out of PARCC, the Common Core testing consortium funded by the U.S. Department of Education. State officials said the state could not afford the technology or the cost. The U.S. Department of Education was swift to respond. It wrote Georgia to warn that it is ...read moreThe post Arne Gets Angry at Georgia | Diane Ravitch’s blog appeared first
Arthur Camins: Question TFA Ideas, Not the Kids | Diane Ravitch’s blog
Arthur Camins explains what is wrong with the TFA approach but cautions that the recruits should not be blamed or criticized. I agree. The recruits are idealistic and well-intentioned. They are akin to Peace Corps volunteers. No one suggests that Peace Corps volunteers are qualified to be Foreign Service officers or diplomats or ambassadors. Blame ...read moreThe post Arthur Camins: Question TFA I
What’s Missing From Common Core Is Education for Democracy | Alan Singer – Huffington Post
Posted: 07/30/2013 11:21 am This is my third post in a series “Reclaiming the Conversation on Education.” In the first “reclaiming” post I discussed what schools and education should be like in a democratic society drawing on ideas developed by the philosopher John Dewey in the early decades of the 20th century. The second “reclaiming” ...read moreThe post What’s Missing From Common Core Is Educat
Common Core/Data Sharing letter from a true Louisiana Patriot, Debbie Sachs, that I would like to share with my readers | Crazy Crawfish’s Blog
Posted on July 30, 2013 1 Common Core and Data Sharing is an issue that should be a concern for everyone, no matter what political color you bleed (red, blue or green.) I am proud to count Debbie as one of my staunchest and most dedicated allies in the fight to reject the corporate takeover ...read moreThe post Common Core/Data Sharing letter from a true Louisiana Patriot, Debbie Sachs, that I wou
George Schmidt: How to Become an Excellent Teacher | Diane Ravitch’s blog
George Schmidt taught for many years in Chicago until he was fired by Paul Vallas, then the CEO, for revealing test questions (to show how idiotic they were). He now offers advice on how to succeed as a teacher: Thanks for making me laugh this otherwise unfunny Chicago morning. Around here, the best way to ...read moreThe post George Schmidt: How to Become an Excellent Teacher | Diane Ravitch’s bl
Jersey Jazzman | NJDOE Commissioner Chris Cerf Knows How To Pick ‘Em!
Tuesday, July 30, 2013 NJDOE Commissioner Chris Cerf Knows How To Pick ‘Em! Chris Cerf, New Jersey’s Commissioner of Education, promoted Barbara Morgan to NJDOE’s Director of the Office of Public Information back in 2012. Morgan – who apparently never moved to New Jersey, unlike the many public workers forced to move even under the ...read moreThe post Jersey Jazzman | NJDOE Commissioner Chris Cer
Former Indiana Superintendent, Lauded by ALEC and Education Privatizers, Cheats on School Grading Formula for Top Donor | PR Watch
by Brendan Fischer — July 30, 2013 – 10:26am New documents show that former Indiana Schools Superintendent Tony Bennett — who now heads Florida’s schools — overhauled Indiana’s much-heralded school grading system to guarantee that a charter run by a major campaign donor would receive top marks. These revelations shine a light on the big ...read moreThe post Former Indiana Superintendent, Lauded by
How Teaming on School Choice Helps Rand Paul and Lamar Alexander | Politics K-12 – Education Week
By Alyson Klein on July 30, 2013 1:06 PM Washington At first glance, GOP Senators Rand Paul and Lamar Alexander might seem like a bit of an odd couple. Although staunchly conservative, Alexander, of Tennessee, is often, ultimately, a dealmaker (witness his recent role in helping to broker a deal with Democrats on student loan ...read moreThe post How Teaming on School Choice Helps Rand Paul and La
Eduflack | Racing Locally
This afternoon, the U.S. Department of Education formally announced the latest round of the Race to the Top competition. After directing significant dollars to states to drive wholesale school improvement efforts and to assessment consortia to develop new tests around Common Core State Standards, ED is back focusing on individual buildings and classrooms. The latest ...read moreThe post Eduflack
NYC Public School Parents | The biggest scandal of Teach for America?
Tuesday, July 30, 2013 The biggest scandal of Teach for America? There has been much discussion and debate about how Teach for America undermines our public schools by encouraging the deprofessionalization of the teaching force, and “perpetuates systemic inequalities” especially in urban schools. In many districts, TFA has used its political clout to get its ...read moreThe post NYC Public School
Some context for Tony Bennett’s emails | Get On The Bus – Indystar.com
July 29th, 2013 | by Scott Elliott There’s no way around the fact that Tony Bennett and his former Indiana Department of Education staff look pretty bad in a story today by the Associated Press. Some excellent reporting by AP’s Tom LoBianco unearthed emails from last fall in which Bennett and staff appear to undertake ...read moreThe post Some context for Tony Bennett’s emails | Get On The Bus – I
Poverty in America: Why It Matters | Diane Ravitch’s blog
For the past decade, corporate reformers have repeatedly said that poverty is an excuse used by and for bad teachers. If all teachers were “great” teachers, all children would have high test scores, there would be no achievement gap, and our problems would be solved. Forgive me if the logic doesn’t work, but I don’t ...read moreThe post Poverty in America: Why It Matters | Diane Ravitch’s blog app
Reformer Love for the Opinion Pages | deutsch29
July 30, 2013 For reformers advancing their cause in the ubiquitous education reform battle, no medium is too insignificant for promoting privatization. As such, an important yet unassuming battlefield involves the opinion pages in community newspapers. My first experience with this opinion-page battle involves reading then-Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) President Penny Dastug
Tony Bennett’s Grade-Rigging Lifted All Charter Schools | Diane Ravitch’s blog
The emails unearthed by Tom LoBianco of the Associated Press show that Tony Bennett was desperately trying to rig the system to raise the grade of one charter school from a C to an A. That charter happened to be the charter held by a major donor to GOP campaigns, including Bennett’s, which received $130,000 ...read moreThe post Tony Bennett’s Grade-Rigging Lifted All Charter Schools | Diane Ravitc