Ed Notes Online
Daily Howler on NY Times Ed Reporter Motoko Rich: functionally illiterate
I can't pass this one up from Howler. He takes the article Rich wrote apart with pertinent quotes from the Ravitch book. I don't opt for the "she knows not what she does" POV. I think she lines up with the typical NY Times ed deform agenda that disparages the public school system.We return to that New York Times news report!Posted: 02 Nov 2013 01:16 PM PDTSATURDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2013Motoko
Video: Recchia and District 21 CEC Parents Object to DOE Co-Locations
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvSu_tm5tKMhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwKviU6VmLk
Mother Jones on Who is Behind Campbell Brown Anti-Teacher Campaign
Before Brown left CNN three years ago, her evening news show carried a memorable tagline: "No bias. No bull." She can't say the same for her foray into the education wars.... she failed to disclose was that her husband, Dan Senor, sits on the board of the New York affiliate of StudentsFirst, an education lobbying group founded by Michelle Rhee... New York state law also mandates that an
DOE Response to Flushing HS Principal Setting Minimun Grade Score
While STARS offers a variety of grading scales, schools are not required to use the entire 1-100 point scale in their grading policies.... Katie Hansen Office of Academic Policy and Systems Dear DOE administrators, Either you are flagrantly flouting your own grading policy or you are horribly confusing the terms: grading policy versus grading scale. Hurricanes are categorized in a scale of 1 to 5
Norm's Speech at the PEP, October 30, 2013
Charter school parents had their choice of sending their kids to school taken away when charters closed down their schools for a political rally. They are not public schools.
YESTERDAY
Teacher Questions Flushing HS Principal's Reduction of Passing Grade to 55
it is the right of the principal to set the grading policy for a school. It is common practice in high schools to establish 55 as the lowest grade awarded to students. .. Qns Dist Supt Juan MendezTeacher follows chain of command to Polakow-Suransky and Qns HS Dist. Supt. Juan Mendez2nd email request: Principal James Brown's grading policy - Flushing High School to SuranskyDear Mr. Polakow-Suransk
OCT 31
Pre-PEP Funeral for Closing Schools Pics
Our own Evil Eva dressed appropriately for Halloween with old nemesis Noah Gotbaum. Thanks to Pat Dobosz for the pics. A roll-call was read listing each of the over 160 schools that have been murdered by Bloomberg's hench-people at Tweed. After this people at the PEP buried the pathetic puppets of the PEP -- only 2 months left. Not that I trust de Blasio to do much given the charter lobby has such
Tish James @ the PEP: We Want Our Schools Back
Not up to the impact of James' galvanizing speech at the Oct. 15 PEP where she laid bare the DOE policy of inequality. Here she does some posturing and I hated her use of the charter standard use of "scholars" -- is she coopting them? But she rises to the occasion at the end with her call of "We want our schools back."http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYwb_mCehTY>
OCT 30
Ps 196 Wins
Co-loco tonight off PEP agenda. Keep up the fight everyone. Cheers, Norm Scott Twitter: normscott1 Education Notes ednotesonline.blogspot.com Grassroots Education Movement gemnyc.org Education columnist, The Wave www.rockawave.com nycfirst robotics normsrobotics.blogspot.com Sent from my BlackBerry
Video: PS 196K Rallies Against Co-Loco
Another unreported rally at a public school with an overflow crowd at the hearing following the rally - schools that can't close for half a day to march over a bridge to demonstrate their opposition to fundamental Bloomberg ed policies. Go add up all the people at all the local school-based rallies and see if that doesn't top the charter rally where parents were told they had to attend while their
MORE Weekly Update #73: Protest Colocations at the PEP on October 30th!
Protest Colocations at the PEP on October 30th! View this email in your browser Weekly Update #73 October 30, 2013Join MORE Today Facebook Twitter Email Please help out with this action. Click here for quarter sheet flyers to distribute to your colleagues. The campaign for a moratorium
Not 'till the fat lady sings
Six of us piled into a van today to go down to Philadelphia to say goodbye to a dear friend and political pal of over 40 years. Our friend had decided to enter hospice care just 2 days ago at his daughter's home after months in the hospital. I expected the worst but got the best. Our friend though weak, was as eloquent and lucid as he always has been at political events, often dominating the room.
Fred Smith On the Empress Tisch
What clear and astute observations... Loretta PriscoFred, thanks for this scathing and brilliant portrait. Helps me make sense of my visceral reaction of horror at her presentation. So much feigned reasonableness and caring. So little capacity for hearing the truth.... Jeff NYes, Fred- so right on! Let's not forget that the "flawed accountability system" she is replacing is one SHE is re
The Daily Howler on Frank Bruni Piece on Colorado Ed Law, Supported by Sell-Out AFT and NEA
Can we talk? In our post-journalistic culture, everyone is an expert on schools! Everyone except the people who get assigned to be education reporters..... Columnists sometimes like to pretend that they know about public schools, though it rarely seems that they do. More horribly, education reporters often seem caught in the grip of the same affliction.... The Daily Howler on Frank Bruni ed piece
OCT 29
Oct. 30 PEP: Parents, Teachers, Clergy and Students to Rally for End To School Closures and Co-Locations
Gotta switch mind-sets after the last post and focus on the PEP at Prospect Hts HS. I will be there to get what footage I can. First a rally, then let's go in a sign up for 2 minutes of speaking time and support the schools under assault.From MORE: Attached is the final flier for Wednesday's PEP in Brooklyn at Prospect Heights HS. Print some copies and bring them at 5:30 for the Funeral Procession
Speakers to testify release for NYC's Senate hearing on school issues
I was going to go to the Portelos hearing today but I'm in a car heading to Philly - don't worry, I'm not driving. My alternate was to go to the Flanagan hearings today where many of our allies from Change the Stakes and Class Size Matters are testifying today.The unholy trio - Tisch, Mulgrew and Walcott, all pushing the same drug in different doses lead off. There's even an E4E slug listed. (Did
Sandy Redux: Norm in The Wave
I've been a little too busy to do regular blogging the past few days and I am not reporting on lots of stuff going on. Tomorrow (weds) night is the 2nd of the Bloomberg forced co-loco PEP meetings. I'll report on that tonight as there are some interesting events going on before the meeting.I just finished my column which will be published Friday, Nov. 1. Last week The Wave published a spectacular
OCT 28
Ravitch on MSNBC
I haven't seen this yet but am reposting from the Ravitch blog for the Ed Notes archives. The discussion about charter schools has been changing - just see this: Top 16 NYC charter school executives earn more than Chancellor Dennis Walcott - Daily Newshttp://m.nydailynews.com/1.1497717The interview and panel discussion were broken into three segments which do not follow one another sequentially on
OCT 26
Portelos Chapter Leader Recall Attempt Fails - Again
I heard teachers looking to recall me were disrupting lessons today to remind educators to vote. Remember not voting, was a vote in my favor. Disrupting lessons? I’m not happy.... I’m here. You have my email and my number. I am still your chapter leader..... Francesco PortelosWell, there goes the case the DOE is trying to prove. That Portelos is a loner. And dangerous. And feared and shunned by th
MORE's Paul Hogan in The Riverdale Press: Common sense, not Common Core
It is dangerously easy for education administrators to lose sight of the needs of the students they are supposed to serve when one’s daily reality never involves firsthand work with students.The Common Core in District 75 is an abstraction for some who see the world of education only in terms of theory. However, Common Core is an added distraction and superfluous obstacle for those professionals i
UFT Used $250K COPE Money to Support Gambling
The United Federation of Teachers deposited $250,000 in the account from two of its political action funds.... Capital NYThanks to Jeff Kaufman for this.Oh what fun. Having COPE money spent not on fighting ed deform but promoting gambling. I didn't know Paul Egan liked the dice so much. I took a shot in a recent Wave column at my City Councilman, Republican Erich Ulrich, for promoting casinos and