Latest News and Comment from Education

Saturday, January 11, 2014

1-11-14 Ed Notes Online Week

Ed Notes Online
Ed Notes Online


Susan O's Saturday Night Special
Just made my self-imposed deadline to try to post an Ohanian piece on Saturdays.We have a couple of cartoons:Get on the Bus!http://susanohanian.org/cartoon_fetch.php?id=871Love of Books Never Stopshttp://susanohanian.org/cartoon_fetch.php?id=870Susan\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ Data Amok: Pearson's aimsweb Behavior ModuleJim Horn  and Susan OhanianSchools Matter2014-01-05http://susanohanian.org/

Sexy Bitch-gate: Fred Smith - A Sonnet on SED’s Glorious Ineptitude
King's Sexy Bitch Quizzes are to NY what Christie's Traffic Problems are to NJ!.. CTS listserveJust when you think it can't get any better after the NYSUT call for a no confidence vote on John King, it does.Leonie wrote:Yesterday a parent, Anna Shah, found a link on the NYSED Resources page to a series of tests, including one called the "Sexy Bitch" exam, and blogged about it here. Beloq
Is Mulgrew Left Twisting in the Wind With NYSUT/Iannuzzi Move for No Confidence in John King?
Is NYSUT/Iannuzzi a stalking horse for UFT/Mulgrew?[NYSUT President Iannuzzi] said the NYSUT Board of Directors will meet within the next two weeks, and he feels confident they will approve his request. The resolution will then go before the union’s full representative assembly in April – assuming, Iannuzzi said, that if by that time its call for a three-year moratorium on using Common Core exam r
Video: Diane Ravitch at PS 15 in Red Hook, December 11, 2013
Here is the release of the video shot by Darren Marelli of this wonderful event.A Conversation with Dr. Diane Ravitch at Red Hook's PS 15, December 11, 2013 with an introduction by Carmen Farina.The PS 15 community was so thankful for Diane Ravitch having taken the time to speak and it highlights her deep commitment to neighborhood schools. While she has recently come under criticism for not offer
Lisa Donlan on Charter Co-Locos, Rent and More
"The Republican Democratic agenda in Washington doesn't even scratch the surface of the inequities facing more than a million children in our public schools," de Blasio DID NOT say in a statement after Cantor's remarks. In his statement, de Blasio DID NOT call the national Republicans' Democrat's stance on education a "dangerous philosophy that turns its back on public education, an

JAN 08

De Blasio to Eric Cantor: Go Screw Yourself
Ok. maybe just a little hyperbole on my part. The charter lobby is trying to overturn the NYC mayoral election where the man who beat the Republican candidate by 50 points ran on a platform of charging charters rent. Charters claim they want choice. Well, that was CHOICE of the voting public in NYC thrown right up in their faces."The Republican agenda in Washington doesn't even scratch the su
Randi Weingarten After VAM Reversal Now Supports US Entry into WWII
Randi's giving up on VAM is more of her covering her ass in prep for the AFT natl convention this summer where Chicago will take the lead in fighting it - and maybe common core too - so watch her begin to move on that too -- pretty soon Leo Casey will be castigating those who support common core and find unique ways to justify his turnabout without admitting he was wrong.I have so much to say on t

JAN 07

Farina Salary Plus Pension Still Less than Charter Operators Eva Moskowitz and Deborah Kenny
Above headline is something you won't see in NY Post. Eva we all know about. More on Kennyhttp://garyrubinstein.teachforus.org/2012/06/12/it-takes-a-village/From Capital Pro City HallDe Blasio: Fariña salary 'absolutely appropriate'In response to questions over new schools chancellor Carmen Fariña's salary--a combination of her D.O.E. salary and her pension--de Blasio said Monday that the arrangem

JAN 06

Alan Singer, Mixed Feelings on Fariña, de Blasio
.... as far as I can see, Carmen Fariña has closer ties to the top 2% income bracket than the other 98% of the population and has always been willing to play political games... It remains unclear to me what Fariña has to offer the working class and poor Black and Latino students who have been left behind in the Bloomberg years....Alan Springer, HufPoI've been presenting a variety of views on Farin
Advice for de Blasio: ASAP - Make Patrick Sullivan Your First PEP Appointment
...here is a chance for Patrick Sullivan to bring his considerable talents in service of NYC parents, students and teachers by working with the majority at long last. What a shame to deny Patrick this opportunity. ... EdNotesOnlineScott Stringer also deserves a lot of thanks for sticking by Patrick and letting him vote his conscience even after being pressured by Bloomberg’s minions to fire him...

JAN 05

The Carmen Farina Files
Her management took the form of a Machiavellian benevolence — the kind of approach you imagine is taught to aspiring executives in certain classes at Wharton, whereby the party about to be demoted or fired is encouraged to believe that what is happening is the best possible result for him or her. At P.S. 6, Ms. Farina got rid of only three teachers outright, she told me. The rest she counseled out

JAN 04

MORE Supports OTs and PTs in Quest for Equal Pay
...experienced OTs and PTs are paid 38 percent less than teachers and speech therapists with the same levels of education. A variation of this article will appear on the upcoming MORE newsletter. Occupational and physical therapists are an unseen part of New York City’s education community. But without OTs and PTs, thousands of the city’s promising – yet disabled – students would fall through th
Debate: When Common Core is Attacked from the right, does the left form coalitions?
To me this, this about coalition building around individual issues as opposed to finding completely like-minded folks. I have experienced a couple of folks who to me, are extreme in our "camp."  I have also worked with folks whose understanding of the world is quite different than mine.  Through dialogue, we find areas of agreement and areas where we can mutually support each other.  We