Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog:
Schooling in the Ownership Society
Schooling in the Ownership Society
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk
Schooling in the Ownership Society
More on digedu...
Guest post by Donald Davidson, a Chicago school parent.Digedu is in at least six CPS public schools already (Lane Tech AC, LaSalle II, Hayt, Senn, Lincoln Park HS, Goethe) and also being used at Noble St charters. They provide not only their software, but also lease the hardware (tablets) and provide a fast, dedicated broadband connection that is only available to the classrooms using their softwa
JAN 07
Digedu riding the Common Core Express with Tullman's connections
Glenn Tullman and RahmWhen it comes to cashing in, there's nothing common about the Common Core.digedu is a three-year-old company that uses tablets to "help schools customize courses" to students who often are at different academic levels. digedu is now used by 5,000 students in more than 40 schools in 12 states. About half the users are in Chicago, where the largest customer is Lane Te
JAN 04
Billionaire wing-nut throwing his money around Missouri 'school reform'
SinquefieldIt's hard to imagine that a wackadoo wing-nut like Rex Sinquefield could be the director of a St. Louis children's social service agency or a trustee at DePaul University (where I teach). But nevertheless, there he is -- the billionaire teacher hater, who once called public education, "an invention of the Ku Klux Klan" to hurt African American children -- still throwing his mo
Mississippi, with strong Common Core and no unions, is losing Race To The Top
As long as we're racing to the top, let's take a look at how the race is going. The theory coming out of the D.O.E., the Gates Foundation and the think tanks is that implementing Common Core Standards is key to winning the race and that the main problem is "status-quo" teacher unions protecting bad teachers.But according to the latest edition Education Week's Quality Counts report, Missi
Sorry Rahm. Rauner's toast
If “we don’t fundamentally change direction, we’re toast.” -- Bruce Rauner campaign adSorry Rahm. But your boy Rauner is toast. I know, I know, you're officially supporting Quinn, the Democrat, in the governor's race. But, everyone knows you and Rauner are tight. Even though he's supposedly a Republican, he's been one of your many wealthy patrons you're counting on to get yourself re-elected in 2
JAN 09
Gates threatens to pull $40 in Pittsburgh funds unless union caves
I'm not sure if this has anything to do with AFT Pres. Randi Weingarten's sudden turn against so-called Value-Added Models (VAM) of teacher evaluation or not.But I see that in Pittsburgh, Bill Gates is threatening to renege on $40 million he promised the district if the teachers union and PPS don't "work in harmony" to develop a VAM plan in which teachers are evaluated and paid on the ba
JAN 08
To be attacked by Eric Cantor is a good thing
Eric Cantor's ratings in the dumper.Cantor's attack shows that Mayor de Blasio is on the right track. The wing-nut House Majority Leader is simply going to bat for his hedge-fund school reformer friends in N.Y. who have been riding high and raking in public dough under Mayor Bloomberg.Cantor fancies himself a r-r-revolutionary storming the anti-government barricades in the name of privatization of
Randi's "VAM is a sham" epiphany
Weingarten, Bloomberg, and Klein announce an agreement on plan that would give N.Y. teachers bonuses based on the test scores of students at schools that have high concentrations of poor children. (New York Times)I'm glad AFT Pres. Randi Weingarten has finally seen the light on VAM. Really I am.For those unfamiliar with so-called Value Added Modeling, it's the statistical measure that judges teac
JAN 07
Byrd-Bennett: 'It may have seemed like last minute, but it wasn't'
Yesterday's press conference.That kind of exotic travel can only enhance Emanuel’s cartoon-like reputation among his harshest critics as “Mayor 1 Percent.” Which is apparently why Emanuel got a bit defensive when asked why he chose not to cut the Christmas trip short when Chicago’s weather forecast went south. -- Sun-TimesRahm, all dressed up in Eddie Bauer polar fleece, seemed really pissed about
JAN 06
Weekend Quotables
"Hobnobbing with masters of the universe has its limits..." -- Crain'sGreg HinzThe prototype for the Emanuel mayoralty was Michael Bloomberg's New York: rich guys, bicycle lanes, central control, the whole schmear. Mr. Bloomberg's popularity waned dramatically after his first two terms and his successor, Bill de Blasio, is a liberal who has good relations with unions and minorities. The
JAN 03
Waiting for a Chicago de Blasio?
Interesting piece in yesterday's S-T, "Chicago lefties look for their own Bill de Blasio". Dan Mihalopoulos obviously has his ear to the ground.A nation — or at least the left-leaning activists of this one big city — is eager to turn its lonely eyes to someone who can take on the Chicago mayor whom lefties deride as “Mayor 1%” and the quintessential DINO (Democrat in Name Only).... Meanw