Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog:
Schooling in the Ownership Society
Schooling in the Ownership Society
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk
Schooling in the Ownership Society
Despite next week's sham hearings, new CPS charters a done deal
This morning I received this email from my former fellow Prosser coach, Jeff Bates.Mike,What do you think?I'm sure you are aware of the RFPs for Intrinsic and Noble Charter Schools being considered by CPS at the upcoming Board meeting on January 22nd. Jeff Bates picsOn January 6th the demolition fences were put up around the proposed site of the New Noble School, directly across the street corner
Data Errata
Quote from CPS IG Jim Sullivan -- "The system has incentivized how performance is evaluated based on data, and much of that data is created and can be manipulated at the school level." Sullivan, a former Cook County prosecutor, said last week that with schools, teachers and principals increasingly being tracked and evaluated based upon data on everything from student assessment scores t
JAN 16
The view from the bottom of the barrel
Fred Klonsky's view of our Ed Sec.Here's how things are looking from down here at the bottom of the academic barrel.For one thing, there seems to be lots of energy and activity on the organizational front. The Network For Public Education is holding a national meeting in Austin, March 1-2. CTU Pres. Karen Lewis and Supt. John Kuhn, (Perrin-Whitt Independent School District in Texas) are the keynot
JAN 15
Another Duncan Doughnut
"Teachers in America often come from the bottom of the academic barrel..." -- Arne DuncanYes, he really said it, and despite his inevitable pull-back once his handlers get hold of him, he really means it. This Harvard jock, who never taught a day in his life, can't open his mouth, it seams without demeaning teachers (or white suburban moms for that matter).I'm not sure what the "aca
Pension wars and Moore
Puerto Rican teachers strike: "No somos criminales, somos maestros." "We're not criminals."The attacks on public worker pensions, especially teachers' pensions, has become a centerpiece of corporate reform strategy aimed at degrading the teaching profession, eroding public space and undermining union contracts. It's a response to the growing public-sector debt crisis that avoid
JAN 14
It's silly to pretend Common Core is not a curriculum
"The Common Core has become a rallying cry for fringe groups that claim it is a scheme for the federal government to usurp state and local control of what students learn. An op-ed in the New York Times called the Common Core "a radical curriculum." It is neither radical nor a curriculum." -- Arne DuncanWell, Arne Duncan got it half-right. It's certainly not radical.I half expec
JAN 13
New CPS Network Chief was at the center of Kansas testing scandal
The word is that BBB has appointed Randy Josserand as District 3 Network chief. The news left lots of teachers I know, shaking their heads.Who is Josserand, you ask? Most recently, he's worked as a deputy chief of 25 high schools and 24 elementary schools on the West Side, a director of the Office of School Improvement (OSI), the director of Strategy and Knowledge Managements (yes Virginia, that's
Weekend Quotables
Roger Ailes (NYT)Fox News Chief Exec. Roger Ailes “I’m walking around, and I feel just all this anger. I can’t figure out where it’s coming from.” -- NYT Sunday Book Review Eric Holder “A routine school disciplinary infraction should land a student in the principal’s office, not in a police precinct.” -- New York TimesMark Anderson Remind me again: Isn't Pat Quinn supposed to be a man of the peop
JAN 10
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
What's at stake in privatization?
I don't think so and neither does CounterpunchThe Jan.14th edition of Counterpunch asks and answersNothing short of genuine education itself is at stake. What particularly vitiates the learning process is the introduction of a corporate culture or “market” forces that insist on measuring “student learning outcomes” by “objective” standards such as standardized tests; that place an emphasis on comp
JAN 14
Ohio charters leading in the race to the bottom with a little help from their friends
As I posted here three years ago, to get a charter in Ohio, all you need it seems, is lots of money for local Republican campaigns and a white hat.When it comes to crappy, low-performing, and mismanaged charter schools, Ohio certainly leads the race to the bottom. Columbus alone, had 17 charter school failures in the past year. Nearly 30% of all Ohio charters have closed since 1997. The median lif
JAN 08
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