NPE News Briefs ← from The Network for Public Education:
NPE News Briefs ← from The Network for Public Education
Missouri: Billionaire Donates $750,000 to End Teacher Tenure | Diane Ravitch’s blog
Conservative billionaire Rex Sinquefield does not believe that teaching should be a career. He doesn’t think that teachers should have any job security. He thinks that teachers should have short-term contracts and that their jobs should depend on the test scores of their students. He has contributed $750,000 to launch a campaign for a constitutional ...read moreThe post Missouri: Billionaire Donat
Julian Vasquez Heilig: A TFA Alumna Tells All to Julian | Diane Ravitch’s blog
Julian Vasquez Heilig recounts the story of a graduate of his university who reported plans to enter Teach for America. The University of Texas, he says, sends more students to TFA than any other university. This young person was filled with idealism and hope about making a difference. Two years later, Julian received a letter, ...read moreThe post Julian Vasquez Heilig: A TFA Alumna Tells All to
How Florida’s For-Profit Charter School Industry Is Moving Money in to Influence the Legislative Session | Scathing Purple Musings
Matt Dixon’s report that a former top lobbyist for the for-profit charter school industry is now the top fundraiser for a PAC belonging to the chairman of the senate education appropriations committee provided a glimpse into how well the industry has politically positioned itself. A lobbyist meeting with lawmakers is not out of the ordinary, ...read moreThe post How Florida’s For-Profit Charter Sc
YESTERDAY
Beware of Data Sharing Cheerleaders Offering Webinars | deutsch29
Perhaps the most sobering component of the privatization push is its unprecedented demand for data collection (data “mining”) on American students. Data mining is not just an American issue. However, on the American front, two education activists have been at the forefront of the fight against this mammoth student data collection: Louisiana’s Jason France (here’s a ...read moreThe post Beware of D
Universal High-Quality Early Childhood Education Could Close the Achievement Gap at Age 5 | Alternet
Providing high-quality early childhood education to all American children from birth to age three has the potential to close the achievement gap between high- and low-income kids at ages three and five, according to new research by Greg J. Duncan and Aaron J. Sojourner. It would also likely cut the achievement gap in half for ...read moreThe post Universal High-Quality Early Childhood Education Co
Timothy Pratt: The Walmarts of Higher Education? | Diane Ravitch’s blog
Over the past decade or more, we have seen and heard a lot of duplicitous rhetoric about rhetoric: we have heard politicians speak about the importance of education as they cut the budget and increase class size and slash the jobs of teachers, librarians, social workers, and others. We have learned to live with cognitive ...read moreThe post Timothy Pratt: The Walmarts of Higher Education? | Diane
Student privacy concerns grow over ‘data in a cloud’ | The Answer Sheet
Privacy concerns have been growing over a $100 million student database – largely funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and operated by a nonprofit organization, inBloom Inc. — that contains detailed information about millions of students. Most of the states that had signed up to participate in a pilot program have pulled back, and ...read moreThe post Student privacy concerns grow o
Jersey Jazzman: Why Would Arne Duncan Try to Block Joshua Starr’s Appointment in NYC? | Diane Ravitch’s blog
According to a report by Valerie Strauss in the “Washington Post,” Secretary Duncan urged Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio not to appoint Joshua Starr, superintendent in Montgomery County, as chancellor of the NYC public schools. This allegedly was Duncan’s revenge for Starr’s public call for a three-year moratorium on standardized testing. Testing, of course, is the ...read moreThe post Jersey Jazzman:
Waiting for a Chicago de Blasio? | Mike Klonsky’s SmallTalk Blog
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 ...read moreThe post Waiting for a Chicago de Blasio? | Mike Klonsky’s SmallTalk Blog appea
The Myth of the Hero Teacher | Alternet
Political sound bytes about classroom incompetence and the crisis in education frighten me far less than the rhetoric of those looking to defend teachers by calling us “heroes.” The myth of the teacher as hero is a damaging one—and one we need to examine closely in these turbulent political and economic times. Deconstructing this myth ...read moreThe post The Myth of the Hero Teacher | Alternet ap
New Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña to focus on middle schools in first year | NY Daily News
In her first full day on the job, new city schools boss Carmen Fariña announced she’ll focus on the city’s struggling middle schools during her first year in office. “I really believe if we get middle schools right, the rest is going to be a piece of cake,” the chancellor said Thursday in her first ...read moreThe post New Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña to focus on middle schools in first year |
The Myth of the Hero Superintendent: Don’t Wait for Superman | Diane Ravitch’s blog
This is a fascinating article from the Texas Observer that explores the myth of the hero superintendent, the popular delusion that one transformational leader can “save” a school district. The idea was shaped by the Rhee story, the TIME cover I plying that she held the secret to “fixing America’s schools,” a myth that persists ...read moreThe post The Myth of the Hero Superintendent: Don’t Wait fo
JAN 02
Mercedes Schneider Eviscerates Fordham Grading System | Diane Ravitch’s blog
Back in the 1990s, when I was on the board of the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation (now the Thomas B. Fordham Institute), we began rating state standards and assigning letter grades to the states. Much to our surprise and delight, the media ate up the ratings. Whenever we released our grades for the states, there ...read moreThe post Mercedes Schneider Eviscerates Fordham Grading System | Diane Ravitc
Guest post: my mom, a retired English teacher, reflects on recent changes in education | teacherbiz
I began teaching in 1973. I retired July 1, 2013. I taught every grade and every level of secondary English (yes, we called it English, not language arts or LAL) during my career, which I loved with a passion. I am so fortunate to have had a profession I felt so devoted to, one that ...read moreThe post Guest post: my mom, a retired English teacher, reflects on recent changes in education | teac
Anthony Cody: A Remarkable Statement by a Chinese-American Student on Common Core, Testing, Pearson, and Standardization | Diane Ravitch’s blog
Please open the link and read Anthony Cody’s blog about Kenneth Ye, a high school student in Tennessee who spoke to his local school board in Knox County against Common Core, PARCC testing, Pearson, and standardization. Kenneth pointed out that he has aced all the tests that have come his way. He has extraordinary scores. ...read moreThe post Anthony Cody: A Remarkable Statement by a Chinese-Ameri
William Lager and Ohio’s ECOT: Parasite Feeding on Tax Dollars | janresseger
by janresseger In Ohio’s First Public School Hundred-Millionaire: ECOT Founder William Lager, Plunderbund, the Columbus Ohio blog, continues to track the riches in tax dollars being siphoned by William Lager, owner of the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow (ECOT), Ohio’s largest on-line academy, and the two private companies Lager owns that provide all curriculum and services ...read moreThe post Wi
Charter school proposals studied in Chicago | chicagotribune.com
With Chicago’s Board of Education set to vote this month on proposals for 21 new charter campuses, the district’s efforts to gather community input has done little to satisfy critics of the privately run schools. Opponents say charter advocates have been given too much influence over several of the Neighborhood Advisory Councils set up by ...read moreThe post Charter school proposals studied in Ch
Debunking inBloom and New York’s data sharing arguments | Crazy Crawfish’s Blog
I’ve tried to get inBloom CTO, Garret Suhm, to answer or respond to my questions debunking the propaganda he is spreading on Twitter under the twitter id @gsuhm. So far Garret has not responded to me, nor has inBloom ever responded to my comments, complaints or observations. I am more than willing to engage them ...read moreThe post Debunking inBloom and New York’s data sharing arguments | Crazy C
Should Duncan Meddle in Local Issues? | Diane Ravitch’s blog
On January 1, the Washington Post reported that Arne Duncan and at least one other aide pressured NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio not to choose Joshua Starr as the schools’ chancellor because of his opposition to high-stakes testing, the centerpiece of the Bush-Obama “reforms.” Politico reports the story and notes that this is not the ...read moreThe post Should Duncan Meddle in Local Issues? | Diane Rav
Student Learning Objectives, aka Student Growth Objectives, aka Another Attempt to Quantify “High Quality” Teaching | VAMboozled
After a previous post about VAMs v. Student Growth Percentiles (SGPs) (see also VAMs v. SGPs Part II) a reader posted a comment asking for more information about the utility of SGPs, but also about the difference between SGPs and Student Growth Objectives. “Student Growth Objectives” is a new term for an older concept that ...read moreThe post Student Learning Objectives, aka Student Growth Object
Social Studies National Curriculum: Pearson and Gates Ready for Next Push | Schools Matter
By Jim Horn Even as 22 states are rethinking, restricting, or dropping prior commitments to national Common Core corporate standards for schools, this has not stopped the CorpEd machine from quietly pushing forward with another prong of its overreaching and lucrative exercise to increase testing, standardize thinking, and undercut diversity in American schools. On September 11, ...read moreThe pos
Incoming NYC Schools Chief Set to Tackle Bloomberg Agenda | Alternet
January 2, 2014 | The populist poetry of Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio’s campaign has officially entered prose mode with his appointment of Carmen Fariña as chancellor. Fariña is a longtime educator who was a teacher, principal, superintendent, and instructional chief during her four-decade career in the city schools. After a seven-year retirement, she ...read moreThe post Incoming NYC Schools C
Idaho: TFA Should Not Teach Students with Disabilities | Diane Ravitch’s blog
Levi Cavener wrote this article about why young college graduates with only five weeks of training are not qualified to teach students with disabilities. Levi B Cavener is a Special Education teacher at Vallivue High School, Caldwell, Idaho. He wrote it after attending a local school board meeting, where a TFA representative claimed that TFA ...read moreThe post Idaho: TFA Should Not Teach Student
High Times For Charters in Newark | Jersey Jazzman
It’s a good time to be a charter school in Newark: As part of a comprehensive plan to overhaul the state’s largest school district, Newark Schools Superintendent Cami Anderson wants to increase access to charter schools by expanding them into district-owned buildings. The district also plans to convert three elementary schools into early childhood centers, ...read moreThe post High Times For Chart
Ten Big Wins for Public Education in 2013 | Diane Ravitch’s blog
Owen Davis, writing for Alternet, lists ten big victories for public schools in 2013. He begins: “If what’s past is truly prologue, there’s a good chance 2013 will be remembered as the year the free-market education reform movement crested and began to subside. After a decade of gathering momentum, reform politics began to founder in ...read moreThe post Ten Big Wins for Public Education in 2013 |
The Petty Jealousy of Arne Duncan | Jersey Jazzman
I would say this is simply unthinkable, but when it comes to Arne Duncan, I’ve come to believe the worst is always possible: U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan and at least one other Education Department official urged New York Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio and his team not to choose Montgomery County Schools Superintendent Joshua P. ...read moreThe post The Petty Jealousy of Arne Duncan | Jersey J
JAN 01
More on Fariña pick: You can’t go wrong expecting the worse from Duncan | Mike Klonsky’s SmallTalk Blog
More on Fariña pick: You can’t go wrong expecting the worse from Duncan. In yesterday’s post on de Blasio’s appointment of Carmen Fariña as schools chancellor, I implied that pressure from Arne Duncan and his assistant, Jim Shelton (a Gates Foundation insert at the DOE), was being exerted on the new mayor to appoint a corporate reformer ...read moreThe post More on Fariña pick: You can’t go wrong
How Much Sway Does Arne Duncan Have in Local Decisions, Anyway? | Politics K-12 – Education Week
By Michele McNeil on January 1, 2014 3:13 PM On its front page today, the Washington Post reported on how U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and his top Education Department deputy lobbied newly elected New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio to not pick Joshua Starr, the superintendent in Montgomery County, Md., as the ...read moreThe post How Much Sway Does Arne Duncan Have in Local Decisions, A
The problem with thinking ‘content is king’ in education | The Answer Sheet
BY VALERIE STRAUSS January 1 at 5:00 am Content is important, but it isn’t everything, as Stanford University’s Larry Cuban makes clear in the following post. Cuban was high school social studies teacher for 14 years, a district superintendent (seven years in Arlington, VA), and professor emeritus of education at Stanford University, where he has taught for ...read moreThe post The problem with th
The Best of 2013: The Great Awakening about the Status Quo | Diane Ravitch’s blog
Farewell to 2013. It was a year of beginnings, a year that launched a fundamental change in the debate about what constitutes true education “reform.” More and more parents and teachers are awakening to the realization that the word “reform” has been hijacked by people who want to dismantle public education and the teaching profession. ...read moreThe post The Best of 2013: The Great Awakening abo
2014 Resolution: Stop Watching Feel-Good Teacher Movies |The Atlantic
By Joshua John Mackin 2014 promises to be a banner year for education in the news. New York City’s new mayor, Bill de Blasio, will likely reverse some of his predecessor’s reform-minded policies. States are moving forward with implementing the Common Core standards despite increasing opposition. And a number of closely watched court cases around ...read moreThe post 2014 Resolution: Stop Watchin
Reflections on the Year That Was—from a Personal Point of View | Diane Ravitch’s blog
2013 had some surprises for me, both good and bad. This blog turned out to be a huge preoccupation. I spend 4-5 hours on it every day. You help me write it, as many of the blogs are your comments, explaining your experience as a teacher or parent or principal or superintendent. The blog is ...read moreThe post Reflections on the Year That Was—from a Personal Point of View | Diane Ravitch’s blog ap
Education officials lobbied against Starr in New York City | The Washington Post
By Valerie Strauss, Published: December 31 E-mail the writer U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan and at least one other Education Department official urged New York Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio and his team not to choose Montgomery County Schools Superintendent Joshua P. Starr as the city’s next schools chancellor, according to several people knowledgable about the selection ...read moreThe post Ed
2013: Nine for Education | NC Policy Watch
As 2013 comes to a close, it’s time to take a look at what came to pass this year for education in North Carolina. Buckle your seat belts. 1. Tax dollars now can be funneled to unaccountable private (and home) schools. Lawmakers passed a budget last July that allows parents to send their kids to ...read moreThe post 2013: Nine for Education | NC Policy Watch appeared first on NPE News Briefs.
Five New Years Resolutions for Public Education Supporters | John Kuhn – Connected Superintendent
2013 was a pivotal year for parents, teachers and students who support a free public education for American children. In California, Governor Jerry Brown refused to over-test the state’s students to satisfy bureaucratic demands for data, even in the face of federal threats to withhold Title 1 education funding. In Seattle, Jesse Hagopian and fellow teachers at ...read moreThe post Five New Years R
As schools give students computers, price of L.A.’s program stands out | LA Times
BY HOWARD BLUME AND STEPHEN CEASAR December 31, 2013, 11:52 p.m. The Perris Union High School District is paying $344 apiece for a Chromebook for every student. Nearby, Riverside Unified purchased a variety of devices, including the Kindle Fire and iPad Mini, for as low as $150 each. In San Diego Unified, some students are ...read moreThe post As schools give students computers, price of L.A.’s pr
DEC 31 2013
Top Ten Education Justice Wins of 2013 | Yinzercation
It’s that time of year for top-ten lists. Compiling this one made me tired just remembering everything our education justice movement did this year. We’ve had an incredible twelve months. Here’s what you accomplished in 2103: via Top Ten Education Justice Wins of 2013 | Yinzercation.The post Top Ten Education Justice Wins of 2013 | Yinzercation appeared first on NPE News Briefs.
Will Mayor de Blasio Charge Rent to NYC Charters? | Diane Ravitch’s blog
An article by Karen Matthews in Huffington Post says that Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio plans to charge rent to well-resourced charter schools, a pledge he made during his campaign. Most charters in New York City are co-located in public schools, where they pay nothing for their use of public space and they take away much-needed ...read moreThe post Will Mayor de Blasio Charge Rent to NYC Charters? |
Is Merit Pay Dead in Florida? | Scathing Purple Musings
Posted on December 31, 2013 by Bob Sikes 1 Vote The indispensable John O’Connor of StateImpact has a preview of the upcoming legislative session. Here’s what he writes about teacher evaluations and merit pay: The Student Success Act requires school districts begin paying teachers based on their evaluations starting this year. The evaluations are a combination ...read moreThe post Is Merit Pay Dead
Nine educated education predictions for 2014! | The Answer Sheet
BY VALERIE STRAUSS December 31 at 10:30 am Crystal Ball (Photo by Benjamin C. Tankersley/For The Washington Post) I recently published a list of best and worst education news of 2013 by California veteran teacher Larry Ferlazzo, and here are his predictions for 2014 in education. He teaches English and Social Studies at Luther Burbank High ...read moreThe post Nine educated education predictions
@johnkuhntx guest post: Five New Years Resolutions for Public Education Supporters | @ THE CHALK FACE
By: John Kuhn 2013 was a pivotal year for parents, teachers and students who support a free public education for American children. In California, Governor Jerry Brown refused to over-test the state’s students to satisfy bureaucratic demands for data, even in the face of federal threats to withhold Title 1 education funding. In Seattle, Jesse Hagopian and ...read moreThe post @johnkuhntx guest pos
‘I would love to teach but…’ | The Answer Sheet
I recently published a post with various answers to the question: How hard is teaching? Here is one response I received by e-mail from a veteran seventh-grade language arts teacher in Frederick, Maryland, who asked not to be identified because she fears retaliation at her school. In this piece she describes students who don’t want ...read moreThe post ‘I would love to teach but…’ | The Answer Shee
Why Is Maryland taking Florida’s Place as PARCC Henchman? | @ THE CHALK FACE
Is this any way to start off a new year? Are you scratching you head wondering…wondering why it is that Maryland has decided to become the PARCC fiscal agent? First of all, what does this mean? In its new position, Maryland will manage the finances of the state-led consortium starting on January 1, 2014. Florida previously held ...read moreThe post Why Is Maryland taking Florida’s Place as PARCC H
We’re Almost There! NPE End-of-Year Campaign
_____________________________________________________________ Dear Friends & Allies Thank you for supporting The Network for Public Education. Through your generosity, we have become an important voice in the fight for public education. We are close to our fundraising goal of $20,000! If you have not yet made a donation and wish to, please use this link to make ...read moreThe post We’re Alm
G.F. Brandenburg: What Do NAEP Scores Show about D.C.? | Diane Ravitch’s blog
G.F. Brandenburg keeps a close watch on D.C. Schools. In this series of posts, he compares academic gains in D.C. before and after the chancellorship of Michelle Rhee. What he finds is a district that was showing steady improvement before Rhee arrived, and where the gains post-Rhee were continuous with earlier trends. He also compares ...read moreThe post G.F. Brandenburg: What Do NAEP Scores Show
Three central problems plague public education in the United States | Dangerously Irrelevant
BY SCOTT MCLEOD Arthur Camins says: The biggest problem with education is the U.S. is not test scores. Rather, three central problems plague public education in the United States. The most dramatic is inequity. There are vast inequities in educational resources and in the conditions of students’ lives, resulting in persistent race- and class-based disparities ...read moreThe post Three central pro
Texas school system saw major changes in 2013 | El Paso Times
POSTED: 12/30/2013 12:00:00 AM MST Let’s say this outright: 2013 ranks as one of the most significant years for public education policy in Texas in the last two decades. The last 12 months saw the rollout of a new school accountability system as the state dramatically changed course on high school curriculum and testing ...read moreThe post Texas school system saw major changes in 2013 | El Paso
De Blasio Recognizes Obstacles Standing in Way of Schools Plan | NYTimes.com
By JAVIER C. HERNÁNDEZ and AL BAKER Published: December 30, 2013 310 Comments As he announced his choice of Carmen Fariña as the next chancellor of New York City schools, Bill de Blasio suggested on Monday that he would depart drastically from the policies of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. He pledged to reduce the emphasis ...read moreThe post De Blasio Recognizes Obstacles Standing in Way of Schools
Robert Reich: Are We a Decent Society? | Diane Ravitch’s blog
If we truly want better education for all, then we must be concerned about the high levels of poverty and income inequality in our society. Social scientists have long known that family income and education are highly correlated with academic performance and educational attainment. If we reduce poverty, we increase students’ chances of having good ...read moreThe post Robert Reich: Are We a Decent
DEC 30 2013
Common Core, China, and the Myth of Meritocracy | Living in Dialogue
By Anthony Cody on December 30, 2013 1:38 PM We all know that the chief arguments for the Common Core revolve around making our workforce “more competitive,” by “raising the bar” to “global standards.” A few weeks ago, Diane Ravitch posed this very important question. “What happens to kids who don’t graduate?” She wrote: What exactly ...read moreThe post Common Core, China, and the Myth of Meritoc
Race to Top States Still Have Lots of Money to Spend | Politics K-12 – Education Week
By Michele McNeil on December 30, 2013 2:36 PM With states well into their final year of Race to the Top implementation, the 12 winners still have a lot of money to spend, according to the latest financial reports by the U.S. Department of Education. The state with the largest share of its award left? ...read moreThe post Race to Top States Still Have Lots of Money to Spend | Politics K-12 – Educa
On de Blasio’s Choice | Mike Klonsky’s SmallTalk Blog
Pedro Noguera “Mayor-Elect de Blasio has made an excellent choice in picking Carmen Fariña to lead New York’s public schools. For the first time in many years the nation’s largest school system will be led by an educator with a keen understanding of curriculum and instruction, who is committed to actively supporting our public schools.” ...read moreThe post On de Blasio’s Choice | Mike Klonsky’s S
Walmart’s Walton Foundation Doubling Efforts to Privatize K-12 Education | Schools Matter
By Jim Horn The Walton Foundation remains the leader in the support of school voucher programs, which have consistently demonstrated their failure to provide quality education. What they do provide is consistent with Walmart’s plan to offer cheap and shoddy products to the poor. If you have any option of buy anywhere else in 2014, ...read moreThe post Walmart’s Walton Foundation Doubling Efforts
Open Letters To ‘B-List’ Reformers I Know. Part 2: Elisa Villanueva-Beard and Matt Kramer | Gary Rubinstein’s Blog
On February 12, 2013, founder and long time CEO of TFA, Wendy Kopp, stepped down. Two new co-CEOs were appointed, Elisa Villanueva-Beard and Matt Kramer. Elisa was a 1998 corps member and Matt had never taught. Both were working as very high administrative positions in TFA before this recent promotion. I was pretty surprised by ...read moreThe post Open Letters To ‘B-List’ Reformers I Know. Part
Breaking News: Mayor-Elect Chooses an Educator to Lead NYC Schools! | Diane Ravitch’s blog
For the past dozen years, New York City has had a procession of school chancellors who were not educators: a banker, a prosecutor, a publisher, a former deputy mayor. Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio made a daring–and wise– decision to select a professional educator to run the nation’s largest school system, which enrolls 1.2 million students. ...read moreThe post Breaking News: Mayor-Elect Chooses an E
Why Is the Teaching Profession the Target of Reform? | Russ on Reading
Could it be that the teaching profession is under attack, in part, because it is a largely female profession? Over the past few weeks, several things have coalesced in my mind to make me ask why teachers are the target of education reform. First at my office Christmas party for staff of the Education Department ...read moreThe post Why Is the Teaching Profession the Target of Reform? | Russ on Rea
5 Higher-Education Trends for 2014 | The Atlantic
By Sophie Quinton A number of education trends made their mark in 2013, from massive open online courses to evaluating colleges based on their graduation rates. The underlying forces that drove change this year aren’t likely to change anytime soon: declining public funding, changing demographics, advancing technology, and a tough job market. Here are five ...read moreThe post 5 Higher-Education Tr
Anthony Cody Reviews the Role of the Teachers Unions as Advocates in 2013 and 2014 | Diane Ravitch’s blog
Anthony Cody reviews his own sharp criticism of teachers’ unions during the past year for their support of the Common Core standards in 2013. Cody questions why teachers have no one to support them when they question the validity of the Common Core. He doubts that a one-year moratorium on high-stakes testing of the Common ...read moreThe post Anthony Cody Reviews the Role of the Teachers Unions as
The Post-Equity Era in School Finance | School Finance 101
I’ve written a few posts in recent months where I’ve raised concern about the apparent complete disregard (& outright ignorance) for the role of equitable and adequate financing of our public schools. The bottom line is that providing for a high quality, equitably distributed system of public schooling in the United States requires equitable, adequate ...read moreThe post The Post-Equity Era i
Teachers affected by end of year tax break cuts | www.WHEC.com
By: Chalonda Roberts School teachers may soon be losing a tax break on the out of pocket money spent on classroom supplies. Credits and deductions benefiting everyone from teachers and students, to homeowners, are scheduled to expire at the end of the year, unless Congress extends them. Many of them have been extended in the ...read moreThe post Teachers affected by end of year tax break cuts | ww
California Governor Jerry Brown Blasts Test-Based Reform | Diane Ravitch’s blog
Governor Jerry Brown is certainly the most interesting and thoughtful state leader on education. In 2009, when he was state attorney general, he wrote a blistering rebuke to Arne Duncan in opposition to Race to the Top. He has consistently opposed the overemphasis on standardized testing. In 2011, he vetoed legislation that didn’t go far ...read moreThe post California Governor Jerry Brown Blasts
Mayor-Elect De Blasio Appoints Carmen Farina As Schools Chancellor | CBS New York
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) – A former teacher, principal and longtime advocate of early childhood education will be the next leader of New York City’s public school system, Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio announced Monday. Carmen Farina, also a former deputy chancellor of city schools, will bring a wealth of insider’s experienceand fresh ideas to the job, de ...read moreThe post Mayor-Elect De Blasio App
10 Big Wins For Public Education in 2013 | Alternet
If what’s past is truly prologue, there’s a good chance 2013 will be remembered as the year the free-market education reform movement crested and began to subside. After a decade of gathering momentum, reform politics began to founder in the face of communities fighting for equitable and progressive public education. Within the year’s first weeks, ...read moreThe post 10 Big Wins For Public Educat
Report: 2012 Grads Have Highest-Ever Student Debt | The Nation
The Institute for College Access & Success, an independent nonprofit organization based in Oakland, California, recently released its eighth annular report on average student loan debt in the United States, and its findings are dire. College graduates who borrowed for bachelor’s degrees granted in 2012 have an average student loan debt of $29,400, the highest ...read moreThe post Report: 2012
Troubling Stories That Broke During Holidays about Education in Denver and D.C. | janresseger
The holidays are a busy time. It is easy to miss important news, and it is also a good time for unsavory news to be released quietly. Here are two tidbits you may have missed in the past week. via Troubling Stories That Broke During Holidays about Education in Denver and D.C. | janresseger.The post Troubling Stories That Broke During Holidays about Education in Denver and D.C. | janresseger appe
How Standardized Testing Destroys Creativity and the Joy of Learning | Diane Ravitch’s blog
This post was written by Don Batt, an English teacher in Colorado: There is a monster waiting for your children in the spring. Its creators have fashioned it so that however children may prepare for it, they will be undone by its clever industry. The children know it’s coming. They have encountered it every year ...read moreThe post How Standardized Testing Destroys Creativity and the Joy of Learn
Ed Dept. pours $43 million into reform program with questionable results | The Answer Sheet
BY VALERIE STRAUSS December 30 at 8:59 am Education Secretary Arne Duncan (By Jacquelyn Martin / Associated Press) The U.S. Education Department is pouring $43 million more in federal funds into a program that is aimed at improving the lowest-performing schools but has had highly questionable results. The department announced last week that seven states ...read moreThe post Ed Dept. pours $43 mill
Why This Teacher Of Color Is Staying | The Jose Vilson
In the last month, there were a plethora of highly publicized articles on why teachers quit, the most poignant came from the Atlantic’s Amanda Machado, whose title “Why Do Teachers Of Color Quit?” hit me square in the jaw: That life-long aspiration is the last issue that teachers from lower-income backgrounds struggle with. There is ...read moreThe post Why This Teacher Of Color Is Staying | The J
NYC schools chancellor to be named | The Answer Sheet
BY VALERIE STRAUSS December 30 at 12:32 am A few weeks ago I reported that New York City Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio would likely tap Carmen Farina, a close adviser who was a former deputy schools chancellor in New York City, to be the new chancellor of the largest school system in the country. Sources now ...read moreThe post NYC schools chancellor to be named | The Answer Sheet appeared first on
‘Five things I did not expect from my Teach For America experience’ | The Answer Sheet
By Valerie Strauss Here is part of a post that Julian Vasquez Heilig, an award-winning researcher and associate professor of educational policy and planning at the University of Texas at Austin, wrote on his Cloaking Inquality blog. The piece, entitled “Tell-All From A TFA and KIPP Teacher: Unprepared, Isolation, Shame, and Burnout,” is largely about a ...read moreThe post ‘Five things I did not e
Mark Naison for Governor in 2014! | Diane Ravitch’s blog
Every state should have a write-in candidate–or a major party candidate–who shares the agenda of the Restore Recess Party. I pledge to support the candidacy of Mark Naison for Governor of New York in 2014. Let’s start a national movement that spreads everywhere and gets the attention of candidates who want the votes of parents, ...read moreThe post Mark Naison for Governor in 2014! | Diane Ravitch
DEC 29 2013
Editorial: Right balance needed on school testing | Las Cruces Sun-News
How much testing is too much, and what should parents do if they feel their school has gone overboard with the number of tests administered each year? A small but growing number of parents have decided to opt their children out of standardized tests, even though doing so could have negative consequences for the school, ...read moreThe post Editorial: Right balance needed on school testing | Las Cr
Here’s the truth about Shanghai schools: they’re terrible |theguardian.com
By Saga Ringmar The western world watches China’s rise as a formidable world-power with a mixture of awe and apprehension. Sci-fi films depict a futuristic world where Baidu.com is the new Google and Mcdonalds has been replaced by Grandma Wang’s Dumpling Emporium. And yet again Shanghai is number one on the Programme for International Student ...read moreThe post Here’s the truth about Shanghai sc
Helen Gym: Agitator for School Reform | phillymag.com
Helen Gym advances, and Mayor Nutter inches warily back. She waves a thick stack of papers at him, each sheath a complaint lodged by parents lamenting the calamitous conditions in Philadelphia’s reeling public schools. There’s the kid with dangerous asthma at the school without a nurse on hand. The dyslexic, orphaned high-school senior applying for ...read moreThe post Helen Gym: Agitator for Scho
Stanford Professor Darling-Hammond on America’s Testing Fixation and Frenzy | VAMboozled
Just recently on National Public Radio (NPR), current Stanford Professor and former runner-up to being appointed by President Obama as the US Secretary of Education (Obama appointed current secretary Arne Duncan instead) Linda Darling-Hammond was interviewed about why she thought “School Testing Systems Should Be Examined In 2014.” Her reasons? Post No Child Left Behind ...read moreThe post Stanfo
What school reformers can learn from Pope Francis | The Answer Sheet
BY VALERIE STRAUSS December 29 at 1:30 pm Veteran teacher Larry Ferlazzo has found what he says are school reform and classroom management lessons from Pope Francis. Ferlazzo teaches English and Social Studies at Luther Burbank High School in Sacramento, CA., has written five books on education, writes a teacher advice blog for Education Week ...read moreThe post What school reformers can learn fr
What BATS Do | With A Brooklyn Accent
Last night, somebody asked me what BATS do. Here is what I answered – with a few additions 1. Working to elect people to school boards, union offices, city councils and legislatures who stand strong for public education and rolling back testing. 2. Testifying at all of the institutions represented above when they hold public ...read moreThe post What BATS Do | With A Brooklyn Accent appeared first
Jon Stewart’s greatest education hits ’13 | The Answer Sheet
BY VALERIE STRAUSS December 29 at 12:45 pm From 2013, in no particular order, with a bonus at the end. via Jon Stewart’s greatest education hits ’13.The post Jon Stewart’s greatest education hits ’13 | The Answer Sheet appeared first on NPE News Briefs.
A CT teacher responds to Pryor’s decision to spend $1 million in taxpayer funds to “advertise” the Common Core | Wait What?
The Waterbury Republican-American newspaper recently revealed in an investigative news article that Governor Malloy’s Commissioner of Education Stefan Pryor was hiring a public relations company to help implement a $1 million advertising campaign to promote the “Common Core.” The story was picked up here at Wait, What?, on Diane Ravitch’s blog and by Politico, a ...read moreThe post A CT teacher r
Edward F. Berger on the Ignorant Mindset Destroying American Education | Diane Ravitch’s blog
Edward Berger invites you to watch some important TED talks, which he uses to make a point about the appalling ignorance of some of our key “thought leaders.” Berger writes: To get the most out of this blog, view Ted Talks 2011 – Knowledge Is Power. #1: Sir Ken Robinson; and #5: Salman Kahn, and ...read moreThe post Edward F. Berger on the Ignorant Mindset Destroying American Education | Diane Rav
Florida’s School Grade Chaos: “Raising the Bar” Became “Moving the Bar After Everyone Jumped” | Scathing Purple Musings
Is anyone really surprised to see the Miami Herald has another story about Florida’s school grades with ”confused parents” and the “credibility gap facing Florida education leaders?” No? The Florida Department of Education unfairly has to hold the bag again - the school grade system was created by Jeb Bush, largely driven by his foundations and rubber-stamped by ...read moreThe post Florida’s Scho
A Reminder: “The Children Do Notice” | the becoming radical
Most of us who teach are now in a moment of pause, between semesters, between classes. Although we are mid-academic year, we are facing a new calendar year, traditionally a time to reflect, recommit, and redirect. I offer below a repost of a piece from 2011, something I think that is enduring and important—a lesson ...read moreThe post A Reminder: “The Children Do Notice” | the becoming radical ap
New York Battle Over inBloom, Data Privacy Heading to Court | Marketplace K-12 – Education Week
By Michele Molnar on December 27, 2013 9:28 AM | No comments A face-off in New York State about the uploading of private student data to the cloud via education nonprofit inBloom Inc. will get its day in court soon. On Jan. 10, a lawsuit filed by 12 parents seeking a restraining order will be ...read moreThe post New York Battle Over inBloom, Data Privacy Heading to Court | Marketplace K-12 – Educ
Pay for teacher performance begins next year | savannahnow.com
By Jenel Few Next year, Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools teacher pay will be determined by how well teachers fare on the new Teacher Keys evaluation system. Implementation of the pay-for-performance evaluation system was required after the district accepted federal Race To the Top funding for school improvement. Some teachers will be evaluated based on their ...read moreThe post Pay for teac
Tell-All From A TFA and KIPP Teacher: Unprepared, Isolation, Shame, and Burnout | Cloaking Inequity
A few years ago a UT-Austin undergraduate student sat in my office and told me that she was joining Teach For America and was going to teach in KIPP school. The essence of TFA’s pitch to her? We recruit a diverse group of leaders with a record of achievement who work to expand educational opportunity, starting ...read moreThe post Tell-All From A TFA and KIPP Teacher: Unprepared, Isolation, Shame,
Advice to the New Mayor: Ignore The New York Times | Huffington Post
By Alan Singer This is probably my last Huffington Post before the new year. I want to wish a Happy New Year to incoming New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and congratulate him on taking office – although I am not sure how happy he will be once he settles into the job. In ...read moreThe post Advice to the New Mayor: Ignore The New York Times | Huffington Post appeared first on NPE News Briefs.
Gates Invests in Urine-Powered Cellphone | Diane Ravitch’s blog
When I heard about this, I thought it was a joke: The Gates Foundation is investing in the development of a urine-powered cellphone. Frankly, I have always harbored a secret wish that someone would develop a urine-powered engine for automobiles. No one would ever run out of fuel. Now, that would be a wonderful idea ...read moreThe post Gates Invests in Urine-Powered Cellphone | Diane Ravitch’s blo