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Newark Superintendent Cami Anderson Will No Longer Attend Newark School Board Meetings
Only a few hours before a school board meeting scheduled for this evening, Newark’s state-appointed Superintendent Cami Anderson announced that neither she nor her leadership team would attend the meetings or any other meetings of the school board. Apparently, she thinks the board is too unruly and she prefers to engage with parents in other (controlled) settings. This is quite a show of contempt
Eva Moskowitz Plans to Fight Mayor de Blasio in Albany
Eva Moskowitz, the combative CEO of the Success Academy charter school chain (previously called Harlem Success Academy), anticipates that new Mayor Bill de Blasio may charge rent for her use of public space or may deny some of the co-locations offered in the waning days of the Bloomberg administration. Moskowitz enjoyed preferential treatment when Michael Bloomberg was mayor and had immediate acce
CTU Supports School That Opts Out of State Tests; More Likely to Join Test Boycott
Teachers at a Chicago elementary school voted to boycott the next round of state testing, and their union supported them. CTU SUPPORTS TEACHER BOYCOTT OF LOW-STAKES ISAT CHICAGO – The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) supports teachers and parents at Maria Saucedo Scholastic Academy who announced today their intent to boycott the Illinois State Achievement Test (ISAT). Teachers have collected more tha
Michelle Rhee Spends Freely for Anti-Teacher Lobbyist
Michelle Rhee is on a national vendetta against teachers. According to an investigation by a special unit of Al Jazeera, Rhee has poured large sums into a campaign to attack unions and teachers in California, using the services of a politically powerful lobbyist in Sacramento. Since there is no research to support her campaign to destroy unions and to eliminate due process from teachers, her crus
New Jersey: Time to Investigate Christie Administration’s Failed Reforms
Jim O’Neill, interim superintendent of West Orange, New Jersey, did something remarkable, something we expect from retired educators, not those in the field. He spoke up. He denounced the failed reforms of the Christie administration whose purpose is not to improve education but to open up the school budget for privatization. For his courage and candor, based on experience and wisdom, he joins the
“Democrats for Education Reform” Oppose de Blasio Plan to Fund Universal Pre-K
This morning, Joe Williams, the executive director of the hedge-fund managers’ “education reform” front group (“Democrats for Education Reform”) published an opinion piece in the New York Daily News opposing Mayor Bill de Blasio’s plan to fund universal pre-kindergarten by taxing incomes over $500,000. As Mayor de Blasio has pointed out, the incremental tax to pay for U-PK would be the equivalent
Edushyster: When the Excellence Brigade Came To Minneapolis
On February 6, Michelle Rhee preferred to speak to the Minneapolis business leadership instead of debating me. But fortunately, I got a first-hand report from someone who attended the event and explained who spoke and what they said. Rhee, as is her custom, advised the audience that the path to excellence begins with eliminating tenure or due process for all teachers. That way, they can be fired
Obama Invites Dr. James Comer to Join Advisory Panel
This is really good news. President Obama appointed famed Yale child psychologist Dr. James Comer to join an advisory panel, where he will be “one of 15 appointees to a new President’s Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for African Americans. The commission is tasked with “improving educational outcomes for African Americans to ensure that all African Americans receive an education th
The Vergara Case and Other People’s Children: A Teacher’s View
The Vergara trial in Los Angeles prompted this National Board Certified Teacher to reflect on the power dynamics in LAUSD. And how it affects the students. The trial is funded by a very wealthy tech entrepreneur whose legal team claims that due process rights for teachers denies the civil rights of minority students because it is harder to fire teachers if they get a hearing. Superintendent John D
Help These Kids Go to Finland!
A friend passed along this email. What an awesome threesome! The Boston Consulting Group (whose reports always recommend privatization, as in Philadelphia); the Harvard Business School; and the Gates Foundation. Lots of bright young men and women, probably graduates of our finest private schools. They will redesign public education for other people’s children. They need some good ideas. I propose
New York: Time for Accountability for State Board of Regents
The New York Regents have embraced the Common Core standards and testing with the fervor of zealots. They brook no opposition, and they only pretend to listen to critics. Only two Regents, Kathleen Cashin and Betty Rosa, both of whom are experienced educators, have consistently and publicly dissented from the Regents’ failed agenda. The Regents are appointed by the New York Legislature, which in p
Berliner and Glass: A Great New Book Exposes the Myths and Lies About US Education
A New Book Just for You http://store.tcpress.com/0807755249.shtml ANNOUNCING—An Important New Book by David C. Berliner, Gene V Glass, and Associates Special Pre-publication Discount! Use coupon code 50MYTHS2014 “50 Myths and Lies is a powerful defense of public education…. It is a timely and hard-hitting book of scholarly but passionate polemic.” —Jonathan Kozol
Beardsley: New York’s Teacher Evaluation System Is Useless
Noted VAM expert Audrey Amrein-Beardsley explains why New York’s teacher evaluation system doesn’t work and why the release of results has been delayed: She writes: “One of the biggest drawbacks of such teacher evaluation systems is that they have literally no instrumental value; that is, no states across the country have yet figured out how to use these data for instrumental or change-based pur
LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 2-24-14 Diane Ravitch's blog #EDCHAT
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: New Mexico Teacher: Skandera Is No Friend of EducationDavid Aram Wilson offered this testimony at the confirmation hearings of Hanna Skandera, who is acting secretary of education in New Mexico and chairperson of Jeb Bush’s Chiefs for Change. Skandera has been importing “the Florida model” of high-stakes testing and accountability