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Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Nite Cap 4-9-14 #BATsACT #RealEdTalk #EDCHAT #P2



James Baldwin said it best: 

"For these are all our children, and we will profit by or pay for whatever they become."


A BIG EDUCATION APE NITE CAP




Tobacco Use Prevention Grants - Year 2014 (CA Dept of Education)
Tobacco Use Prevention Grants - Year 2014 (CA Dept of Education): State Schools Chief Tom Torlakson Announces Tobacco-Use Prevention GrantsConcern raised on proliferation of other nicotine-delivery devicesSACRAMENTO—Work by educators to decrease smoking among students received a boost today as State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson announced 14 California school districts will sh
empathyeducates – Report Warns of “Hyper-Segregated” Charters
empathyeducates – Report Warns of “Hyper-Segregated” Charters: Report Warns of “Hyper-Segregated” ChartersNew York State has received their just reward, the highest dishonor. The schools statewide are known to engage in “double segregation.” Students are increasingly isolated not only by race, but also by income. A Black or Latino student in New York State likely attends a school with twice as man
Schooling in the Ownership Society: Charters in the 'Era of Accountability'
Schooling in the Ownership Society: Charters in the 'Era of Accountability': Charters in the 'Era of Accountability'More than $900 million in state and local tax dollars, some of it approved by local voters, will be transferred this school year from local schools to nonprofit, publicly funded Ohio charter schools that did not exist 20 years ago. Who is watching how all of that money is spent? -- C
“Dump the losers”: Where do District and City leaders really stand? | Parents United for Public Education
“Dump the losers”: Where do District and City leaders really stand? | Parents United for Public Education: “Dump the losers”: Where do District and City leaders really stand?Posted on April 9, 2014 by HELENGYMLeave a commentHow shocked should we be really?On Friday, Philadelphia School Partnership’s Mark Gleason embraced a stunningly blunt description of the District’s “portfolio model” at a sessi
NYC Public School Parents: Rally at NY Public Library and March On Governor Cuomo's Office Tomorrow to Draw Hundreds of Outraged Parents from All Over City
NYC Public School Parents: Rally at NY Public Library and March On Governor Cuomo's Office Tomorrow to Draw Hundreds of Outraged Parents from All Over City: Rally at NY Public Library and March On Governor Cuomo's Office Tomorrow to Draw Hundreds of Outraged Parents from All Over CityMedia Contacts:Noah E. Gotbaum: 917-658-3213; noah@gotbaum.comRashidah White: 646-229-1610; white.rashidah@gmail.co
I have a Man Crush on NEPC | Cloaking Inequity
I have a Man Crush on NEPC | Cloaking Inequity: I have a Man Crush on NEPCI don’t know if you know this… but I have a shirtless man-crush on the National Education Policy Center (NEPC). I really do. It is embarrassing. Perhaps I mention their/our work in every single public talk that I do? I learned today about some great news that was announced at the 2014 American Educational Research Associatio
Something In Me Snapped Today: No More ‘Education Reform’ CityWatch
CityWatch: Something In Me Snapped Today: No More ‘Education Reform’ Written by Julie Vassilatos 08 Apr 2014Font SizeEDUCATION POLITICS-Something in me snapped today and I realized that I am finished using the phrase "education reform." That's how folks refer to the constellation of ideas firmly entrenched in the White House right now, upheld by almost every governor of every state, red
Revoked Rights For Educators | My Island View
Revoked Rights For Educators | My Island View: Revoked Rights For EducatorsApril 9, 2014 by tomwhitbyAt what point in time did schools obtain the power to suspend a teacher’s constitutional right to free speech? I know that social media is relatively new to our modern history, which is reason to give some institutions a little breathing space to catch up to all of social media’s ramifications on o
Data sampling | Deborah Meier on Education
Data sampling | Deborah Meier on Education: Data samplingPosted on April 9, 2014 by debmeierDear friends and readers,Why is it that these experts on collecting data seem so ignorant about the science of data collection? If we want “objective” data then the cheapest and most honest results can be gathered by sampling the population rather than gathering data on everyone. Most data in this world has
Report: Part-time, fractured LA school board unacceptable | Pass / Fail | 89.3 KPCC
Report: Part-time, fractured LA school board unacceptable | Pass / Fail | 89.3 KPCC: Report: Part-time, fractured LA school board unacceptableAnnie Gilbertson | April 9th, 2014, 10:41amMary Plummer/KPCCLos Angeles 2020 Commission is criticizing the part-time status of the Los Angeles Unified school board.  In its report released Wednesday, the commission called the current approach "unaccepta
4-9-14 @ The Chalk Face
@ THE CHALK FACE: Behind the CCSS Corporate Curtain: Gates, TURN, and the AFT Innovation FundI know it doesn’t seem healthy to continue to speak of the roles that national teacher union groups are playing in our current corporate education reform takeover, but this is kind of important, for three big reasons: (1) Most teachers have never heard of what I’ll be writing about here, because it’s not a
Common Core State Standards Not Nevada’s Creation | Truth in American Education
Common Core State Standards Not Nevada’s Creation | Truth in American Education: Common Core State Standards Not Nevada’s CreationFiled in Common Core State Standards, Education at State Level by truthed on April 9, 2014 • 0 Comments1By Karen Briske & Christina LeventisState-led, state-led, no really it was state-led! How many times have “We the People” been told the Common Core State Standard
4-9-14 Seattle Schools Community Forum
Seattle Schools Community Forum: Seattle Schools Work Session/Committee Meeting UpdatesThe Work Sessions scheduled for today now have their agendas available.One is the Risk Management; Insurance Coverage Review.   On the face of it, this department seems to be doing a good job.  I only say "seems" because insurance is not my area so it's hard to discern any issues. Two items of note:Pag
4-9-14 LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD
LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District): Morning Read: LAUSD to spend $837M on low-income studentsLAUSD plans to spend $837 million on disadvantaged students Disadvantaged students in L.A. Unified stand to benefit from a multimillion-dollar infusion for more tutoring, counselors, English language coaches, nurses, librarians and other support und
Morning Wink 4-9-14 AM Posts #BATsACT #RealEdTalk #EDCHAT #P2
BIG EDUCATION APE - MORNING WINK  AM POSTSFCMAT » Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance TeamFCMAT » Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team: L.A. Unified board to study adding student representativeEducation HeadlinesWednesday, April 9, 2014FCMAT provides links to California K-12 news stories as a service to the industry. However, some stories may not be accessible because of newspapers
FCMAT » Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team
FCMAT » Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team: L.A. Unified board to study adding student representativeEducation HeadlinesWednesday, April 9, 2014FCMAT provides links to California K-12 news stories as a service to the industry. However, some stories may not be accessible because of newspapers' subscription policies.Fensterwald: Deal in L.A. Unified designed to protect 37 high-needs scho
California Ed Deform District Report Card
Homepage | California District Report Card: ABOUT THIS SITEJust as students receive report cards to measure their performance and progress in school, The Education Trust – West has developed report cards that grade California school districts on how well they serve their Latino, African-American, and low-income students. We provide grades and ranks to the largest unified districts on four key indi
LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 4-9-14 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: John Thompson: Chetty and Kane Are Out of Touch with Real WorldJohn Thompson, teacher and historian, here reviews the testimony in the Vergara trial of economists Raj Chetty and Tom Kane. They are believers in economic models for judging teacher quality. Thompson concludes they are seriously out of touch with the real world of teac
4-9-14 Ed Notes Online Week
Ed Notes Online: MORE's Jia Lee in The NationFor Lee, all this number crunching is the antithesis of a progressive education. Kids do need some basic academic skills, Lee says, but in the context of a well-rounded pedogagy, “[for] educators who believe strongly in…. developing the whole child—you see these tests as trying to turn the child into some kind of number based on artificially set standar
4-9-14 Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher
Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher who is just looking at the data.: There are plenty on the hook for this pension theft.  Voting to steal pensions is a major election issue. It defeated Toni Berrios and it will come back to haunt others. The fast passage of SB1922 was a bipartisan affair. It was introduced yesterday morning and with no hearings or debate it was passed
Ms. Jablonski's Class Blog 4-9-14
Ms. Jablonski's Class Blog: Russia is Still Having Fun with the UkraineSo there are now up to 40,000 Russian troops equipped with all their fighting machines on the border of the Ukraine. Russia has annexed Crimea and clearly shows intent of not stopping there. Ethnically Russian cities inside of the Ukrainian border have exploded in revolt and violence has torn the streets. There are cities in th
4-9-14 Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL
Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL: “Poverty-related Challenges Sap Instructional Time in High Schools”Poverty-related Challenges Sap Instructional Time in High Schools is the headline of an article in Education Week on a new study that finds teachers in high-poverty schools like ours end up with thirty minutes of less instructional time each day than those i
House Passes HB1490 on Common Core | Missouri Education Watchdog
House Passes HB1490 on Common Core | Missouri Education Watchdog: House Passes HB1490 on Common CoreinShareFor three years Representative Kurt Bahr has introduced legislation calling for a repeal of Common Core. Yesterday his legislation finally went somewhere. The House passed HB1490 by unanimous vote, but not before amending the bejeebers out of it.It appears the plan was to add a number of diff
4-9-14 Wait What?
Wait What?: Hartford Courant story highlights bizarre effort to privatize Clark Elementary School.A Hartford Courant article entitled, Hartford School Board Asks Education Commissioner To ‘Impose’ Turnaround Plan reveals some of the contradictions and bizarre actions taken by the Malloy administration, Hartford Mayor Pedro Segarra, senior Hartford board of education officials, and corporate educat
4-9-14 The Answer Sheet
The Answer Sheet: It just keeps getting worseJust when you think this story can’t get any more awful, it does. Andrea Rediske’s effort to help families of children with severe disabilities has taken yet another frustrating turn. I’ve written several posts about Rediske’s long struggle with the Florida Department of Education over a requirement that her blind and severely brain-damaged son, Ethan,
4-9-14 Schools Matter
Schools Matter: Responding to Karin Klein of the LA Times' 'Why my family is opting out of the Common Core testing'"The U.S. can do a much better job evaluating children, teachers and schools. That's why protests against standardized testing misuse and overuse are exploding across the nation."—FairTest The Los Angeles Times' long time school privatization cheerleader Karin Klein penned a
Scathing Purple Musings | Color me purple in Florida, red in Washington, dark sky-blue in Israel and public school in Education
Scathing Purple Musings | Color me purple in Florida, red in Washington, dark sky-blue in Israel and public school in Education: Gutting of Florida’s Bright Futures Hurts Minority Students; A Sop to Testing IndustryFresh off the story that Florida will have to pay Utah $5.4 million for piloting the state’s new tests comes news that Florida’s tremendously successful Bright Futures scholarship progr
Major Bill Actions Education - U.S. Congress - OpenCongress
Education - U.S. Congress - OpenCongress: Bill Introduced: H.R. 10: Success and Opportunity through Quality Charter Schools ActTo amend the charter school program under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.6h hide  //  saveBill Introduced: H.R. 4259: Electronic Books Opening Opportunity for Knowledge Act of 2014To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to lower the cost of college ed
empathyeducates – Charter School Refugees
empathyeducates – Charter School Refugees: Charter School RefugeesBy Andrea Gabor | Originally Published at The New York times. April 4, 2014LAST week, the New York State Legislature struck a deal ensuring that charter schools in New York City would have access to space, either in already crowded public school buildings or in rented spaces largely paid for by the city. Over the next few years, cha
4-9-13 Curmudgucation Week
CURMUDGUCATION: Common Corer? I Don't Even Know Her!With his House appropriations subcommittee testimony Tuesday, Arne Duncan remains the highest profile reformy booster to wipe the Common Core lipstick off his face and stammer, "But, honey, I barely even know the woman!"It's not the first time for Arne-- it hasn't even been a month since he watched Indiana dump the Core and said, "
4-9-14 Perdido Street School Week
Perdido Street School: Howie Hawkins To Seek Green Party Line To Run Against CuomoMy sense is the Working Families Party functionaries are talking a good game about getting a candidate from the left to run against Cuomo this year but in the end will not do so.Howie Hawkins, who ran on the Green Party line against Cuomo last time around, may be the best third party candidate/protest vote we're goin
The Koch Brothers Are Part of What’s the Matter with Kansas | janresseger
The Koch Brothers Are Part of What’s the Matter with Kansas | janresseger: The Koch Brothers Are Part of What’s the Matter with KansasPosted on April 9, 2014 by janressegerSince when does school funding legislation have to come with a quid pro quo legislative tidbit for the Koch Brothers?Here is some background for what happened in Kansas last weekend.  The legislature had been warned by the state
What’s The Evidence on School Devices and Software Improving Student Learning? | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice
What’s The Evidence on School Devices and Software Improving Student Learning? | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice: What’s The Evidence on School Devices and Software Improving Student Learning?The historical record is rich in evidence that research findings have played a subordinate role in making educational policy. Often, policy choices were (and are) political decisions. Ther
Almost 70% of teachers are not engaged. Here’s why that matters so much | Digital
Almost 70% of teachers are not engaged. Here’s why that matters so much | Digital: Almost 70% of teachers are not engaged. Here’s why that matters so muchWedbesday Gallup released a major report on the State of American Schools. Their data paints a picture of schools performing as a complex ecosystem, with the wellbeing, engagement, and performance of teachers, students, and principals all intertw
There's Nothing Especially Educational About Factory-Style Management :: Frederick M. Hess
There's Nothing Especially Educational About Factory-Style Management :: Frederick M. Hess: There's Nothing Especially Educational About Factory-Style Managementby Frederick M. Hess  •  Apr 9, 2014 at 8:33 amCross-posted from Education WeekReform critics dismiss efforts to rethink leadership practice, recruitment, and training as an effort to import "business" thinking into K-12. Meanwhi
Day of Silence (April 11, 2014) | GLSEN
Day of Silence (April 11, 2014) | GLSEN: Day of Silence (April 11, 2014)Silence can create change!That’s why every year hundreds of thousands of students across the world take a vow of silence on a Friday in April. This quiet but powerful, student-led action raises awareness about the silencing effect of anti-LGBT bullying, harassment and discrimination.Anyone can organize a Day of Silence activit
Why Mark Gleason Likes an Unaccountable, Unelected SRC | WeArePCAPS
Why Mark Gleason Likes an Unaccountable, Unelected SRC | WeArePCAPS: Why Mark Gleason Likes an Unaccountable, Unelected SRCPosted on April 9, 2014by wearepcaps“… I just want to offer two thoughts on the governance question. One is, while it’s imperfect, I think the current state and city hybrid appointed School Reform Commission is probably the best model. Here’s what’s wrong with an elected schoo
Deal in L.A. Unified designed to protect 37 high-needs schools from layoffs | EdSource Today
Deal in L.A. Unified designed to protect 37 high-needs schools from layoffs | EdSource Today: Deal in L.A. Unified designed to protect 37 high-needs schools from layoffsApril 9th, 2014 | 1 Comment | By John FensterwaldThe parties in a 4-year-old lawsuit challenging mass layoffs of teachers at low-income middle schools in Los Angeles Unified announced a settlement Tuesday that an attorney called a
Parents & Educators Protest Eviction Of Special Needs Students For Charter Schools | PopularResistance.Org
Parents & Educators Protest Eviction Of Special Needs Students For Charter Schools | PopularResistance.Org: Parents & Educators Protest Eviction Of Special Needs Students For Charter SchoolsRESIST! EDUCATION, NYC By Lauren McCauley, www.commondreams.orgApril 9th, 2014  Powered by TranslateParents and public school advocates staged a dramatic protest outside the New York City Department of
NYC Educator: Arwen Questions the UFT-Unity Loyalty Oath
NYC Educator: Arwen Questions the UFT-Unity Loyalty Oath: Arwen Questions the UFT-Unity Loyalty Oath-->By guest blogger Arwen E.I urge cooperation between my sisters and brothers of UNITY and MORE. I plead for the sake of humanity that tomorrow at the D.A. meeting in Manhattan one Union brother or sister stand up and ask for a justification of the LOYALTY OATH.   More adamantly, I plead that this
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Florida's Testing Freaks
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Florida's Testing Freaks: Florida's Testing FreaksFlorida's test-crazy Gov. Rick Scott and his ed adviser, Michelle Rhee.If you want to see the depths to which Florida's Dept. of Ed. testing freaks can sink, see Valerie Strauss' story in today's WaPo about a Florida mom Andrea Rediske’s fight to help families of children with severe disabilities. Warning -- it's not

YESTERDAY

BREAKING!! MY FIRST HAND ACCOUNT OF MICHELLE RHEE'S CULT southbronxschool.com
http://www.southbronxschool.com: BREAKING!! MY FIRST HAND ACCOUNT OF MICHELLE RHEE'S CULTBear with me here as I put into context the audacity, the hubris, the obfuscation I witnessed today of hacks representing Students First.As many of you know, I am incarcerated at 4360 Broadway which happens to be PS 48 in Manhattan. Coming in this morning there were a phalanx of talking head media congregated
Arne Duncan Plays the Common Core Distancing Game | deutsch29
Arne Duncan Plays the Common Core Distancing Game | deutsch29: Arne Duncan Plays the Common Core Distancing GameApril 8, 2014On April 2, 2014, Louisiana has witnessed the lame demonstration of “Common Core distancing” from the governor (Bobby Jindal) who signed the state onto “the standards” (CCSS) in 2009– before they were written.In 2010, US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan accepted Louisiana’
The Opt-Out Update | Seattle Education
The Opt-Out Update | Seattle Education: The Opt-Out UpdateIn some New York (Long Island) school district, organized Opt Out movement families are providing their children with a lanyard indicating that they are opting out of the “ELA” tests (see above). In addition to informing the schools that they want to opt out their children, the parents are making double certain that the schools and others g
TODAY: House and Senate approve teacher pension pillage in Illinois – as campaign contributors are awarded tax monies | Reclaim Reform
TODAY: House and Senate approve teacher pension pillage in Illinois – as campaign contributors are awarded tax monies | Reclaim Reform: TODAY: House and Senate approve teacher pension pillage in Illinois – as campaign contributors are awarded tax moniesPosted on April 8, 2014by Ken PrevitiIn spite of state and federal constitutional protections, active teachers will pay more into their pension fun
Nite Cap 4-8-14 #BATsACT #RealEdTalk #EDCHAT #P2
James Baldwin said it best: "For these are all our children, and we will profit by or pay for whatever they become."A BIG EDUCATION APE NITE CAPSPECIAL Mid Day Banana Break 4-8-13 #soschat #edreformBig Education Ape - Mid Day Banana BreakWEA Supports Families Opting out of State TestingI had heard about this vote this past weekend but couldn't find info on it at the WEA website.  From KU