NPE News Briefs
from The Network for Public Education
Hey, Buddy: Can You Spare $2.5 Billion? | Jersey Jazzman
Now that Chris Christie’s utterly fraudulent budgeting has been laid bare, we’re left with a problem: how will New Jersey make up for its two decade-old pension holiday? It’s nice to talk about bi-partisan commissions and proclaim that “everyone must make sacrifices,” but that’s really just a way for pundits to avoid giving a straight ...read more
What school reformers can learn from poker | The Answer Sheet
School reformers have made student outcomes the big focus of their efforts, targeting teachers for failure to improve student achievement. But teachers say they ignore the inputs — the issues students bring into a classroom and the training/resources of teachers. Here’s a look about the problem with outcome-based assessment, by Ben Spielberg, a Teach For ...read more
Governor Corbett Blames Union for Child’s Death | Diane Ravitch’s blog
When people write Pennsyvania Governor Tom Corbett to complain about the devastating effects of his budget cuts on the children of Philadelphia, he responds by blaming the teachers’ union for not accepting even deeper cuts. A few days ago, a first-grader died; there was no school nurse on duty. Her position had been cut from ...read more
Teacher Education Leaders Speak Out: Kevin Kumashiro on Teacher Preparation, edTPA and Reform | Living in Dialogue
Teacher preparation has emerged as a target of those seeking to disrupt and transform the education system in our nation. In the past I have written about the National Council on Teacher Quality’s project to rate schools of education. I also carried a guest post focused on Pearson’s EdTPA, the controversial test now being required ...read more
Has Arne Heard About NAEP? | Diane Ravitch’s blog
Someone sent me this clip from Tennessee, where Arne Duncan was trying to salvage the federally-funded online Common Core test called PARCC. “DUNCAN: TENNESSEE CAN STILL SALVAGE TESTS: At Brick Church College Prep in Nashville, Tenn., Education Secretary Arne Duncan showered the state with praise for becoming the fastest improving state in the country. But ...read more
CAP Serves Some CCSS Baloney | CURMUDGUCATION
The Center for American Progress came down hard for the Common Core last week, providing yet another field test for the 100% baloney sandwich that is the Core’s urban poor talking point menu. In “The Common Core Is An Opportunity for Educational Equity,”, CAP asserts, “The Common Core State Standards hold promise for low-income students, ...read more
Misreading the Never-Ending Drop-Out “Crisis” | the becoming radical
Prompted by Peter Greene’s Why Students Drop Out, further evidence that evidence doesn’t matter for the Obama administration of Secretary Duncan, I post below an entry for the Daily Kos from 4 February 2012. The political and public concern about high school graduation rates must be placed in two contexts: the historical reality of drop-out ...read more
Laurel Sturt: Who Are the Biggest Bullies in Education? | Diane Ravitch’s blog
Laurel Sturt says that old-fashioned schoolyard bullying has evolved into Internet malice, protected by anonymity. She says bullying has become a national pastime for some political leaders. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has cultivated a reputation as a bully, jabbing his finger at lesser mortals. And then bullying is built into education policy–federal, state, and ...read more
5-24-14 NPE News Briefs ← from The Network for Public Education
NPE News Briefs ← from The Network for Public Education:NPE News Briefsfrom The Network for Public EducationFirestorm erupts over teacher’s angry e-mail to legislators about low pay | The Answer SheetBY VALERIE STRAUSS May 23 at 2:28 pm An angry e-mail written by a teacher to North Carolina legislators with a subject line that said, “I am embarrassed to confess: I am a teacher,” might have been s