All Week @ THE CHALK FACE
The NYSUT “Revival”
Originally posted on An Antique Teacher:In light of the reports today that NYSUT is working to strong-arm the Working Families Party (they vehemently deny this is happening) and that NYSUT will remain silent at AFL-CIO endorsements for Andrew Cuomo, I feel it is necessary to revisit the “REVIVAL” that the leadership team elected in…
Education is NOT for Sale in New Mexico (Video)
After New Mexico teachers received their bogus evaluations from the state education department, they decided it’s past time to get loud and active. This group of rank-and-file teachers, parents, and students picketed and protested a three-day training session for principals, where corporate and state leaders were making sure administrators use the teacher evaluation system, TeachScape, with […]
The Privatization of Special Education
Like so much else in education and beyond, we are seeing the familiar pattern of defunding, claiming crisis, and then calling for privatization in special education. This past week in Chicago, our unelected Board of Education recently voted to expand contracts with private, for-profit organizations to meet the growing needs of our children with special needs as […]
Endgame: Disaster Capitalism, New Orleans, and the Charter Scam
Endgame: Disaster Capitalism, New Orleans, and the Charter Scam. via Endgame: Disaster Capitalism, New Orleans, and the Charter Scam.Filed under: PAUL THOMAS: Becoming Radical
In the U.S., Where the Female Nipple Is More Dangerous Than a Gun
In the U.S., Where the Female Nipple Is More Dangerous Than a Gun. via In the U.S., Where the Female Nipple Is More Dangerous Than a Gun.Filed under: PAUL THOMAS: Becoming Radical
MAY 29
On the “Success” of a 100% Charter Recovery School District
On May 29, 2014, Lindsey Layton of the Washington Post wrote this article on the conversion of the state-run New Orleans Recovery School District’s (RSD) conversion to charters. I would like to clarify a few of Layton’s glossy statements about RSD. Let us begin with this one: The creation of the country’s first all-charter school system has improved […]
SC, Choose OK, Not FL: Failing Students with Failed Policy
SC, Choose OK, Not FL: Failing Students with Failed Policy. via SC, Choose OK, Not FL: Failing Students with Failed Policy.Filed under: PAUL THOMAS: Becoming Radical
Newark’s Failed Experiment Illustrates Reformers’ Overreach
Dale Russakoff’s New Yorker profile, “Schooled,” starts with a description of the dysfunctionality of the Newark Public School System: The ratio of administrators to students—one to six—was almost twice the state average. Clerks made up thirty per cent of the central bureaucracy—about four times the ratio in comparable cities. Even some clerks had clerks, yet […]
MAY 28
If The Onion Gets It … : “when the mist distorts the outline of the cypress trees”
If The Onion Gets It … : “when the mist distorts the outline of the cypress trees”. via If The Onion Gets It … : “when the mist distorts the outline of the cypress trees”.Filed under: PAUL THOMAS: Becoming Radical
MAY 27
John White’s Illegitimate 2013-to-2014 LEAP/iLEAP Comparisons
Whenever Louisiana State Superintendent John White gets his hands on test scores, there will be problems. He withheld release of the 2014 Louisiana Educational Assessment Program (LEAP) and Integrated Louisiana Educational Assessment Program (iLEAP) scores on Friday, May 16, 2014, without explanation. Today, May 27, 2014, he defended his decision before district superintendents by telling them […]
A Lovely Review of David Greene’s Néw Book
A Lovely Review of David Greene’s Néw Book.Filed under: SHAUN JOHNSON, PHD: Musings from the Chalk Face
What’s Really Wrong with Advanced Placement Courses and College Board?
What’s Really Wrong with Advanced Placement Courses and College Board?. via What’s Really Wrong with Advanced Placement Courses and College Board?.Filed under: PAUL THOMAS: Becoming Radical
MAY 26
The 2008 Common Core Sales Job: Part Three
In 2008, the National Governors Association (NGA), the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), and Achieve, Inc., released a report, Benchmarking for Success: Ensuring U.S. Students Receive a World-class Education. I have examined this report in two previous posts. In Part One of my series on this report, I considered the report’s absence of discussions of national debt […]
Memorial Day 2014: A Reader
Memorial Day 2014: A Reader. via Memorial Day 2014: A Reader.Filed under: PAUL THOMAS: Becoming Radical
“Warning: The Literary Canon Could Make Students Squirm” NYT, May 18, 2014
Originally posted on Bill Ayers:The call for “trigger warnings”—a recent censorious trend gaining traction on American college campuses—is designed to alert students of any potentially troubling, unsettling, or upsetting course materials. The impetus is benign enough, and the context includes the important recent mobilization to deal seriously with epidemic levels of rape and sexual…
Quick note: Not permitted to mention “play” in Kindergarten
Let’s just say, hypothetically of course, that you are being observed by central office staff. You, as the teacher, post your schedule and, begrudgingly, your objectives to the wall in a central location. In post-observation “feedback,” it is suggested that you, as the teacher, not refer to “centers,” but instead adopt the term “work stations” […]
Peter DeWitt writes about teacher leaders, but ideology trumps expertise
From Peter DeWitt in Education Week. Very often, real change happens from the ground up, but unfortunately too many school leaders only recognize change from the top down. And if teachers need to change so much…might school leaders need to change as well? Pay attention school leaders…your best teacher leaders may be the ones who […]
A Memorial Day Post Featuring My Daddy
On this Memorial Day, I would like to feature my father, Michael Louis Schneider, Jr. (October 31, 1918 – May 10, 1980), who served in the Third Army, Seventy-first Division, from 1943 to 1946. Michael L. Schneider, Jr., circa 1943. He was around 25 years old at the time. I think he was really handsome. Daddy […]
MAY 25
Arts Teachers of the World Unite and Take Over!
The latest news in education that isn’t news came out of Philadelphia last week. According to Darlene Superville from the Associated Press and posted here: Delivering a forceful argument on the role of the arts in education, Michelle Obama said Tuesday that it isn’t something to be introduced after student test scores go up but […]
Misreading the Never-Ending Drop-Out “Crisis”
Misreading the Never-Ending Drop-Out “Crisis”. via Misreading the Never-Ending Drop-Out “Crisis”.Filed under: PAUL THOMAS: Becoming Radical
MAY 24
Looks Like Oklahoma Could Be First to Really Dump Common Core
On May 23, 2014, both the Oklahoma House (71-18) and Senate (31-10) voted to dump the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). All that is left is for Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin to sign the legislation, HB 3399, into law. (Fallin was not governor when Oklahoma signed on for CCSS as part of Race to the Top {RTTT} in […]
Check out this new #forthecore campaign on Twitter and…
… tell me that the Center for American Progress is not implying that you hate military families if you don’t support the Common Core. This is highly disappointing coming from a so-called progressive organization. Actually, it’s not disappointing at all, just predictable and hilarious. It proves that progressives are terrible on issues dealing with education […]
I am insulted by the promise of a “quality education”
The Washington Post recently reported that DC approved three new charter schools. What bothers me the most about this: do we really need any new charters? How can we have so many different operators in one city, with wildly different leadership styles and educational philosophies? Plus, one of these schools is being opened by a former […]
Inequalities perpetuated by progressives fills me with fury and sadness
I am a political liberal who is pro-union and supports public education. It is foul, however, to hear about the grossness of those with whom I’m politically sympathetic. I’ve been obsessed with this issue over the last week since I first heard about it. I’ve probably realized this subconsciously over the years and thought nothing […]