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
Report: Charter School Vulnerabilities to Waste, Fraud & Abuse - Integrity in Education
Report: Charter School Vulnerabilities to Waste, Fraud & Abuse - Integrity in Education: Report: Charter School Vulnerabilities to Waste, Fraud & AbuseRelease: “A new report released today reveals that fraudulent charter operators in 15 states are responsible for losing, misusing or wasting over $100 million in taxpayer money.”Summary: “Charter School Vulnerabilities to Waste, Fraud And Ab
Local Accountability and Astroturf: Local Control without the Local Control | Cloaking Inequity
Local Accountability and Astroturf: Local Control without the Local Control | Cloaking Inequity: Local Accountability and Astroturf: Local Control without the Local ControlHow can we banish No Child Left Behind’s top-down and narrow paradigm? Local control has been a bedrock principle of public schooling in America since its inception. NCLB sent us in the opposite direction of this traditional not
empathyeducates – Consumed by the Digital Divide
empathyeducates – Consumed by the Digital Divide: Consumed by the Digital DividePhotograph: Echo/Getty Images/Cultura RFBy Paul L. Thomas, Ed.D. | Originally Published at The Becoming Radical. May 5, 2014The term “digital divide” is commonly used in education as a subset of the “achievement gap”—representing the inequity between impoverished and affluent students. Both terms, however, tend to keep
5-5-14 Schools Matter
Schools Matter: those brave new testsEd Week cheerfully reports field-tests for Smarter Balanced and PARCC tests are going jus' fine:"Early Reports Suggest Few Field-Testing Snags" [http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2014/05/06/30fieldtest_ep.h33.html?cmp=ENL-EU-NEWS1]I posted this comment: This "field-testing" seems to be mostly about technical aspects of implementation. I get
John Thompson: Can the Gates Foundation Learn? - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher
John Thompson: Can the Gates Foundation Learn? - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher: John Thompson: Can the Gates Foundation Learn?By Anthony Cody on May 5, 2014 2:57 PMGuest post by John Thompson.PBS's John Merrow explains how grassroots, bipartisan outrage is toppling Common Core State Standards and the national testing that it accompanies. He says, "at least two other issues are a
Don’t Fall For The Teacher Tenure Boogey Man | Missouri Education Watchdog
Don’t Fall For The Teacher Tenure Boogey Man | Missouri Education Watchdog: Don’t Fall For The Teacher Tenure Boogey ManinShareLots of very nice well meaning people were approached by a person standing outside their grocery store or library in the last several months and asked to sign a petition to get rid of teacher tenure so we could “finally get rid of the really bad teachers who were making ou
5-5-14 Seattle Schools Community Forum Week
Seattle Schools Community Forum: Give BIG is Tuesday, May 6thSeattle Foundation is having its Give BIG day tomorrow where donations made to non-profits will be enlarged via a "stretch pool" of funding. The amount of the "stretch" depends on how much is raised in total donations on GiveBIG day. It starts at midnight tonight and ends at midnight on the 6th. Here's a list of non-
5-5-14 LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District)
LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District): UTLA election winners still awaiting review of challengesThe UTLA election winners are still waiting for the fat lady to sing. Since Alex Caputo-Pearl was declared the winner as president and two other races were clarified though the second round of voting last week, the union’s election committee is now
5-5-14 the becoming radical | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness by P. L. Thomas, EdD
the becoming radical | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness (the public and scholarly writing by P. L. Thomas, Furman University): Consumed by the Digital DivideThe term “digital divide” is commonly used in education as a subset of the “achievement gap”—representing the inequity between impoverished and affluent students. Both terms, however, tend to keep the focus on observable or measurable outcom
Accord on process for defining Common Core cut scores :: SI&A Cabinet Report :: The Essential Resource for Superintendents and the Cabinet
Accord on process for defining Common Core cut scores :: SI&A Cabinet Report :: The Essential Resource for Superintendents and the Cabinet: MAY 05, 2014Accord on process for defining Common Core cut scoresby Tom Chorneau(Wash.) A big step in ensuring that new computer-based tests aligned to the Common Core State Standards will properly measure student achievement won passage last week by gover
Schools seek changes to healthier lunch rules | 89.3 KPCC
Schools seek changes to healthier lunch rules | 89.3 KPCC: Schools seek changes to healthier lunch rulesMary Clare Jalonick | AP | May 5th, 2014, 8:01amRichard HartogCafeteria worker Sophia Villareal sets up apples and carrots for students before the lunch period at Brockton Avenue Elementary School in Los Angeles. Starting next school year, pasta and other grain products in schools will have to b
Morning Wink 5-5-14 AM Posts #BATsACT #RealEdTalk #EDCHAT #P2
BIG EDUCATION APE - MORNING WINK AM POSTSLISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 5-5-14 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for allDiane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: NYC Parents, Elected Officials To Protest Preferential Treatment for Charters on May 6Another protest against the law sponsored by Governor Cuomo to give preferential treatment to the billionaire
LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 5-5-14 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: NYC Parents, Elected Officials To Protest Preferential Treatment for Charters on May 6Another protest against the law sponsored by Governor Cuomo to give preferential treatment to the billionaire-sponsored charter schools. the Cuomo law was enacted at the same time that New York City’s public schools are overcrowded, with class siz
5-5-14 Ed Notes Online
Ed Notes Online: Charter WaitList Balderdash Exposed - Show Us the NamesWAIT, WAIT. DON’T MISLEAD ME! - NINE REASONS TO BE SKEPTICAL ABOUT CHARTER WAITLIST NUMBERS.”I have always challenged the charter lobby wait-list bullshit - challenging them to show is the names. They won't. So with the lobby releasing info today that there are billions and billions of parents clamoring to get their children i
5-5-14 Jersey Jazzman NJ Jammin' All Week
Jersey Jazzman: What's Happening With B4K?So, at the first glance, it looks like B4K is up to their old tricks again: putting money from billionaires David Tepper and Alan Fournier into local politics under the guise of education reform. They've done it before in Jersey City and Perth Amboy; now it's Trenton.But hang on -- something seems different...TRENTON — A nonprofit that gives free backpacks
5-5-14 Wait What?
Wait What?: Re-posting Malloy’s Teacher evaluation system is fundamentally and fatally flawedPublic education advocate Wendy Lecker’s latest column is reaching a national audience thanks to Diane Ravitch’s blog. Here is a re-post of Saturday’s Wait, What? post about Lecker’s commentary piece. In her latest MUST READ commentary piece, fellow public education advocate, Wendy Lecker, lays out the fac
5-5-14 The Answer Sheet
The Answer Sheet: Virginia’s SOL exams: what students need to know to pass (and graduate on time)Today is the day when Virginia students will start running what teacher Mary Tedrow calls the state’s ” testing gauntlet” which seems to test endurance at least as much as knowledge. In this post, Tedrow looks at the sample questions of Standards of Learning tests and explains what students need to kno
5-5-14 Scathing Purple Musings | Color me purple in Florida ALL Week
Scathing Purple Musings | Color me purple in Florida, red in Washington, dark sky-blue in Israel and public school in Education: “There is school choice and there is the destruction of public education choice”A teacher and candidate for Marion School Board, Diane Schrier writes in the Ocala Star Banner: Marion County has been lucky so far, as we’ve managed to be able to keep out most of these orga
5-5-14 Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL
Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL: Learn About Mother’s Day & Conjunctions In My Latest NY Times Post For ELLsLearn about Mother’s Day AND conjunctions in my latest New York Times post for English Language Learners. It includes a student interactive and teaching ideas. You might also be interested in my previous forty NY Times posts for ELLs. You might a
5-5-14 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.: John, Glen, Ken and I discuss. What should we do about Quinn and Rauner?John Dillon, Glen Brown, Ken Previti and I are all retired teachers, activists, advocates for pension justice and bloggers. Today we discuss the issue of what our union and the members of the Illinois Education Association, should
5-5-14 @ The Chalk Face
@ THE CHALK FACE: “TAKING BACK OUR SCHOOLS” May 17th Come and bring your families, your friends, and your colleagues to NYC on May 17th to show the world how we are from corporate “reformers”.http://saveourschoolsmarch.org/event/nyc-metro-spring-action/1 by David Greene / 9min hide // saveGuest Post: Joining Forces for Education report back from the CSUN Parents’ ForumBy Ellen Lubic, Directo
5-5-14 The Whole Child Blog — Revisiting The Differentiated Classroom: Looking Back and Ahead with Carol Ann Tomlinson — Whole Child Education
Revisiting The Differentiated Classroom: Looking Back and Ahead with Carol Ann Tomlinson — Whole Child Education: THE WHOLE CHILD BLOGRevisiting The Differentiated Classroom: Looking Back and Ahead with Carol Ann TomlinsonMay 5, 2014 by Klea ScharbergIn the 15 years since the first edition of The Differentiated Classroom: Responding to the Needs of All Learners was published, many things have chan
5-5-13 Curmudgucation Week
CURMUDGUCATION: An Educated Person"Don't you think there are things that every educated person should know?"I hear this fairly often, generally in response to my stated disinterest in having Common Core standards in particular and national education standards ever in general. It's an eye-opening question for me , because even just a few years ago, I'm pretty sure I would have answered y
5-5-14 Perdido Street School Week
Perdido Street School: Another Saham From Andrew CuomoRemember when Cuomo parachuted in to save the TWU/MTA contract deal?Turns out the whole thing was orchestrated by Cuomo's office to make him look the "hero":If the latest episode of the MTA-TWU drama seemed a bit scripted, it’s for good reason. It was scripted. In what might be dubbed the “Fairy Tale of Albany” or the “White Knight fr
Common Core is latest front in decades-long education wars | EdSource Today
Common Core is latest front in decades-long education wars | EdSource Today: Common Core is latest front in decades-long education warsMay 4th, 2014 | 1 Comment | By Peter Schrag / commentary16It’s déjà vu all over again.Peter SchragNearly 20 years ago, after the Clinton administration proposed a program of voluntary national student testing, Chester Finn, then a senior fellow at the conservative
The 2008 Common Core Sales Job: Part Two | deutsch29
The 2008 Common Core Sales Job: Part Two | deutsch29: The 2008 Common Core Sales Job: Part TwoMay 5, 2014In 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.The report promotes a now all-too-familiar spectrum of so-called “reforms
NGA Chair Gov. Mary Fallin Target of Campaign to End Common Core | Truth in American Education
NGA Chair Gov. Mary Fallin Target of Campaign to End Common Core | Truth in American Education: NGA Chair Gov. Mary Fallin Target of Campaign to End Common CoreFiled in Common Core State Standards by Shane Vander Hart on May 5, 2014 • 0 Comments34101American Principles Project, Eagle Forum, Concerned Women for America, Home School Legal Defense Association and several other grassroots conservative
Piketty in the Pines Going camping with the 1% | EduShyster
Piketty in the Pines | EduShyster: Piketty in the PinesGoing camping with the 1%Reader: even upon today’s comically overpopulated education reform landscape, the men of Democrats for Education Reform or DFER (say it with me; Dee Furr) stand alone. That’s because, with thier unapologetic ties to all things hedge fundy, DFER man’s net worth towers above even his well-off reform-minded peers. Also, t
Failing Schools: Conflicts over How to Write, Talk, and Make Films about Them | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice
Failing Schools: Conflicts over How to Write, Talk, and Make Films about Them | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice: Failing Schools: Conflicts over How to Write, Talk, and Make Films about ThemI have been a social studies teacher for 14 years in schools that were black and poor. Even before test scores determined whether a school was failing, the three urban schools I taught in we
GUEST: Christie aims at unions | Bob Braun's Ledger
GUEST: Christie aims at unions | Bob Braun's Ledger: GUEST: Christie aims at unionsWill he eat unions now?By Becca FieldsA budget crisis—that’s what the main-stream media are calling it. A shortfall of $800 million in THIS year’s state budget that has to be resolved by June 30, a matter of weeks. But the real crisis isn’t simply a collection of numbers on a ledger book. The real crisis is the opp
New York City’s New Teachers’ Contract Matters—To All of Us | janresseger
New York City’s New Teachers’ Contract Matters—To All of Us | janresseger: New York City’s New Teachers’ Contract Matters—To All of UsPosted on May 5, 2014 by janressegerThe Rev. John Thomas, former General Minister and President of the United Church of Christ, is now a professor and administrator at Chicago Theological Seminary, where he writes a blog. Last Thursday, the 1st of May, the Rev. Tho
Release: New Report On Charter Industry Exposes $100 Million in Taxpayer Funds Meant For Children Instead Lost To Fraud, Waste & Abuse - Integrity in Education
Blog - Integrity in Education: Release: New Report On Charter Industry Exposes $100 Million in Taxpayer Funds Meant For Children Instead Lost To Fraud, Waste & AbuseFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 5, 2014CONTACT:Kyle Serrette: KSerrette@populardemocracy.org, 202-304-8027Sabrina Stevens: media@integrityineducation.org, 720-295-0238A new report released today reveals that fraudulent charter operators
Government actions, unintended outcomes with S&Ls, schools
Government actions, unintended outcomes with S&Ls, schools: Government actions, unintended outcomes with S&Ls, schoolsFast-forward to 1997 and the passage of the Pennsylvania Charter School Law: Act 22. This effectively deregulated the public educational system. Act 22 made the financial crisis facing the Philadelphia School District inevitable.If you want to see how seemingly logical gove
Reflections on Teaching » Blog Archive » Week in Class Week 31: Is WYSWIG?
Reflections on Teaching » Blog Archive » Week in Class Week 31: Is WYSWIG?: Week in Class Week 31: Is WYSWIG?This was the second week back from Spring Break. I didn’t write after the first week (Week 30) because as things were “sub-optimal” that week, and I really wasn’t in the mood to voluntarily call up memories of what had happened, let alone reflect on it. This week started off much better. Ho
NYC Educator: How Much Does This Contract Cost?
NYC Educator: How Much Does This Contract Cost?: How Much Does This Contract Cost?There were no givebacks in the 2008-2010 round of contract bargaining for FDNY, NYPD, or DSNY. They got 4% one year, and 4% the next. That was pretty much it.UFT, on the other hand, went to Albany to help write a draconian junk science law that makes every teacher in the state subject to VAM, which AFT President Rand
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: WEEKEND QUOTABLES
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: WEEKEND QUOTABLES: WEEKEND QUOTABLESLouis C.K."Well, the way I understand it, if a school’s kids don’t test well, they burn the school down. It’s pretty high-pressure." -- Actually, Louis C.K. was right about Common Core — RavitchWashington school board member tells Arne Duncan..."You can keep the waiver. And regarding your failure letter – I have litt
YESTERDAY
Geaux Teacher!: John a White Misrepresents Eureka Math?
Geaux Teacher!: John a White Misrepresents Eureka Math?: John a White Misrepresents Eureka Math?How can we believe anything John White says when he has misrepresented so much. John White is NOT telling the truth about Eureka Math -the Common Core aligned math curriculum he has chosen for Louisiana. Why has he said publicly on several occasions that Eureka Math was developed by LSU? Is it becaus
Roaring in the rain at Lake Placid: "Public education is not for sale!" | NYSUT.org
Roaring in the rain at Lake Placid: "Public education is not for sale!" | NYSUT.org: Roaring in the rain at Lake Placid: 'Public education is not for sale!'Author: Liza FrenetteSource: NYSUT CommunicationsCaption: "Picket in the Pines felt more like Maid of the Mist," said one activist in a tweet, "but everyone left today with big smiles!" Photos on this page by Karen
Teacher Alert: The Case of the Missing Corruption-Tip Hotline | Reclaim Reform
Teacher Alert: The Case of the Missing Corruption-Tip Hotline | Reclaim Reform: Teacher Alert: The Case of the Missing Corruption-Tip HotlinePosted on May 4, 2014by Ken PrevitiThere seems to be a state-by-state Race to the Top for corruption, theft and fraud against teachers.The grossest form of theft is wage theft from active and retired teachers.Steal a percentage of every teacher’s paycheck by
Teachers Under Attack The Walton Family: Welfare Frauds and Destroyers of Public Education 2014 Medley #11 | Live Long and Prosper
2014 Medley #11 | Live Long and Prosper: Teachers Under AttackThe Walton Family: Welfare Frauds and Destroyers of Public EducationTEACHERS UNDER ATTACKBetter preparing our nation’s educatorsArne Duncan spoke with MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell last month. The interview was proof that the privatization of public education and the destruction of the teaching profession is a bipartisan effort. The liberal l
NYC Public School Parents: How DFER and the charter lobby hijacked our politicians, who are allowing them to hijack our public schools in an "inside job"
NYC Public School Parents: How DFER and the charter lobby hijacked our politicians, who are allowing them to hijack our public schools in an "inside job": How DFER and the charter lobby hijacked our politicians, who are allowing them to hijack our public schools in an "inside job"Today, hundreds of parents and teachers stood in the rain, protesting the first day of Camp Philos
Coop’s Childhood Part 6 – Childhood’s End | Lefty Parent
Coop’s Childhood Part 6 – Childhood’s End | Lefty Parent: Coop’s Childhood Part 6 – Childhood’s EndMay 4th, 2014 at 16:48My mom rose to the occasion after the divorce with my dad. Though she continued to have a great deal of unresolved anger towards him, and ongoing worries about paying the bills, plus other disruptions in her life, it seems it was perhaps the first real opportunity in that life t
5-4-14 Seattle Schools Community Forum Week
Seattle Schools Community Forum: Seattle Schools This WeekMonday, May 5th Community meeting with Director McLaren from 6-7:30 pm at the High Point Community Center.Tuesday, May 6thSpecial Education Advisory and Advocacy Council (SEEAC) Meeting starting at 6:30 pm at JSCEE in room 2700.Wednesday, May 7thSchool Board meeting starting at 4:15 pm. Agenda- I see from the Personnel report that there is
5-4-14 Jersey Jazzman NJ Jammin' All Week
Jersey Jazzman: The One Thing You Must Remember During NJ's Testing SeasonTomorrow, the 2014 NJASK testing season continues as Grades 5 and 6 give up a week of instruction -- all so politicians can moan and charter schools can brag and teachers can be fired and tablets can be sold.It's all about the kids, dontcha know...Let me make my little contribution to the chaos: here are three graphs to keep
Louisiana’s Texbook Selection Shenanigans | Crazy Crawfish's Blog
Louisiana’s Texbook Selection Shenanigans | Crazy Crawfish's Blog: Crazy Crawfish's BlogZesty Louisiana Education PoliticsLouisiana’s Texbook Selection ShenanigansPosted on May 4, 20140I was recently contacted to investigate some the selection process used by LDOE to select their textbook vendors for the upcoming school year. I was informed that LDOE had chosen only a single vendor for Tier 1 stat
Nite Cap 5-4-14 #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 CAPCommon Core Tests: Educational Malpractice for Students with Special Needs | Teachers' Letters to Bill GatesCommon Core Tests: Educational Malpractice for Students with Special Needs | Teachers' Letters to Bill Gates: Common Core Tests: Education
