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Thursday, July 31, 2014

Nite Cap 7-31-14 #BATsACT #RealEdTalk #EDCHAT



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




Cigarette tax vote canceled; schools opening in jeopardy | Philadelphia Public School Notebook
Cigarette tax vote canceled; schools opening in jeopardy | Philadelphia Public School Notebook: Cigarette tax vote canceled; schools opening in jeopardyBy Dale Mezzacappa on Jul 31, 2014 07:10 PMPennsylvania House Republicans have canceled a planned session on Monday to vote on a $2-a-pack cigarette tax in the city, jeopardizing the next school year for tens of thousands of students."Here we
Advisory Commission on Special Education (ACSE) meeting agenda. (CA Dept of Education)
Agenda August 13 and 14, 2014 - Administration & Support (CA Dept of Education): Agenda August 13 and 14, 2014Advisory Commission on Special Education (ACSE) meeting agenda.Advisory Commission on Special Education MembersGina Plate, ChairBarbara Schulman, Vice ChairFeda AlmalitiMildred BrowneMorena de Grimaldi Kristi HagansSomer HardingSara JochamBetty KarnetteMatthew NavoLester PincuNancy Por
4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit 7-31-14
4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: Is giving students laptops a terrible idea?: WHY ONE DISTRICT IS THROWING ALL ITS STUDENT LAPTOPS AWAY + smf’s 2¢The Hechinger Report / By Jill Barshay  | http://bit.ly/1xH0mJN July 30, 2014 |   Inside Hoboken’s combined junior-senior high school is a storage closet. Behind the locked door, mothballed laptop computers are strewn among brown cardboard bo
7-31-14 Seattle Schools Community Forum
Seattle Schools Community Forum: "Do We Really Have a Problem Without a Solution"(I'm hoping this will be a multi-part thread about public education in this country, where we are, where we are going and what should/could change.) I come to this thread thinking of two different things that really have nothing (but really everything) to do with public education. One is a song by the late W
7-31-14 Schools Matter
Schools Matter: Member of FBI-Raided School Funds Todd Rokita AFTER the Raid: Member of FBI-Raided School Funds Todd Rokita AFTER the Raidby Doug Martin I mention Todd Rokita, the Indiana US congressman from the 4th district, in my book Hoosier School Heistbecause of his role with the Muslim Gulen charter schools recently raided by the FBI (see more on this at the end of this article). Since Rokit
Badass Teachers Association Protest Rally Results In Meeting With U.S. Secretary Of Education Arne Duncan
Badass Teachers Association: BADASS TEACHERS ASSOCIATION PROTEST RALLY RESULTS IN MEETING WITH U.S. SECRETARY OF EDUCATION ARNE DUNCAN --Call for National Teachers Congress----Halt to Destructive and Discriminatory Education Policies--July 31, 2014, Washington, D.C.--U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan met with the Badass Teachers Association (BATs), a burgeoning grassroots organization, to ga
The End of Paper-and-Pencil Exams? - The Atlantic
The End of Paper-and-Pencil Exams? - The Atlantic: The End of Paper-and-Pencil Exams?In a recent pilot program, kids as young as 9 were asked to respond to online prompts and type out essays on a computer. Click Here to go to the Website- United Opt Out TeamAre fourth graders computer-savvy enough to have their writing skills measured in an online assessment? A new federal study suggests that they
7-31-14 Wait What? - Jonathan Pelto: Gubernatorial Candidate and A Really Nice Guy
Wait What?: Wait What?: Pelto/Murphy 2014Self-proclaimed as “America’s Most Trusted Educator,” Steve Perry says he is opening a charter school in NYC?According to his PR operation, “Dr. Steve Perry, and the founders of what US News & World Reports has called one of America’s top high schools, are coming to Harlem.” Despite the fact that Perry and his “team” are full-time employees of the Hartf
2012 Campaign Cash Scandal Ends With PAC’s Shutdown | KQED News Fix
2012 Campaign Cash Scandal Ends With PAC’s Shutdown | KQED News Fix: 2012 Campaign Cash Scandal Ends With PAC’s ShutdownIn a quiet ending to one of the most high-profile campaign money controversies in California history, the political action committee reprimanded for accepting $11 million from mystery donors in 2012 has closed its doors.The political arm of the Small Business Action Committee (SB
Why Teachers Need Tenure. Part 1 southbronxschool
http://www.southbronxschool.com: Why Teachers Need Tenure. Part 1With all the talk of the lawsuit Campbell Brown and her lackies Mona Davids and Sam Pirozzolo have brought forth, the reason to explain tenure has never been more important than ever.This story came into the DTOE newsroom a few weeks ago., and posted on DTOEthis past Tuesday. This is one of the most heinous examples of teacher abuse
New Web Site: Student Privacy Matters - Parent Coalition for Student Privacy
Student Privacy Matters: OUR LETTER TO CONGRESSToday, our Parent Coalition for Student Privacy launched.  Our letter to Congress urging them to strengthen federal student privacy protections ishere (pdf) and below; our press release is here.July 23, 2014Dear member of Congress:We write on behalf of a broad coalition of parents across the country to urge Congressional review of emerging threats to
Schooling in the Ownership Society: NCRP calls for investigation of the Bremer Foundation
Schooling in the Ownership Society: NCRP calls for investigation of the Bremer Foundation: NCRP calls for investigation of the Bremer FoundationOne of the philanthropic players on the Minn. charter school and public health scenes is the Otto Bremer Foundation. Among it's charter school recipients is the scandalized Higher Ground Academy.But it turns out that the foundation's trustees, while donati
NYC Public School Parents: My speech when I received the Parent Voice award in DC on Monday night
NYC Public School Parents: My speech when I received the Parent Voice award in DC on Monday night: My speech when I received the Parent Voice award in DC on Monday nightMe with the board members of Parents Across AmericaOn Monday night in Washington DC, I received the Parent Voice award from Parents Across America for our work defeating inBloom, at a dinner co-hosted by the NEA.  I was very moved
Shanker Blog » Lost In Citation
Shanker Blog » Lost In Citation: Lost In CitationPosted by Matthew Di Carlo on July 31, 2014The so-called Vergara trial in California, in which the state’s tenure and layoff statutes were deemed unconstitutional, already has its first “spin-off,” this time in New York, where a newly-formed organization, the Partnership for Educational Justice (PEJ), is among the organizations and entities spearhea
@Campbell_Brown Lawsuit Fails the Test of Common Sense By Mark Naison| BK Nation
@Campbell_Brown Lawsuit Fails the Test of Common Sense | BK Nation: @Campbell_Brown Lawsuit Fails the Test of Common SenseBy Mark NaisonThe Campbell Brown lawsuit challenging teacher tenure laws in New York State fails the test of Common Sense even more than it is likely to fail the chain of evidence standard it will ultimately expose to in the courts.If teacher tenure and due process is a threat
7-31-14 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: CA English learners trial commences todayMorning Read: CA English learners trial commences today California in lawsuit alleging neglect of English learners A lawsuit alleging that California public education officials have failed to provide language instruction to tens of thousands of Englis
7-31-14 The Whole Child Blog — A Letter to My New Principal
The Whole Child Blog — Whole Child Education: A Letter to My New PrincipalWelcome to our school. I have been here for a few years so I wanted to be the first to officially greet you. I am excited to learn more about you and your leadership style. I can imagine that you'd like for me to be to work on time, have prepared lessons and execute them in a personalized manner for my students. I know you e
NYC Public School Parents: Letter to SUNY board from Councilmembers, urging them not to approve any more charter schools until true accountability is achieved
NYC Public School Parents: Letter to SUNY board from Councilmembers, urging them not to approve any more charter schools until true accountability is achieved: Letter to SUNY board from Councilmembers, urging them not to approve any more charter schools until true accountability is achievedAn article about this letter was in today's Daily News. Excerpt: "We are being oversaturated with charte
Lily Eskelsen García's Netroots Nation Keynote | Lily's Blackboard
Lily Eskelsen García's Netroots Nation Keynote | Lily's Blackboard: Lily Eskelsen Garcías: Netroots Nation KeynoteJul 31st, 2014by LilysBlackboard.Did you miss Lily’s keynote at Netroots Nation? We have it! And we know you need to watch it:
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: The politics of water and schooling in Detroit
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: The politics of water and schooling in Detroit: The politics of water and schooling in DetroitA SMALL VICTORY -- Ongoing protests against Detroit's massive water shut-off to the city's poorest have forced a restructuring in the city's already bankrupt government. The so-called Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr has handed over control of the Detroit Water and Sewerage Depar
7-31-14 Scathing Purple Musings | Color me purple in Florida
Scathing Purple Musings | Color me purple in Florida, red in Washington, dark sky-blue in Israel and public school in Education: Step Up For Students’ Shameless False Narrative on SB 850 LawsuitNone of the hacks from Step Up for Students put their name on this morning’s post regarding a group of special needs children’s parents who are “taking on” the Florida Education Association for filing a law
Beware the Technology Panacea | Missouri Education Watchdog
Beware the Technology Panacea | Missouri Education Watchdog: Beware the Technology PanaceainShareIs there a school district left out there who has not wrestled with how to get more technology in the classroom? Is there any one out there not trying to figure out how to achieve 1:1, student:device ratios? No? That’s because technology is becoming v more and more viewed as the panacea for our educati
Morning Wink 7-31-14 AM Posts #edchat #edreform
BIG EDUCATION APE - MORNING WINK  AM POSTSGeaux Teacher!: Consumers Have Rejected the Common Core Sales PitchGeaux Teacher!: Consumers Have Rejected the Common Core Sales Pitch: Consumers Have Rejected the Common Core Sales PitchThis insightful article reported from "Politico"  is by Stephanie Simon.  Thanks to Stephanie for pulling back the curtain on a product that no sales pitch with
Geaux Teacher!: Consumers Have Rejected the Common Core Sales Pitch
Geaux Teacher!: Consumers Have Rejected the Common Core Sales Pitch: Consumers Have Rejected the Common Core Sales PitchThis insightful article reported from "Politico"  is by Stephanie Simon.  Thanks to Stephanie for pulling back the curtain on a product that no sales pitch with its faulty methods of persuasion could SELL to arguably the largest group of saavy consumers in America - MOM
LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 7-31-14 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: Jersey Jazzman: What Does Campbell Brown Want?Jersey Jazzman writes that we know what Campbell Brown is against: bad teachers. She says teachers should have due process protections. So does Arne Duncan. Unions would agree with them that termination hearings should not be expensive and endless. So what does she want? Jersey Jazzman
7-31-14 Curmudgucation
CURMUDGUCATION: What Ever Happened to Learn More Go Further?In honor of Throwback Thursday, I decided to follow up on one of my favorite reformy intiatives. Mounted by way of Jeb Bush by way of FEE, and the US Chamber by way of the Higher State Standards Partnership, "Learn More. Go Further" was going to set the grass roots ablaze with Common Core love.I first wrote about LMGF back at th
7-31-14 Ed Notes Online
Ed Notes Online: Mike Schirtzer Thanks MOREistasI just wanted to thank all the folks who helped organize and present at the today's summer series and the last one a couple of weeks back.Kit, Norm, Ellen, and James really explained well the lessons for MORE from their experiences in past opposition groups. It was such a great history lesson on why they fight so hard and how they were able to achiev
Answer Sheet 7-31-14
Answer Sheet: A teacher asks Arne Duncan a gutsy question. Here’s the answer.What question would you ask to Education Secretary Arne Duncan if you had the chance? Patrick Hayes, a fifth-grade teacher in Charleston, S.C., and director of EdFirstSC, a nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy group working to empower people who care about public schools, got that opportunity recently when Duncan had a video c
7-31-14 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.: No ten minute drawings for the next few days.President Eskelsen Garcia. Meet Senate Bill 7.This blogger and NEA President-elect Lily Eskelsen Garcia at the NEA RA in Denver. If you go back and read my report from the Representative Assembly of the NEA – I was a retired delegate – you will see that I t
7-31-14 Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL
Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL: July’s (2014) Best Tweets — Part FiveEvery month I make a few short lists highlighting my choices of the best resources I through (and learned from) Twitter, but didn’t necessarily include them in posts here on my blog. I’ve already shared in earlier posts several new resources I found on Twitter — and where I gave credit t
@ The Chalk Face
@ THE CHALK FACE: About the radio showJoin Drs. Shaun Johnson and Tim Slekar LIVE Sundays at 6PM EST and Wednesdays at 7PM EST on Blog Talk Radio for progressive, pro-public education talk radio. Call in to speak live with Tim and Shaun during the show, (805) 727-7111. You can also listen to our Monday "Sunday-Replay" at 7PM EST, and re-broadcasts of the archives every Tuesday and Thursd
7-31-14 With A Brooklyn Accent:
With A Brooklyn Accent: Two Bronx Students Talk About Their Schools and the School To Prison Pipeline   Yesterday, I met with more than an hour with two Bronx high school students in a great Fordham program called "The History Makers" to answer their questions about the School to Prison Pipeline.  After I answered several questions they posed about drug policies, school discipline, race
7-30-14 Perdido Street School
Perdido Street School: US Attorney Warns Governor Cuomo Over Witness Tampering, Obstruction Of Justice ChargesThe battle between US Attorney Preet Bharara and Governor Andrew Cuomo over the Moreland mess just got ratcheted up some more:In an escalation of the confrontation between the United States attorney in Manhattan, Preet Bharara, and Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo over the governor’s cancellation of h
Using A Gates Grant to Sidestep Standardized Testing in University Admissions? | deutsch29
Using A Gates Grant to Sidestep Standardized Testing in University Admissions? | deutsch29: Using A Gates Grant to Sidestep Standardized Testing in University Admissions?July 31, 2014Billionaire Bill Gates believes in testing. However, it appears that he believes in “the market” even more. Consider Gates’ words to legislators in 2009:When the tests are aligned to the common standards, the curricul
Why A Great Principal Burned Out – And What Might Have Helped (Ellie Herman) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice
Why A Great Principal Burned Out – And What Might Have Helped (Ellie Herman) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice: Why A Great Principal Burned Out – And What Might Have Helped (Ellie Herman)Taken from “About” in her blog:My name is Ellie Herman.  If you want to find out what I’m doing here and why, click here on why I’m writing this blog.  I’ve been working on this project since
Louisiana Educator: Getting the Truth Out About Ed Reform
Louisiana Educator: Getting the Truth Out About Ed Reform: Getting the Truth Out About Ed ReformThe education reform we are going through in Louisiana and in many other states is not true reform because it is not improving education in any way whatsoever. That is the truth. VAM is a sham because it is inaccurate, damaging to good teachers' careers, and subject to manipulation by the LDOE. That is
The Truth About The New Orleans School Reform Model
The Truth About The New Orleans School Reform Model: The Truth About The New Orleans School Reform ModelAnyone who saw the remarkable HBO series “The Wire” remembers the scene in the fourth season, focused on Baltimore public schools, where the term “juking the stats” defined how corporate-driven re-engineering of the public sphere has distorted institutions so they no longer serve ordinary people
PCAPS Statement on Budget Impasse | WeArePCAPS
PCAPS Statement on Budget Impasse | WeArePCAPS: PCAPS Statement on Budget ImpassePCAPS Statement on Budget Impasse | WeArePCAPS:
Jeff Bryant Interviews New NEA President Who Is Not Afraid to Speak Truth to Power | janresseger
Jeff Bryant Interviews New NEA President Who Is Not Afraid to Speak Truth to Power | janresseger: Jeff Bryant Interviews New NEA President Who Is Not Afraid to Speak Truth to PowerPosted on July 31, 2014 by janressegerIn its new president, Lily Eskelsen Garcia, the National Education Association (NEA) has a gifted spokesperson for school teachers and for public education.  Eskelsen Garcia knows th
NYC Educator: Campbell's Wonderland
NYC Educator: Campbell's Wonderland: Campbell's WonderlandExamine the two compositions carefully.  If you think the resemblance is purely coincidental, read on.  Campbell Brown is queen of a second lawsuit aimed at cutting down teacher tenure in NY.  With all the experience that comes from teaching English for a single year in Czechoslovakia, she seeks to destroy for all teachers the due-process p

YESTERDAY

Christie, bully and punk, puts down a Newark teenager | Bob Braun's Ledger
Christie, bully and punk, puts down a Newark teenager | Bob Braun's Ledger: Christie, bully and punk, puts down a Newark teenagerThe Decider and The PunkGov. Chris Christie, arguably the most powerful man in New Jersey, yesterday ridiculed a high school senior for asking a perfectly reasonable question: Why won’t he come to Newark to hold one of his “town hall” meetings? He dismissed the question
Three Lawsuits: BESE, White Out on a Limb and Wielding a Saw | deutsch29
Three Lawsuits: BESE, White Out on a Limb and Wielding a Saw | deutsch29: Three Lawsuits: BESE, White Out on a Limb and Wielding a SawJuly 30, 2014Late in the evening on July 29, 2014, I completely finished writing my book on the history, development, and promotion of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). The manuscript is with the publisher. I promise that the book will make for quite the illum
Arne Gets An Earful! By Mark Naison
Arne Duncan Meets BATS: Arne Gets An Earful!By Mark NaisonArne Duncan Drops in Unexpectedly on Meeting With BATS at US Department of Education Office of Civil Rights and Gets an Earful!On July 28, 2014, following the BAT Rally outside the US Department of Education, a delegation of BATS went up to the Education Department’s Office of Civil Rights to share some of the main issues that BATS had with
Arne Duncan Drops in Unexpectedly on Meeting With BATS - Badass Teachers Association
Badass Teachers Association: Arne Duncan Drops in Unexpectedly on Meeting With BATS at US Department of Education Office of Civil Rights and Gets an Earful! (w/ added reflections by Larry Proffitt and Marla Kilfoyle)By:  Dr. Mark Naison    On July 28, 2014, following the  BAT Rally outside the US Department of Education, a delegation of BATS went up to  the Education Department’s Office of Civil R
7-30-14 Teacher Appreciation | WagTheDog
Teacher Appreciation | WagTheDog: Learning To CareIf you just learn a single trick, Scout, you’ll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view…Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it. ~ Atticus Finch, ( Gregory Peck) “To Kill A Mockingbird”    by getwhatugive / 29min hide  //  saveTeacher Appr
“Ineffective,” Veteran, Primary Grade Teacher in Tennessee Resigns |
“Ineffective,” Veteran, Primary Grade Teacher in Tennessee Resigns |: “Ineffective,” Veteran, Primary Grade Teacher in Tennessee ResignsAs per a recent article in The Tennessean, it seems yet another teacher has resigned, this time from the 1st grade – a grade in which teacher-level value-added normally does not “count.” This teacher, a 15-year career 1st grade teacher, was recently categorized as
Campbell Brown’s anti-union group uses union slogan (update) - The Washington Post
Campbell Brown’s anti-union group uses union slogan (update) - The Washington Post: Campbell Brown’s anti-union group uses union slogan (update)(Update: Adding comment from Brown’s group)Campbell Brown doesn’t hide her disdain for teachers unions. She has frequently railed against them, and formed an anti-union advocacy group that filed a lawsuit in New York this week seeking to eliminate job prot
Lesson 5: Love is the Answer. And Also Skills. But Also Love. | Gatsby In L.A.
Lesson 5: Love is the Answer. And Also Skills. But Also Love. | Gatsby In L.A.: Lesson 5: Love is the Answer. And Also Skills. But Also Love. Remember my friend Lauren the English teacher? The one my former student Gerardo said had turned his life around because she just refused to give up on him?I just found out that 16 of her students from last year passed the AP English Literature exam. Four of
7/30/2014 – Dishonest Case for New Orleans School Reform Model Education Opportunity Network by Jeff Bryant
7/30/2014 – Dishonest Case for New Orleans School Reform Model: 7/30/2014 – Dishonest Case for New Orleans School Reform ModelJuly 30, 2014 SubscribeTHIS WEEK: Children’s Well-Being Suffers … Teacher Pay Stinks … Moms Winning Common Core War … School Library Cutbacks Hurt … Longer School Days No SolutionTOP STORYThe Dishonest Case for The New Orleans School Reform ModelBy Jeff Bryant“Anyone who wa
Nite Cap 7-30-14 #BATsACT #RealEdTalk #EDCHAT
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 CAPTeacher In-Service: The Good, the Bad and the UglyTeacher In-Service: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: Teacher In-Service: The Good, the Bad and the UglyJULY 30, 2014 BY NANCY BAILEY LEAVE A COMMENTMany teachers are starting back to work already.