Breaking News! Lee County, Florida, Opts Entire District Out of State Testing!
Lee County, Florida, made history tonight. Despite threats from state officials that they might cut funding, the school board voted to opt the entire district out of state testing. “The school board has voted to opt out the entire district from all statewide, standardized testing – effective immediately. The decision was received with overwhelming cheers and applause in the packed auditorium. “Th
Update on My Health
I have had so many direct questions about the status of my health that I thought I would share what I know. So many of you sent good wishes and even suggestions for natural cures; I thank you for your kindness and concern. As you probably don’t remember (but I can never forget), I tripped down some outdoor steps on April 5, landed on my left knee, and pretty much demolished some necessary ligamen
Newark Parent Group Calls for Boycott: People Power
From: “Parents Unified for Local School Education (PULSE)” Date: August 26, 2014, 7:04:33 AM EDT To: okaikor@me.com Subject: Statement from PULSE on Newark Boycott Statement from PULSE CALL TO ACTION On December 19, 2013, the Superintendent of Newark Public Schools announced the “One Newark Plan,” which threatens to displace students from their neighborhood schools. In response, Parents Unified f
Bob Braun Calls for Boycott in Newark
Veteran journalist Bob Braun tells the story of a poor black grandmother trying to register her granddaughter in the high that she wanted to attend, that her children had attended, and being treated with disrespect. Braun hopes that Newark parents will boycott Cami Anderson’s “One Newark” plan, where she chooses and others are expected to obey.
Steve Lopez of the L.A. Times: Can Deasy Survive the iPad Fiasco?
Steve Lopez, columnist for the Los Angeles Times, asks all the right questions about John Deasy and the blow-up of his plan to spend $1 billion for iPads loaded with Pearson curriculum. Can he survive the release of the emails that give the appearance of impropriety? Can he survive when the new board may have a majority of members not in his corner? Can he survive in light of the fact that Stua
Los Angeles: Is This Email the Smoking Gun in the Apple-Pearson Contract?
Howard Blume and Teresa Watanabe update the Los Angeles iPad scandal and note growing demands for a full investigation. This doesn’t look good for Deasy. Aquino bailed out and took another job earlier. Dan Schnur calls Aquino’s email “the smoking gun.” Deasy has defended the bidding process as proper and added that he and his staff talked to vendors in pursuit of good deals and good products.
Texas: Business Complains About Schools
In a recent article in the Houston Chrinicle, we read that business is mighty disappointed in the schools. They say they aren’t getting the trained employees they need. They think the schools are too easy. Some want more money spent in the schools that do well, as a reward. No one seems to care that the Legislature slashed $5.3 Billion from the schools in 2011 and–despite a good economy–never res
Arizona State Superintendent Huppenthal Loses to Challenger
Arizona State Superintendent John Huppenthal was defeated by Diane Douglas, a very conservative former school board member who ran on a single issue: rolling back Common Core. Huppenthal embarrassed himself a few months ago when he admitted using a pseudonym to write disparaging comments about other people and groups on blogs. Douglas is a big supporter of school choice. “In the November electio
Eva Moves Her Offices to Wall Street
Success has its privileges. This is certainly true when it comes to Eva Moskowitz’s charter chain Success Academy. Juan Gonzalez of the Néw York Daily News reports that Moskowitz has moved her corporate headquarters from Central Harlem to Wall Street. In addition, he reports: “The new offices will cost her organization $31 million over 15 years, according to its most recent financial report. “Th
Progress Ohio: WikiLeaks Contain Cables About Gulen Charters
Progress Ohio reports that the many thousands of secret government cables released by Wikileaks contained references to the Gulen charter schools, a number of which are being investigated by the FBI for unknown reasons. The Gulen charter chain is the largest in the nation. State Dept. Notified CIA, National Security Council About Suspicious Charter School Visas The U.S. State Department raised ser
ASCD and Yong Zhao: No Connection Between Test Scores and Economic Productivity
The ASCD published an eye-popping chart showing that NAEP long-term trend test scores for 17-year-olds were flat from 1971-2012. At the same time, economic productivity soared by 375%, and gross domestic product grew by 100%. What do you make of that? I have pointed out repeatedly that our students have never excelled on international tests. On the first international test in 1964, our students
Schneider Challenges Amanda Ripley to Write Another TIME Cover Story About Rhee
Mercedes Schneider reviews Michelle Rhee’s time in office as chancellor of the D.C. Public Schools. She concludes that Rhee was a failure. She wanted principals and teachers to be accountable to her while she was accountable to her. Schneider concludes that Amanda Ripley’s adulatory TIME cover story about Rhee as the person who would “fix” D.C. Schools and show the rest of the nation what to do w
Ohio Teacher Says “No Thanks” to StudentsFirst and $5,000
Chris Roberts, a new teacher in Ohio, was attracted to the message of StudentsFirst. He was impressed by what he read and by “Waiting for Superman.” He joined and was invited to apply for their Teachers for Transformation Academy. He was offered a stipend of $5,000 to be StudentsFirst Teacher for Transformation Fellow in Ohio. But in his fourth year of teaching, he had an epiphany. He realized tha
Carol Burris Explains New York’s Common Core Test Scores
This morning, Carol Burris had a post on Valerie Strauss’s Answer Sheet in which she tried to decipher the New Common Core test scores in New York. The first thing she noticed was that the state did not release the mean scores, which it usually does. So she calculated them herself for several key counties. English language arts scores were flat, math scores were up. In several of the counties, EL
Louisiana and Common Core: Is Jindal Hoaxing Us?
Crazy Crawfish (aka Jason France, who was a data analyst at the Louisiana Department of Education) offers a fascinating insight into the political machinations behind Governor Bobby Jindal’s effort to ditch the Common Core. Jindal was an enthusiastic supporter of CC until last June, when he suddenly became an opponent. The state commissioner of education, John White, a steadfast ally of Jindal, a
LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 8-26-14 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: Paul Horton on the Chicago Clique and the War on Public EducationPaul Horton is a history instructor in the University High School at the University of Chicago Lab Schools. This post explains the Obama administration’s love for charters and its disdain for public schools. Martin Nesbitt is the President’s best friend, and close ass