Latest News and Comment from Education

Friday, April 25, 2014

4-25-14 Jersey Jazzman: Corporate Education Reform Buys Public Broadcasting - Again

Jersey Jazzman: Corporate Education Reform Buys Public Broadcasting - Again:











Corporate Education Reform Buys Public Broadcasting - Again
A couple of months ago, David Sirota broke the story of how PBS took money from plutocrat John Arnold to push a story touting a non-existent pension crisis. I'll admit that since then my radar has been more finely tuned to corporate-friendly frameworks when watching PBS or listening to NPR.So, as I was sitting at the kitchen table this evening, my ears perked up at the 5:30 break for WNYC, the NPR
4-19-14 Jersey Jazzman Jammin' All Week
Jersey Jazzman:Jersey Jazzman Jammin' All WeekCharter Schools: The New Battle of TrentonSo you guys have all seen this:On Christmas Day, 1775, George Washington and his troops crossed the Delaware River, starting at what is known now as Upper Makefield, PA. The general led his forces south along the banks of the river, eventually sneaking up on the Hessians, the German mercenary troops of the Brit

Hmong community to sponsor education forum for voters - Our Region - The Sacramento Bee

Hmong community to sponsor education forum for voters - Our Region - The Sacramento Bee:



Hmong community to sponsor education forum for voters

Published: Friday, Apr. 25, 2014 - 6:52 pm


The Hmong Community of Sacramento will hold its first Voters’ Education Forum on Saturday at the Sheriff’s Community Room, 7000 65th St., Sacramento.
Several candidates from area state senate, assembly, city council and district attorney races are scheduled to attend the forum, planned from 10 a.m. to noon.
“The Hmong community in the Greater Sacramento Area is at an important crossroad,” said Lance Fang, president of the Hmong Community of Sacramento, an umbrella group of community leaders and business people. “Our community must learn how to get engaged and involved to ensure that we have a voice.
“Forty years after they began arriving in Sacramento, the Hmong are still struggling with poverty and access to education and health care. The drop-out rate is still a challenge, and some of ourHmong community to sponsor education forum for voters - Our Region - The Sacramento Bee:

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2014/04/25/6355052/hmong-community-to-sponsor-education.html#mi_rss=Education#storylink=cpy

Beyond doomsday: District unveils its 'empty shell' budget for 2014-15 | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

Beyond doomsday: District unveils its 'empty shell' budget for 2014-15 | Philadelphia Public School Notebook:



Beyond doomsday: District unveils its 'empty shell' budget for 2014-15

by thenotebook on Apr 25 2014 Posted in Latest news
by Kevin McCorry for NewsWorks


If it seems like we've been here before, we have.
But now it's worse.
On Friday, the Philadelphia School District unveiled a $2.49 billion budget that will cause drastic reductions to services and staff unless additional funds are secured.
The District says it needs $440 million in supplemental revenue to begin to implement its vision for student growth, but requires $216 million just to open schools next year with the same bare-bones levels as this one.
If this year's budget is "doomsday," next year's could be that which doomsday has left behind.
"Short of the $216 [million], our schools will go from insufficient to just empty shells that do not represent what I consider a functioning school," said Superintendent William Hite at a news conference Friday morning.
Hite has essentially been saying this for months. But Friday – after waiting in vain for the the city, the state, or the District's labor partners to take steps to close the gap – he brought out the megaphone to stress the urgency of this "empty shell" scenario.
"I'm frustrated," Hite said, adding that he'd rather focus on how the District could improve student outcomes. "But instead we're talking about what we're going to have to reduce or take away ... from families that have already seen a lot of things taken away over the past several years."
What more could be stripped?
Depending on how much of the $216 million comes through, mass layoffs could occur, and student-teacher ratios could climb to as much as 37-to-1 in elementary schools and 41-to-1 in high schools.
"Forty kids in a classroom is too many," said Hite, "and we don't want to go there."
School Reform Commission Chairman Bill Green, whose overall educational philosophy does not emphasize small class size, echoed the superintendent. "My position is Dr. Hite's position," he said.
The District's current contract with the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers says classroom ratios should be no higher than 30-to-1 in grades K-3 and 33-to-1 in grades 4-12.
In addition to raising student-teacher ratios, District officials said that without additional funding, the line items for school support staff, facilities, transportation, health services, school police and central administration would face the knife.
The District's budget assumes that it will gain $120 million from the city's extension of a 1 percent sales tax; even though the Pennsylvania Legislature approved the plan, it's by no means a certainty.

Read the rest of this story at NewsWorks

A Walmart Fortune, Spreading Charter Schools - NYTimes.com

A Walmart Fortune, Spreading Charter Schools - NYTimes.com:



A Walmart Fortune, Spreading Charter Schools






WASHINGTON — DC Prep operates four charter schools here with 1,200 students in preschool through eighth grade. The schools, whose students are mostly poor and black, are among the highest performing in Washington. Last year, DC Prep’s flagship middle school earned the best test scores among local charter schools, far outperforming the average of the city’s traditional neighborhood schools as well.



Another, less trumpeted, distinction for DC Prep is the extent to which it — as well as many other charter schools in the city — relies on the Walton Family Foundation, a philanthropic group governed by the family that founded Walmart.



Since 2002, the charter network has received close to $1.2 million from Walton in direct grants. A Walton-funded nonprofit helped DC Prep find building space when it moved its first two schools from a chapel basement into former warehouses that now have large classrooms and wide, art-filled hallways.



One-third of DC Prep’s teachers are alumni of Teach for America, whose largest private donor is Walton. A Walton-funded advocacy group fights for more public funding and autonomy for charter schools in the city. Even the local board that regulates charter schools receives funding from theA Walmart Fortune, Spreading Charter Schools - NYTimes.com:

Nite Cap 4-25-14 #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 CAP



Ed Roundup for 4-25-14 - Year 2014 (CA Dept of Education)
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Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: More two-tier schooling in Rahm's Chicago
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: More two-tier schooling in Rahm's Chicago: More two-tier schooling in Rahm's ChicagoA couple of items before I shut down SmallTalk for the weekend and get busy on Bridging Differences with Deb Meier.First is Rahm's decision to use $60 million from his TIF slush fund towards another selective-enrollment high school, this one named Obama College Prep, in the upscale Li
#ThankATeacher | Lily's Blackboard
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4-25-14 Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL
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The Network For Public Education | NPE Tool Kit: A teacher writes a letter to her Congressman
The Network For Public Education | NPE Tool Kit: A teacher writes a letter to her Congressman: NPE Tool Kit: A teacher writes a letter to her CongressmanApril 23, 2014 NPE Call for Hearings, NPE Tool Kit, Testing / Opting OutOur friend Alice Mercer, a dedicated and seasoned teacher who lives near Sacramento, CA took up NPE’s call for Congressional Hearings. Alice wrote a letter to her Congressman
SPECIAL Mid Day Banana Break 4-25-13 #soschat #edreform
Big Education Ape - Mid Day Banana BreakThoughts on preparing for the testing legislative hearing  What’s behind the epidemic of inappropriate testing? I once shared a very interesting bus ride to the airport with the president of Riverside Publishing, who write the Iowa Tests, back when Paul Vallas was using the test as a grade promotion barrier. Shortly after our visit, Riverside decided to stop
A Tale of Two NGA Press Releases, and Then Some | deutsch29
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4-25-14 @ The Chalk Face
@ THE CHALK FACE: A Tale of Two NGA Press Releases, and Then SomeThe Common Core State Standards (CCSS) are at the stormy center of unprecedented controversy regarding a supposed set of K-12 “standards.” The closest “standards storm” that I can think of as being somewhat similar to the current CCSS uproar occurred in 1994, twenty years ago, and concerned the national history standards. Let us paus
Victoria Young: To Privatize or Not to Privatize?
Victoria Young: To Privatize or Not to Privatize?: Victoria Young: To Privatize or Not to Privatize?by Victoria YoungLet’s put these questions on the table: What attracts so many Americans to the idea that private companies can better run the public education system? How do they see this current trend as being best for the country?Since public education is an institution that has served us well ov
4-25-14 The Whole Child Blog — Growing Our Middle Grades Educational "Gardens" — Whole Child Education
Growing Our Middle Grades Educational "Gardens" — Whole Child Education: THE WHOLE CHILD BLOGGrowing Our Middle Grades Educational “Gardens”April 25, 2014 by Dru TomlinAfter a long winter season with continual blankets of snow and ice sleeping on the ground, the warmth of spring is finally waking up the soil. Seas of grass are rising in front yards and eager blooms are curling upward tow
Are charter schools monopolizing public resources?
Are charter schools monopolizing public resources?: Are charter schools monopolizing public resources?April 24, 2014 at 6:24 PM EDTCharter school enrollment has soared from about 300,000 a little more than a decade ago to nearly 2 million students nationwide. But the expansion of charter schools, whose public funding is supplemented with private donations, has created serious competition for limit
AFT - A Union of Professionals - AFT News
AFT - A Union of Professionals - AFT News: AFT’s Weingarten to Pearson: Lift Gag Order on Testing, Meet with StakeholdersWASHINGTON— In conjunction with the annual Pearson shareholder meeting in London, AFT President Randi Weingarten today released a letter sent to Pearson executives, board members and shareholders calling on the corporation to remove “gag orders” preventing educators from express
Privatization of Public Services
Privatization of Public Services: Slowing the Mad Dash to PrivatizationBy Vivian RothsteinShare on facebookShare on twitterShare on emailShare on pinterest_shareMore Sharing Services0What if we had no government services and everything we used to get from government was run by private corporations?  McDonald’s could be running the welfare system, Target the public schools and Walmart our mass tran
Arne-Ology & the Bad Incentives of Evaluating Teacher Prep with Student Outcome Data | School Finance 101
Arne-Ology & the Bad Incentives of Evaluating Teacher Prep with Student Outcome Data | School Finance 101: School Finance 101Data and thoughts on public and private school funding in the U.S.Arne-Ology & the Bad Incentives of Evaluating Teacher Prep with Student Outcome DataPosted on April 25, 20140      Rate ThisAs I understand it, USDOE is going to go ahead with the push to have teacher
4-25-14 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: LAUSD receives $7 million federal tech grantNew federal grant will prepare graduates for high-demand careers The Los Angeles Unified School District received $7 million Youth CareerConnect grant to expand career pathways in health care, biotechnology and other tech-related opportunities at t
4-25-14 Seattle Schools Community Forum
Seattle Schools Community Forum: Special Education Speaker Monday, April 28thSeattle SpEd PTSA April Meeting7 pm Monday, 4/28/2014Rm 2700, JSCEE 2445 3rd AveSeattle's SODO neighborhoodDr. Nicole Swedberg will present practical tips and information on:How to help your child If your child is dyslexic?How to best support your dyslexic child at home?What skills should your child be learning?  How can
Why Classroom Experience Matters » CounterPunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names
Why Classroom Experience Matters » CounterPunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names: Teacher SeniorityWhy Classroom Experience Mattersby SETH SANDRONSKYMarcos Breton, a veteran columnist for The Sacramento Bee, one of 30 newspapers The McClatchy Co. publishes, did it. In “Sacramento’s teachers have won this battle,” April 13, 2014, he bashes these union members, and inverts logic:According to him, k
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Bundy's Racist Moocher Army Headed for Motown?
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Bundy's Racist Moocher Army Headed for Motown?: Bundy's Racist Moocher Army Headed for Motown?Cliven Bundy's moocher Army.BREAKING... Justice Scalia announces he is deputizing Cliven Bundy and his Nevada moocher army to ride herd on Schuette decision. Moochers were last seen headed for Michigan to put down any  protests and to graze their cattle for free on the overg
FCMAT » Cali Education Headlines Friday, April 25, 2014
FCMAT » Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team: L.A. Unified can keep teacher ratings anonymous, judges sayFCMAT’s new website is coming soon! We will have a new look and better compatibility with mobile devices, making it easier to access information and resources. Look for our new site starting April 25.Education HeadlinesFriday, April 25, 2014FCMAT provides links to California K-12 news
Morning Wink 4-25-14 AM Posts #BATsACT #RealEdTalk #EDCHAT #P2
BIG EDUCATION APE - MORNING WINK  AM POSTS4-25-14 Ed Notes OnlineEd Notes Online: Rosie Rocks: Explaining Teacher Opposition to High Stakes TestingI'm so glad I leaned in and taped this fantastic interview MORE/NYCORE member Rosie Frascella did with a PIX reporter -- you won't see this on the air. As Rosie spoke I kept saying (to myself) - "wow, wow, wow" as she heated up and her passion
4-25-14 Ed Notes Online
Ed Notes Online: Rosie Rocks: Explaining Teacher Opposition to High Stakes TestingI'm so glad I leaned in and taped this fantastic interview MORE/NYCORE member Rosie Frascella did with a PIX reporter -- you won't see this on the air. As Rosie spoke I kept saying (to myself) - "wow, wow, wow" as she heated up and her passion about teaching came through so clear. Rosie's interview is the b
4-25-14 LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: Gary Rubinstein: Did Arne Duncan Find a Miracle School in Denver?Gary Rubinstein is quite the sleuth when anyone makes a claim about educational results that seem too good to be true.   A few years ago, he helped me pin down some whoppers when Secretary Arne Duncan, President Obama, and then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg claimed they dis
4-25-14 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.: Ten minute drawing. The Bundy Decision.by Fred Klonsky / 22min hide  //  saveBarack Obama High School and Chicago’s tale of two cities.On Wednesday, Rahm Emanuel’s hand-picked school board voted to fire every administrator, teacher, paraprofessional and lunch lady from three neighborhood schools and h
College Perp | EduShyster
College Perp | EduShyster: College Perp Is harsh discipline really the best way to prepare low-income minority students for college?Quick reader: what is the best way to prepare low-income minority students for college and 21st-century success? If you answered *an obsessive focus on the students’ smallest behaviors (particularly infractions of the uniform variety) paired with plenty of harsh disci
Cutting Through the Hype: Principals as Instructional Leaders | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice
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4-25-14 Wait What?
Wait What?: Greenwich superintendent joins Commissioner Pryor in misleading parentsHere we go again! Instead of fulfilling their legal, moral and ethical duty as a superintendent of a public school system in Connecticut, yet another public school superintendent has decided to join the Malloy’s administration’s ongoing efforts to mislead Connecticut parents into thinking that they do not have a rig
4-25-14 The Answer Sheet What teachers really want
The Answer Sheet: AFT asks Pearson to stop ‘gag order’ barring educators from talking about testsAmerican Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten is sending a letter (see below) to the executives of Pearson, the world’s largest education company, asking them to stop a  ”gag order” that is part of their $32 million contract with New York state to design new standardized tests aligned to t
4-25-14 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: Children With Terminal Diseases Have to Take the Test, But Voucher Kids Don’tFrom St. Augustine Record reporter Marcia Lane: A Senate subcommittee approved an amendment on Tuesday expanding the voucher program, known as the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program, adding
Christians have grabbed ‘theocratic control over public schools’ in Louisiana, critic says
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Protecting Classrooms From Corporate Takeover | PopularResistance.Org
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4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit 4-25-14
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4-25-14 the becoming radical | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness (the public and scholarly writing by P. L. Thomas, Furman University)
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Schools’ English-only mandate set to resurface :: SI&A Cabinet Report :: The Essential Resource for Superintendents and the Cabinet
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Russ on Reading: Chris Christie's Curious Commencement Speech
Russ on Reading: Chris Christie's Curious Commencement Speech: Chris Christie's Curious Commencement SpeechRowan University, in Glassboro, NJ, will present Governor Chris Christie with an honorary degree and Christie will present the commencement address to this year’s graduating class. The invitation has stirred controversy among supporters of public education and Rowan grads, including a Change.
Nonprofit Charters Turn Taxes into Profits for Board Members | janresseger
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The lawsuit's called Vergara, but the name you should know is Welch | Pass / Fail | 89.3 KPCC
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4-25-13 Curmudgucation
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A-F Accountability Letter Grades: Reform or Different Name, More of the Same? | Cloaking Inequity
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4-25-14 Perdido Street School
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NYC Educator: For Sale--One New York Governor
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YESTERDAY

Special Late Nite Cap UPDATE 4-7-14 #BATsACT #RealEdTalk #EDCHAT #P2
Nite Cap UPDATEUPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATECORPORATE ED REFORML.A. teacher wins job back after removal for science projectsA Los Angeles high school science teacher is returning to the classroom two months after being suspended over concerns that two students had assembled "dangerous" science projects under his supervision.1 by By Howard Blume / 58min hide  //  saveL.A. Unified can keep t
Where is Education Secretary Duncan’s Head?
Where is Education Secretary Duncan’s Head? Found it!Today Secretary Duncan canceled Washington State’s No Child Left Behind Waiver. Why? Because Washington State’s ELECTED officials were not able to conform to Duncan demands to DO IT HIS WAY (you know, the corporate way to privatizing Public Education). I can’t decide if he is just Arne the Corporate Autocrat or he doesn’t care. Either way there
Nite Cap 4-24-14 #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 CAPMarie Corfield: Tom Moran crosses the line in latest editorialMarie Corfield: Tom Moran crosses the line in latest editorial: Tom Moran crosses the line in latest editorial(Note: as I was drafting this post this week, Bob Braun wrote several exce