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Thursday, July 10, 2014

This new state scholarship is the first to help middle class families pay for college - Yahoo Finance

This new state scholarship is the first to help middle class families pay for college - Yahoo Finance:



This new state scholarship is the first to help middle class families pay for college






On paper, Luigi Galvan’s family looks better off than most. Together his parents earn about $120,000 per year — more than twice the current median household income in the U.S. 
That kind of paycheck may be plenty to support a standard family of four, but Galvan, 17, is one of seven children, including a younger brother who is disabled and requires expensive medical treatment. When he was accepted at the University of California, Berkeley earlier this year, his parents knew they would need help affording the  $32,000/year it would cost him to attend. 
The federal government thought otherwise. Despite his family’s unique circumstances, Galvan’s family earned too much for him to be eligible for federal grants. He’s not alone. State and federal funding for higher education has plummeted since the Great Recession and the gap between tuition costs and family incomes has only widened. Middle-income families often find themselvesdisproportionately affected. They aren’t poor enough to qualify for federal grants and scholarships and they aren’t wealthy enough to foot their children’s education bill on their own. The government doesn’t cut off financial aid eligibility at a certain income level but in 2008, 96% of households that received the Pell Grant had an adjusted-gross income of $50,000 or less
“These parents are making enough to make ends meet and maybe put something into their retirement fund,” says Sue Tirunkonda, a certified college aid planner in Wichita, Kan. “But they look at those numbers and they say there’s no way I will be able to afford my mortgage if I were to devote that much money to paying for college.”
When they can’t afford tuition, middle-income families — including the Galvans and the Graves family, highlighted in the video above — are increasingly leaning on debt. A recent study found that college students from middle-income families were more likely to end up with student debt than those from lower- and higher-income backgrounds.
At least one state is working to solve this discrepancy. This fall, California will become the first state to dole out scholarships specifically aiming to help out middle-income families.
The California Middle Class Scholarship will offer funding to families who earn less than $150,000 a year (including investment income and other assets) if their child enrolls at a University of California or California State University (CSU) campus. Awards max out at 40% of the cost of tuition and vary based on how many families apply. To be eligible, students had to fill out a Free Federal Application for Financial Aid by June 30. New FASFA applicants can start applying in January 2015. 
Galvan was among the first students in the state to apply this year and he will find out in August how much he and his family have been awarded.
“This scholarship is something that does at least somewhat acknowledge the fact that families in the upper $100,000 area of annual income aren't always able to pay as much as colleges expect them to,” says Galvan, who lives in Antioch, Calif. “More aid helps me focus more on my education rather than worrying about what I'll have to pay off for while I'm here.”
The state’s student aid commission, which is charged with administering the scholarship rewards, estimates more than 150,000 families will qualify. 
“The recession really hit California families hard,” says Patti Colston, spokeswoman for the student aid commission. “The middle class scholarship is seen as a way to support the needs of middle class families who [need it most].”
College aid advocates have long called for more federal and state funding for higher education.Federal education funding has declined greatly since before the recession, according to a recent report by the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, a left-leaning think tank. Today, 48 states invest less in college education than they did before the recession. 
For middle class families who can’t take advantage of California’s scholarship, there are still ways to curb the costs of college without racking up a lifetime’s worth of debt.
  1. Fill out the FAFSA no matter what. Even if you earn six figures and are sure you won’t qualify for any grants, fill out the FAFSA anyway, says Joseph Orsolini, a financial aid expert with College Aid Planners. This application is the only way for students to qualify for federal student loans, which have much lower interest rates and more flexible repayment options than private loans
  2. Start smallRather than applying for massive $50,000 scholarships you may see on TV commercials, it’s always easier to start small. Galvan applied for 20 or 30 small scholarships, he says, and won a few, including one directly from his high school. Tirunkonda suggests beginning with the high school counselor’s office and checking out your state’s student aid commission website for local scholarships and grants. Chambers of commerce, rotary clubs, and local banks also offer scholarship funds. “Start applying in August, September and October,” Tirunkonda says. “Spend an hour a week on applications and get those small ones. It’s some of the best money you can earn for school.”
  3. And keep applying for scholarships even in college. “One thing a lot of kids don’t realize is you don’t just apply for scholarships in as a senior in high school,” Tirunkonda says. “Colleges have departmental scholarships for sophomores, juniors and seniors, too, and they aren’t as competitive sometimes.”
  4. Parents: Don’t open a savings account in your kid’s name. Parents often think that opening a regular savings account in their child’s name for college is a good idea. But it will come back to hurt you when you apply for financial aid later. The algorithm used to decide how much aid families qualify for weighs student financial assets much more heavily than parents’, Tirunkonda cautions. To get around this, either open a savings account under your name or a529 College Savings Plan for your child.
  5. Make scholarship applications your kid’s part-time job. Galvan spent 30 minutes to an hour on each of his scholarship applications. That's what it takes to be competitive. “I think a lot of times kids get so busy in school that they don’t spend enough time on scholarship essays,” Tirunkonda says. “The essays are so critical. You want to spotlight the child and tell them what they have achieved and what they have learned with [solid examples].”
  6. Don’t forget about tax credits. The American Opportunity Tax Credit awards taxpayers who have spent money on college tuition and fees, up to $2,500 a year. Over four years, you could shave $10,000 off your total tuition bill.
  7. If all else fails, pick a cheaper school. “At some point attending that expensive college is just financially out of the question,” Orsolini says. “Parents need to say no if attending a particular college will bury their child in life-altering debt or jeopardize their retirement.” For many areas of focus, what matters most to employers isn’t where you’ve studied but what you’ve studied. A good way to figure out whether a school is worth its cost is to check the federal government’s College Scorecard. It categorizes colleges based on their price, financial aid offerings and employment prospects for graduates, among other factors.
Have a question or story to share about college costs? We're all ears:yfmoneymailbag@yahoo.com.
Read more from Mandi:

Colonialism, Not Reform: New Orleans Schools Since Katrina • An Interview with Karran Harper Royal

Colonialism, Not Reform: New Orleans Schools Since Katrina • An Interview with Karran Harper Royal:



Colonialism, Not Reform

New Orleans Schools Since Katrina

An Interview with community activist Karran Harper Royal
BY STAN KARP AND JODY SOKOLOWERAdd to Cart PURCHASE A PDF OF THIS ARTICLE
Karran Harper Royal
By next fall, New Orleans will have only five public schools—those operated by the Orleans Parish School Board. Everything else will be charters. The post-Katrina path to almost 100 percent charter education began with the post-storm shutdown of the city’s struggling public schools and the firing (recently declared illegal) of some 7,500 unionized teachers and other school employees, predominantly African American women. The assault was accelerated by a massive infusion of foundation and entrepreneurial investment in new charter schools, and years of state and federally supported deregulation and privatization.
Today the city has tens of thousands fewer children than before Katrina and significantly fewer African American residents, but the school-age population of 44,000 remains mostly poor and black. Parents and families must navigate a maze of selective charters, each operating as an independent district with little oversight. Special-needs students have particular problems finding appropriate placements. One 2010 study found 4,000 teens, about 10 percent of the city’s student population, not enrolled in school at all. New Orleans has also been a spawning ground for authoritarian “no excuses” pedagogy, inexperienced Teach For America corps members, and “zero tolerance” discipline policies.
Throughout this transformation, Karran Harper Royal has been a passionate voice for parents and an articulate witness, sounding the alarm to the rest of the nation about the on-the-ground realities behind the New Orleans “miracle.” Rethinking Schools editors Stan Karp and Jody Sokolower spoke with Harper Royal in several sessions over the past year.
Rethinking Schools: What was your experience as a parent in the New Orleans public schools before Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005?
Karran Harper Royal: My start was 22 years ago, in 1992, when my son Khris was in kindergarten and he couldn’t sit still. I worked in the French Quarter, right at the corner of Royal and Toulouse. There was a little school down the street called McDonogh 15 Creative Arts Magnet School [now a KIPP school]. I wanted Khris to go to school near where I worked. So I just went down the street and asked, “Can I enroll my child here?” and they took him. He didn’t have to take a test or audition to get in, but it was a school of choice focused on the arts. It was such a special place, an amazing public school, very child-centered. The founder was Lucianne Carmichael. She’s retired now, but she has an artist retreat across the river called A Studio in the Woods.
RS: Khris was your oldest child?
KHR: My first child. And I was not who you see today. I was a very meek—if you can believe that—quiet mother who just wanted her son to be successful in school, because otherwise he was going to end up like my brother who at that time was in and out of jail. He was on drugs, he was a car thief—the best car thief in New Orleans, but a car thief. And, in my mind, there was a straight line from kindergarten to the prison cell. So I started visiting my son’s school. By the spring of his kindergarten year, I had quit my job and started going to school every day to find out why he was always in trouble. In trouble at that school was not the same as in trouble at a school today. In trouble meant he was asked to sit outside the classroom in the hallway or he was sent up to the librarian. Sometimes his teacher’s husband, a 70-year-Colonialism, Not Reform: New Orleans Schools Since Katrina • An Interview with Karran Harper Royal:

Jindal Says No to Roemer, Garvey and Boffy’s 2014-15 Assessment “Offer” | deutsch29

Jindal Says No to Roemer, Garvey and Boffy’s 2014-15 Assessment “Offer” | deutsch29:



Jindal Says No to Roemer, Garvey and Boffy’s 2014-15 Assessment “Offer”

July 10, 2014


On July 10, 2014, three members of the Louisiana State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE)– President Chas Roemer, James Garvey, and Holly Boffy– decided that they would make Governor Bobby Jindal an offer regarding a plan for 2014-15 assessments in Louisiana schools.
Within hours, Jindal rejected the Roemer et al. offer.
The decision to approach Jindal with this letter was not the work of the entire BESE board, which voted 6 to 3 in the July 1, 2014, special meeting to reject BESE member Jane Smith’s motion to use 2013-14 assessments in 2014-15 and insisted that “clarity” was needed via legal counsel. No arrangement for 2014-15 assessments was approved in any BESE meeting.
As a matter of open meeting record, Roemer, Garvey, and Boffy decided to reject Smith’s idea of using last year’s plan for the coming school year. As a matter of open meeting record, these three offered no alternative resolution regarding 2014-15 Louisiana assessments.
Instead, they decided nine days later to take it upon themselves on behalf of the entire BESE board to send Jindal the offer detailed in this letter.
For Roemer, Garvey, and Boffy to take this initiative on behalf of a public body is in direct violation of Louisiana Open Meetings Law. In the letter, Roemer, Garvey, and Boffy copy the letter to the remaining nine BESE members. They also failed to advertise the meeting and offer an agenda 24 hours prior to the meeting, and open the meeting to public comment and formal vote by a meeting comprised of at least six BESE members.
So, right out of the starting gate, Roemer, Garvey, and Boffy have broken the law.
Thus, it is an irony that in their letter, they purport to include PARCC questions on a Jindal Says No to Roemer, Garvey and Boffy’s 2014-15 Assessment “Offer” | deutsch29:

Will the real PARCC Assessment… | WagTheDog

Will the real PARCC Assessment… | WagTheDog:



Will the real PARCC Assessment…



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On July 7, 2014 PARCC issued a statement that included the following…
“..The latest good news came Friday: a legal challenge that paused work on the assessments has been overcome, and the PARCC states can continue working to build and deliver high quality assessments that measure how on track students are for success in college and careers.
This is welcome news at a time when, sadly, in some states PARCC has become a political football. That’s a shame for the educators who have worked for years to implement new standards and build better assessments. And it is a shame for students who deserve to have quality tools that tell them where they are on their path to success after high school…
Together, we are working to improve the lives of children from the Ninth Ward in New Orleans to inner city Camden and the south side of Chicago. Those kids deserve access to the same engaging and challenging education as their peers across the country. They deserve to know if they will graduate with a meaningless piece of paper or with the knowledge and skills they need to be successful in a career or in college…
The reality is that the assessments and diagnostic resources are tools developed by exceptional educators across states to help make sure students learn what they need to be prepared for college and work. They also will help ensure students and their parents know the truth about whether they are on track for success after high school or not…”
~ Laura Slover, PARCC is Alive and Well
And back in 2012 PARCC issued the following disclaimer regarding their assessment…Will the real PARCC Assessment… | WagTheDog:

Notice of Public Meeting for July 22, 2014 - State Board of Education (CA Dept of Education)

Notice of Public Meeting for July 22, 2014 - State Board of Education (CA Dept of Education):



Notice of Public Meeting:
Proposed Changes to Regulations Governing the Local Control
Funding Formula LCAP Template



Tuesday, July 22, 2014, 9:00 a.m.
California Department of Education
1430 N Street, Suite 1101
Sacramento, CA 95814
916-319-0809
On July 10, 2014, the State Board of Education approved the commencement of a 15-day comment period for proposed amendments to the California Code of Regulations, Title 5, Sections 15494-15497.5. (See the SBE’s July 2014 Agenda Item 11, Attachment 1 (DOC; 1MB).) The purpose of this meeting is to allow CDE and SBE staff to hear public comment regarding the proposed amendments to the LCAP Template regulation (California Code of Regulations, Title 5, Section 15497.5).  At the hearing, any person may present statements or arguments, orally or in writing, relevant to the proposed amendments to Title 5, Section 15497.5. The SBE requests, but does not require, that persons who make oral comments at the public hearing also submit a written summary of their statements.
Members of the public are also encouraged to submit written comment regarding any of the proposed changes to California Code of Regulations, Title 5, Sections 15494-15497.5 during this 15-day public comment period, as noticed in the SBE’s July 2014 Agenda Item 11, Attachment 1 (DOC; 1MB).

REASONABLE ACCOMMODATIONS WILL BE PROVIDED FOR ANY INDIVIDUAL WITH A DISABILITY
Pursuant to the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, any individual with a disability who requires reasonable accommodation to attend or participate in this meeting may contact Jeff Breshears, Administrator, by phone 916-319-0303; or by email at jbreshears@cde.ca.gov.

For more information concerning this public meeting, please contact Jeff Breshears, Administrator, by phone at 916-319-0303; or by email at jbreshears@cde.ca.gov.

CELEBRATING HIP’S 2-YEAR ANNIVERSARY! - Hmong Innovating Politics

Hmong Innovating Politics:





CELEBRATING HIP’S 2-YEAR ANNIVERSARY!

HIP_2yearanniversary
By Tong Thao, HIP Organizer
First of all, on behalf of every HIP organizer, I want to wholeheartedly say thank you to all the supporters, community partners, volunteers and organizers who have been with us since the beginning. Our journey thus far would not have been possible without the contribution of your time, energy and resources. Thank you for believing with us that we can have a positive impact on disenfranchised families, that we possess the power to elect our own local leaders and ultimately we have the power uplift our communities. We are incredibly thankful to have you.
It’s hard to believe that two years ago, I was among a group of young professionals, who met in makeshift locales like living rooms and hallways, to discuss ways we could help improve Sacramento. It was an amazing experience to be surrounded with individuals who shared a vision of improving the lives of ordinary people. As the children of refugees, we knew for years that our parents and elders wanted to develop a better connection to this country but found that voting and participating was intimidating and impossible to navigate. We also recognized that if we wanted to see our community empowered, our first step was to break barriers that prevented their participation. To meet this need in our community, our small group led a civic engagement campaign that activated a new voting bloc in Sacramento and transformed how local candidates approached our community.
Every so often, someone would ask me, “who is the leader of HIP?” and they would always be confused when I explained it to them that “We are all leaders of HIP.” It is this simple answer that I believe makes HIP unique because no particular organizer leads HIP. HIP’s leadership is built on the belief that we are all leaders and it speaks to our desire to be innovative even when designing our organizational structure. This kind of leadership utilizes the strength of each of our organizers and creates an environment where organizers can freely express their opinions and petition their ideas. Different organizers bring their professional work experience and their own personality to the work. In this structure we hold each other accountable while also encouraging one another to test the limits of our innovation and capabilities.
At its core, HIP is a community movement that allows anyone to lead and openly encourages others to challenge themselves to grow into the work we do. It is my hope that anyone with a passion to learn will participate and take ownership over this space. I encourage all of you who are crazy enough to believe that you can make a difference to join this like-minded community of organizers to accomplish just that.  We’re not going to win every fight, but I believe that when we stand together it becomes a whole lot harder to lose.
If you have been thinking about it but have not yet joined us, please fill out this form. We want to know who you are and where your interests lie. Feel free to come join us at our tabling events and meet the HIP organizers. Stay tune for some really awesome projects coming soon.

The Culture of War Unleashed | Bill Ayers

The Culture of War Unleashed | Bill Ayers:

The Culture of War Unleashed


War culture is everywhere: at athletic events where everyone is expected to sing ritualistic patriotic songs at the start and once again at half time or the seventh inning stretch, and where uniformed and armed people march with flags onto the field of play; at airports and train stations where uniformed military people are given a designated waiting area and priority boarding; in our schools where military recruiters have free reign; in our language, where war metaphors hang heavy over all aspects of life from sports and commerce to local politics and social policy, and where the word “service” has morphed quietly into a seemingly acceptable short-hand for time in the uniformed military.
War culture combined with an ascendant and triumphant individualism has led to the passage across the land of legislation that contains a bizarre contradiction: on the one hand “stand your ground” laws that allow anyone to shoot a person who seems threatening, and on the other hand “open-carry” laws that allow folks to carry their guns openly wherever and whenever they please. It’s a matter of time before a posse of open-carriers walks into a mall or a restaurant and meets a stand-your-ground crew—let the fireworks begin!
Domestic debates about private gun ownership and gun control are dominated by Second Amendment myth-makers who insist that there’s no common or collective possibility of public safety, and that it’s each person’s individual right and responsibility to defend life and property and personal well-being with lethal force. The National Rifle Association urges everyone to arm up, noting that the best defense against “a The Culture of War Unleashed | Bill Ayers:

Nite Cap 7-10-14 #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




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empathyeducates – The Limits of Reading Rainbow
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Netflix CEO Thinks Local School Boards Have To Go | Missouri Education Watchdog
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7-10-14 Seattle Schools Community Forum Week
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Paul Horton: The Technocrat's Revolution: Progressivism's Dark Side - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher
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Other People’s Cities | EduShyster
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7-10-14 LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD
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Why Do Low-Income Students Take Longer To Graduate? - Janell Ross - The Atlantic
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The Answer Sheet 7-10-14
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Sam Pirozzolo Bares His Soul
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Shanker Blog » The Language Of Teacher Effectiveness
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7-10-14 Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher
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The Face Of Authentic School Reform – redqueeninla
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7-10-14 Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL, & EF
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Anger, frustration as hundreds of New Orleans parents turned away from public school enrollment center | NOLA.com
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Morning Wink 7-10-14 AM Posts #edchat #edreform
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LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 7-10-14 Diane Ravitch's blog #thankateacher #EDCHAT #P2
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7-10-14 Schools Matter All Week
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7-10-14 Jersey Jazzman Jammin' All Week
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7-10-14 Perdido Street School
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empathyeducates – The Dirty, Little Secret in America’s Education Wars? Money Matters
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NEA Repudiates Arne Duncan, Demands America Pay Closer Attention | janresseger
NEA Repudiates Arne Duncan, Demands America Pay Closer Attention | janresseger: NEA Repudiates Arne Duncan, Demands America Pay Closer AttentionPosted on July 10, 2014 by janressegerIt shouldn’t really be surprising that the delegates at the National Education Association’s recent convention passed a resolution calling on U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan to resign.Arne Duncan, through regul
An Urban Teacher's Education: On Shutting Teachers Up
An Urban Teacher's Education: On Shutting Teachers Up: On Shutting Teachers UpNothing but net for Nancy Flanagan the other day in her post over at Teacher in a Strange Landentitled, "Shutting Teachers Up."She writes, "When practitioners aren't allowed to openly share their critical perspectives, they lose the ability to speak their own truths and use first-hand experience as a lever
Study: Teacher associations in Georgia among nation's weakest | Get Schooled | www.ajc.com
Study: Teacher associations in Georgia among nation's weakest | Get Schooled | www.ajc.com: Study: Teacher associations in Georgia among nation's weakest Previous PostsGet ready: Goodbye CRCT and EOCT. Hello Georgia Milestones. July 9, 2014Which districts get best return on education spending? Gwinnett at top. Atlanta near bottom.July 9, 2014Money matters: More than one in six US teens confused ab
Data is Fool’s Gold of the Common Core | WagTheDog
Data is Fool’s Gold of the Common Core | WagTheDog: Data is Fool’s Gold of the Common CoreTeachers should strive to meet the individual needs of their students, not the “needs” of standards or tests. There should be high academic expectations for all students, but to expect everyone, regardless of ability/disability, to meet those standards simultaneously and in the same way is foolish and inheren
SKrashen: Literacy Education: Need We Start Early?
SKrashen: Literacy Education: Need We Start Early?: Literacy Education: Need We Start Early?Stephen KrashenLanguage and Language Teaching, Vol 3, number 2, issue 6: pp 1-7. 2014Most people are convinced that children will have a powerful head start in reading if they are introduced to sounds and letters well before they start school. The conclusions of this paper are these: For the development of
By getting it half right feds get it all wrong :: SI&A Cabinet Report :: The Essential Resource for Superintendents and the Cabinet
By getting it half right feds get it all wrong :: SI&A Cabinet Report :: The Essential Resource for Superintendents and the Cabinet: JULY 10, 2014By getting it half right feds get it all wrongby Lee FunkAfter taking a step forward by incorporating student outcomes into the accountability index for students with disabilities, the Office of Special Education Programs promptly took a gigantic lea
Report urges more active state role in Common Core | EdSource
Report urges more active state role in Common Core | EdSource: CREDIT: ALISON YIN FOR EDSOURCEThe Common Core State Standards require non-fiction books in subjects such as history and science, as seen in this Oakland, Calif., classroom.Report urges more active state role in Common CoreJuly 9, 2014 | By John Fensterwald | 1 Comment SHARE THIS ARTICLEThe move to local control under the state’s new
Still Waiting in Lines, Nine Years Later | Crazy Crawfish's Blog
Still Waiting in Lines, Nine Years Later | Crazy Crawfish's Blog: Crazy Crawfish's BlogZesty Louisiana Education PoliticsStill Waiting in Lines, Nine Years LaterPosted on July 10, 20140crazycrawfish:One of the tragic truths behind all the hype about choice. Congrats to all tbe Reformers for extending the tragedy of Katrina out 9 years later and still going. I can’t wait till i can queue in lines a
http://www.southbronxschool.com
http://www.southbronxschool.com: Sam Pirozzolo Loves Money From UnionsMona Davids has been in the news lately due to her publicity seeking, attention seeking lawsuit to have a judge declare tenure and seniority unconstitutional.She has been dissected, but not vilified, hereand here. But she is not alone in this.Where every Kirk has his Spock, every Laurel his Hardy, ever Frick his Frack, every Lav
NYC Educator: Battle of the Titans
NYC Educator: Battle of the Titans: Battle of the TitansIn California, a bunch of rich guys got together and pushed a lawsuit designed to shoot teacher tenure right smack between the eyes. After all, if you can't get the law changed, you go wherever your wallet takes you. So in the case of Vergara they've won for the moment, and those awful teachers will have fewer job protections if appeals aren'
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: More fudging the numbers on Chicago's horrific gun violence
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: More fudging the numbers on Chicago's horrific gun violence: More fudging the numbers on Chicago's horrific gun violenceGwen Ifill interviews Chicago Tonight's Paris Shutz on the PBS News Hourabout the city's killing fields, after the horrible July 4th weekend when 82 people were shot, 14 fatally. Nobody seems to have a handle on the actual numbers from that weekend

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Geaux Teacher!: THIS is CHOICE in the New Orleans RSD Charter Takeover
Geaux Teacher!: THIS is CHOICE in the New Orleans RSD Charter Takeover: THIS is CHOICE in the New Orleans RSD Charter TakeoverToday, New Orleans parent Fiyah Like Ayanna posted the following plea for attention on Facebook. Fiyah showed up to place her child on the Recovery School District Lottery list hoping, she says, for a "B or C school."  (Why not an "A" school?)  This was
Join National Campaign to Put Focus of Public Education on Student Learning | Dennis Van Roekel
Join National Campaign to Put Focus of Public Education on Student Learning | Dennis Van Roekel: Join National Campaign to Put Focus of Public Education on Student LearningThe average American student and teacher now spend about 30 percent of the school year preparing for and taking standardized tests. This is time that schools could use to achieve their primary purpose of educating students. Inst
First English Framework Based On Common Core - Year 2014 (CA Dept of Education)
First English Framework Based On Common Core - Year 2014 (CA Dept of Education): State Schools Chief Tom Torlakson Announces State Adoption of First English Framework Based on Common CoreSACRAMENTO—California teachers have new guidance in teaching English language arts under the Common Core State Standards with additional support for English learners, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom
The Big Brain of the Right on American Exceptionalism | Bill Ayers
The Big Brain of the Right on American Exceptionalism | Bill Ayers: The Big Brain of the Right on American ExceptionalismDavid Brooks, the moderate “human face” of the plutocrats and its dangerous fang faction within the Repulsican Party, trumpeted the need for “a national greatness agenda” in his New York Times column and managed to evoke a grotesquely mangled and romanticized image of the Black
NYC Public School Parents: Audit on school overcrowding released today confirms our findings that the crisis is getting worse
NYC Public School Parents: Audit on school overcrowding released today confirms our findings that the crisis is getting worse: Audit on school overcrowding released today confirms our findings that the crisis is getting worseToday's Daily News, and no that it not me screaming in facepaint.Today's audit from the City Comptroller reinforces the findings in our recent report,Space Crunch, showing tha
Nite Cap 7-9-14 #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 CAP7-9-14 Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacherFred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher who is just looking at the data.: Greg Hinz. Rauner and Quinn and Stroger and Madigan.- Greg Hinz If you put tog