CORPORATE ED REFORM
Darling-Hammond: California reforms ‘will begin to level the playing field’ | EdSource
Darling-Hammond: California reforms ‘will begin to level the playing field’ | EdSource: Darling-Hammond: California reforms ‘will begin to level the playing field’The results on the Smarter Balanced assessments, the centerpiece of the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress, or CAASPP, were released on Sept. 9 and showed the vast achievement gaps that decades of education reforms
Nearly all teachers abruptly fired at Sunrise charter school | News - Home
Nearly all teachers abruptly fired at Sunrise charter school | News - Home: Nearly all teachers abruptly fired at Sunrise charter schoolNearly all teachers abruptly fired at Sunrise charter school | News - Home:
Audit finds problems in Pennsylvania Department of Education | 6abc.com
Audit finds problems in Pennsylvania Department of Education | 6abc.com: AUDIT FINDS PROBLEMS IN PENNSYLVANIA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONHARRISBURG, Pa. --An audit report released Tuesday by Pennsylvania's elected fiscal watchdog revealed management problems in the state Department of Education and its 21-member Board of Education.The audit supervised by state Auditor General Eugene DePasquale, a Demo
Guest Blog: Proud to Be an Educator for Hillary - Lily's Blackboard
Guest Blog: Proud to Be an Educator for Hillary - Lily's Blackboard:Guest Blog: Proud to Be an Educator for HillaryOne of the most important things I do as a special education teacher is act as an honest and authentic advocate for my students. When budgets are tight and there are many competing priorities, my students are counting on me to make sure they have the support, tools and time that they
NYC Public School Parents: Register today for our Parent Action Conference on November 7!
NYC Public School Parents: Register today for our Parent Action Conference on November 7!: Register today for our Parent Action Conference on November 7!Save the date! On Saturday, November 7th, we are co-sponsoring a Parent Action Conference at PS 133 in Brooklyn (near the Barclay Center and many subway stops). Workshops will be held on developing an action plan to address school overcrowding, ri
This Week In Education: Thompson: @TheChalkface Is A Must-Read [Last Call For JT@TWIE!]
This Week In Education: Thompson: @TheChalkface Is A Must-Read [Last Call For JT@TWIE!]: Thompson: @TheChalkface Is A Must-Read [Last Call For JT@TWIE!][Editor's note: After something like 8 years as a contributor here, John Thompson (@drjohnthompson) is taking his talents to Diane Ravitch's blog. This is his last post, officially. For an archive go here. You can read his latest post here. Many ma
Privatizers pressure L.A. Unified board to step up search for new superintendent - LA Times
Groups pressure L.A. Unified board to step up search for new superintendent - LA Times: Groups pressure L.A. Unified board to step up search for new superintendentA Coalition of Los Angeles groups has stepped up pressure on the Board of Education over how it should choose the next leader of the nation’s second-largest school system.In a letter to the board released Tuesday, the groups requested th
Common Core and Swing Set Equity? | deutsch29
Common Core and Swing Set Equity? | deutsch29: Common Core and Swing Set Equity?On October 06, 2015, I had the following comment to my post, Those 24 Common Core 2009 Work Group Members.The purpose of her comment is to thank the Common Core creators for their hand in righting the wrongs in American public education, including some unclear connection between Common Core and swing set availability.W
NYC Public School Parents: My memories of Arne Duncan; why he will not be missed
NYC Public School Parents: My memories of Arne Duncan; why he will not be missed: My memories of Arne Duncan; why he will not be missedOn Friday, Arne Duncan announced he will leave his post as Secretary of the US Department of Education in December. Here are some of my memories of his damaging involvement in the divisive politics surrounding NYC schools:In May of 2009, he personally interceded w
Senate Listening Tour is a Thinly Disguised Push Poll
Senate Listening Tour is a Thinly Disguised Push Poll: Senate Listening Tour is a Thinly Disguised Push PollThe Senate Listening Tour will be in Everett tonight, October 6 2015. In case you can't make it, we will review a couple of the most important charts presented at this Dog and Pony show. In the title, I have called the Senate Tour a “push poll.” For those who may not be familiar with this de
Why we need to fight against charter school growth
Why we need to fight against charter school growth: Why we need to fight against charter school growthll of us — parents, educators, students and community members — need to fight against the growth of charter schools and insist that all students have access to adequate resources and skilled professionals through a truly public education system. We need a system that is paid for by taxpayers and g
California teacher tenure and seniority system is struck down - LA Times
California teacher tenure and seniority system is struck down - LA Times: California teacher tenure and seniority system is struck downThe tenure and seniority system that has long protected California public school teachers, even ineffective ones, was struck down Tuesday in a court decision that could change hiring and firing policies nationwide.Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Rolf M. Tre
CURMUDGUCATION: Charter Investment Seminar with Walton, Gates and DFER
CURMUDGUCATION: Charter Investment Seminar with Walton, Gates and DFER: Charter Investment Seminar with Walton, Gates and DFERWell, gosh. I don't know how I missed this one.Last March 10, the Walton Family Foundation and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation sponsored a seminar in Manhattan about how to make money in the charter school game.The program was a who's who of charter school profiteers.
The Malloy Administration’s stunning attack on unions, professors and the future of Connecticut State University - Wait What?
The Malloy Administration’s stunning attack on unions, professors and the future of Connecticut State University - Wait What?: The Malloy Administration’s stunning attack on unions, professors and the future of Connecticut State UniversityIn a stark reminder that action speaks louder than words, Democratic Governor Dannel Malloy’s administration has dropped a stunningly anti-union, anti-faculty, a
Judge: Nashville schools can fire non-teaching staff without appeal
Judge: Nashville schools can fire non-teaching staff without appeal: Judge: Nashville schools can fire non-teaching staff without appealMetro's director of schools has the power to dismiss non-teaching employees without giving them an appeals hearing.That’s the conclusion of a recent ruling by Davidson County Chancery Court Judge Ellen Lyle, who dismissed the case of two employees saying former Di
Two Edina elementaries hire recess consultant - StarTribune.com
Two Edina elementaries hire recess consultant - StarTribune.com: Two Edina elementary schools hire recess consultantTwo Edina elementary schools, worried about the politics of the playground, are taking an unusual step to police it: They have hired a recess consultant.Some parents have welcomed the arrival of the firm Playworks, which says recess can be more inclusive and beneficial to children if
Why There’s Little Demand for Charter Schools in the Suburbs - The Atlantic
Why There’s Little Demand for Charter Schools in the Suburbs - The Atlantic: Why Don’t Suburbanites Want Charter Schools?Politics and personal preferences are at playSoccer or lacrosse, Whole Foods or the farmers market, microbrew or Pinot Noir? Suburbanites tend to relish their many options for food and entertainment. At block parties, neighbors engage in hearty debates about the best place to va
New Orleans Model Is Not Such a Model After All | janresseger
New Orleans Model Is Not Such a Model After All | janresseger: New Orleans Model Is Not Such a Model After AllIn the five years from 2006 to 2011, I visited New Orleans at least twice a year. I have been baffled since that time by the one-sided research created to paint the transformation of the city’s schools as a sort of miracle. The reality is very troubling and far more complicated. I recom
Data-Driven Teaching Practices: Rhetoric and Reality | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice
Data-Driven Teaching Practices: Rhetoric and Reality | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice: Data-Driven Teaching Practices: Rhetoric and RealityMuch has already been written on the U.S. obsession with standardized test scores. Add to the obsession the passionate belief that policymakers who gather, digest, and use a vast array of numbers can reshape teaching practices.I refer to d
Portland Parent Union rallies for end to expulsions and suspensions | OregonLive.com
Portland Parent Union rallies for end to expulsions and suspensions | OregonLive.com: Portland Parent Union rallies for end to expulsions and suspensionsMembers of the Portland Parent Union advocacy group rallied against exclusionary disciplinary practices Tuesday night. The demonstration was part of the National Week of Action Against School Pushout, aDignity In Schools Campaign calling for posit
Number Crunchers Often Target Support Staff For Pay Cuts - NEA Today
Number Crunchers Often Target Support Staff For Pay Cuts - NEA Today: Number Crunchers Often Target Support Staff For Pay CutsJeanne Middleton has lived in Brighton, Illinois, for 22 years. For the last seven, she has worked with Southwestern Community Unit School District Number 9 as a bus driver, lunchroom monitor, and utility worker – all at once. Combined, the jobs provide Middleton with enoug
NYC Educator: Meet the New Boss, Even Worse Than the Old Boss
NYC Educator: Meet the New Boss, Even Worse Than the Old Boss: Meet the New Boss, Even Worse Than the Old BossThere's a very interesting piece up at US News by Andrew Rotherham, AKA Eduwonk. I don't agree with Rotherham about a whole lot in education, but I find myself wishing I agreed with a whole lot of this particular column. Rotherham certainly has a way with words, whether you agree with him
Learning Matters: The Truth about Our Schools—In England and the U.S.
Learning Matters: The Truth about Our Schools—In England and the U.S.: Learning Matters: The Truth about Our Schools—In England and the U.S.School privatization is happening around the world. It should come as no surprise that many countries have the same draconian reforms foisted on their public schools like the U.S. I find it interesting to learn how other countries run their schools and the sim
Is the Los Angeles school board speaking truth to power, or was that Pope Francis? — PS connect
Is the Los Angeles school board speaking truth to power, or was that Pope Francis? — PS connect: Is the Los Angeles school board speaking truth to power, or was that Pope Francis?When I say AALA, think Associated Administrators of Los Angeles, not Allah. This was no mosque, after all.The AALA Fall Reception took place last Wednesday at the Plaza Center at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. M
John King’s appointment signals Obama isn’t backing down on an aggressive education agenda - The Hechinger Report
John King’s appointment signals Obama isn’t backing down on an aggressive education agenda - The Hechinger Report: John King’s appointment signals Obama isn’t backing down on an aggressive education agendaesident Obama doubled down on his commitment to the nation’s underserved students by selecting Dr. John King to succeed Arne Duncan as Acting Secretary of Education. Clearly, this administration
Duncan’s successor must make sure to partner with the disenfranchised - The Hechinger Report
Duncan’s successor must make sure to partner with the disenfranchised - The Hechinger Report: Duncan’s successor must make sure to partner with the disenfranchisedReform should be done with communities, not to themArne Duncan will go down as the most influential secretary in U.S. history.He maximized federal powers to push states to serve all students when those states clearly were not. But pushin
We must despise our kids: Our ugly war on teachers must end now - Salon.com
We must despise our kids: Our ugly war on teachers must end now - Salon.com: We must despise our kids: Our ugly war on teachers must end nowRepublicans and Democrats can agree on one thing: Demonizing teachers. It's the "reformers" doing the most harmLast week’s jobs report showed the labor market decelerating. This appears to be thefifth straight year that promising signs in the winter
The Dismal Toll of the War on Teachers
The Dismal Toll of the War on Teachers: The Dismal Toll of the War on TeachersThis article first appeared on The Conversation.What is among the first actions that brutal totalitarian regimes take upon assuming power? They imprison, exile or “disappear” teachers.Dictators employ such harsh tactics because of the role teachers play in society. Teachers provide not only a crucial link to our cultural
Are changing labor laws silencing the teachers’ voice? | Brookings Institution
Are changing labor laws silencing the teachers’ voice? | Brookings Institution: Are changing labor laws silencing the teachers’ voice?Many states have made significant changes to the laws governing public sector labor relations in recent years, changes that are already impacting teachers unions’ efforts to maintain membership. Most of the controversy in Wisconsin – and other states undergoing simi
High-stakes testing, Common Core focus of education forum - City & Region - The Buffalo News
High-stakes testing, Common Core focus of education forum - City & Region - The Buffalo News: High-stakes testing, Common Core focus of education forumTwo leading advocates in a movement to scale back high-stakes testing in schools will be featured at an education forum at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Niagara Falls High School.Carol Burris, a retired principal who has frequently written about the impa
YESTERDAY
Bill Ayers and the Education Revolution - UNITED OPT OUT: The Movement to End Corporate Education Reform
Bill Ayers and the Education Revolution - UNITED OPT OUT: The Movement to End Corporate Education Reform: Bill Ayers will be a keynote at the UOO conference this February in Philly. We asked him, What does the education revolution look like?Bill Ayers and the Education Revolution - UNITED OPT OUT: The Movement to End Corporate Education Reform:Help fund the 2016 UOO ConferenceYour contribution at
Jerry Brown, Arne Duncan had deep, long-standing disagreements | EdSource
Jerry Brown, Arne Duncan had deep, long-standing disagreements | EdSource: Jerry Brown, Arne Duncan had deep, long-standing disagreementsIn 2013, after years of butting heads over policy differences, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan praised Gov. Jerry Brown for showing “real vision, real courage” in leading the passage of a school funding formula that steers substantially more money to English
Jersey Jazzman: John King, New SecEd, Is The King of Student Suspensions
Jersey Jazzman: John King, New SecEd, Is The King of Student Suspensions: John King, New SecEd, Is The King of Student Suspensions If you read the news reports following the announcement of John King as our new Secretary of Education, you'd think he had run some of the most successful schools in the country. Here, for example, is Vox:1) He's the founder of a successful charter school chainUnlike D
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Tribune's disgusting editorial on gun violence. Did McCarthy's people plant it?
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Tribune's disgusting editorial on gun violence. Did McCarthy's people plant it?: Tribune's disgusting editorial on gun violence. Did McCarthy's people plant it?City Council Black Caucus chairman Ald. Roderick Sawyer (6th), at podium, and members on Monday call for the firing of Chicago Police Supt. Garry McCarthy. | Rich Hein/Sun-TimesIn August, you [aldermen] had mo
CURMUDGUCATION: Can Philly Super Do His Job?
CURMUDGUCATION: Can Philly Super Do His Job?: Can Philly Super Do His Job?Today the Daily News in Philly ran an editorial declaring, "Let Philly Schools Chief Hite Do His Job." The editorial writer is pretty much full of it; nevertheless, I agree that Hite should get to do his job. In fact, I wish somebody would make him do his job.The issue at hand seems to be that Superintendent Hite i
VIDEO: Hundreds rally as national union president calls for respect, dignity for Scranton teachers - News - The Times-Tribune
Hundreds rally as national union president calls for respect, dignity for Scranton teachers - News - The Times-Tribune: Hundreds rally as national union president calls for respect, dignity for Scranton teachersHundreds of Scranton teachers, led by the national president of their union, demanded today that the school district treat them with respect and dignity.On the sixth day of the strike, most
BustED Pencils Trending News: Duncan dunked; Bye Bye Standardized; Busting Pencils | BustED Pencils
BustED Pencils Trending News: Duncan dunked; Bye Bye Standardized; Busting Pencils | BustED Pencils: BustED Pencils Trending News: Duncan dunked; Bye Bye Standardized; Busting PencilsDeputy Secretary of Education John B. King, Jr., Really?!!Education Secretary Arne Duncan stepping downhttp://www.cnn.com/2015/10/02/politics/arne-duncan-resigns-education-secretary-obama/Standardized tests SAT/ACT on
Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 10/5/15
CORPORATE ED REFORMCan You Spare $91,440? | EduShysterCan You Spare $91,440? | EduShyster: Can You Spare $91,440?Because that’s how much seven Boston charter schools are charging to answer a public records request…Here’s a math question for you, reader. Say one wanted to submit a public records request to a handful of charter schools, inquiring about their recent lobbying activities. How much do y
