CORPORATE ED REFORM
The Ongoing Destruction of Public Education
The Ongoing Destruction of Public Education: The Ongoing Destruction of Public EducationCampbell Brown is just the latest semi-famous rich person to parachute in and tell teachers they're doing it wrong.Campbell Brown used to be an anchor at CNN. Campbell Brown is now married to Dan Senor, the former official prevaricator for the Avignon Presidency's excellent Mesopotamian adventure and a mysterio
CURMUDGUCATION: The Central Liberal Reformster Fallacy
CURMUDGUCATION: The Central Liberal Reformster Fallacy: The Central Liberal Reformster FallacyIt crops up many places, but today it was front and center in Michael Grunwald's piece for Politico. In "Obama vs. Teacher Union: It's Still On" Grunwald lays out the ongoing beef between teachers unions and the administration, which is first in his display of lesser fallacies. Framing the confl
Ohio passes legislation aimed at cleaning up scandal-ridden charter school sector - The Washington Post
Ohio passes legislation aimed at cleaning up scandal-ridden charter school sector - The Washington Post: Ohio passes legislation aimed at cleaning up scandal-ridden charter school sectorThe Ohio legislature has passed legislation that attempts to clean up the state’s scandal-ridden $1 billion charter school sector. Meanwhile, both Republican and Democratic politicians in the state are expressing c
Democrats will squabble over charter schools
Democrats will squabble over charter schools: Democrats will squabble over charter schoolsIt would be easy to dismiss the thousands of students, parents and educators marching across the Brooklyn Bridge on Wednesday decked out in red “I fight to end inequality” T-shirts as bit players in a New York squabble over charter school funding.It’s way more than that.What you’re witnessing are yet more sig
Challenge to the Common Core King and Queen: Get Involved Really!
Challenge to the Common Core King and Queen: Get Involved Really!: Challenge to the Common Core King and Queen: Get Involved Really!Bill and Melinda Gates say “Working on reforming the U.S. education system is the hardest job they’ve ever tackled — even more difficult and complex than trying to find a cure for malaria.”Their hardest job? Are they kidding?Sitting in an ivory palace pulling school r
Arne Duncan's Legacy: Growing Influence of a Network of Private Actors on Public Education | The Conversation US
Arne Duncan's Legacy: Growing Influence of a Network of Private Actors on Public Education | The Conversation US: Arne Duncan's Legacy: Growing Influence of a Network of Private Actors on Public EducationSherman Dorn, Arizona State University and Amanda U. Potterton, Arizona State UniversityArne Duncan is leaving the US Department of Education in December. Reactions to his legacy have been mixed.
Former Chicago Public Schools chief to plead guilty to bribery scheme - Chicago Tribune
Former Chicago Public Schools chief to plead guilty to bribery scheme - Chicago Tribune: Former Chicago Public Schools chief to plead guilty to bribery schemermer Chicago Public Schools CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett plans to plead guilty to charges she steered no-bid contracts worth more than $23 million to an education consulting firm where she once worked in return for promises of hundreds of thousan
With A Brooklyn Accent: The Harsh Truth About What Is Happening to Teachers, Students and Schools
With A Brooklyn Accent: The Harsh Truth About What Is Happening to Teachers, Students and Schools: The Harsh Truth About What Is Happening to Teachers, Students and SchoolsTeachers all over the country are shell shocked at the speed with which their jobs are being ruined, eliminated or destroyed. Whether it is scripted curriculum, demeaning observations, test based teacher evaluations, or the thre
FDA says Pearson is marketing ADHD product without proper approval - The Washington Post
FDA says Pearson is marketing ADHD product without proper approval - The Washington Post: FDA says Pearson is marketing ADHD product without proper approval(Update: Pearson response)Pearson, the giant education company, has been marketing a program called Quotient ADHD System, which, the Web site says, “is an innovative device that objectively measures three core symptoms of ADHD: hyperactivity, a
Former Chief Executive of Chicago Public Schools Indicted for Accepting Bribes and Kickbacks to Steer No-Bid Contracts | USAO-NDIL | Department of Justice
Former Chief Executive of Chicago Public Schools Indicted for Accepting Bribes and Kickbacks to Steer No-Bid Contracts | USAO-NDIL | Department of Justice: Former Chief Executive of Chicago Public Schools Indicted for Accepting Bribes and Kickbacks to Steer No-Bid ContractsCHICAGO — A federal indictment returned today charges BARBARA BYRD-BENNETT with using her position atop the Chicago Public Sch
Schooling in the Ownership Society: J.B. Pritzker and Goldman Sachs doing the special ed hustle
Schooling in the Ownership Society: J.B. Pritzker and Goldman Sachs doing the special ed hustle: J.B. Pritzker and Goldman Sachs doing the special ed hustleJ.B. PritzkerGoldman Sachs and J.B. Pritzker may call it "philanthropy" but it's a profitable brand that includes their benefiting financially from cuts in special ed and from every child who's dropped from or pushed out of a SpEd pr
Malloy Admin- Drops $2 million on consulting firm to micro-manage Alliance Districts then blames districts for program's failures. - Wait What?
Malloy Admin- Drops $2 million on consulting firm to micro-manage Alliance Districts then blames districts for program's failures. - Wait What?: Malloy Admin- Drops $2 million on consulting firm to micro-manage Alliance Districts then blames districts for program’s failures.Here we go again…Rather than properly fund Connecticut’s public schools, Governor Malloy has turned his back on the majority
Seattle Schools Community Forum: Mr. and Mrs. Gates
Seattle Schools Community Forum: Mr. and Mrs. Gates: Mr. and Mrs. GatesBill and Melinda Gates are having a two-day (kinda secret) Gates Foundation event in downtown Bellevue. Yesterday, the first day of the event, Mr. and Mrs. Gates sat down to opine about their adventures in public education. The Gates' friends at the Times, which gets funding for education reporting from the Foundation, put out
Motoko Rich’s Fuzzy Thinking in NY Times Piece on Common Core Tests | janresseger
Motoko Rich’s Fuzzy Thinking in NY Times Piece on Common Core Tests | janresseger: Motoko Rich’s Fuzzy Thinking in NY Times Piece on Common Core TestsI am troubled by Motoko Rich’s NY Times piece earlier this week in which she worries thatTest Scores Under Common Core Show That “Proficient” Varies by State. Does Rich believe that the push for uniform academic standards (the Common Core standards)
CURMUDGUCATION: Campbell Brown Snubbed Again
CURMUDGUCATION: Campbell Brown Snubbed Again: "Campbell Brown Snubbed Again"Campbell Brown Snubbed AgainCampbell Brown, journalist caterpillar transformed into reformster butterfly, has been snubbed again.When Brown set up her website, one of her stated goals was to help drive the political discussion of education. With an eye toward the 2016 Presidential race, she had set up two educati
A Veteran Teacher Asks: Why Does NEA Still Support Common Core? - Living in Dialogue
A Veteran Teacher Asks: Why Does NEA Still Support Common Core? - Living in Dialogue: A Veteran Teacher Asks: Why Does NEA Still Support Common Core? By Sergio Flores.My name is Sergio Flores, I have been a public school teacher for thirty-nine years. Ten years in Mexico and the rest in California in LAUSD and WCSD where I teach fifth grade now. I have been a member of NEA and CTA since 1991.Six e
Amplify and the Cost of Going Public for Private Education Companies - US News
Amplify and the Cost of Going Public for Private Education Companies - US News: Public Goals, Private OwnershipFor education companies, the costs of going public often outweigh the benefits.In the education world, "public" is the thing. We idealize public schools. People who work in public education but send their children to private schools are often quietly – or not so quietly – judged
Schools Matter: New Orleans Charter Caste System
Schools Matter: New Orleans Charter Caste System: New Orleans Charter Caste SystemWhen the profiteers and venture paternalists moved into New Orleans to patch together their corporate system of schooling in the wake of Katrina, they had an opportunity to break the mold and create a socioeconomically-integrated and diverse system, or to design a corporate welfare system that mirrors the long held h
A Few Reflections Upon Secretary Duncan's Departure :: Frederick M. Hess
A Few Reflections Upon Secretary Duncan's Departure :: Frederick M. Hess: A Few Reflections Upon Secretary Duncan's Departure Rather than once again address Arne Duncan's tenure as Secretary of Education, today I'm inclined to offer a couple of more personal musings. After all, while I've often been disappointed by Duncan's Department (and been a thorn in its side), there have been more rewarding
Suit: Halt state takeover of Little Rock School District
Suit: Halt state takeover of Little Rock School District: Suit: Halt state takeover of Little Rock School DistrictFiling calls for LR School Board’s return, claims racial biasA team of attorneys led by civil-rights attorney John Walker on Wednesday filed a federal lawsuit to reverse the January state takeover of the Little Rock School District and stop the development of both traditional and chart
Schools in Transition: A Guide to Support Transgender Students in K-12 - NEA Today
Schools in Transition: A Guide to Support Transgender Students in K-12 - NEA Today: Schools in Transition: A Guide to Support Transgender Students in K-12Most students are on autopilot when it comes to the daily routine of high school. They file into first period, go from class to class, banter in the hallway, eat lunch, and take the occasional bathroom break. The transitions are processes that fo
Lou LaBrant and Teacher Education’s Enduring Legacy | the becoming radical
Lou LaBrant and Teacher Education’s Enduring Legacy | the becoming radical: Lou LaBrant and Teacher Education’s Enduring LegacyA colleague of Louise Rosenblatt at New York University, Lou LaBrant faced mandatory retirement when she turned 65 in 1953. Reflecting on her work at NYU as a teacher educator from 1942-1953, LaBrant wrote in 1988 “Public School 65, Down on the Lower East Side” as she turn
NEA hosts reception for United We Dream - Lily's Blackboard
NEA hosts reception for United We Dream - Lily's Blackboard: NEA hosts reception for United We DreamOn Friday, October 2, I welcomed United We Dream to NEA’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. for a reception honoring their important work of organizing and advocating on behalf of immigrant youth and their families. NEA presented a donation of $11,384 to United We Dream Advocacy Director Greisa Marti
Bowing to unions, 2016 Dems skip Campbell Brown’s education forum
Bowing to unions, 2016 Dems skip Campbell Brown’s education forum: Bowing to unions, 2016 Dems skip Campbell Brown’s education forumDemocratic presidential candidates are blowing off an education forum that anchorwoman-turned-activist Campbell Brown was expected to host in Iowa this month, and Brown blames pressure from traditionally Democratic teachers unions eager to move the party away from Pre
Arne Duncan’s bipartisan legacy: Attracting vitriol from the right and the left | Brookings Institution
Arne Duncan’s bipartisan legacy: Attracting vitriol from the right and the left | Brookings Institution: Arne Duncan’s bipartisan legacy: Attracting vitriol from the right and the leftMore than Margaret Spellings or Rod Paige, Arne Duncan was a bipartisan institution—he attracted vitriol from the right and the left. Was he a conservative sell-out? Foes on the left like Fenwick English, Kenneth Sal
The Obama Education Legacy :: Frederick M. Hess
The Obama Education Legacy :: Frederick M. Hess: The Obama Education LegacyLast week, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced his resignation. With Congress controlled by the Republicans and the administration having run out of stimulus cash, played its "waiver" card, and been rebuffed on plans to use its college scorecard to impose NCLB for higher ed, things are winding down. Thing
Despite NEA's Nod To Clinton, Vermont Teachers' Union Still Supports Sanders | Vermont Public Radio
Despite NEA's Nod To Clinton, Vermont Teachers' Union Still Supports Sanders | Vermont Public Radio: Despite NEA's Nod To Clinton, Vermont Teachers' Union Still Supports SandersVermont's teachers union plans to actively support Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign even though their national organization, the NEA, has endorsed Hillary Clinton.An effort by the Vermont NEA to postpone the endorsemen
D.C. charter schools serve fewer at-risk students than nearby neighborhood schools - The Washington Post
D.C. charter schools serve fewer at-risk students than nearby neighborhood schools - The Washington Post: D.C. charter schools serve fewer at-risk students than nearby neighborhood schoolsNearly 90 percent of charter elementary schools serve a smaller portion of students considered “at risk” than their neighboring traditional public schools, according to a new analysis by the District of Columbia’
A Key Part Of Common Core Isn't Working Out | The Daily Caller
A Key Part Of Common Core Isn't Working Out | The Daily Caller: A Key Part Of Common Core Isn't Working Out A key advantage of Common Core over earlier educational standards has failed to appear, according to a new assessment by The New York Times.According to backers, Common Core was supposed to make it a lot easier to compare standardized test scores between participating states. Ohio, Illinois
Mayor Kevin Johnson rescinds request to delay City Council meeting for ESPN film | The Sacramento Bee
Mayor Kevin Johnson rescinds request to delay City Council meeting for ESPN film | The Sacramento Bee: Mayor Kevin Johnson rescinds request to delay City Council meeting for ESPN filmSacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson withdrew a request late Wednesday to postpone a City Council meeting later this month to accommodate the premiere of a documentary about the city’s fight to save the Kings.Johnson’s offi
How a billionaire is trying to control Los Angeles public schools - The Washington Post
How a billionaire is trying to control Los Angeles public schools - The Washington Post: How a billionaire is trying to control Los Angeles public schoolsEli Broad is a housing and insurance tycoon whose California-based Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation has poured hundreds of millions into “transforming” K-12 urban education by training administrators and supporting charter schools, merit pay and
Eli Broad and the End of Public Education as We Know It - CAPITAL & MAIN
Eli Broad and the End of Public Education as We Know It - CAPITAL & MAIN: Eli Broad and the End of Public Education as We Know ItIf there were still any doubt about Eli Broad’s desire to gut traditional public education, it has been erased by his much-discussed “Great Public Schools Now” initiative, a draft of whichLA Times reporter Howard Blume obtained last month.Broad’s 44-page proposal out
Charter School Queen Eva Moskowitz Completely PWNED By The Hedge Clippers
Charter School Queen Eva Moskowitz Completely PWNED By The Hedge Clippers: Charter School Queen Eva Moskowitz Completely PWNED By The Hedge ClippersCharter school queen Eva Moskowitz sent out a brief ALL CAPS email yesterday evening telling reporters that she would be making an announcement this morning about her future “political plans” on the steps of NYC City Hall. It is widely expected that sh
With A Brooklyn Accent: Some Historical Ironies Regarding Elite Support for Charter Schools in New York City
With A Brooklyn Accent: Some Historical Ironies Regarding Elite Support for Charter Schools in New York City: Some Historical Ironies Regarding Elite Support for Charter Schools in New York CityOne of the main reasons why many parents in low and moderate income communities send their children to charter schools- in spite of the scripting, intimidation, and rigid discipline many feature - is that m
Diane Ravitch calls out charter-school nonsense: “Let her bring the hedge fund billionaires and her secret sauce to save all the children” - Salon.com
Diane Ravitch calls out charter-school nonsense: “Let her bring the hedge fund billionaires and her secret sauce to save all the children” - Salon.com: Diane Ravitch calls out charter-school nonsense: “Let her bring the hedge fund billionaires and her secret sauce to save all the children”Salon exclusive: "This is a well-funded, professionally orchestrated demonstration of support for privati
‘Bring Your Bible To School Day’ Message From Folsom School District Causes Confusion « CBS Sacramento
‘Bring Your Bible To School Day’ Message From Folsom School District Causes Confusion « CBS Sacramento: ‘Bring Your Bible To School Day’ Message From Folsom School District Causes ConfusionOctober 7, 2015 10:50 PMFOLSOM (CBS13) — A flyer promoting a nationwide “Bring Your Bible To School Day” that was sent to thousands of parents by a local school district raised confusion with parents and student
YESTERDAY
Eva Moskowitz will have tough time running for mayor - NY Daily News
Eva Moskowitz will have tough time running for mayor - NY Daily News: Charter school big Eva Moskowitz may have to switch parties if she wants to run for mayorCharter school phenom Eva Moskowitz would have to switch her party registration to run for mayor in 2017 because she is persona non grata to the city Democratic establishment.Moskowitz has violated orthodoxy by building a non-union network,
Stand Up for Public Education in LA’s Superintendent Search Process
Los Angeles Superintendent Search: Stand Up for Public Education in LA’s Superintendent Search ProcessThis evening I received an email from my friend and fellow education activist Roberta Eidman. It started like this:We can’t continue to sit back and watch LAUSD get swallowed up—school by school—by privatizers and charter CEOs. Finally, incompetent John Deasy was ousted; interim head Ramon Cortine
Washington State Legislature Inflicts a Triple Whammy on Low Income Students
State Legislature Inflicts a Triple Whammy on Low Income Students: State Legislature Inflicts a Triple Whammy on Low Income StudentsIn previous articles, we explained that Washington State is facing a school construction crisis – with a need to build more than $50 billion in new public schools. In this article, we will look at the impact on a particular school district when the State legislature r
Paramount Charter School: A Chaotic “Free for All” That Cannot be Immediately Shut Down | deutsch29
Paramount Charter School: A Chaotic “Free for All” That Cannot be Immediately Shut Down | deutsch29: Paramount Charter School: A Chaotic “Free for All” That Cannot be Immediately Shut DownIn August 2013, the Paramount Charter School submitted an impressive-reading, 344-page application to Broward County Public Schools (Florida). The school is run by an impressively-named nonprofit, The Advancement
The REAL Accountability Issue: Incompetent Leadership | Creative by Nature
The REAL Accountability Issue: Incompetent Leadership | Creative by Nature: The REAL Accountability Issue: Incompetent Leadership“Effective leaders in education apply strategies of democracy, they listen to and collaborate creatively with the people in their community. They engage and inspire others to take on leadership positions. They include all members of a community in the development of a sh
Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 10/7/15
CORPORATE ED REFORMCURMUDGUCATION: Gates Says Some StuffCURMUDGUCATION: Gates Says Some Stuff: Gates Says Some StuffLike many teachers, I could not tune in to Bill and Melinda Gates' trip down Ed Reform Memory Lane because I was busy doing my actual job. This seems metaphorically perfect-- Gates talks about schools while meanwhile, teachers are in schools doing actual work. However, I've scanned s
