CORPORATE ED REFORM
Chilling Words | Save Maine Schools
Chilling Words | Save Maine Schools:Chilling Wordsst spring, before my fourth graders took the Smarter Balanced Assessment, I knew that it would not be a test worth administering.In addition to knowing that it would be long, developmentally inappropriate, and unlikely to inform my instruction in any meaningful way, I also knew that I would be required to sign a security agreement that said I could
Parents Will Continue to Opt Out Until Ed Law Repealed - NYS ALLIES for Public Education
NYSAPE Press Release CC Taskforce - NYS ALLIES for Public Education: Parents Will Continue to Opt Out Until Ed Law Repealed &Real Change Seen in the Classrooms The Governor’s Common Core Task Force released a list of recommendations last Thursday, Dec. 10th. The recommendations while a reflection of the parent and educator voices around the state do not alone restore trust in Albany. How the
Magicians and Politicians - The Crucial VoiceThe Crucial Voice
Magicians and Politicians - The Crucial VoiceThe Crucial Voice: Magicians and PoliticiansWhat do magicians and politicians have in common? Sounds like the lead-in to a good joke, doesn’t it? It isn’t.Magicians and politicians share a common trick based on the idea that if they can focus people’s attention on one thing, they can do something else and get away with it. For magicians, it’s all in goo
Tom Torlakson: LAUSD School Closures - Year 2015 (CA Dept of Education)
LAUSD School Closures - Year 2015 (CA Dept of Education): State Schools Chief Tom Torlakson Issues Statement Regarding LAUSD School ClosuresSACRAMENTO—State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson issued the following statement today due to a threat of violence that closed all K-12 public schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District:“I support the actions taken by the Los Angeles
New report proposes helping students qualify for benefits including food stamps - The Hechinger Report
New report proposes helping students qualify for benefits including food stamps - The Hechinger Report: New report proposes helping students qualify for benefits including food stampsWith tuition up, income flat, statistics show some students can’t afford to regularly eat WaSHINGTON — How much trouble are some community college students having paying their way through college? Advocates say the go
Federal intervention in Newark. A victory, yes–but for whom? | Bob Braun's Ledger
Federal intervention in Newark. A victory, yes–but for whom? | Bob Braun's Ledger: Federal intervention in Newark. A victory, yes–but for whom?PULSE president Sharon Smith addresses press conference outside Newark’s Belmont-Runyon School.The federal intervention in the state-operated Newark school system is, in fact, a victory both for the parents who sued to obtain it and, ultimately, for the cau
Closing LAUSD schools after threat was the only option - LA Times
Closing LAUSD schools after threat was the only option - LA Times: Closing LAUSD schools after threat was the only optionThe email could be a hoax. It could be a childish prank to get students out of final exams, or simply a mean-spirited effort to force more than a million people to change their patterns today out of fear.No matter. Even if there are no explosives-laden backpacks, no mysterious p
Dannel “The Master Fund Raider” Malloy demands constitutional transportation lockbox or else! - Wait What?
Dannel “The Master Fund Raider” Malloy demands constitutional transportation lockbox or else! - Wait What?: Dannel “The Master Fund Raider” Malloy demands constitutional transportation lockbox or else!Once again we return to the idiom of “Calling the Kettle Black.”In addition to making an appearance at least once here at Wait, What?, it was used by William Shakespeare, William Penn and can even be
Who’s Accountable for Students with Disabilities When Things Go Wrong?
Who’s Accountable for Students with Disabilities When Things Go Wrong?: Who’s Accountable for Students with Disabilities When Things Go Wrong?Now that the Every Student Succeeds Act has passed, and the power to run public schools has shifted to the local school districts and the state, will that mean more accountability on their part when things go wrong in the classroom?Consider the Peck Communi
Wall Street Money and Massachusetts Schools | MA Jobs with Justice
JwJ Research Action Committee Report: Wall Street Money and Massachusetts Schools | MA Jobs with Justice: JwJ Research Action Committee Report: Wall Street Money and Massachusetts SchoolsThis first report from the Massachusetts Jobs with Justice Research Action Committee exposes the corporate agenda behind Massachusetts' most vocal advocates for charter schools. Our research reveals the way that W
John Thompson: A Closer Look at the “Success” in D.C. That Wasn’t | Diane Ravitch's blog - Linkis.com
John Thompson: A Closer Look at the “Success” in D.C. That Wasn’t | Diane Ravitch's blog - Linkis.com: John Thompson: A Closer Look at the “Success” in D.C. That Wasn’tJohn Thompson knows that reformers point to the District of Columbia as one of their examples of success. After all, the district has been controlled by Teach for America alumnae Michelle Rhee and Kaya Henderson since 2007. They own
The States Where Schools Are Still Allowed to Practice Corporal Punishment and Physical Discipline - The Atlantic
The States Where Schools Are Still Allowed to Practice Corporal Punishment and Physical Discipline - The Atlantic: Where Teachers Are Still Allowed to Spank StudentsCorporal punishment is legal in 19 states.“But I wasn’t chewing any gum,” the 10-year-old begged, insisting he was innocent. “You’re a liar!” the adult reportedly responded. “Now you’re really going to get it because you keep lying to
Wealthy philanthropists shouldn't impose their idea of common good on us | Joanne Barkan | Opinion | The Guardian
Wealthy philanthropists shouldn't impose their idea of common good on us | Joanne Barkan | Opinion | The Guardian: Wealthy philanthropists shouldn't impose their idea of common good on usAlmost all multibillionaire philanthropists in the United States set up tax-exempt, grant-making, private foundations when they want to make the world a better place. Not Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan. They p
Philly Schools Sacrificed on the Altar of Pennsylvania Budget Compromise | gadflyonthewallblog
Philly Schools Sacrificed on the Altar of Pennsylvania Budget Compromise | gadflyonthewallblog: Philly Schools Sacrificed on the Altar of Pennsylvania Budget CompromisePennsylvania lawmakers are ready to help all students across the Commonwealth – if only they can abuse, mistreat and trample some of them.Which ones? The poor black and brown kids. Of course!That seems to be the lesson of a school c
CURMUDGUCATION: PA: Budget Fluffernuttery Threatens Schools
CURMUDGUCATION: PA: Budget Fluffernuttery Threatens Schools: PA: Budget Fluffernuttery Threatens SchoolsWe have a budget problem in Pennsylvania. You could call it a budget "crisis," but that makes it sound like it just sort of happened, like a hurricane or male pattern baldness. You could call it a budget "impasse," but that suggests two grown up sides that can't find a compro
Congress makes school attendance a national priority :: SI&A Cabinet Report
Congress makes school attendance a national priority :: SI&A Cabinet Report :: The Essential Resource for Superintendents and the Cabinet: Congress makes school attendance a national priority(District of Columbia) Increasing the emphasis on getting more of the nation’s K-12 students to show up for class, the newly-approved federal education law will require Title I schools to report chronic ab
Closing Schools: Privatization Disguised as 'Accountability' - NEA Today
Closing Schools: Privatization Disguised as 'Accountability' - NEA Today: Closing Schools: Privatization Disguised as ‘Accountability’Closing public schools not only has a negative impact on student performance but also creates hardship for communities already struggling with disinvestment, according to Linda Darling-Hammond, who moderated one of two panels for a Congressional forum held on Dec. 1
Things Are Not Going So Well for the Privatizers | Diane Ravitch's blog
Things Are Not Going So Well for the Privatizers | Diane Ravitch's blog: Things Are Not Going So Well for the PrivatizersIt is true that they have a lot of money–Gates, Broad, Walton, Dell, Wasserman, Arnold, Helmsley, and about two dozen other foundations. Maybe more. And they have the U.S. Department of Education. But none of their big ideas is working. Study after study shows that charters on a
A Call for More Black Men to Become Teachers - The Atlantic
A Call for More Black Men to Become Teachers - The Atlantic: Training More Black Men to Become TeachersAfrican American males account for only 2 percent of the teaching force.NEW ORLEANS—During his high-school days, no football game could start without Louis Blackmon III: the team’s center. Each play began with his snap.Though Blackmon was renowned for his hustle on the field, he didn’t put the sa
Ten reasons why the feds shouldn’t be trusted to help Newark children. Ok, eleven. | Bob Braun's Ledger
Ten reasons why the feds shouldn’t be trusted to help Newark children. Ok, eleven. | Bob Braun's Ledger: Ten reasons why the feds shouldn’t be trusted to help Newark children. Ok, eleven.Later this morning, PULSE–a Newark grass roots organization–will be holding a press conference to discuss what appears to be a rare victory in the struggle of city parents to retake their public schools from pro-p
The Every Student Succeeds Act includes some new ideas on how train better teachers - The Hechinger Report
The Every Student Succeeds Act includes some new ideas on how train better teachers - The Hechinger Report: The Every Student Succeeds Act includes some new ideas on how train better teachersBut are they good ideas?e new federal education law known as the Every Student Succeeds Act could introduce new ways to prepare teachers for the classroom that bypass traditional programs.The bill, signed by P
With A Brooklyn Accent: A Fordham Alum Comments on How the University has Changed Since the 1970's
With A Brooklyn Accent: A Fordham Alum Comments on How the University has Changed Since the 1970's: A Fordham Alum Comments on How the University has Changed Since the 1970'sIn the 1970s and ’80s, Cammarosano (center) led a campaign for the re-greening of Fordham, helping to restore Edwards Parade to glory.Being asked to describe the difference between the Fordham of 1975 to the Fordham of 2015 ,t
A Shifting Education Model in China Moves Away From Its Sole Emphasis on Test Scores - The Atlantic
A Shifting Education Model in China Moves Away From Its Sole Emphasis on Test Scores - The Atlantic: A Shifting Education Model in ChinaAn emphasis on success beyond test results takes cues from the U.S. but is only part of the plan to reshape the country’s approach to learning.Just as President Obama steps back from student testing and governors coast to coast retreat from high-stakes accountabil
Outraged physicists formally rebut Supreme Court justice's comments about racial diversity in science education - Yahoo Finance
Outraged physicists formally rebut Supreme Court justice's comments about racial diversity in science education - Yahoo Finance: Outraged physicists formally rebut Supreme Court justice's comments about racial diversity in science educationAlexandria Suggs (L), a student at Wayne County Community College of Detroit, Michigan, wears a 'Don't Hate' sticker on her face as she attends a rally to defen
Gov. Snyder ‘open’ to ending EAA school reform
Gov. Snyder ‘open’ to ending EAA school reform: Gov. Snyder ‘open’ to ending EAA school reformGov. Rick Snyder said Monday he’s “open” to disbanding his controversial Education Achievement Authority if it’s part of a deal with the Legislature to overhaul public education governance in Detroit.The Republican governor started the authority three years ago to try to turn around 15 low-performing scho
Education experts grapple with narrowing English learner achievement gap in California
Education experts grapple with narrowing English learner achievement gap in California: Education experts grapple with narrowing English learner achievement gap in CaliforniaLawmakers and academics met Monday at Cal State Long Beach to discuss helping English-learnerstudents in the state get a high school diploma and go on to college.The Assembly Education Committee convened in the CSULB Student U
YESTERDAY
When it’s okay to give public education advocates the side-eye - The Hechinger Report
When it’s okay to give public education advocates the side-eye - The Hechinger Report: When it’s okay to give public education advocates the side-eyeAt least one group cares for youth beyond the schoolhouseSchool improvement isn’t the goal. Community wellness is. Schools are just a means to an end.How many times have you given the side-eye to the education advocate who screamed at the top of his l
WOULD MAINSTREAM REPORTERS LIKE TO BE MY DEEP THROAT? - Perdaily.com
WOULD MAINSTREAM REPORTERS LIKE TO BE MY DEEP THROAT? - Perdaily.com:WOULD MAINSTREAM REPORTERS LIKE TO BE MY DEEP THROAT? (Mensaje se repite en Español)Back in June of 2016 I was standing outside of Wendy Greuel's campaign headquarters on election night after her failed attempt to win retiring Congressman Henry Waxman's seat. Both national and local reporters were also there to hear her concessio
Districts must ensure equity in rules for accelerating students in math | EdSource
Districts must ensure equity in rules for accelerating students in math | EdSource: Districts must ensure equity in rules for accelerating students in mathCREDIT: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONAdd this to California school boards’ to-do lists for 2016: Create a clear-cut, objective policy for determining which incoming 9th-grade students qualify to accelerate their sequence of math courses in high s
Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 12/14/15
CORPORATE ED REFORMNew York Regents Vote to Exclude State Tests in Teacher Evaluations - The New York TimesNew York Regents Vote to Exclude State Tests in Teacher Evaluations - The New York Times: New York Regents Vote to Exclude State Tests in Teacher EvaluationsNew York took another step toward removing state test scores as a component in teacher evaluations on Monday, when members of the Board
