Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 5/25/15

SPECIAL NITE CAP 

CORPORATE ED REFORM

The Washington Teacher: Principal Bullying in DC Public Schools: Our Hidden Little Secret

The Washington Teacher: Principal Bullying in DC Public Schools: Our Hidden Little Secret:Principal Bullying in DC Public Schools: Our Hidden Little SecretPrincipal Bullying in DC Public SchoolsBy Candi Peterson, WTU General Vice PresidentA great deal of attention has been given to bullying in schools since the inception of Bullying Prevention month which was first initiated in 2006. According to

1 by mike simpson / 2h 

What learning cursive really taught me - Quartz

What learning cursive really taught me - Quartz: What learning cursive really taught meSince the US Department of Education dropped cursive writing from the standard national curricula in 2011, the debate on the value of learning penmanship has raged.Some argue that the skill is obsolete, akin to learning how to use an abacus in the age of supercomputers. “[The] time kids spend learning to write c

1 by mike simpson / 2h 

Privatized schools are a public problem - Silver Chips Online

Silver Chips Online : Privatized schools are a public problem: Privatized schools are a public problemThe school reform movement is moving the wrong wayI think we can all agree that, though it has its fair share of issues, we have been given an amply-resourced and more-than-adequate education in the Montgomery County Public Schools system. This is something that we sometimes take for granted; a pu

1 by mike simpson / 3h 

CURMUDGUCATION: The Testing Circus: Whose Fault Is It?

CURMUDGUCATION: The Testing Circus: Whose Fault Is It?: The Testing Circus: Whose Fault Is It?Andrew Rotherman of Bellwether Education Partners, a reformster-filled thinky tank, took to the pages of US News last week to address the Testing Circus and shift the blame for it explain its origins.The ridiculous pep rallies? The matching t-shirts? The general Test Prep Squeezing Out Actual Education? T

1 by mike simpson / 6h 

And the Research said: Executive function: More about $$$ than Brains? - Ideas - The Boston Globe

Executive function not a panacea for education ills - Ideas - The Boston Globe: Executive function not a panacea for education illsONE OF THE hottest topics across the American education system is a set of cognitive skills called executive function. Curriculums based around improving executive function have been deployed in some of the country’s top schools to make their top students even better.

1 by mike simpson / 7h 

A Plea to Ed Tech Entrepreneurs (Randy Weiner) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

A Plea to Ed Tech Entrepreneurs (Randy Weiner) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice: A Plea to Ed Tech Entrepreneurs (Randy Weiner) Randy Weiner is a co-founder and CEO at BrainQuake, a co-founder at Urban Montessori Charter School in Oakland, CA and former Board Chair, a former teacher, father to two elementary school-aged daughters. In this post, he uses the phrase “we” to refer

1 by mike simpson / 9h 

CURMUDGUCATION: Bell Curve Beatdown

CURMUDGUCATION: Bell Curve Beatdown: Bell Curve BeatdownIf you are only going to read one blog post this month, it should be this post by Jersey Jazzman about standardized testing. Come for sentences like this one:This can't be stressed enough in the testing debates: we design tests not based on objective criteria, but on socially constructed frameworks that assume some of us are above average, so

1 by mike simpson / 9h 

Petition from Central High: State policies hurt disabled, violate the law, cause “chaos.” | Bob Braun's Ledger

Petition from Central High: State policies hurt disabled, violate the law, cause “chaos.” | Bob Braun's Ledger: Petition from Central High: State policies hurt disabled, violate the law, cause “chaos.”Newark’s Central High School: Facing chaos? Picture is from NPS websiteMoveOn.Org has posted a petition apparently written by a courageous Newark principal, backed by an equally brave staff,  that pr

1 by mike simpson / 10h 

Public-Sector Jobs Vanish, Hitting Blacks Hard - NYTimes.com

Public-Sector Jobs Vanish, Hitting Blacks Hard - NYTimes.com: Public-Sector Jobs Vanish, Hitting Blacks HardRichard Ingram Jr., with his son Richard, is a second-generation Miami-Dade County bus driver. Credit Angel Valentin for The New York TimesMIAMI — For the Ingram clan, working for the Miami-Dade County transit system has led to regular paychecks, a steady advance up the economic ladder and e

1 by mike simpson / 10h 

#BlackTeachersMatter. The suit against CPS and the larger national context. | Fred Klonsky

#BlackTeachersMatter. The suit against CPS and the larger national context. | Fred Klonsky: #BlackTeachersMatter. The suit against CPS and the larger national context.Yesterday I posted on U.S. Judge Milton Shadur’s ruling that African American teachers who were laid off by the Chicago Public School constituted a class.In other words, Shadur ruled that there was a basis for the claim that African

1 by mike simpson / 10h 

CPS forgot 22 schools in estimate for Aramark at a cost of $7 million | Chicago

CPS forgot 22 schools in estimate for Aramark at a cost of $7 million | Chicago: CPS forgot 22 schools in estimate for Aramark at a cost of $7 million Chicago Public Schools somehow forgot about 22 schools, including a selective enrollment high school, in its estimate to hire Aramark to manage school janitors.That mistake — in all, the district underestimated by nearly 3.2 million square feet the

1 by mike simpson / 10h 

Check it out: Bill Gates has a reading list for you this summer - Firstpost

Check it out: Bill Gates has a reading list for you this summer - Firstpost: Check it out: Bill Gates has a reading list for you this summerMicrosoft CEO Bill Gates needs no introduction. Apart from being a billionaire, he's also a philanthropist, investor, computer programmer, a role model for thousands and as it turns out-an avid book reader, as well.This summer however, Gates has a special set

1 by mike simpson / 11h 

Revere school board requests changes in Ohio laws on charter schools - Local - Ohio

Revere school board requests changes in Ohio laws on charter schools - Local - Ohio: Revere school board requests changes in Ohio laws on charter schoolsBATH TWP.: For the five members of the Revere Board of Education, enough is enough when it comes to charter school regulations in the state of Ohio.The board last week unanimously passed a resolution asking Gov. John Kasich and the Ohio General As

1 by mike simpson / 11h 

Everything You Didn't Know About Common Core - NBC News.com

Everything You Didn't Know About Common Core - NBC News.com: Everything You Didn't Know About Common CoreBY LEIGH ANN CALDWELLCommon Core has become a litmus test for Republicans in the presidential race. Republican presidential candidates have disavowed it, promised to repeal "every word" of it, and elevated it to the likes of Obamacare and the IRS. Only Jeb Bush has maintained his supp

1 by mike simpson / 11h 

Common Core Does Not Cure Student Mobility | gadflyonthewallblog

Common Core Does Not Cure Student Mobility | gadflyonthewallblog: Common Core Does Not Cure Student MobilityWe have real problems.We need real solutions.But we get deceptions instead. And if anyone tries to complain, they get blamed for trying to avoid solving the problem!Take Common Core.Badly designed, unproven, flying in the face of human psychology. It is all that and more.However, there’s a g

1 by mike simpson / 11h 

Memorial Day Tribute to Staff Sgt. Morgan Deshawn Kennon (1980-2003)

Memorial Day Tribute to Staff Sgt. Morgan Deshawn Kennon (1980-2003): Memorial Day Tribute to Staff Sgt. Morgan Deshawn Kennon (1980-2003)MAY 24, 2015 BY NANCY BAILEY LEAVE A COMMENTLike many, I hate war. I don’t understand why we haven’t evolved to a better civilization after all this time. As an educator, I am saddened especially by all the young lives that have been lost throughout the years.Wh

1 by mike simpson / 11h 

YESTERDAY

Who Does Gates Fund for “General Operating Support”? | deutsch29

Who Does Gates Fund for “General Operating Support”? | deutsch29: Who Does Gates Fund for “General Operating Support”?On its website, the Gates Foundation makes it clear that it often initiates contact with organizations to apply for specific grants and that it does not fund what it does not consider a Gates Foundation “priority.”The assertiveness of the Gates Foundation in funding its approved ve

2 by mike simpson / 21h 

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 5/24/15

SPECIAL NITE CAP CORPORATE ED REFORMSeattle Schools Community Forum: What Do You Think?Seattle Schools Community Forum: What Do You Think?: Seattle Schools Community Forum: What Do You Think? I saw this video from Creative Evolution; it's called The Truth About School (in a two-minute video).  I think that it is simplistic and probably less-than-accurate about all public education because I don't

2 by mike simpson / 23h 

FLIP THE 
LOUISIANA BOARD OF ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION 
( BESE)

Click Here to Follow Flip BESE on Facebook 

Big Education Ape: FLIP THE LOUISIANA BOARD OF ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION ( BESE) http://bit.ly/1JKBCtL #flipbese 

The Washington Teacher: Principal Bullying in DC Public Schools: Our Hidden Little Secret

The Washington Teacher: Principal Bullying in DC Public Schools: Our Hidden Little Secret:

Principal Bullying in DC Public Schools: Our Hidden Little Secret

Principal Bullying in DC Public Schools

By Candi Peterson, WTU General Vice President

A great deal of attention has been given to bullying in schools since the inception of Bullying Prevention month which was first initiated in 2006. According to the American Psychological Association, "40% to 80% of school-age children experience bullying at some point during their school careers."

Many say that bullying in our schools has reached epidemic proportions, but what many don’t under- stand is that bullying is not limited to just students.

Just last year at Largo Public High School former employees filed legal action against Principal Angelique Simpson-Marcus stating that she routinely belittled, berated teachers and staff and made inappropriate comments about white teachers.

A former Largo High School English teacher, Jon Everhart won a discrimination case and was awarded $350,000 by a US District Court jury. Other teachers filed similar claims citing they were fired for supporting Mr. Everhart.

Despite this court victory, Principal Simpson-Marcus remained the administrator at Largo High School and the Board of Education continued to defend this principal as an effective leader. No surprise there.

A 2014 National Survey on workplace bullying defined bullying as repeated mistreatment; and abusive conduct that is: threatening, humiliating, or intimidating, work sabotage, or verbal abuse. This is consistent with the definition used in the Healthy Workplace Bill.

Even with this high threshold, workplace bullying remains an American epidemic. Bullied individuals pay dearly with the loss of their economic livelihood to stop it. In the absence of legal prohibitions against it, employers are failing to take responsibility for its prevention and correction.

As the Washington Teachers' Union (WTU)  General Vice President, I hear countless stories of DC Public Schools teachers being bullied by their own local school principals. Like spousal abuse, this is our dirty little secret.

The extent to which our teachers suffer at the hands of cruel administrators is a hidden fact of school life.  ATTES Connect, an education website based in the UK, reports that one out of three teachers says he or she has experienced bullying at work.

Some of the workplace bullying complaints that have been alleged right here on our doorsteps have occurred at Jefferson MS, Lafayette ES, Orr ES (2014), Truesdell EC, Watkins ES (2014), and West EC. Out of all of the complaints I have received on workplace bullying; only one teacher was willing to come forward. 

Not unlike the School Board in Prince George's County Public Schools, our central office district administratorsThe Washington Teacher: Principal Bullying in DC Public Schools: Our Hidden Little Secret: