The CPS scandal and the Marine takeover of Logan Square’s Ames Middle School. | Fred Klonsky

The CPS scandal and the Marine takeover of Logan Square’s Ames Middle School. | Fred Klonsky:

The CPS scandal and the Marine takeover of Logan Square’s Ames Middle School.

I was always puzzled why Logan Square’s Alderman Roberto Maldonado and Mayor Rahm were so insistent on turning our neighborhood’s perfectly fine Ames Middle School into a city-wide military school back in 2014.

Yesterday my brother followed up on Sun-Times reporter Lauren FitzPatrick’s story about Gary Solomon, SUPES and Synesi Associates.

I won’t sum all that up. You can go read it yourselves. But this is all coming out of the $20 million no-bid contract that led to the resignation of CPS CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett and the federal investigation now in process.

Reading Mike’s post the first thing I thought of was what happened to our local neighborhood middle school.

The Reader’s Ben Joravsky wrote about Ames in February of 2014.

The looming debacle at Ames is a good example of those head-shaking maneuvers in which the mayor manages to create a problem where none exists.

In all fairness to Mayor Emanuel, the idea of turning Ames into a military academy wasn’t his—it was the brainchild of 26th Ward alderman Roberto Maldonado.

I’m not sure what exactly inspired the alderman, and he didn’t return my call to explain.

But according to a 2012 interview he gave to Mark Brown of the Sun-Times, he saw some kids flashing gang signs in the hallway at Ames one day a few years back. And he essentially said, that’s it—I’m turning this into a military school!

Technically, he proposed to move an existing high school—the Marine Math and Science Academy—from its current location on the west side to Ames, at The CPS scandal and the Marine takeover of Logan Square’s Ames Middle School. | Fred Klonsky:

Mayor Ras Baraka, citing “chaos, graft, miseducation,” demands people take back Newark schools | Bob Braun's Ledger

Mayor Ras Baraka, citing “chaos, graft, miseducation,” demands people take back Newark schools | Bob Braun's Ledger:

Mayor Ras Baraka, citing “chaos, graft, miseducation,” demands people take back Newark schools

Baraka: Time for the people to take back their schools.

Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, saying the state administration of the city’s schools is operating “outside the rule of law,” has called on the people of his city to follow the example of thousands of protesting students and “use all possible avenues” to rid the school system of its state masters.

He stopped just short of using the iconic phrase “any means necessary” to eliminate the state school regime–but “all possible avenues” is close enough.

Baraka, citing instances of what he called “chaos, graft and mis-education,”  repeatedly attacked Cami Anderson, the state-appointed superintendent of the city’s schools.

But he only mentioned her name once, referring to her subsequently only as the SAS–state-appointed superintendent. In 2011, Gov. Chris Christie appointed Anderson, a former political operative for past Newark Mayor–now US Sen.–Cory Booker. Booker brought in Anderson and formed an alliance with Christie to make Newark a model charter school  district for the state–and, perhaps, for the nation. Christie has repeatedly praised her. Christie’s state education commissioner, David Hespe, while assuring critics he is trying to curtail her abuses, has repeatedly praised her, awarded her bonuses, and extended her contract.

In response to demands from Baraka and others that Anderson be fired, Christie has rebuffed the city’s religious, political, governmental, and civil rights leaders, calling himself the “decider” who has decided to keep Anderson at the helm of a state-operated system that first came under Trenton control in 1995.

Although Baraka has repeatedly called for Anderson’s ouster, his letter bore new urgency–both because of events in the city and because of its tone and timing.

The letter follows a march by more than 2,000 high school students from City Hall to the ramp that connects Route 21 to all the major highways in the northeast part of the state–1 and 9, 22, 78, and the NJ Turnpike. The students could have Mayor Ras Baraka, citing “chaos, graft, miseducation,” demands people take back Newark schools | Bob Braun's Ledger:

40 Schools chiefs demand suspension of NY education bill

Schools chiefs demand suspension of NY education bill:

Schools chiefs: Suspend NY education bill

HARRISON – Superintendents representing 40 local school districts want an immediate suspension of the state's recently enacted education reform legislation, saying it puts into place a flawed system which will ultimately harm students.

Nearly 200 educators and parents gathered Thursday morning at Harrison High School to denounce Gov. Andrew Cuomo's signature Education Transformation Act of 2015. Elements of the bill, which deal with teacher evaluations, the use of testing and teacher tenure, run counter to research and will result in loss of local control, they said.

"It's time for New York state to get it right," said Harrison Schools Superintendent Louis Wool. "We are not looking for a delay. We are looking for this to go away."

The Harrison conference was one of two held simultaneously. The other, with school officials and parents from Nassau and Suffolk counties, was hosted on Long Island. Anonline petition asking for the bill to be suspended has been signed by more 1,200 people. It went up Thursday morning.

Cuomo and the Legislature approved a new set of laws pertaining to the teacher evaluation system and tenure in the state budget adopted April 1. The state Education Department is charged with implementing the specifics of the law by June 30. Districts would then have until Nov. 15 to adopt the new standards.

In a first draft of the regulations released by the Education Department earlier this month, schools could seek a two-month hardship waiver to delay the implementation of evaluations. Districts could seek additional two-month delays after the current one expires.

Under the proposal, a teacher's evaluation would be based on a complex matrix that decides a teacher's score based on student performance and classroom observations by administrators.

The test score measure is structured so it becomes the most significant determinant in a teacher's overall rating. For example, if a teacher is rated highly effective in classroom observations, but has an ineffective rating on the test scores, the teacher can only be rated ineffective or developing.

"The draft regulations are trying to implement a broken, punitive law," Valhalla Schools Superintendent Brenda Myers said. "There is no hope for the regulations because they are based on a broken theory."

The legislation prohibits the use of all other measures of teacher practice, including Schools chiefs demand suspension of NY education bill:

Jersey Jazzman: The Screaming Hypocrisy of @GovChristie On Education

Jersey Jazzman: The Screaming Hypocrisy of @GovChristie On Education:

The Screaming Hypocrisy of @GovChristie On Education

Chris Christie has never made a serious education policy proposal in his career. 
So let's not pretend for a second he's started now:

And so, today, I am directing the Commissioner of Education, David Hespe, to begin immediately to assemble a group of parents and educators to consider developing New Jersey educational standards – New Jersey College and Career Readiness Standards. 

I want New Jersey parents and teachers to be the driving force behind the establishment of these new standards. I want New Jersey business partners, New Jersey school administrators, and New Jersey school boards to work together in this important effort. 

I have heard from far too many people – teachers and parents from across the state – that the Common Core standards were not developed by New Jersey educators and parents.  As a result, the buy-in from both communities has not been what we need for maximum achievement. I agree. It is time to have standards that are even higher and come directly from our communities. 

And, in my view, this new era can be even greater by adopting new standards right here in New Jersey – not 200 miles away on the banks of the Potomac River.

Where do I even begin?

- "Not developed by New Jersey educators..." When did Chris Christie ever care what teachers think about anything? When he put together his Educator Effectiveness Task Force, he included only one working teacher, and no members of the largest teachers union in the state, the New Jersey Education Association.

The task force issued a report so incoherent and so unworkable it has led to the current,

- See more at: http://jerseyjazzman.blogspot.com/2015/05/the-screaming-hypocrisy-of-govchristie.html

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 5/28/15

SPECIAL NITE CAP 

CORPORATE ED REFORM

Bad tests by any other name are bad tests. Enough is enough. | Reclaim Reform

Bad tests by any other name are bad tests. Enough is enough. | Reclaim Reform: Bad tests by any other name are bad tests. Enough is enough.Posted on May 28, 2015by Ken PrevitiSeveral governors now find it to their political advantage to oppose Common Core State Standards, but they want to continue awarding the contracts for hundreds of millions of education tax dollars to their campaign donors who

3 by mike simpson / 1h 

South Korea, Its High PISA Scores, and Its Suicide App | deutsch29

South Korea, Its High PISA Scores, and Its Suicide App | deutsch29: South Korea, Its High PISA Scores, and Its Suicide AppHere is irony:In January 2014, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) noted that students from South Korea were tops at “creative problem solving” on the first such Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) test:01/04/2014 – Students from

1 by mike simpson / 1h 

Time to Reform Mayoral Control

Time to Reform Mayoral Control: Time to Reform Mayoral ControlOn May 12, a Quinnipiac poll was released showing that two to one, New York City voters believe that the mayor should share control over our public schools with other elected officials. On Tuesday, Public Advocate Letitia James issued a report, calling for improvements to ensure sufficient checks and balances and more parent input in sc

1 by mike simpson / 2h 

How Kevin Johnson Destroyed A Black Mayors Group To Promote His Brand

How Kevin Johnson Destroyed A Black Mayors Group To Promote His Brand: How Kevin Johnson Destroyed A Black Mayors Group To Promote His BrandThe African American Mayors Association, led by Kevin Johnson, opens its annual meeting today in Washington, D.C. The former NBA star and current mayor of Sacramento has been the president of the association since its founding in 2013—when, as president of the

1 by mike simpson / 3h 

Jeb Bush Emailed With Education Secretary About Rick Scott's Common Core Concerns - BuzzFeed News

Jeb Bush Emailed With Education Secretary About Rick Scott's Common Core Concerns - BuzzFeed News: Jeb Bush Emailed With Education Secretary About Rick Scott’s Common Core ConcernsWhen Florida Gov. Rick Scott called Arne Duncan to discuss Common Core, Duncan turned to an unlikely adviser: Jeb Bush.Secretary of Education Arne Duncan sought — and received — advice from Jeb Bush about how to deal wit

1 by mike simpson / 4h 

This Week In Education: Thompson: How Houston's Test and Punish Policies Fail

This Week In Education: Thompson: How Houston's Test and Punish Policies Fail: Thompson: How Houston's Test and Punish Policies FailAs the normative test, sort, and punish approach to reform continues to fail, I often recall Houston'sApollo 20 experiment, designed to bring "No Excuses" charter school methods to neighborhood schools. Its output-driven, reward and punish policies failed. 

1 by mike simpson / 4h 

Christie: Dump Common Core education standards | NJ.com

Christie: Dump Common Core education standards | NJ.com: Christie: Dump Common Core education standardsPEMBERTON — Navigating New Jersey interests and a likely presidential campaign, Gov. Chris Christie on Thursday proposed dropping national Common Core education standards he once supported but have since become a lighting rod issue for Republican voters.The governor, speaking at Burlington County

1 by mike simpson / 5h 

The Unintended (and Mostly Ignored) Lesson of Common Core: Race Inequity | the becoming radical

The Unintended (and Mostly Ignored) Lesson of Common Core: Race Inequity | the becoming radical: THE UNINTENDED (AND MOSTLY IGNORED) LESSON OF COMMON CORE: RACE INEQUITYYou would be well advised to read Andre Perry’s examination of Common Core and race, carefully and possibly more than once: How Common Core serves white folks a sliver of the black experience.I would also like to draw your attentio

1 by mike simpson / 6h 

Developing Workplaces Where Teachers Stay, Improve, And Succeed | Shanker Institute

Developing Workplaces Where Teachers Stay, Improve, And Succeed | Shanker Institute: Developing Workplaces Where Teachers Stay, Improve, And Succeedby Matthew A. Kraft   John P. Papay -- May 28, 2015Our guest authors today are Matthew A. Kraft and John P. Papay. Kraft is an Assistant Professor of Education at Brown University. Papay is an Assistant Professor of Education and Economics at Brown Uni

1 by mike simpson / 7h 

Meet the Latest Secret Free-Market Group That Wants to Take Over Your Public School - In These Times

Meet the Latest Secret Free-Market Group That Wants to Take Over Your Public School - In These Times: Meet the Latest Secret Free-Market Group That Wants to Take Over Your Public SchoolThe Center on Reinventing Public Education (CRPE) has been an invisible player in the free-market education reform movement.This story originally appeared at The Progressive.Don’t look now, but there’s something cre

1 by mike simpson / 7h 

Pay to Prey: Governors Facilitate the Predatory Outsourcing of America's Public Services | PR Watch

Pay to Prey: Governors Facilitate the Predatory Outsourcing of America's Public Services | PR Watch: Pay to Prey: Governors Facilitate the Predatory Outsourcing of America's Public ServicesMaggots, drug smuggling, sex with inmates. As if the news were not already bad enough, shocking new allegations of a murder-for-hire plot are emerging from Michigan as the media digs deeper into that state's fai

1 by mike simpson / 7h 

What the heck is going on with Wisconsin public education? - The Washington Post

What the heck is going on with Wisconsin public education? - The Washington Post: What the heck is going on with Wisconsin public education?What is the Wisconsin Legislature trying to do to public education in Republican Gov. Scott Walker’s state?State Superintendent Tony Evers has gone on record accusing lawmakers of moving toward new legislation “that erodes the basic foundation of Wisconsin’s p

1 by mike simpson / 9h 

Report: US Kids Are Poorer Than They Were Decades Ago | PopularResistance.Org

Report: US Kids Are Poorer Than They Were Decades Ago | PopularResistance.Org: Report: US Kids Are Poorer Than They Were Decades AgoNote: Childhood poverty has risen for every major racial group since 2008, according to a National Center for Education Statistics report released Thursday.  Do not expect major candidates for the presidency to mention this, as their campaign donors expand their wealt

1 by mike simpson / 9h 

As Mississippi delivers bad news to 5,600 third graders, stressed-out parents say there must be a better way - The Hechinger Report

As Mississippi delivers bad news to 5,600 third graders, stressed-out parents say there must be a better way - The Hechinger Report: As Mississippi delivers bad news to 5,600 third graders, stressed-out parents say there must be a better wayWill holding back thousands of third-graders boost student performance in Mississippi?ROLLTON, Miss. — In the weeks leading up to Mississippi’s new third-grade

1 by mike simpson / 10h 

Award-Winning Teacher Fired for Reading an Allen Ginsberg Poem - The Daily Beast

Award-Winning Teacher Fired for Reading an Allen Ginsberg Poem - The Daily Beast: Award-Winning Teacher Fired for Reading an Allen Ginsberg PoemDefenders of Connecticut teacher David Olio say one mistake shouldn’t have cost him his job. But why is the work of a towering figure of 20th-century American poetry out of bounds?It was the kind of moment teachers covet. An advanced AP English class focus

1 by mike simpson / 10h 

Mayor Mike Duggan: Return Detroit schools to Detroiters

Mayor Mike Duggan: Return Detroit schools to Detroiters: Duggan: Return Detroit schools to Detroitershere's no shortage of plans to restructure Detroit's schools, but until now we hadn't heard definitively from Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, the public official most directly accountable to Detroiters.That changed Wednesday night at the Detroit Regional Chamber's Mackinac Policy Conference,when Duggan

1 by mike simpson / 10h 

Why are so many states replacing Common Core with carbon copies? - The Hechinger Report

Why are so many states replacing Common Core with carbon copies? - The Hechinger Report: Why are so many states replacing Common Core with carbon copies?Getting a fresh set of standards should be easy in a state where Common Core is opposed 39 percent to 51 percent, right?Louisiana is poised to join the roster of states putting the Common Core standards under review. But in states that have scuttl

1 by mike simpson / 10h 

The High School Where Students Wear Scrubs - NationalJournal.com

The High School Where Students Wear Scrubs - NationalJournal.com: The High School Where Students Wear ScrubsA Sacramento public high school blends work-based learning, medical science, and academics for a new generation of vocational education.At Arthur A. Benjamin Health Professions High School (HPHS), students wear scrubs to class. They use algebra to calculate dosages. They study books like The

5 by mike simpson / 10h 

Teachers Union Sounds Alarm Over Use of Hamden Student Data | NBC Connecticut

Teachers Union Sounds Alarm Over Use of Hamden Student Data | NBC Connecticut: Teachers Union Sounds Alarm Over Use of Hamden Student DataThe Hamden school system turned over data to an education research group and leaders with one of Connecticut's largest teachers' unions say the group is worried about how it will be used."We’re very very concerned about the rights of students and parents of

by mike simpson / 10h 

How to make standardized tests fairer - The Washington Post

How to make standardized tests fairer - The Washington Post: How to make standardized tests fairerThe standardized testing onslaught that has dominated public schools in recent years — and a growing resistance movement by parents, students and educators — has persuaded some states to review the load of  K-12 assessments with an eye toward eliminating exams deemed unnecessary. In fact, some states

1 by mike simpson / 11h 

NCES Releases The Condition of Education 2015

The Condition of Education 2015:The Condition of Education 2015 The American education landscape is shifting.More U.S. school-age kids live in poverty and need English-language services, according to a report released Thursday by the National Center for Education Statistics.Enrollment in public schools is up, including in charter schools that have grown in popularity. At the same time, smaller num

36 by mike simpson / 11h 

Rauner paying education czar $250k from agency that funds autism, epilepsy services | Chicago

Rauner paying education czar $250k from agency that funds autism, epilepsy services | Chicago: Rauner paying education czar $250k from agency that funds autism, epilepsy servicesSPRINGFIELD — Gov. Bruce Rauner has defended his practice of paying top dollar to high-level state employees, saying he was willing to take the arrows to lure good people to government.But records obtained by the Chicago S

1 by mike simpson / 11h 

YESTERDAY

Choosing Democracy: These Students Want an Education

Choosing Democracy: These Students Want an Education: These Students Want an EducationChildren and young adults need to see themselves in the curriculum.  Students, particularly students of color, have low levels of attachment to our communities, to  California and U.S.  civics messages in significant part because the government institution they encounter the most- the schools- ignore the students

1 by mike simpson / 1d hide  //  save

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 5/27/15

SPECIAL NITE CAP CORPORATE ED REFORMCURMUDGUCATION: A Voucher By Any Other NameCURMUDGUCATION: A Voucher By Any Other Name: A Voucher By Any Other NameThe New York legislature is getting ready to look at Education Tax Credits again. I know this because advocates are busy pushing it on twitter, including and most especially the Catholic Schools of New York. "We need your help to pass the educa

2 by mike simpson / 1d