What I Learned at My First NEA RA Assembly!-July 2015 DIARY OF A PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHER!:

DIARY OF A PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHER!: What I Learned at My First NEA RA Assembly!-July 2015:

What I Learned at My First NEA RA Assembly!-July 2015

NEA stands for the National Education Association.

RA stands for Representative Assembly.

I attended my 1st NEA Representative Assembly as a delegate. What an amazing experience!

My observations:

• One of the delegates spoke about using the words of the oppressor. How many times do we, as educators, use the words, "the union", as if it is not "our union?" WE are the union. WE are what makes up the union. When we address the union as " the union", we are giving others the message that we are not part of it, that it is a separate entity. What does Chris Christie say every time he opens his mouth about educators? "The union..."

• If you don't like what your union is doing, you have the opportunity to make your voice heard. I sat in a convention hall with about 10,000 educators who were doing just that, raising their voices. We supported an item, or we didn't. Delegates, including one of my own state, wrote items that they felt were important to us all. Some were supported, and some weren't. Instead of standing in a hallway, or sitting in the Teacher's Lounge, denouncing the union, (I know, I've done it), ask how you can become a delegate.Move up from delegate and sit on your executive committee, or even the National committee.

• People of color and women need to be involved in our union. Shout-out to Eric Brown and Shelly Moore who were elected to the Executive Committee! There were more people of color present this year than any other year! If we want our DIARY OF A PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHER!: What I Learned at My First NEA RA Assembly!-July 2015:

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 7/18/15

SPECIAL NITE CAP 

CORPORATE ED REFORM

LAUSD OR TARGETED TEACHERS- A SIMPLE WAY TO KNOW WHO'S TELLING THE TRUTH - Perdaily.com

LAUSD OR TARGETED TEACHERS- A SIMPLE WAY TO KNOW WHO'S TELLING THE TRUTH - Perdaily.com: LAUSD OR TARGETED TEACHERS- A SIMPLE WAY TO KNOW WHO'S TELLING THE TRUTH(Mensaje se repite en Español)While poligraph or lie detector tests remain inadmissible in most court and other proceedings, given their significantly increased reliability, there might just be an application at the Los Angeles Unified Sch

by mike simpson / 3min 

CURMUDGUCATION: The Walking Man Walks

CURMUDGUCATION: The Walking Man Walks: The Walking Man WalksIf you don't know about Dr. Jesse "The Walking Man" Turner, it's about time you did.Turner has embarked on a shoeleather sojourn, traveling from Connecticut to DC in forty-two days.He's a professor of reading and language arts, and like many of us, he's been pushed out of his comfort zone by the need to get people's attention ab

by mike simpson / 6min 

Malloy, Executive Power and the Politics of Appeasement - Wait What?

Malloy, Executive Power and the Politics of Appeasement - Wait What?: Malloy, Executive Power and the Politics of AppeasementIn preparation for the Connecticut General Assembly’s 2015 constitutionally required veto session, Democratic legislative leaders announced yesterday that no votes would be taken on whether to sustain or override the nine bills vetoed by Democratic Governor Dannel Malloy dur

by mike simpson / 5h 

What Democrats Lost In Bipartisan No Child Left Behind Rewrite, And What They Won | ThinkProgress

What Democrats Lost In Bipartisan No Child Left Behind Rewrite, And What They Won | ThinkProgress: What Democrats Lost In Bipartisan No Child Left Behind Rewrite, And What They WonThe Every Child Achieves Act, the Senate’s bipartisan fix to No Child Left Behind, passed Thursday with 81 voting for and 17 against. Sens. Cory Booker (D-NJ), Chris Murphy (D-CT) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) voted agains

by mike simpson / 6h 

Pat Toomey background check amendment: Why the No Child Left Behind rewrite won't include it.

Pat Toomey background check amendment: Why the No Child Left Behind rewrite won't include it.: Background Check Provision Gets Chucked From No Child Left Behind RewriteIn the final days of debates over the Senate’s bill to replace No Child Left Behind, which passed with unusual bipartisan support on Thursday, various amendments got offered up and obliterated at lightning speed. Among the more unfo

by mike simpson / 6h 

CURMUDGUCATION: The GOP vs. DEM Question

CURMUDGUCATION: The GOP vs. DEM Question: The GOP vs. DEM QuestionDiscussion surrounding ESEA re-authorization has helped clarify the question that distinguished between the Democratic and Republican parties when it comes to education--Is it better to have stupid education policy implemented by the state or federal government?Democrats believe (and asserted it with vigor in their ill-conceived Mur

by mike simpson / 7h 

Nonprofit L.A. Fund for Public Education Caught Up in Scandal at Los Angeles Unified | Nonprofit Quarterly

Nonprofit Support Group Caught Up in Scandal at Los Angeles Unified | Nonprofit Quarterly: Nonprofit Support Group Caught Up in Scandal at Los Angeles UnifiedJuly 15, 2015; Los Angeles Daily NewsA prestigious nonprofit support group affiliated with the nation’s second-largest school district, with a high-profile staff and blue-ribbon board of directors, found itself in the middle of a scandal over

by mike simpson / 8h 

AUDIT FINDS MISMANAGEMENT, ETHICAL BREACHES IN LAUSD FOOD SERVICES AND DEASY-FOUNDED L.A. FUND FOR PUBLIC EDUCATION (3 stories) - 4LAKids

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: AUDIT FINDS MISMANAGEMENT, ETHICAL BREACHES IN LAUSD FOOD SERVICES AND DEASY-FOUNDED L.A. FUND FOR PUBLIC EDUCATION (3 stories): AUDIT FINDS MISMANAGEMENT, ETHICAL BREACHES IN LAUSD FOOD SERVICES AND DEASY-FOUNDED L.A. FUND FOR PUBLIC EDUCATION (3 stories)  The Los Angeles school district’s massive food services program is riddled with mismanagement, in

by mike simpson / 8h 

Then and Now in Reforming the Teaching of History (Part 2) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Then and Now in Reforming the Teaching of History (Part 2) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice: Then and Now in Reforming the Teaching of History (Part 2)A half-century ago, academics led an effort to reform the teaching of history and the social studies in a movement called the New Social Studies (NSS). Since the mid-1990s, again professors, social studies curriculum specialists

by mike simpson / 8h 

Next up for No Child Left Behind: Senate-House negotiations - Yahoo News

Next up for No Child Left Behind: Senate-House negotiations - Yahoo News: Next up for No Child Left Behind: Senate-House negotiationsWASHINGTON (AP) — No one thinks it'll be easy, but the House and Senate are embarking on negotiations to merge two differing education bills that would rewrite the nation's much-criticized No Child Left Behind education law.Related StoriesSenate OKs revised No Child

by mike simpson / 9h 

The bizarre alliance between Republicans and teachers unions, explained - Vox

The bizarre alliance between Republicans and teachers unions, explained - Vox: The bizarre alliance between Republicans and teachers unions, explainedHidden behind Thursday's overwhelmingly bipartisan Senate vote to get rid of No Child Left Behind is one of the strangest alliances in politics: Teachers unions have joined hands with Republicans.RelatedThe Senate just voted to get rid of No Child Le

by mike simpson / 9h 

Charter schools’ worst nightmare: A pro-union movement may change charters forever - Salon.com

Charter schools’ worst nightmare: A pro-union movement may change charters forever - Salon.com: Charter schools’ worst nightmare: A pro-union movement may change charters foreverA growing number of charter school teachers want to unionize, the American Prospect's Rachel M. Cohen tells SalonWhen you think of charter schools, there are probably a few people and concepts that come to mind: Michelle R

by mike simpson / 9h 

Ohio Department of Education retracts charter school assessments; top officials under scrutiny - Break News - Ohio

Ohio Department of Education retracts charter school assessments; top officials under scrutiny - Break News - Ohio: Ohio Department of Education retracts charter school assessments; top officials under scrutinyThe Ohio Department of Education on Friday retracted evaluations of charter school-related organizations because a high-ranking department official with ties to the charter school industry a

by mike simpson / 9h 

YESTERDAY

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 7/17/15

SPECIAL NITE CAP CORPORATE ED REFORMSystem Failure: Charter Schools in Louisiana | Seattle EducationSystem Failure: Charter Schools in Louisiana | Seattle Education: System Failure: Charter Schools in LouisianaSince 2005, approximately $700 million in public tax dollars have been spent on charter schools that currently have not achieved a C or better on the state’s grading system.New Orleans was t

by mike simpson / 23h 

LAUSD OR TARGETED TEACHERS- A SIMPLE WAY TO KNOW WHO'S TELLING THE TRUTH - Perdaily.com

LAUSD OR TARGETED TEACHERS- A SIMPLE WAY TO KNOW WHO'S TELLING THE TRUTH - Perdaily.com:

LAUSD OR TARGETED TEACHERS- A SIMPLE WAY TO KNOW WHO'S TELLING THE TRUTH

(Mensaje se repite en Español)

While poligraph or lie detector tests remain inadmissible in most court and other proceedings, given their significantly increased reliability, there might just be an application at the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) where it might be used to determine whose lying when it comes to allegations of teacher misconduct. Even though polygraph testing has become more and more reliable for showing whose telling the truth between two individuals, it is still capable of deception on an individual basis.

But what if we weren't dealing with individuals, but rather groups of targeted now ex-LAUSD teachers who continue to profess their innocence of wrong doing after either being forced into early retirement or fired based on charges they continue to maintain are false and completely fabricated as in the present case of nationally recognized teacher Rafe Esquith? What if all or a significant portion of the now thousands of such teachers agreed to pay for and submit to a poligraph test, which shows that they or the vast majority of them are telling the truth, when it comes to charges of immorality or other alleged bad acts that were used by LAUSD to force them out of their teaching jobs for a windfall financial savings. This allowed LAUSD to replace them with emergency credentialed fresh-out-of-college graduates paid at a fraction of the cost?

Now the LAUSD administrators who built the files used to remove these top of the salary scale teachers from their careers would not have to take a poligraph, but would their refusal to submit to one not be a clear indicator as to the lack of veracity of the charges of improper conduct they brought against the teachers they removed? Otherwise, what possible justification would that have for not submitting to such a test, when a teacher's career hangs in the balance?

While there still might be a reasonable doubt about the results of any single poligraph test, there is no expert in this technology who would question aggregated results of hundreds of teachers and administrators, when it comes to showing who is really telling the truth.

"The results of polygraph tests known as psychophysiological veracity (PV) examinations are admissible in a court of law if the particular polygraph technique used in the proffered PV examination meets the Daubert standard to the satisfaction of the presiding judge who acts as the gatekeeper of the Federal Rules of Evidence. Recent advances in polygraph instrument technology and polygraph techniques that have been validated by scientific studies published in peer-reviewed journals that meet the Daubert standard should open the field for renewed challenges to rules of inadmissibility. As of 1 May 2009, 18 states have adopted the Daubert standard of admissibility and the judicial door is open for other states to follow."

Some questions that a qualified polygraph operator might simply ask of LAUSD principals and other administrators who brought charges against teachers:

1. Were you ordered by your superiors to target teachers at the top of the salary scale?

2. Were you told that your advancement as an administrator LAUSD OR TARGETED TEACHERS- A SIMPLE WAY TO KNOW WHO'S TELLING THE TRUTH - Perdaily.com:

CURMUDGUCATION: The Walking Man Walks

CURMUDGUCATION: The Walking Man Walks:

The Walking Man Walks

If you don't know about Dr. Jesse "The Walking Man" Turner, it's about time you did.

Turner has embarked on a shoeleather sojourn, traveling from Connecticut to DC in forty-two days.He's a professor of reading and language arts, and like many of us, he's been pushed out of his comfort zone by the need to get people's attention about what is happening in the world of education. You can hear some of his story from him right here:



He's a man loaded with good questions-- "When does the Department of Education stop calling their CURMUDGUCATION: The Walking Man Walks:

Coleman's Double Disconnect

If you'd like to read a long, thoughtful and erudite consideration of Common Core, I'm not sure what you're doing on this blog. But this piece by Johann Neem at the Hedgehog Review provides all that and also provides an answer the oft-asked question, "So what exactly don't you like about Common Core."There's a lot to chew on in the piece, but I was particular struck by a criticism of Com

2 by Peter Greene / 53min 

PA: Monster Equity Plan Report Study Thingy (Part 2)

In Part One, we took a look at how PA diagnosed the issues that it is legally obligated to-- well, the states don't have to solve their problems. They just have to submit a report on how they're going to pretend to solve them. Other states kept it short and sweet, but PA cranked out a massive 200 page monstrosity. We still have 100 to go, so I'm just going to hit the highlights.We're now going to

1 by Peter Greene / 1h hide  //  save

PA: Monster Equity Plan Study Report Thingy (Part I)

This summer, all states were supposed to get their education equity affairs in order. I'm sitting in Pennsylvania, so their plan was of the most interest to me, which is my bad fortune because Pennsylvania's plan (Pennsylvania's State Plan for Ensuring Equitable Access to Excellent Educators) is over 200 pages long. Also, the title suggests that maybe we are all being trolled. It is possible that

1 by Peter Greene / 2h 

Bottom 5%

Five percent.It's a figure that turns up again and again in reformster rhetoric, usually teamed up with the word "bottom."It has a fine long history. All the way back in June 2009, we can find Arnie Duncan talking about the five percent in his address to the conference of the National Alliance of Public Charter Schools. The address, "Turning Around the Bottom Five Percent," and

48 by Peter Greene / 5h http://curmudgucation.blogspot.com/