Jason France’s Leadership in the Common Core Fight in Louisiana and Why He is the Best Candidate in District 6 | Crazy Crawfish's Blog

Jason France’s Leadership in the Common Core Fight in Louisiana and Why He is the Best Candidate in District 6 | Crazy Crawfish's Blog:

Jason France’s Leadership in the Common Core Fight in Louisiana and Why He is the Best Candidate in District 6

Big Education Ape: NPE Endorses Jason France, AKA Crazy Crawfish, for BESE – The Network For Public Educationhttp://bit.ly/1TXoLG8

One of the re-occurring questions I get on the campaign trail is my position on Common Core.  So let me say this in no uncertain terms – Common Core is a disaster for Louisiana.

I was one of the first people in the state to raise the alarm bells about Common Core, starting about 3 years ago.  Before being against Common Core became cool, I was one of the lone voices against this federal overreach, and one of the earliest leaders in the movement and I received a lot of ridicule in those days. 

Before Governor candidate John Bel Edwards had formed an opinion on the subject Lee Barrios (running in BESE district 1) met John Bel to educate him on the topic in a CC’s coffee house a few years ago.  Edwards had not made up his mind at that point, but we did our best to set him on a path to asking more questions. 

I was a speaker at the two largest rallies against Common Core in Baton Rouge (one held on the steps of the Claiborne building, September 28th 2013 sponsored in part by the Greater New Orleans Tea Party, and another on the steps of the capital on June 14, 2014, sponsored by the Libertarian Party of Louisiana.

Me at the First anti-Common Core rally on steps of Claiborne building (I was a speaker and tied this banner to the staircase – September 28, 2013. 

Before the national consciousness was awakened, I was fighting and writing about Common Core on my blog.  I wrote a piece as a parent that received national attention and was used an example in national articles alongside comedian Louis C.K.  My signature piece also won the notice of Motoko Rich, from the New York Times, (who came down to Louisiana to meet with me and parents I recommended) Aljazeera America, NPR, among others. 

I am not just a statewide recognized opponent of Common Core, I am a nationally recognized one.

Here is a piece by New York Times education writer Motoko Rich where I am quoted and referenced:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/19/us/fight-on-common-core-is-dividing-louisiana.html?_r=0

Others who oppose the Common Core in Louisiana said the governor’s actions were more political theater than anything else. “If his intent was to stop it, it was very ineffective,” said Jason France, an education bloggerwho plans to run for the state education board next year. “All it’s done is lead to chaos.”

As noted in the preceding article, Common Core is one of the reasons I decided to run for the state school board.  I announced my intentions in April of 2014 and identified Common Core as one of the issues I wanted to address.

Here is one of my more popular pieces on Common Core that gained nationwide and even international attention with many tens of thousands of views and republications.

https://crazycrawfish.wordpress.com/2013/11/15/my-attempt-at-completing-my-first-graders-common-core-math-homework-and-a-little-historical-ccss-context/

That piece starts with an intro of the situation in Louisiana most people were unaware of.  Louisiana’s BESE board adopted Common Core in 2010 before the standards were even completed and without following the Administrative Procedures Act or providing a chance for the public to provide input.  In fact, the public could not easily have provided input Jason France’s Leadership in the Common Core Fight in Louisiana and Why He is the Best Candidate in District 6 | Crazy Crawfish's Blog:

Kevin Johnson Wants Certain People To Not Talk About Kevin Johnson

Kevin Johnson Wants Certain People To Not Talk About Kevin Johnson:

Kevin Johnson Wants Certain People To Not Talk About Kevin Johnson

It’s no secret that Kevin Johnson wants certain girls and women to keepwhat they have to say about him to themselves. Some of what the former NBA superstar and current scandal-magnet mayor of Sacramento, Calif. is willing to do to convince them is well-known; some less so. The more that comes to light, though, the more outrageous it seems.

Recently, one of Johnson’s attorneys tried to convince one of his many legal adversaries to stop talking to Deadspin—even going so far as to insert a “No Deadspin!” clause into a settlement offer.

This revelation comes as Johnson is in the worst spot of his three-decade run in the public eye. ESPN canceled the debut of Down in the Valley, a documentary that deified Johnson for having finagled $255 million in public money to keep the local NBA franchise in his hometown but totally ignored his well-documented dark side. The seamiest portions of Johnson’s back story involve the many allegations of sexual abuse and harassment that have come his way his way since the mid-1990s. Johnson has never been charged with a sex crime, but ESPN’s shelving the movie comes amid growing suspicions that a key reason none of the abuse claims made against him derailed his rise to power is that he made legal settlements that forced alleged victims to hush up.

His longtime political adviser, Steve Maviglio, did nothing to stem the cratering of the mayor’s approval rating with recent comments that seem to acknowledge Johnson’s penchant for settling.

“People try to settle things because they don’t want things drawn out over long periods of time. They don’t want all this hashed out in public,” Maviglio told the Sacramento CBS affiliate last week, when asked why the mayor didn’t fight the allegations instead. “They want to settle things and move on with their lives.”

Easier said than done.

“All she would have to do is retract them and agree not to talk to Deadspin again.”

The tactic of convincing accusers to stay mum appears to have served Kevin Johnson Wants Certain People To Not Talk About Kevin Johnson:

A bad day for Ras Baraka–and public education in Newark | Bob Braun's Ledger

A bad day for Ras Baraka–and public education in Newark | Bob Braun's Ledger:

A bad day for Ras Baraka–and public education in Newark

Was the mayor set up?

The Newark Central Planning Board, with the apparent approval of Mayor Ras Baraka, voted 8-1 to allow the charter school chain, Uncommon Schools, to build a new charter school literally within sight of City Hall.  One member of the board told this site that the panel was told before the meeting that Baraka, who had been viewed as a champion of traditional public schools, “let the board members know he was fine with the approval.”

Within hours of the vote, social media began circulating a photograph of Baraka posing with children who were apparently students of KIPP Schools, another privately-operated charter school chain, in front of a sign that reads: “Newarkers for MORE KIPP schools NOW!”

KIPP Schools runs Newark’s TEAM Academy charter schools that are seeking to open five more schools in the coming years. The dual expansion of Uncommon Schools–which runs the NorthStar charter schools–and KIPP would mean a A bad day for Ras Baraka–and public education in Newark | Bob Braun's Ledger:

What the Washington State Supreme Court Decision on Charter Schools Achieved | The Progressive

What the Washington State Supreme Court Decision on Charter Schools Achieved | The Progressive:

What the Washington State Supreme Court Decision on Charter Schools Achieved

• Dora Taylor

"Washington Capitol Temple Of Justice" by Cacophony 

The Washington State Supreme Court ruled on September 4, 2015 that charter schools are not "common schools" and therefore cannot be funded by common school funds. The judges based their decision on the issue of public funding for schools that are not publicly governed, not subject to local accountability, and not under the authority of elected school boards. Proponents of charter schools and parents who enrolled their students expressed shock and disappointment in response to the Supreme Court decision. 

The ruling, however, is not surprising, as Catherine Ahl, Education Chair for the League of Women Voters of Washington, points out. The King County Superior Court ruled in December, 2013 that charter schools are not "common schools" and therefore cannot be funded by tax dollars. The case then made its way to the Washington State Supreme Court. Before the Supreme Court had a chance to issue its ruling, the Charter School Commission, went ahead and approved the opening of 9 new charter schools in the state, and the schools began enrolling students.

Why did the commission approve these schools if the case had not been settled? Were parents told when they enrolled their students in the charter schools that the schools might close at any time pending a Supreme Court decision?

The charter school advocates should have been more cautious. The court ruling blocking the spread of charter schools is not surprising given the history of charter schools in Washington State. Charter schools had been voted down by Washington voters three times. Two times,

- See more at: http://progressive.org/news/2015/10/188371/what-washington-state-supreme-court-decision-charter-schools-achieved#sthash.xfHuFf3V.dpuf

Mitchell Chester Wants to Create a PARCC-MCAS Hybrid | deutsch29

Mitchell Chester Wants to Create a PARCC-MCAS Hybrid | deutsch29:

Mitchell Chester Wants to Create a PARCC-MCAS Hybrid

From Massachusetts, where the commissioner of education, Mitchell Chester, chairs the PARCC consortium and the state is supposed to choose between the state test, MCAS, and PARCC on November 17, 2015:

Chester suggests… an MCAS-PARCC hybrid???

Birthed from the self-serving womb of political motivation. Note the late-to-the-party talk of “control of our standards and assessments”:

STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE

ED COMMISSIONER FLOATS “DOOR NUMBER THREE” AS COMPROMISE ON STANDARIZED TESTING

By Katie Lannan
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE
MALDEN, OCT. 19. 2015…..

As the state prepares to decide whether to adopt a new standardized test known as PARCC or stick with the existing MCAS exams, Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education Mitchell Chester on Monday put forward a third option — a hybrid of the two tests.

“I am considering this new model, this door number three, that takes advantage of our access to PARCC development…but uses that development for the construction of a MCAS 2.0, and gives us the running room to ensure 

Mitchell Chester Wants to Create a PARCC-MCAS Hybrid | deutsch29:

Big money to BESE elections: $3.5 million to PACs and counting | NOLA.com

Big money to BESE elections: $3.5 million to PACs and counting | NOLA.com:

Big money to BESE elections: $3.5 million to PACs and counting

Eli Broad, right, arrives with his wife Edythe at the September opening of their museum in Los Angeles. Broad also takes a major interest in public education, and Louisiana's campaign coffers show it: he's given $250,000 to Baton Rouge businessman Lane Grigsby's political action committee, part of more than $3 million that has come to Louisiana's pro-charter groups so far for the Oct. 24 Board of Elementary and Secondary Education election. (Chris Pizzello, Invision/AP)

Major education activist groups are again spending big on Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Educationraces. More than $3.5 million has already come in to political action committees that support theCommon Core standards and innovations such as charter schools and publicly funded vouchers.

It's an astounding amount of money for a relatively obscure board. And the sum has already exceeded the 2011 BESE race -- itself unprecedentedly expensive -- even though it doesn't count contributions made directly to candidates, nor most October spending.

All 11 BESE seats are up for grabs: eight are on the Oct. 24 ballot and the rest are appointees who will depend on the results of the governor's race.

The battle is between groups that take a free-market approach, favoring the use of test score ratings and competition among schools to keep students; and those, including teachers unions, who believe the changes have harmed public schools. All eight races have drawn candidates on both sides of the debate.

The national advocates are trying to avert a turnover of power on BESE that would reverse their wins of the last four years and put Louisiana Education Superintendent Big money to BESE elections: $3.5 million to PACs and counting | NOLA.com:

Click Here to Follow Flip BESE on Facebook 

LEE P.BARRIOS FOR BESE 1 Web Site

JASON FRANCE FOR BESE 6 Web Site

MIKE KREAMER FOR BESE 7 Web Site

Philanthrocapitalism: A Self-Love Story | The Nation

Philanthrocapitalism: A Self-Love Story | The Nation:

Philanthrocapitalism: A Self-Love Story

Why do super-rich activists mock their critics instead of listening to them?

n 1961, two and a half years after taking power, Fidel Castro gave a celebrated speech to the Cuban artistic and cultural elite that came to be known as “Words to the Intellectuals.” “What are the rights of revolutionary or nonrevolutionary writers and artists?” he demanded. Then, answering his own question with a particular focus on nonrevolutionary writers, he declared: “Intellectuals who are not genuinely revolutionary [must be allowed to] find a place to work and to create within the Revolution.” But even this freedom had its limits. “Within the Revolution,” Castro thundered, “everything goes; against the Revolution, nothing…no rights at all.”

Bill Gates couldn’t be more different, temperamentally or politically, from Fidel Castro. He once characterized anyone who challenged the current intellectual-property laws—specifically those guaranteeing software patents—as a “new modern-day sort of communist.” But when it comes to those who criticize the philosophy underlying the work of the foundation he runs with his wife, Melinda, Gates has shown the same steely moralistic dualism as Castro, the same insistence that those who don’t agree with him don’t deserve to be listened to.

Consider his attack on Dambisa Moyo, the Zambian economist whose Dead Aid, published in 2009, is a prosecutor’s brief for the argument that development aid to Africa has done more harm than good. Asked about the book on the Australian television show Q&A in May 2013, Gates replied that Moyo “didn’t know much about aid and what aid was doing” in Africa. This was a harsh statement, though one that Gates had every right to express. But he didn’t stop there. “She is an aid critic,” he said. “There’s not many [of them], because it’s moralistically a tough position to take, given what aid has been able to do. But if you look objectively at what aid has been able to do, you would never accuse it of creating dependency. Having children not die is not creating a dependency. Having children not be so sick they can’t go to school, not having enough nutrition so their brains don’t develop—that is not a dependency. That’s an evil thing. And books like that are promoting evil”—a judgment that, in its own context, is every bit as totalitarian as Castro’s.

As they say in the military: In war, the enemy gets a vote. And the reality is that Philanthrocapitalism: A Self-Love Story | The Nation:

Derechos civiles, y discriminación: cómo los exámenes estandarizados (parte I ) Cómo los exámenes estandarizados afectan a los estudiantes de minorías - Puntos de Vista

Derechos civiles, y discriminación: cómo los exámenes estandarizados (parte I ) Cómo los exámenes estandarizados afectan a los estudiantes de minorías - Puntos de Vista:

Derechos civiles, y discriminación: cómo los exámenes estandarizados (parte I ) Cómo los exámenes estandarizados afectan a los estudiantes de minorías

Por Julie Woestehoff/HispanEduca-PUNTOS DE VISTA

La organización FairTest publicó recientemente, un informe acerca de la creciente resistencia, en todos los Estados Unidos, contra los exámenes estandarizados. Dicho informe sugiere que el movimiento está compuesto principalmente de personas de raza blanca y de clase privilegiada, y que las comunidades “de color”, o sea, afroamericanos, latinos, hispanos, y otras minorías, no están tan preocupados por los exámenes estandarizados, e incluso no consideran que es importante pedirle cuentas a las escuelas.

Las organizaciones de derechos civiles como MALDEF (Fondo México-Americano para la Defensa Legal y Educación) y la NAACP (Asociación Nacional para Adelantar la causa de las Personas de Color), continúan apoyando la política pública que obliga a administrar exámenes estandarizados, anualmente, a todos los estudiantes del sistema de educación pública de los Estados Unidos. Estos exámenes, llamados high stake por las altas consecuencias que tienen para los estudiantes, han proporcionado datos privados sobre los estudiantes que han sido utilizados en algunos casos legales.
A pesar de que los grupos que abogan en contra de los exámenes estandarizados de altas consecuencias entienden que los instrumentos para medir el aprovechamiento académico de los estudiantes, así como los informes individuales de rendimiento académico son necesarios, también creen que se haría un major trabajo mediante el uso de múltiples tipos de evaluación que diagnostican con mayor precisión las necesidades de aprendizaje, sin que se promueva un ambiente de exámenes estandarizados de altas consecuencias. De acuerdo a estos grupos, dicho ambiente ha sido muy perjudicial para los estudiantes de bajos recursos, estudiantes hispanos/latinos/puertorriqueños, estudiantes cuyo primer idioma no es inglés (ELL) por sus siglas en inglés), y para los estudiantes de educación especial.
El informe de FairTest apuntó además que los padres y los grupos que representan a los estudiantes de color se han dado cuenta de la relación directa que tienen los exámenes estandarizados de altas consecuencias con el cierre de las escuelas, el despido masivo de maestros, y la retención (en lugar de promoverlos de grado) de los estudiantes.
Para que el movimiento de resistencia contra estos exámenes crezca como una coalición multirracial y multicultural, y para que el movimiento adquiera más aliados en la comunidad defensora de los derechos civiles, es necesario que se comunique clara y de forma efectiva los hechos que confirman el impacto negativo desproporcional que tienen los exámenes estandarizados en los estudiantes hispanos/latinos/puertorriqueños.
Este documento es un esfuerzo para levantar una bandera con respecto a la naturaleza de los exámenes estandarizados como Derechos civiles, y discriminación: cómo los exámenes estandarizados (parte I ) Cómo los exámenes estandarizados afectan a los estudiantes de minorías - Puntos de Vista:

NYC Public School Parents: Are 5,485 classes this fall that violate the union contractual class sizes a cause to celebrate?

NYC Public School Parents: Are 5,485 classes this fall that violate the union contractual class sizes a cause to celebrate?:

Are 5,485 classes this fall that violate the union contractual class sizes a cause to celebrate?

Update:  I'm quoted in the Daily News, Chalkbeat, and Schoolbook.

Today, Michael Mulgrew, the President of the UFT,  organized a press conference on the steps of Tweed about class size.  He thanked the assorted legislators for bringing home more education funds for NYC schools in last year's state budget, and the Mayor and the Chancellor for seeing that much of it went to schools.  He applauded the fact that there were fewer class size violations during the second week of school than last year, 5,485 compared to 6,447 the year before.  Then he added that we needed to  push to ensure that the full $2 billion extra that we are owed by the state as a result of the Campaign for Fiscal Equity decision in 2003 -- 12 years ago-- is finally provided to schools.

According to UFT data, more than 3,400 high school classes exceeded the 34 students permitted in the teachers contract, and in elementary and middle schools, more than 2,000 classes exceeded these cap with class size limits range from 25 in Kindergarten to 32-33 students.  Which means that as many as 150,000 students or more than 10% of all students could have been disadvantaged by huge class sizes of more than 32.  

Guillermo Linares, Donovan Richards, Nick Perry, Bill Perkins and me.

Also speaking with passion and conviction about the need to reduce class size and the importance of
NYC schools getting their fair share of funding were Assemblymembers Jeff Aubrey, Keith Wright, Guillermo Linares and Nick Perry; and Senators Velmanette Montgomery and Bill Perkins. 

City Council Education chair Danny Dromm, and Council Members Alan Maisel, Julissa Ferreras, Mark Levine, Corey Johnson, and Donovan Richards also spoke about how NYC Public School Parents: Are 5,485 classes this fall that violate the union contractual class sizes a cause to celebrate?:

Paradigms are Made for Shifting | Creative by Nature

Paradigms are Made for Shifting | Creative by Nature:

Paradigms are Made for Shifting

“A new type of thinking is essential if mankind is to survive and move toward higher levels…” ~Albert Einstein, N.Y. Times, 1946

Life is a creative self-organizing process. Every “thing” that exists is actually a dynamic system that’s constantly moving and changing, less a static “thing” than a process in action. Galaxies spinning, continents moving, societies transforming, friendships forming, children growing…

As Albert Einstein (and many others) have tried to communicate to us, all of these beautiful structures in our lives (and the greater Universe) are interconnected and related to one another… 

“A human being is a part of the whole called by us Universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.” ~Albert Einstein

Our body’s growth is guided by the DNA of our ancestors, nurtured by the bodies of our mothers, our cellular systems running on energy passed along by glucose molecules that were created in the leaves of plants that captured photons from our nearest star, the sun.

In a sense, we are solar beings– our minds and bodies animated by solar energy. Most people don’t usually think this way, we are not aware of all these interconnections and synergistic processes that make up our lives.

This is especially true in “civilized” cultures with languages designed to help us exert control over the world. Our words and concepts have Paradigms are Made for Shifting | Creative by Nature:

Who's Who in the Education Wars? - Badass Teachers Association

Badass Teachers Association:

Who's Who in the Education Wars?

by Mitchell Robinson, Member of the BAT Leadership Team

originally published on his blog: http://www.mitchellrobinson.net/2015/10/17/who-s-who-in-the-education-wars/

A recent blog post from Sam Chaltain suggested that what he terms "the battle of the edu-tribes" is finally nearing an end, and both sides of the reform debate (Mr. Chaltain calls them the "practitioners and the policy makers") have aligned around a particular vision of the future of schooling. Others, like my friend and fellow blogger, Nancy Flanagan, are not quite so sure that the conflict has been resolved, and question the perhaps "sanitized" version of events described by Mr. Chaltain. 

Whether the war is actually coming to an end or not, it's useful for those on the front lines to know who they are actually fighting, and who is standing beside them in their daily struggles. It's become clear to me through many recent engagements with those on "the other side" of these debates that the "combatants" on each side share certain important characteristics that inform their beliefs, ideologies and loyalties.

The Deformers and the Guardians

Mr. Chaltain's descriptors for the two sides in the war on education are revealing, in that he sees a clear distinction between those who actually teach (the "practitioners"), and those who establish and enforce the rules and policies that govern that practice (the "policy makers"). Perhaps unintentionally, his labels also highlight a major flaw in our current education enterprise: public education policy is being written and administrated largely by persons who have not themselves attended public schools, have no degrees or certification in education, have never taught, and have spent little time in public schools. Whatever meager educational background that the members of what I term the Deformer "edu-tribe" may have is often accrued through alternative routes to the classroom (i.e., Teach for America, The New Teacher Project, the Michigan Teacher Corps), and their educational credentials are often received via online programs that require little or no actual teaching experience, residencies or interactions with other teachers or professors with actual teaching experience. 


Many of the "foot soldiers" in the Deformer army wind up in high-level positions in state departments of education, policy think-tanks, on school boards and as leaders of high-profile charter school networks. They reach these positions of power and authority with shockingly little experience in classrooms, or working with children, but exert out-sized influence on the shape and nature of public education. These members of the Deformer "advance force" parrot a regressive agenda of union-busting, tenure-smashing, and teacher-demonizing, paired with an obsessive devotion to standardized testing, "data driven decision making", charter school expansion, and privatization as the "answers" to the "crisis in public education"--while remaining seemingly oblivious to the fact that it was their policies that manufactured the crisis they claim to be addressing, and which are paying off so handsomely for the investors who fund their charter schools and pay their generous salaries. 

Supporting the efforts of the Deformer army are legions of well-educated, poorly-paid "deputy directors," "social media managers," and "communications interns," all of whom have been tasked with patrolling the blogosphere for anything even remotely critical of the Deformer agenda. None of these staff support personnel ever taught or hold education degrees--their sole purpose is to vigorously refute any posts or articles that are deemed "negative" or contrary to the Deformers' mission--which is to destabilize schools, demonize teachers, and privatize public education.

Many of these support staff work for outfits like the Education Post, a billionaire-funded anti-education website created purely for Badass Teachers Association:

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 10/19 /15

CORPORATE ED REFORM

First Look Media’s Press Freedom Litigation Fund Provides Grant to Sacramento News & Review - First Look Media - First Look Media

First Look Media’s Press Freedom Litigation Fund Provides Grant to Sacramento News & Review - First Look Media - First Look Media: First Look Media’s Press Freedom Litigation Fund Provides Grant to Sacramento News & ReviewToday, First Look Media is announcing a Press Freedom Litigation Fund grant to the Sacramento News & Review (SN&R). The $15,000 grant will be used to offset the l

by mike simpson / 1h 

Student Discipline, Race And Eva Moskowitz’s Success Academy Charter Schools | Shanker Institute

Student Discipline, Race And Eva Moskowitz’s Success Academy Charter Schools | Shanker Institute: Student Discipline, Race And Eva Moskowitz’s Success Academy Charter Schoolsby Leo Casey -- October 19, 2015At a recent press conference, Success Academy Charter Schools CEO Eva Moskowitz addressed the issue of student discipline. “It is horrifying,” she told reporters, that critics of her charter sch

by mike simpson / 2h 

DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME ENDS Sunday, November 1 Check Your Charter School For Fraud - FCMAT

Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team | CSIS – California School Information Services: Charter School Annual Oversight ChecklistFCMAT was established in 1992 to serve California’s local educational agencies with a wide array of business needs. Since then, our services have expanded to include the California School Information Services (CSIS), professional development, software development

by mike simpson / 2h 

Eva Moskowitz Demands Apology by PBS and John Merrow | Diane Ravitch's blog

Eva Moskowitz Demands Apology by PBS and John Merrow | Diane Ravitch's blog: Eva Moskowitz Demands Apology by PBS and John MerrowI just saw this press release:**FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, OCTOBER 19, 2015** Contact:Ann Powell, 646-894-6407Ann.Powell@successacademies.orgEVA MOSKOWITZ DEMANDS APOLOGY FROM PBS NEWSHOUR FOR INACCURATE REPORTINGVeteran Reporter John Merrow Violates Journalism Ethics with B

by mike simpson / 3h 

In Philly, Ta-Nehisi Coates talks race and the 'responsibility to resist' | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

In Philly, Ta-Nehisi Coates talks race and the 'responsibility to resist' | Philadelphia Public School Notebook: In Philly, Ta-Nehisi Coates talks race and the 'responsibility to resist'For some students, school doesn’t come easy. They don’t revel in Shakespeare nor do they thrive in the confines of the classroom. Instead, their brains whir with the goings-on of the street, their main concern, pro

by mike simpson / 3h 

Let Love Lead the Way – An Important Message from Principal Jamaal Bowman | Poetic Justice

Let Love Lead the Way – An Important Message from Principal Jamaal Bowman | Poetic Justice: Let Love Lead the Way – An Important Message from Principal Jamaal BowmanFrom Principal Jamaal Bowman opening The Call to Educational Justice Conference in NYC, October 17th, 2015:“Our Work is About Two Things – Children and Love –  and not just love of children, obviously, but the love of the world, a love

by mike simpson / 5h 

Noble maps out massive charter school expansion, feds support it

Noble maps out massive charter school expansion, feds support it: Noble maps out massive charter school expansion, feds support itTeachers union: School closures will be the "natural consequence" of more charter high schools.Despite a financial crisis in Chicago Public Schools and increasingly organized opposition to the prospect of more charter schools, Chicago’s largest charter network

by mike simpson / 6h 

Vanderbilt poll offers little clarity in charter debate

Vanderbilt poll offers little clarity in charter debate: Vanderbilt poll offers little clarity in charter debateVanderbilt University's new Nashville poll probably won't bring any clarity to the city's polarizing charter debate.Rather, the results can be spun by either side as to how the public views opening new charters in Nashville.The poll, the first of its kind from Vanderbilt, was conducted S

by mike simpson / 6h 

Luke Bronin the “outsider” is looking more and more like an “insider” – the Carlos Lopez Story - Wait What?

Luke Bronin the “outsider” is looking more and more like an “insider” – the Carlos Lopez Story - Wait What?:Luke Bronin the “outsider” is looking more and more like an “insider” – the Carlos Lopez StoryGreenwich Native Luke Bronin and his campaign operatives bristle at the notion that, having never run for office or been involved in municipal government, Bronin’s brazen decision to grace Hartford

by mike simpson / 6h 

Hey Bill & Melinda! Here’s What’s Hard for ELLs

Hey Bill & Melinda! Here’s What’s Hard for ELLs: Hey Bill & Melinda! Here’s What’s Hard for ELLsBy Linda Chantal SullivanAs I read Nancy Bailey’s blog post, “Challenge to the Common Core King and Queen: Get Involved Really!,” I found myself vigorously nodding my head in agreement. How ridiculous that Bill and Melinda Gates say reforming our education system is the hardest job they’ve ever

by mike simpson / 7h 

What resurgent molestation allegations mean for Kevin Johnson’s political future - Sacramento News & Review

Sacramento News & Review - What resurgent molestation allegations mean for Kevin Johnson’s political future - News - Local Stories - October 15, 2015: What resurgent molestation allegations mean for Kevin Johnson’s political futureDeadspin hounds K.J., sexual-assault allegations re-emerge, ESPN dumps Johnson's national-spotlight momentIf Kevin Johnson was bummed, he suredidn’t let on this past

by mike simpson / 7h 

Special Issue of “Educational Researcher” (Paper #3 of 9): Exploring VAMs’ Potentials | VAMboozled!

Special Issue of “Educational Researcher” (Paper #3 of 9): Exploring VAMs’ Potentials | VAMboozled!: Special Issue of “Educational Researcher” (Paper #3 of 9): Exploring VAMs’ PotentialsRecall that the peer-reviewed journal Educational Researcher (ER) – recently published a “Special Issue” including nine articles examining value-added measures (VAMs). I have reviewed the next of nine articles (#3

by mike simpson / 7h 

Snyder says Detroit school plan will cost $715M

Snyder says Detroit school plan will cost $715M: Snyder says Detroit school plan will cost $715MDetroit — Gov. Rick Snyder said Monday his plan to create a new debt-free Detroit school district will cost the state $715 million over 10 years, amounting to $50 for every child in Michigan.Snyder renewed his efforts to overhaul Detroit’s fractured education system Monday ahead of the long-expected int

by mike simpson / 7h 

Pearson and Partners Pay in L.A. | Alan Singer

Pearson and Partners Pay in L.A. | Alan Singer: Pearson and Partners Pay in L.A.In April 2015, the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) announced that it was canceling its agreement to install Pearson software on the 40,000 Apple iPads it distributed to students at a cost of $768 each. LAUSD also demanded a multimillion-dollar refund because Pearson could not deliver the math and English cu

by mike simpson / 7h 

Teach For America’s Embedded In Black Lives Matter | PopularResistance.Org

Teach For America’s Embedded In Black Lives Matter | PopularResistance.Org: Teach For America’s Embedded In Black Lives MatterThe Movement Lives in Ferguson: Teach For America, Black Leadership, and Disaster CapitalismThe 501(c)(3) non-profit has indeed come a long way since Wendy Kopp founded it in 1990. In its first year, Teach For America had 500 recruits; by 2013, the organization controlled n

by mike simpson / 8h 

Are turnaround districts the answer for America’s worst schools? - The Hechinger Report

Are turnaround districts the answer for America’s worst schools? - The Hechinger Report: Are turnaround districts the answer for America’s worst schools?State-run school districts have a shaky track record, but more are on the wayby EMMANUEL FELTON October 19, 2015This is some of the hardest work in education.That was the gist of education reform wunderkind Chris Barbic’s July open letter announci

by mike simpson / 8h 

I Will Be Speaking at Wellesley College on Thursday at 7, LiveStreamed | Diane Ravitch's blog

I Will Be Speaking at Wellesley College on Thursday at 7, LiveStreamed | Diane Ravitch's blog: I Will Be Speaking at Wellesley College on Thursday at 7, LiveStreamedI owe a special debt to my alma mater, Wellesley College. The college accepted me in 1956, coming from San Jacinto High School in Houston, an unpolished, unsophisticated 17-year-old who wanted to make a difference in the world but didn

by mike simpson / 8h 

Chicago forum: Curriculum for Social Justice. | Fred Klonsky

Chicago forum: Curriculum for Social Justice. | Fred Klonsky: Chicago forum: Curriculum for Social JusticeDePaul University’s College of Education Fall ForumOctober 28, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Lincoln Park Student Center, 2250 N. Sheffield, Room 314Curriculum for Social Justice: Grounded in Our Students’ Lives and Their CommunitiesThe curriculum examples presented at the forum come from the arts, scienc

by mike simpson / 8h 

CURMUDGUCATION: Top States for Special Ed Lawsuits

CURMUDGUCATION: Top States for Special Ed Lawsuits: Top States for Special Ed LawsuitsAt Education Week, Christina Samuels reports on recent research showing which states find themselves most often in court over special education issues.The paper, "Frequency Trends of Court Decisions Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act," was recently published in the Journal of Special

by mike simpson / 8h 

News About the Network for Public Education | Diane Ravitch's blog

News About the Network for Public Education | Diane Ravitch's blog: News About the Network for Public Education The Network for Public Education has split into two different entities.The organization by that name will continue to support the improvement of public education and to produce studies, reports, meetings, and statements. Its new executive director is Carol Burris, who recently retired as

by mike simpson / 8h 

How many corporate education reform failures must there be. Before we know the scheme is a disaster? - Wait What?

How many corporate education reform failures must there be. Before we know the scheme is a disaster? - Wait What?: How many corporate education reform failures must there be. Before we know the scheme is a disaster?Yes, How many corporate education reform failures must there be. Before we know the scheme is a disaster?Or to borrow from the great poet and songwriter Bob DylanThe answer, my friend,

by mike simpson / 8h 

Cami Anderson was right | Bob Braun's Ledger

Cami Anderson was right | Bob Braun's Ledger: Cami Anderson was rightCami Anderson, Newark’s now disgraced superintendent, was many things. Arrogant. Mendacious. Insensitive. Too willing to use Newark schools as a hiring hall for inept cronies from New York and New Orleans. But she was right about one thing–and that one thing may turn out to be the most important thing facing Newark’s neighborhood

by mike simpson / 9h 

Jersey Jazzman: Charter Schools, An Exchange: Part II

Jersey Jazzman: Charter Schools, An Exchange: Part II: Charter Schools, An Exchange: Part IIIn Part I of this series, I invited Dmitri Mehlhorn, a well-known advocate for charter schools and other education "reforms," to comment on charter schools and make the case for his point of view. What follows is my reply; I'd urge you to read Dmitri's essay first to get the full context of my rep

by mike simpson / 9h 

Two Myths Are Part of Shaky Foundation of School “Reform” | janresseger

Two Myths Are Part of Shaky Foundation of School “Reform” | janresseger: Two Myths Are Part of Shaky Foundation of School “Reform”Here are two of the myths that underpin the school “reform” movement.  First, there’s the myth that the real problem with American schools is that teachers hold low expectations.  You’ll remember that the No Child Left Behind Act was supposed to address “the soft bigotr

by mike simpson / 9h 

What are Bill and Melinda Gates talking about? - The Washington Post

What are Bill and Melinda Gates talking about? - The Washington Post: What are Bill and Melinda Gates talking about?Bill Gates is the leader of education philanthropy in the United States, pouring a few billion dollars over more than a decade to promote school reforms that he has championed. They include the Common Core State Standards, a small-schools initiative in New York City that he abandoned

by mike simpson / 9h 

LCAP reviews continue without evaluation tool :: SI&A Cabinet Report :: The Essential Resource for Superintendents and the Cabinet

LCAP reviews continue without evaluation tool :: SI&A Cabinet Report :: The Essential Resource for Superintendents and the Cabinet: LCAP reviews continue without evaluation tool(Calif.) This month, county superintendents throughout the state are completing their reviews of accountability plans submitted by local districts – a process that lacks for a second year a key evaluation tool.Limited t

by mike simpson / 9h 

A Special Report on Student-Data Privacy - Education Week

A Special Report on Student-Data Privacy - Education Week: A SPECIAL REPORT ON STUDENT-DATA PRIVACYIntelligent and creative use of data in K-12 education is a driving force behind efforts to use digital curricula and assessments to personalize learning. Data use can be the difference maker in understanding individual students’ strengths and weaknesses. But the expanded, more sophisticated use of d

by mike simpson / 9h 

The Evidence That White Children Benefit From Integrated Schools : NPR Ed : NPR

The Evidence That White Children Benefit From Integrated Schools : NPR Ed : NPR: The Evidence That White Children Benefit From Integrated SchoolsRecently a neighborhood in Brooklyn made national headlines for a fight over public schools. Lots of affluent, mainly white families have been moving into new condos in the waterfront area called DUMBO, and the local elementary school is getting overcrowd

by mike simpson / 9h 

Schools exacerbate the growing achievement gap between rich and poor, a 33-country study finds - The Hechinger Report

Schools exacerbate the growing achievement gap between rich and poor, a 33-country study finds - The Hechinger Report: Schools exacerbate the growing achievement gap between rich and poor, a 33-country study findsRich kids get steered into more demanding math classes while poor kids get less challenging contentThe dark blue bars show how much differences in educational content in schools are addin

by mike simpson / 9h 

Campbell Brown’s insidious new lie: Charter schools, dark money and the war on teachers’ unions — and your kids - Salon.com

Campbell Brown’s insidious new lie: Charter schools, dark money and the war on teachers’ unions — and your kids - Salon.com: Campbell Brown’s insidious new lie: Charter schools, dark money and the war on teachers’ unions — and your kidsCharter school proponents -- and their wealthy friends -- have opened a new front on their war on public educationBefore Democratic Party presidential candidates re

by mike simpson / 10h 

YESTERDAY

A Comprehensive Audit of John White’s La. Ethics Admin. Filings | deutsch29

A Comprehensive Audit of John White’s La. Ethics Admin. Filings | deutsch29: A Comprehensive Audit of John White’s La. Ethics Admin. FilingsOn October 15, 2015, I read all of the documents that Louisiana superintendent John White has on file with the Louisiana Ethics Administration since January 11, 2012 to date, using the Ethics Admin search engine.In this post, I would like to share what I learn

by mike simpson / 20h 

The Washington Teacher: Five Years and Counting, And No WTU Contract For YOU!

The Washington Teacher: Five Years and Counting, And No WTU Contract For YOU!: Five Years and Counting, And No WTU Contract For YOU!By Candi Peterson, WTU Gen. Vice PresidentStatements or expressions of opinions herein 'do not' represent the views or official positions of DCPS, AFT, Washington Teachers' Union (WTU) or its members. Views are my own. Mass emails were sent out to many DC Public Schoo

by mike simpson / 20h 

Another Out-of-State $1.4 Million Pumped into Louisiana BESE Election | deutsch29

Another Out-of-State $1.4 Million Pumped into Louisiana BESE Election | deutsch29: Another Out-of-State $1.4 Million Pumped into Louisiana BESE ElectionAccording to an October 14, 2015, campaign finance filing of Louisiana businessman Lane Grigsby’s Empower Louisiana PAC, billionaires John and Laura Arnold contributed $625,000 on September 18, 2015, to Grigsby’s PAC via the Arnold 501(c)4 lobbying

by mike simpson / 20h hide  //  save

EduShyster and I Tag Team On A Microphone | The Jose Vilson

EduShyster and I Tag Team On A Microphone | The Jose Vilson: EduShyster and I Tag Team On A MicrophoneA couple of weeks ago, EduShyster visited my classroom because she’s my cousin, not in a biological way, but in the Dominican way where, when you think you’ve run out of cousins, out comes another one. Or, in this case, she’s an almost-kin.Such is the case for one of the few people outside of my s

by mike simpson / 22h 

An Ode to Public Education Privateers in Contemporary Times | msvigeljsmith

An Ode to Public Education Privateers in Contemporary Times | msvigeljsmith: An Ode to Public Education Privateers in Contemporary Times What’s scarier than ghouls and goblins this Halloween?“Privateers (during the American Revolution) achieved the best results if they could bluff an opponent into believing opposition was futile. When this failed the result was often vicious combat with unpredicta

by mike simpson / 23h 

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 10/18 /15

CORPORATE ED REFORMBeyond Programs: A Teacher's Role in Preventing Bullying - NEA TodayBeyond Programs: A Teacher's Role in Preventing Bullying - NEA Today: Beyond Programs: A Teacher’s Role in Preventing BullyingBullying prevention programs do a good job of raising awareness and generating buy-in from school staff. However, programs can only do so much. For students to buy in, teachers, as first

by mike simpson / 1d