The Rats Are Jumping Ship: Captain Rahm Emanuel Is Still Captain | Reclaim Reform

The Rats Are Jumping Ship: Captain Rahm Emanuel Is Still Captain | Reclaim Reform:

The Rats Are Jumping Ship: Captain Rahm Emanuel Is Still Captain

Mayor Rahm Emanuel may take the entire Democratic Party with him. As Captain Rahm of the appointed school board, wealthy cronies all, Rahm cannot avoid facing yet another corruption laden scandal such as his Chicago Police-As-Killers cover up.

Yet, his past school board CEO is in jail for self confessed corruption which made millions for her and her friends as over fifty public schools were closed for lack of education tax money. There are no accurate number available of all the children “lost” during the process. No numbers of the suffering children and parents denied their basic rights to a decent education in decent surroundings are available.

Of course there is more than enough money for charter schools which profit even the appointed school board members who invest in them.

Now Rahm and the gang claim that there is not enough money for teachers and essential education programs. (Rahm had also claimed there was no money for teacher and other public employee pensions until the Illinois Supreme Court told him that there was no way his plans to cut, diminish or abandon pension debts were constitutional.)

The Chicago Teachers Union has a strike vote coming up in a few days, a vote based on Rahm’s latest financial claims and anti-teacher and anti-union ideologies – Democratic Party majority Chicago ideologies. Rahm may take the Dems down with him.

Well, both the Chief Financial Officer and the Chief Accounting Officer of the Chicago Public Schools jumped ship a mere few days ago. Perhaps they do not The Rats Are Jumping Ship: Captain Rahm Emanuel Is Still Captain | Reclaim Reform:

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 12/4/15

CORPORATE ED REFORM

 

Peg with Pen: TS Gold - A Child's Report Card

Peg with Pen: TS Gold - A Child's Report Card: A Child's Report CardI have written two previous blogs on Teaching Strategies Gold, an assessment that is used to assess children from birth through third grade. My previous blogs explained the teacher's perspective in regard to entering the data (literally thousands of data points per class of children - robbing children of instructional time) and th

by mike simpson / 36min 

A “What not to say guide” for charter school advocates | Seattle Education

A “What not to say guide” for charter school advocates | Seattle Education: A “What not to say guide” for charter school advocatesFor charter school advocates, the message is more important than the content charter schools offer.To view the entire booklet that Valerie Strauss refers to, go to Scribed.From the Washington Post:‘Say this, not that’: A slick PR guide to selling charter schools by key

by mike simpson / 43min 

Happy Haynes raised and spent big money in final days of Denver school board campaign | Chalkbeat

Happy Haynes raised and spent big money in final days of Denver school board campaign | Chalkbeat: Happy Haynes raised and spent big money in final days of Denver school board campaignLast-minute donations continued to flood the campaign coffers of Allegra “Happy” Haynes up until Election Day, when the incumbent Denver Public Schools board member narrowly defeated an upstart challenger by just ove

by mike simpson / 45min 

Judge grants injunction against big Alliance charter in battle with UTLA - LA School Report

Judge grants injunction against big LAUSD charter in battle with UTLA - LA School Report:Judge grants injunction against big LAUSD charter in battle with UTLAA Los Angeles County Superior Court judge issued a preliminary injunction yesterday against Alliance College-Ready Public Schools, the latest development in the effort by the LA teachers union, UTLA, to unionize Alliance teachers.The injuncti

by mike simpson / 51min 

High-poverty schools often staffed by rotating cast of substitutes - The Washington Post

High-poverty schools often staffed by rotating cast of substitutes - The Washington Post: High-poverty schools often staffed by rotating cast of substitutesMya Alford dreams of studying chemical engineering in college, but the high school junior is at a disadvantage: Last year, her chemistry teacher at Pittsburgh’s Westinghouse Academy quit just weeks after school started, and the class was taught

by mike simpson / 56min 

ESSA and the Dismantling of Programs for Students with Disabilities and/or Gifted Students

ESSA and the Dismantling of Programs for Students with Disabilities and/or Gifted Students: ESSA and the Dismantling of Programs for Students with Disabilities and/or Gifted StudentsI am excited I will be interviewed about special education by educator/blogger Steven Singer, on the BAT’s segment on The Rick Smith Show, Saturday, December 5 at 12:30 Eastern.The Rick Smith Show | Where Working Peopl

by mike simpson / 2h 

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Baffling News from OSPI on Charter School Students

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Baffling News from OSPI on Charter School Students: Baffling News from OSPI on Charter School StudentsState Superintendent Randy Dorn issued guidelines for districts that want to take in charter school students under ALEs (Alternative Learning Education.) He says:As a result of the Washington State Supreme Court announcing that it will not reconsider its September

by mike simpson / 3h 

Race baiting by charter school advocates | Seattle Education

Race baiting by charter school advocates | Seattle Education: Race baiting by charter school advocatesBertha Lewis, President of the Black InstituteFrom Politico:Critics call new charter school ad ‘racist’“They found a way to make money and profit off little black boys and girls,” she said. “They act as if they are here to save us.”A coalition of elected officials, community organizations and unio

by mike simpson / 3h 

Lusher must provide name of admission test, state attorney general says | The Lens

Lusher must provide name of admission test, state attorney general says | The Lens: Lusher must provide name of admission test, state attorney general saysIn a blow to Lusher Charter School, administrators must disclose the name of its admissions test, according an attorney general’s opinion released Thursday.The selective-admission charter school came into the spotlight earlier this year when it

by mike simpson / 4h 

Global Study: U.S. Educators Spend More Hours Teaching But Wide Pay Gap Remains - NEA Today

Global Study: U.S. Educators Spend More Hours Teaching But Wide Pay Gap Remains - NEA Today: Global Study: U.S. Educators Spend More Hours Teaching But Wide Pay Gap RemainsThe Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) recently released 2015 Education At a Glance, its annual report surveying the global education landscape, including education funding to trends in learning to acce

by mike simpson / 4h 

NYC Public School Parents: Zuckerberg unbound: the impact of his new LLC on student privacy and real personalized learning

NYC Public School Parents: Zuckerberg unbound: the impact of his new LLC on student privacy and real personalized learning: Zuckerberg unbound: the impact of his new LLC on student privacy and real personalized learningZuckerberg's open letter to his daughterI'm quoted in Time magazine and Politico about what the Zuckerberg billions portends in terms ofstudent privacy and real personalized learnin

by mike simpson / 4h 

Teachers For Social Justice: A response to “Teaching About Laquan McDonald: A Toolkit for Teachers”

Teachers For Social Justice: A response to “Teaching About Laquan McDonald: A Toolkit for Teachers”: A response to “Teaching About Laquan McDonald: A Toolkit for Teachers”A response to “Teaching About Laquan McDonald: A Toolkit for Teachers”December 3, 2015By:  Danny B Martin, PhD, professor of curriculum and instruction and mathematics       Josh Radinsky, PhD, associate professor of curriculum a

by mike simpson / 4h 

NYC Public School Parents: NYSAPE Survey Shows New Yorkers Overwhelmingly Reject Common Core Standards, Tests & Evaluation Policies

NYC Public School Parents: NYSAPE Survey Shows New Yorkers Overwhelmingly Reject Common Core Standards, Tests & Evaluation Policies: NYSAPE Survey Shows New Yorkers Overwhelmingly Reject Common Core Standards, Tests & Evaluation PoliciesIn response to NYS Education Department’s AimHighNY survey on the Common Core that many parents and teachers found excessively complex and not open to gene

by mike simpson / 4h 

With A Brooklyn Accent: Why ESEA Must Be Fought by People on the Left as Well as on the Right

With A Brooklyn Accent: Why ESEA Must Be Fought by People on the Left as Well as on the Right: Why ESEA Must Be Fought by People on the Left as Well as on the RightThere was a time when you needed the power of the federal government to counteract local tyrannies shaped by racist electoral practices and corporate control of local governments No more. Today, it is the federal government which is con

by mike simpson / 5h 

CURMUDGUCATION: MA: Boston's Lying Problem

CURMUDGUCATION: MA: Boston's Lying Problem:MA: Boston's Lying ProblemBoston Mayor Marty Walsh is sad. He seems to be sad specifically because he is "taking heat" But I think Walsh may be sad because of all the lying that's going on in Boston.About a month ago in Esquire, Charles Pierce said that Marty Walsh was going "full Scott Walker" by first defeating an opponent of being a

by mike simpson / 5h 

Would Today’s Schools Put Dennis the Menace Behind Bars? | The Progressive

Would Today’s Schools Put Dennis the Menace Behind Bars? | The Progressive: Would Today’s Schools Put Dennis the Menace Behind Bars?Ashana BigardPhoto courtesy of Screen Gems and CBSPicture a criminal behind bars. What’s the first thing that pops into your mind? Now sit with that image for a little while. Do you see a child?We live in a country that incarcerates more people than almost any other n

by mike simpson / 5h 

Governor Dannel Malloy - On a Mission to destroy Connecticut’s hospitals - Wait What?

Governor Dannel Malloy - On a Mission to destroy Connecticut’s hospitals - Wait What?: Governor Dannel Malloy – On a Mission to destroy Connecticut’s hospitalsThe story behind the story…September 2015:  Less than two months after signing into law a new state budget that raised taxes and cut spending, a state budget that Governor Dannel Malloy claimed was balanced and would maintain the state’s vit

by mike simpson / 5h 

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Rahm fallout

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Rahm fallout: Rahm fallout"If Rahm Emanuel is anything, it’s a vindictive asshole. Being a vindictive asshole has gotten him very far in politics. Though if he isn’t careful, it may soon be his downfall." -- Jordan Sargent atGawkerI'm wondering if Rahm's free-fall will help liberate some of his puppy-dog aldermen and local pols from their leashes, much the

by mike simpson / 6h 

Michigan audit faults EAA for poor budget controls

Michigan audit faults EAA for poor budget controls: Michigan audit faults EAA for poor budget controlsThe state-created Education Achievement Authority suffered from a “consistent lack of controls” in information technology that resulted in poorly maintained budgets, vendors being paid without contracts and a lack of oversight in purchasing, a state audit concluded.The 34-page audit, filed by the

by mike simpson / 7h 

Senate To Take Up ESSA Next Week » Missouri Education Watchdog

Senate To Take Up ESSA Next Week » Missouri Education Watchdog: Senate To Take Up ESSA Next WeekThe House did not listen to the grassroots who tried to educate them on the bill they were about to pass. Their education staffers kept focusing on the positive language in the bill and ignoring the aspects that teachers and parents told them would be problematic, often saying, “It doesn’t say that,” wh

by mike simpson / 7h 

LA School Workers Fight Capitalist School Privatization Scheme | PopularResistance.Org

LA School Workers Fight Capitalist School Privatization Scheme | PopularResistance.Org: LA School Workers Fight Capitalist School Privatization SchemeAbove Photo: UTLA rallies in February, 2015 during contract talks.Residents of Los Angeles were in for a surprise in August when they picked up the local newspaper and learned that multi-billionaire Eli Broad has a plan to turn half the public school

by mike simpson / 7h 

Duncan's Legacy Undercut as ESEA Rewrite Advances - Education Week

Duncan's Legacy Undercut as ESEA Rewrite Advances - Education Week: Duncan's Legacy Undercut as ESEA Rewrite AdvancesAt several points during the past year, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, who is stepping down Dec. 31 after nearly seven years in office, has said his biggest regret in the job is the amount of time he spent lobbying Congress early in his tenure to reauthorize the Elementary

by mike simpson / 9h 

New Research: Economically Integrated Schools Have Higher Test Scores and Smaller Gaps | janresseger

New Research: Economically Integrated Schools Have Higher Test Scores and Smaller Gaps | janresseger: New Research: Economically Integrated Schools Have Higher Test Scores and Smaller GapsNew research from Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy points to the positive impact for children when school districts use family income to integrate schools economically—as a proxy for racial integ

by mike simpson / 9h 

Will Connecticut Follow Massachusetts On Common Core? by Joseph Ricciotti  - Wait What?

Will Connecticut Follow Massachusetts On Common Core? by Joseph Ricciotti  - Wait What?: Will Connecticut Follow Massachusetts On Common Core? by Joseph Ricciotti Retired Connecticut educator and fellow public education advocate Joseph Ricciotti recently had a strong piece in CT Newsjunke about Massachusetts’ decision to shift away from the Common Core testing frenzy and whether Connecticut would

by mike simpson / 9h 

Some Kids Have To Fail: A History of Labels (Part 1) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Some Kids Have To Fail: A History of Labels (Part 1) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice: Some Kids Have To Fail: A History of Labels (Part 1)As long as there have been tax-supported public schools in the U.S., some children and youth have failed.  “Experts,” educators, and policymakers have given names for those students who left school in the late 19th century, early 20th centu

by mike simpson / 10h 

OUR OPINION: When it comes to charter schools, let facts lead the way - News - The Enterprise, Brockton, MA - Brockton, MA

OUR OPINION: When it comes to charter schools, let facts lead the way - News - The Enterprise, Brockton, MA - Brockton, MA: OUR OPINION: When it comes to charter schools, let facts lead the wayOn Beacon Hill and across Massachusetts, charter schools have become a hot topic of conversation and debate.It’s due in part to a new governor who is forceful in his support for lifting the cap on the number

by mike simpson / 10h 

Dean Skelos Tapes Expose Billionaire Connection to School Reform Movement and Campbell Brown

Dean Skelos Tapes Expose Billionaire Connection to School Reform Movement and Campbell Brown: The School 'Reform' Movement Is Backed by Shadowy Billionaires? No Way!In which the trial of crooked New York state senator Dean Skelos proves particularly instructive.Occasionally, we drop in on the school "reform" gravy train to see who's gone back for seconds, and thirds, and 45th's, for that

by mike simpson / 10h 

These California districts are measuring schools in a new way - LA Times

These California districts are measuring schools in a new way - LA Times: These California districts are measuring schools in a new wayarting in February, a group of California districts will begin evaluating their schools on more than just test scores.On Friday, a group including some of the largest school systems in the state called CORE will unveil its new formula for measuring public schools a

by mike simpson / 10h 

Why did Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg NOT simply donate billions to charity | Tech | Life & Style | Daily Express

Why did Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg NOT simply donate billions to charity | Tech | Life & Style | Daily Express: Why didn't Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg just donate his billions to charity?FACEBOOK CEO Mark Zuckerberg has refuted claims his new charitable endeavour is an elaborate scheme to avoid paying tax in the United States. Mark Zuckerberg this week announced that he and his wife Priscil

by mike simpson / 10h 

YESTERDAY

Guest post: We need a shake-up at Seattle Public Schools | Seattle Education

Guest post: We need a shake-up at Seattle Public Schools | Seattle Education: Guest post: We need a shake-up at Seattle Public SchoolsThe recent storm of controversy created by the announcement of the Seattle Public Schools central office of plans to cut 25-28 teachers across the school district in late October, and well into the semester, required student classroom reshuffling and disruption and

by mike simpson / 17h 

After a $45 billion announcement, a question looms: What is personalized learning? - The Hechinger Report

After a $45 billion announcement, a question looms: What is personalized learning? - The Hechinger Report: After a $45 billion announcement, a question looms: What is personalized learning?Mark Zuckerberg, CEO and co-founder of Facebook, plans to give away much of his wealth, and cites personalized learning as a particular interest remains to be seen exactly how and where Mark Zuckerberg and his w

by mike simpson / 17h 

The College Board under David Coleman: Bad for SAT Business | deutsch29

The College Board under David Coleman: Bad for SAT Business | deutsch29: The College Board under David Coleman: Bad for SAT BusinessIn 2009, the College Board was one of three nonprofits that were listed by name on the memorandum of understanding (MOU) to develop the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). (The other two were Achieve, Inc., and ACT.)Though not specified by name in the CCSS MOU, David

by mike simpson / 17h 

Through The Wire [This Is Still Not A Test] | The Jose Vilson

Through The Wire [This Is Still Not A Test] | The Jose Vilson: Through The Wire [This Is Still Not A Test]No one asked me to write This Is Not A Test, but I still felt it necessary.About two years ago, I was in the middle of one of the weirdest weeks of my life, capped off with my father passing away and me finding out 30 minutes before class started. My shoulders buckled, my face felt pulled an i

by mike simpson / 21h 

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 12/3/15

CORPORATE ED REFORM CURMUDGUCATION: NEA on ESSACURMUDGUCATION: NEA on ESSA: NEA on ESSAThursday evening NEA Government Relations Director Mary Kulser andDirector of Education Policy and Practice Donna Harris-Aikensspoke on a brief conference call about NEA and the New ESSA. This will be as disjointed as my notes, and there aren't many surprises here, though a few pieces of clarifying information.R

by mike simpson / 23h