CORPORATE ED REFORM
Black Michigan lawmakers demand that Rick Snyder fire Detroit school system appointee
Black Michigan lawmakers demand that Rick Snyder fire Detroit school system appointee: Black Michigan lawmakers demand that Rick Snyder fire Detroit school system appointeeThe Michigan legislative black caucus voted on Friday to ask Governor Rick Snyder to fire Darnell Earley, the controversial Detroit Public Schools’ emergency manager who had formerly presided over the city of Flint and its lead-
CHARTER SCHOOL CRIME WATCH: ReNEW Sci Tech used special-ed designation for cash, state report finds | The Lens
ReNEW Sci Tech used special-ed designation for cash, state report finds | The Lens: ReNEW Sci Tech used special-ed designation for cash, state report findsReNEW SciTech Academy violated special education law, robbing some students of special education services, and also committed state testing violations last school year, according to a state-issued report released Friday afternoon.The improprieti
Stakes are high for a teacher/parent fighting for better conditions in Detroit Public Schools - The Hechinger Report
Stakes are high for a teacher/parent fighting for better conditions in Detroit Public Schools - The Hechinger Report: Stakes are high for a teacher/parent fighting for better conditions in Detroit Public SchoolsTeacher who commutes to one of nation’s worst districts explains why she sends her kids to DPS schools and why she participated in sick outDetroit Public School teacher Alise Anaya drives c
Latino students, parents should beware school choice ‘panacea’ #SCW – Cloaking Inequity
Latino students, parents should beware school choice ‘panacea’ #SCW – Cloaking Inequity: Latino students, parents should beware school choice ‘panacea’ #SCWThe wealthy have poured millions of dollars into “school choice” causes over the last decade. Under the mantra of civil rights, billionaires such as Eli Broad, Bill Gates, the Koch Brothers and the powerful corporate-funded lobby group the Amer
Teacher of the Year :America really doesn’t care what happens to poor people and most black people
Matt Driscoll: The uncomfortable truth of Nathan Gibbs-Bowling | The News Tribune: Matt Driscoll: The uncomfortable truth of Nathan Gibbs-BowlingNathan Gibbs-Bowling, a teacher at Lincoln High School, was named Washington State Teacher of the Year in 2015.David Montesino dmontesino@thenewstribune.comRead more here: http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/matt-driscoll/article56
California AG s Opinion Targets School Bond Practices | The Bond Buyer
California AG s Opinion Targets School Bond Practices | The Bond Buyer: California AG's Opinion Targets School Bond PracticesAn opinion from California Attorney General Kamala Harris says some common school bond campaign and finance practices violate state law.PHOENIX - School and community college districts violate California law if they hire outside firms to campaign for bond ballot measures or
CURMUDGUCATION: USED: Dear Colleague
CURMUDGUCATION: USED: Dear Colleague: USED: Dear ColleagueTO: State and Local School OfficialsFROM: Faceless Federal Bureaucrat at US Department of EducationI hope that our recent letter about participation rates in accountability testing has clarified the department's stance on the 95% participation requirement. This most recent threat of Dire Consequences should be heeded, and should not be conf
What Could Be Wrong With School Choice? | The Progressive
What Could Be Wrong With School Choice? | The Progressive: What Could Be Wrong With School Choice?This week marked the annual National School Choice Week with events across the country promoting "education options" such as charter schools and vouchers.Everyone loves “choice,” right? In a country where every year brings us 100 new choices for how to brush our teeth, maximizing “choice” ap
What’s that smell? A defense of Pay for Success from the White House. | Fred Klonsky
What’s that smell? A defense of Pay for Success from the White House. | Fred Klonsky: What’s that smell? A defense of Pay for Success from the White HouseWhite House Director of Social Innovation, David Wilkinson and Department of Education Secretary of Policy and Early Learning, Libby Doggett.When the Elementary and Secondary Education Act was recently reauthorized as the Every Student Succeeds A
BustED Pencils Trending News: Phony; Punish; Please | BustED Pencils
BustED Pencils Trending News: Phony; Punish; Please | BustED Pencils: BustED Pencils Trending News: Phony; Punish; PleaseGrass roots rebellion growing.We’re onto the phony education reformers: Charter school charlatans and faux reformers take it on the chinhttp://www.salon.com/2016/01/09/were_onto_the_phony_education_reformers_charter_school_charlatans_and_faux_reformers_take_it_on_the_chin/Simply
IMPORTANT ALERT - Students, Parents, Teachers are being bullied about opting out of testing madness - Wait What?
IMPORTANT ALERT - Students, Parents, Teachers are being bullied about opting out of testing madness - Wait What?:IMPORTANT ALERT – Students, Parents, Teachers are being bullied about opting out of testing madnessReports are coming in from around the state that under pressure for Governor Malloy’s Commissioner of Education, some local school officials are, once again, engaged in underhanded efforts
Zimmer backs arts, warns against standardization | Park Labrea News/ Beverly Press
Zimmer backs arts, warns against standardization | Park Labrea News/ Beverly Press: Zimmer backs arts, warns against standardizationLAUSD board president Steve Zimmer discusses the education challenges that Los Angeles faces. (photo by Gregory Cornfield)Mid City West Community Council (MCWCC) and Mid City West Community Councilleaders welcomed LAUSD board president and 4th District representative
What in the World is Slave-Tag? - Student Voice
What in the World is Slave-Tag? - Student Voice: What in the World is Slave-Tag? Yesterday we convened a group of students from around the city of Philadelphia in a Student Voice Convention to launch our national tour. We didn’t choose the city by accident—Philadelphia was the birthplace of our nation. It was here, 227 years ago that another convention created an American government for the peop
Obama Administration Enables Billionaire Takeover of US Public Schools
Obama Administration Enables Billionaire Takeover of US Public Schools:Obama Administration Enables Billionaire Takeover of US Public SchoolsWith the Walton billionaires doubling down in their efforts to accelerate the charter school industry and with the Netflix CEO, Reed Hastings, throwing in $100 million to privatize traditional public schools, one might think that the U.S. Department of Educat
KILLING ED: 120 American Charter Schools and One Secretive Turkish Cleric
Trailer for KILLING ED on Vimeo:KILLING EDTrailer for KILLING ED from Visual Truth Projects on Vimeo.Trailer for the feature-length documentary, KILLING ED, about charter schools, corruption and the rise of the Gülen Movement in America. Coming March, 2016.Trailer for KILLING ED on Vimeo:120 American Charter Schools and One Secretive Turkish ClericThe FBI is investigating a group of educators who
Louisiana Educator: False Advertising: It is used to Steal Public School Taxes!
Louisiana Educator: False Advertising: It is used to Steal Public School Taxes!: False Advertising: It is used to Steal Public School Taxes!This is an article by The Brookings Institute describing the results of their study of voucher students' performance in Louisiana. The study shows that the academic performance of voucher students drops dramatically after students transfer to a voucher school
An Exchange with the Charlotte Observer About the ASD | Diane Ravitch's blog
An Exchange with the Charlotte Observer About the ASD | Diane Ravitch's blog: An Exchange with the Charlotte Observer About the ASDA few days ago, I wrote a post about the determination of North Carolina’s Tea-Party dominated legislature to allow charters, including for-profit ones, to take over low-scoring schools, a proposal modeled on Tennessee’s Achievement School District. My post was a refut
Report Decries State Takeovers through “Opportunity” and “Achievement” School Districts | janresseger
Report Decries State Takeovers through “Opportunity” and “Achievement” School Districts | janresseger:Report Decries State Takeovers through “Opportunity” and “Achievement” School DistrictsYou might imagine that the morass in Michigan—the tragedy of Flint’s water poisoning under a state-appointed emergency fiscal manager, the dilapidated condition of Detroit’s public schools under a state-appointe
Public employees face a day of reckoning in Newark | Bob Braun's Ledger
Public employees face a day of reckoning in Newark | Bob Braun's Ledger: Public employees face a day of reckoning in NewarkA Superior Court judge in Newark is expected to hear arguments today in a labor dispute that has implications for the future of all public employee unions. Although the case deals only with the Newark Teachers Union (NTU), the central issue—the so-called “management prerogat
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: After more than a year of stalling, finally a serious contract offer to the CTU
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: After more than a year of stalling, finally a serious contract offer to the CTU: After more than a year of stalling, finally a serious contract offer to the CTUA SmallTalk Salute goes out to Karen Lewisand the CTU for forcing Rahm/Claypool's hand and finally getting a serious contract offer. This comes after a year of CPS stalling and forcing teachers to work without
John Thompson: Where Are the Scholars in This Age of Disruption? | Diane Ravitch's blog
John Thompson: Where Are the Scholars in This Age of Disruption? | Diane Ravitch's blog: John Thompson: Where Are the Scholars in This Age of Disruption?John Thompson, historians and teachers, assesses a discussion about the role of scholars in the current era of tumult in education.He writes:Education Week published essays by four scholars, Jeffrey Henig, Jay Greene, Jeannie Oakes, and Rick Hess,
21 Concerns about Special Education and Competency-Based Education
21 Concerns about Special Education and Competency-Based Education: 21 Concerns about Special Education and Competency-Based Education As most know, Competency-Based Education (CBE) is being pushed into schools for all students, including those who have special needs.Before I go on, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development looked at 15 –year-olds and their computer use in 31 natio
The Supreme Court Case Against Teachers' Unions Could Have a Far-Reaching Impact - Pacific Standard
The Supreme Court Case Against Teachers' Unions Could Have a Far-Reaching Impact - Pacific Standard:The Supreme Court Case Against Teachers' Unions Could Have a Far-Reaching ImpactIf the Supreme Court overturns Abood, will the middle class suffer?People for and against unions hold up signs in front of the Supreme Court building on January 11, 2016, in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Mark Wilson/Getty Ima
Perdido Street School: Goodbye And Good Luck
Perdido Street School: Goodbye And Good Luck:Goodbye And Good LuckThis will be the last post at Perdido Street School blog.I have been blogging for ten years at various sites.For reasons that have been brewing for some time now, I have decided ten years is enough.I can no longer give the blog the kind of attention I have given it in the past and so, I've decided it's time to shut it down and move
Detroit's troubled schools fight to write a new chapter - Yahoo News
Detroit's troubled schools fight to write a new chapter - Yahoo News:Detroit's troubled schools fight to write a new chapterTeachers and parents filed a lawsuit Thursday over the state of the schools. They're seeking local control after years under a state-appointed emergency manager.The pictures of Detroit schools infested with patches of mold and dead rodents, with crumbling buildings sporting l
Education reform’s devious blame game: The charter school movement doesn’t want you to know it’s failing - Salon
Education reform’s devious blame game: The charter school movement doesn’t want you to know it’s failing - Salon.com: Education reform’s devious blame game: The charter school movement doesn’t want you to know it’s failingInsiders finger Wall Street for misspent funds and schools' poor performance. It's all part of a new PR strategyCharter schools, which have been criticized for grabbing billions
Why The Simple Solution To Academic Success Might Be More Recess
Why The Simple Solution To Academic Success Might Be More Recess: Why The Simple Solution To Academic Success Might Be More RecessPlay is so important.As schools look for more time to squeeze in math, reading and other academic subjects, a long-time cornerstone of elementary school life has taken a hit: recess.According to national estimates, first graders in U.S. public schools in 2005 averaged j
When it comes to K-12 education, goals of GOP contenders are moot - The Washington Post
When it comes to K-12 education, goals of GOP contenders are moot - The Washington Post: When it comes to K-12 education, goals of GOP contenders are moot To hear the top-tier Republican presidential candidates tell it, on their first day in office, they will shift power over education from the federal government back to states and local communities.Problem is, Congress already took care of that.I
Feds remind Connecticut: Test students or risk losing funding | FOX 61
Feds remind Connecticut: Test students or risk losing funding | FOX 61: Feds remind Connecticut: Test students or risk losing fundingHARTFORD -- Thousand of students opted out of the statewide achievement tests for the 2014-2015 school year and now millions of dollars in federal funding could be at stake for Connecticut if the downward trend continues when it comes to mandated testing requirements
The Five R's: Teacher drought hurts
The Five R's: Teacher drought hurts: The Five R's: Teacher drought hurtsDo I need to run down the figures in the California teacher shortage? Like the drought, it’s been coming for a few years now. And like the drought, we stood by and watched and did little to nothing as the teacher pool dried up.Most sources seem to think the recession that forced the state to raid the education budget in 2008 o
ESSA unlocks teacher prep innovation | Brookings Institution
ESSA unlocks teacher prep innovation | Brookings Institution: ESSA unlocks teacher prep innovation A less-noticed new provision in the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) may be critical to unlocking business model innovation in teacher preparation. For decades, voices from both outside and withineducation schools have called for reforms such as greater admissions selectivity, curriculum that is gro
Pearson exec slams opponents of Common Core as supporters head to court to prevent Mass. vote | NewBostonPost
Pearson exec slams opponents of Common Core as supporters head to court to prevent Mass. vote | NewBostonPost: Pearson exec slams opponents of Common Core as supporters head to court to prevent Mass. vote A video in which a former textbook publishing executive defends the controversial federal Common Core educational standards and says that its creators aim to marginalize teachings of America’s fo
YESTERDAY
Students Eligible for Free School Meals - Year 2016 (CA Dept of Education)
Students Eligible for Free School Meals - Year 2016 (CA Dept of Education): State Schools Chief Tom Torlakson Reports Large Increase in Students Automatically Eligible for Free School MealsSACRAMENTO—State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson today reported a 32 percent increase in the number of students automatically approved to receive free meals in California schools as a result o
Why “Innovation” is Ed Reformers’ Favorite Word – Save Maine Schools
Why “Innovation” is Ed Reformers’ Favorite Word – Save Maine Schools: Why “Innovation” is Ed Reformers’ Favorite Word The Council for Chief State School Officers runs the Innovation Lab Network. The recent reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education act allows Innovative Assessment Systems. Bellwether Education encourages states to create “Offices of Innovation.”The word “innovative”
Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 1/28/15
CORPORATE ED REFORMCURMUDGUCATION: OH: Opt Out Under AttackCURMUDGUCATION: OH: Opt Out Under Attack:OH: Opt Out Under AttackWord came from a high-ranking official through Facebook today that somebody is gunning for those mean old Ohio Opt Outers.The vehicle is Ohio House Bill 420, a bill "to amend sections 3302.01 and 3302.03 of the Revised Code to prohibit the Department of Education from in
