Confessions of a Whistleblower: LAUSD Whistle Blower Protection is a Fallacy by Cheryl Dorsey - Perdaily.com

Confessions of a Whistleblower: LAUSD Whistle Blower Protection is a Fallacy by Cheryl Dorsey - Perdaily.com:

Confessions of a Whistleblower: LAUSD Whistle Blower Protection is a Fallacy by Cheryl Dorsey

This is the story of what happens when someone reports wrong doing by an employer. This story probably plays out daily in an office near you. This is why most go along to get along; but I'm not built that way. The Office of the Inspector General within the Los Angeles Unified School District is an independent investigatory body responsible for investigating fraud, waste and abuse. So, what would you say if the very entity responsible for those investigations was itself engaged in behavior that appeared fraudulent, wasteful and abusive? And what would you say if an employee of the Office of the Inspector General reported what appeared to be abuse only to become the subject of bullying and retaliation? You'd say "that's wrong". Then- what would you say if those in a position of authority tasked with preventing retaliation failed to act? You'd say, "That's outrageous". Welcome to my world.

The Los Angeles Unified School District's Whistleblower Policy reads in part, "If the report alleges that the OIG or the General Superintendent interfered or took the retaliatory action, the OIG shall not investigate the report. The file shall be directly provided to the President of the Board who shall investigate the matter or designate someone to investigate the retaliation."

I guess the Los Angeles Unified School District administrators are (above the law) not required to follow or enforce whistle blower complaints with mandated investigations.

The Los Angeles Unified School District is the second largest school district in the nation; an untouchable super power, seemingly. Right now, the highest authority figures on the Los Angeles Unified School District are burying their heads to allegations of possible criminal activity and actively circling the wagons around an out of control Office of the Inspector General.

I have for the better part of a year, been publicly silent and fighting this battle alone.

In March 2015, I reported what I believed to be potentially criminal behavior and acts of Confessions of a Whistleblower: LAUSD Whistle Blower Protection is a Fallacy by Cheryl Dorsey - Perdaily.com:

Rife with scandal, Detroit’s state-run school district to fold as privatization schemes continue - World Socialist Web Site

Rife with scandal, Detroit’s state-run school district to fold as privatization schemes continue - World Socialist Web Site:
Rife with scandal, Detroit’s state-run school district to fold as privatization schemes continue

The Eastern Michigan University (EMU) Board of Regents voted on February 5 to sever its agreement with the scandal-ridden Educational Achievement Authority (EAA).

The EAA, promoted and partially funded by the pro-charter Broad Foundation, marked a major step in the growing attack on public education in Michigan. Its record of lucrative no-bid contracts, outright bribery and FBI indictments—while miserably failing the most vulnerable children—made it a notorious symbol of the avarice behind the drive for school privatization.

This decision would end the partnership between the state university and the Detroit Public Schools (DPS), under which the EAA has operated, effectively pulling the plug on the district by the end of the 2016-17 school year. The EAA’s 15 “failing schools” had been separated from the Detroit Public Schools in 2012 and were constituted as a state-run “turnaround” school district.

While the EAA will be abolished, the political establishment in Michigan, Democrat and Republican, is pressing forward in its drive to dismantle public education.

The future of the EAA schools has been one of the hotly disputed issues in the ongoing negotiations over the restructuring of DPS. Detroit Democrats and union officials associated with the Coalition for the Future of Detroit Schoolchildren and Detroit Federation of Teachers (DFT) leaders have urged that the EAA schools be returned to the DPS district.

The EMU vote, however, is purely symbolic. Pending legislation, based on Michigan Governor Rick Snyder’s plan to dissolve the DPS and establish the Detroit Community Schools, already made provisions to reabsorb the EAA schools. With Detroit schools facing the possibility of running out of cash by April, legislators are expected to come up with a compromise by the end of the current school year.

Mike Morris, chair of the EMU Board of Regents, acknowledged as much, explaining the board’s decision: “It is increasingly clear that the anticipated legislation in Lansing to formally address this matter, and end the EAA, is now moving forward… June 30, 2017 will mark the University’s official withdrawal. Given the legislative efforts under way, we fully expect the EAA to cease to exist well before that time.”

The Board of Regents had for several years reauthorized the EAA arrangement despite vocal protests from the university’s Education Department faculty and students, even as the EAA’s incompetence, graft and fraud were uncovered.

While the EAA itself will not be directly transitioned into charter schools, as pro-privatization state legislators originally hoped, a mechanism is being established for systematic closures of “failing” public schools, first in Detroit and then across the state.

Under the pending legislation, the state mandate for “turnaround schools” under the State School Reform/Redesign District (SSRRD) will be not only maintained but strengthened. Snyder recently moved the SSRRD as an Rife with scandal, Detroit’s state-run school district to fold as privatization schemes continue - World Socialist Web Site:

How Finland broke every rule — and created a top school system - The Hechinger Report

How Finland broke every rule — and created a top school system - The Hechinger Report:

How Finland broke every rule — and created a top school system

It’s not just a “Nordic thing”

Jussi Hieveta’s fourth-grade class at the University of Eastern Finland’s Normaalikoulu teacher training school in Joensuu, Finland.

end five minutes in Jussi Hietava’s fourth-grade math class in remote, rural Finland, and you may learn all you need to know about education reform – if you want results, try doing the opposite of what American “education reformers” think we should do in classrooms.

Instead of control, competition, stress, standardized testing, screen-based schools and loosened teacher qualifications, try warmth, collaboration, and highly professionalized, teacher-led encouragement and assessment.

At the University of Eastern Finland’s Normaalikoulu teacher training school in Joensuu, Finland, you can see Hietava’s students enjoying the cutting-edge concept of “personalized learning.”

Related: What high-performing countries have to teach us about teacher training

But this is not a tale of classroom computers. While the school has the latest technology, there isn’t a tablet or smartphone in sight, just a smart board and a teacher’s desktop.

Screens can only deliver simulations of personalized learning, this is the real thing, pushed to the absolute limit.

This is the story of the quiet, daily, flesh-and-blood miracles that are achieved by Hietava and teachers the world over, in countless face-to-face and over-the-shoulder interactions with schoolchildren.

Related: Ranking countries by worst students

Often, Hietava does two things simultaneously: both mentoring How Finland broke every rule — and created a top school system - The Hechinger Report:

Has Newark’s community schools initiative been sold out already? |

Has Newark’s community schools initiative been sold out already? |:

Has Newark’s community schools initiative been sold out already?

Activist Donna Jackson ejected from school board meeting Tuesday night after she called on the panel not to give in to Cerf’s “threats.”

Community schools in Newark were supposed to be the public school answer to expansion of privately-operated charter schools imposed on the city school district by Gov. Chris Christie’s agents. But, now, it turns out, two of the schools selected to receive extra resources as community schools have applied to become charter schools–and won’t withdraw their applications.

The announcement that the two BRICK Academy schools–Peshine Avenue and Avon Avenue–were among the five South Ward schools to be selected as community schools set off a sharp argument between members of the elected school board and state-appointed superintendent Christopher Cerf at Tuesday’s night’s board meeting. Cerf unexpectedly partnered with Mayor Ras Baraka to sponsor the community school initiative at the end of last year.

Board members demanded to know why Cerf and Baraka had chosen Peshine and Avon, schools run like charter schools with enhanced funding and headed by an entrepreneur named Dominique Lee who was an associate of former state-appointed superintendent Cami Anderson at Teach for America (TFA), a private recruitment agency that has brought young teachers into the city for brief tenures while seasoned veterans lost their jobs. BRICK stands for Building Responsible Intelligent Caring Kids.

Board member Antoinette Baskerville Richardson said she believed resources to be provided to the community schools “might be best spent” on other public schools in the South Ward that are not seeking to be charters. Schools like George Washington Carver, Chancellor Avenue, and Hawthorne Avenue were mentioned.

Cerf, who did not offer an explanation as to why and how Avon and Peshine were Has Newark’s community schools initiative been sold out already? |:

COE Fiscal Procedural Manual Update for 2016 | Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team

COE Fiscal Procedural Manual Update for 2016 | Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team:

COE Fiscal Procedural Manual Update for 2016

The Fiscal Procedural Manual for Business Officials in California County Offices of Education has been updated for 2016.

 

Click here for the complete 2016 manual.

Notes and Information
For ease of navigation, every item listed on the index page of the manual is a clickable link that will take readers directly to that section. In addition, at the bottom of the first page of each section of the manual is a link that takes the reader back to the index. This feature is fully functional only in the complete electronic version of the manual. The manual also contains many links to websites, online resources, and downloadable files, including many in native formats such as Microsoft Word and Excel.

Both the complete manual and the updates are designed to be easy to both view in electronic format (Adobe pdf) and to print double-sided (this is why some even numbered pages are blank) for insertion in a three-ring binder.

The 2015 Fiscal Procedural Manual and  Updates

• Introductory Letter to the 2015 COE Manual
• Complete 2015 COE Manual

The 2014 Fiscal Procedural Manual and  Updates

• Introductory Letter to the 2014 COE Manual
• Complete 2014 COE Manual
• 2014 COE Manual Updates

The 2013 Fiscal Procedural Manual and  Updates

• Introductory Letter to the 2013 COE Manual
• 2013 COE Manual Updates
• Complete 2013 COE Manual

The 2012 Fiscal Procedural Manual and 2012 Updates

• Introductory Letter to the 2012 COE Fiscal Procedural Manual
• 2012 COE Manual Updates
• Complete 2012 COE Manual

The 2011 Fiscal Procedural Manual and 2011 updates

• Introductory letter to the 2011 COE Manual updates
• 2011 COE Manual Updates
• Complete 2011 COE Manual

For the manual binder cover and spine artwork, click here.

COE Fiscal Procedural Manual Update for 2016 | Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team:

Gene V Glass: Education in Two Worlds: They Recruit, They Skim, They Flunk Out The Weak ... They are Arizona's Top Charter Schools

Gene V Glass: Education in Two Worlds: They Recruit, They Skim, They Flunk Out The Weak ... They are Arizona's Top Charter Schools:

They Recruit, They Skim, They Flunk Out The Weak ... They are Arizona's Top Charter Schools

Arizona is a leader in the charter school movement. They lead in % of students in charter schools, and they lead the world in "Lack of Accountability." And no one in a position of influence really cares. The Governor loves charter schools and even wrote to the Scottsdale City Council urging them to approve even another BASIS charter school in their city. But of course, the reality is that Arizona's charter schools are ripping off the public purse and contributing greatly to the resegregation of public education.

The Blog known as Arizonans for School Accountability is the single best investigator of the charter school scene — maybe the single best investigator of charter fraud anywhere. It's originator and sole proprietor may be losing hope, because expose after expose is met with a shrug from anybody in position to stop the abuse. He posted the following entry on a "survey" performed by thePhoenix Business Journal to find the 20 best charter schools in Arizona.

The 20 "best" charters in Phoenix serve White and Asian children...almost exclusively. The Phoenix Business Journal just released the top 20 charter schools in Phoenix based on AzMerits fifth grade scores.The "best" charter schools in Phoenix are:

BASIS Phoenix
• BASIS Scottsdale
• Bright Beginnings
• BASIS Ahwatukee
• BASIS Peoria
• Challenger Basic
• Archway North (GH -Great Hearts)
• Adams Traditional
• Self-Development Charter
• AZ School for the Arts
• Archway Veritas GH
• BASIS Central Primary
• Candeo Peoria
• Archway Chandler GH
• Paragon Science Academy
• Archway Glendale GH
• BASIS Mesa
• Archway Cicero GH
• Benchmark

13,452 students go to these charter schools:

Asian 17%
• Black 2%
• Hispanic 11%
• White 66%

Free Lunch - only Paragon has free lunch students. ELL - None. Special Education 4%86% are either White or Asian. BASIS Ahwatukee has 330 Asian

Gene V Glass: Education in Two Worlds: They Recruit, They Skim, They Flunk Out The Weak ... They are Arizona's Top Charter Schools:

ACT’s College and Career Readiness Standards | deutsch29

ACT’s College and Career Readiness Standards | deutsch29:

ACT’s College and Career Readiness Standards

On February 11, 2016, the Fordham Institute published its idea of a report on how well a number of assessments align with the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). Here is a bit of what Fordham Institute wrote about ACT:

• ACT Aspire and MCAS both did well regarding the quality of their items and the depth of knowledge they assessed.
• Still, panelists found that ACT Aspire and MCAS did not adequately assess—or may not assess at all—some of the priority content reflected in the Common Core standards in both ELA/Literacy and mathematics.

That same day, ACT responded with a statement to the effect that ACT aligns “with college and career readiness standards”:

The finding that ACT Aspire assessments adequately assess many but not all of the priority content reflected in the Common Core standards is not surprising. Unlike other assessments included in the study, ACT Aspire is not and was never intended to measure all of the CCSS. Rather, ACT Aspire is designed to measure the skills and knowledge most important in preparing students for college and career readiness. This is a significant philosophical and design difference between ACT Aspire and other next generation assessments. ACT has made the choices we have to align with college and career readiness standards, rather than specifically to the Common Core, and we intend to keep it that way. [Emphasis added.]

According to the above, ACT states that “college and career readiness standards” are not one and the same as CCSS. In fact, based upon the statement above, ACT snubs both CCSS and those who consider CCSS the center of the standards universe by implying that to be aligned with CCSS is a narrow alternative to “college ACT’s College and Career Readiness Standards | deutsch29:

Government Affairs and School Facilities and Trans - Year 2016 (CA Dept of Education)

Government Affairs and School Facilities and Trans - Year 2016 (CA Dept of Education):

State Schools Chief Tom Torlakson Appoints Division Directors for Government Affairs and School Facilities and Transportation

SACRAMENTO — State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson announced today that he has appointed new Directors for the California Department of Education's (CDE) Government Affairs Division and School Facilities and Transportation Services Division.

Debra Brown, a veteran in education legislation and policy, will lead the Government Affairs Division and serve as the CDE's liaison with local, state, and federal elected officials and government agencies.

Juan Mireles, an expert in school facilities funding, will direct the School Facilities and Transportation Services Division.

"These are two top experts in their fields, and I look forward to the great work they will do for the CDE team," Torlakson said. "These Divisions provide outstanding service to the public, elected officials, and California schools."

Brown recently served as Director of Education Policy at Children Now, a non-partisan national, state, and local research, policy development, and advocacy organization.

She helped implement Children Now's education policy agenda, including the organization's work on school finance reform, Common Core, assessment and accountability issues, and early childhood readiness. She also worked as a senior legislative advocate at the California School Boards Association (CSBA) and served as their lead advocate on funding and finance.

As CDE's Division Director for Government Affairs, Brown will be responsible for the administration of all departmental activities relating to state and federal legislation. Brown replaces former Division Director Monique Ramos, who is now a lobbyist.

Mireles was a Principal Program and Budget Analyst at the State Department of Finance, where he supervised analysts responsible for budgets on school facilities, charter schools, and teacher credentialing.

He has worked in school facilities since he began his state career at the Office of Public School Construction (OPSC) in 1998. The OPSC is under the authority of the state's Department of General Services. As staff to the State Allocation Board, OPSC implements and administers a $35 billion voter-approved school facilities construction program. Mireles later served as OPSC's Deputy Executive Officer.

The CDE School Facilities and Transportation Services Division assists school districts and their communities in creating well-planned, K-12 learning environments in safe, clean, and up-to-date schools. Transportation services assist school districts, school bus contractors, transit agencies, and farm labor vehicle operators in providing the safest and most efficient transportation services.

Mireles replaces former Division Director Kathleen Moore, who retired.

# # # #

Tom Torlakson — State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Communications Division, Room 5206, 916-319-0818, Fax 916-319-0100

Last Reviewed: Wednesday, February 17, 2016

 Government Affairs and School Facilities and Trans - Year 2016 (CA Dept of Education):

CURMUDGUCATION: One-to-One Tech Barriers

CURMUDGUCATION: One-to-One Tech Barriers:

One-to-One Tech Barriers

We leapt into the one-to-one world in the fall of 2010, when my district put a netbook in the hands of every single high school student.

I was excited. The process of trying to get a class into the single computer lab or, worse, use the traveling laptop labcart, was generally frustrating and lacked-- well, a certain spontaneity. I want a world where students always have computers handy, ready to be called into action at a moment's notice.

Some of us went and got us some training. Some of us already had some computer skills. Policies were created, the netbooks were rolled out and, ever since, we have been a technology-linked school where students romp happily through a field of modern educational tech-supported possibilities. Ha! Just kidding. We've wrestled with a bunch of obstacles to one-to-one tech.

I don't present the following as anything but our own specific story; I'm not sure whether we're an outlier or an exemplar. I'm inclined to think a bit of both. But here are the obstacles that stood (and in some cases still stand) in the way.

Student's Deeply Limited Grasp of Tech 

When automobiles first became available, the average owner owned a set of tools and knew how to repair and maintain most parts of the vehicle. The steady development ever since has been in the direction of a car that anyone can own and use without even a rudimentary understanding of CURMUDGUCATION: One-to-One Tech Barriers:

CURMUDGUCATION: School for School's Sake http://bit.ly/1SzZypr

Billionaire-Funded Charter School Juggernaut Hits Roadblock in Los Angeles | Alternet

Billionaire-Funded Charter School Juggernaut Hits Roadblock in Los Angeles | Alternet:
Billionaire-Funded Charter School Juggernaut Hits Roadblock in Los Angeles
Teachers union organizing in hostile charter environment, while L.A. school board blocks "out of touch" plan by billionaires.

 Over the past decade and longer, there has been a massively funded effort by the wealthiest people in America to replace public education and elected school boards with a privatized charter-school system. Walmart’s Walton Family Foundation justcommitted an additional $1 billion to the cause. The result has been a highly successful juggernaut leading to more than 6,700 charter public schools in 42 states and Washington D.C., and funded by taxpayers, with nearly 3 million students.

Co-mingling substantially public funds with private dollars, leveraging the advantage of its own set of rules and laws enabled by state legislatures—which eliminated most public accountability — school privateers have run roughshod over school systems in many American cities. New Orleans, Detroit, Milwaukee and Philadelphia are just a small number of urban areas with a heavy presence of publicly funded private charters. Charter advocates and their deep-pocketed investors and supporters, using aggressive lobbying and campaign contributions of many wealthy supporters, have established strong footholds in Florida, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, California and many other states. In California, there are now an estimated 500,000 students in 1,200 charter schools.

Along the way it became clear that a key tactic of privateers has been the scapegoating of public school teachers and locally elected school boards. The attack on teachers, so clearly articulated in the slick propaganda film, Waiting for Superman, attempted to hold teachers responsible for widespread poverty-induced school failures, which of course, were fundamentally out of their control. The formula for rapidly expanding non-union charters includes undermining teachers unions, and followed the overall game plan of a larger right-wing strategy by Walmart, the Koch brothers and others to weaken or eliminate public employee unions.

The larger goal? To get private access to $500 billion in taxpayer funds spent Billionaire-Funded Charter School Juggernaut Hits Roadblock in Los Angeles | Alternet:

Russ on Reading: The Importance of Making Mistakes

Russ on Reading: The Importance of Making Mistakes:

The Importance of Making Mistakes

The vile video of Success Academy teacher, Charlotte Dial, berating a first grader for making a mistake on her math paper, reminds me of something I have been saying to teachers for years. "Value student errors, because those errors are our best window into what a child does not know and, therefore, they tell us what we need to teach next." Because we teachers are human we sometimes fall into the trap of bemoaning student errors. We think, "Gee whiz, I just taught that, but they still didn't get it. What is wrong with them?" The truth is, though, that there is a gap between what is taught and what is learned and student errors give us the information we need to reteach or teach in a different way to fill that gap. I often joke that we should all be grateful that students make errors, since if they got everything right we would be out of a job.

My favorite story about student mistakes comes from my time in the early 1970s when I was teaching geography to 7th graders. This was during the time that the former East Pakistan had won its independence and renamed itself Bangladesh. After a unit on South Asia, instruction in the historical, political, social and religious importance of the region and considerable map study, I gave the students a test. On the test I asked a fill-in-the-blank question, "The former East Pakistan has recently won its independence and been renamed __________." One student, no doubt struggling with the difficult pronunciation and spelling of Bangladesh, answered -- "Balderdash!" I gave full credit for the answer because it was a good effort and because it gave me a great story to tell in the teacher's lounge.

The distinguished literacy researcher and theorist, Ken Goodman, helped Russ on Reading: The Importance of Making Mistakes:

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 2/17/16

CORPORATE ED REFORM

Ways to Object to Disclosure of Student Data - Year 2016 (CA Dept of Education)

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What's a "walk-in" and why were they happening at L.A. schools today? - LA Times

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Black Parallel School Board | ABC10.com

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Join us in Olympia this Friday, February 19th to stop the passage of charter school House Bill 2367 | Seattle Education

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Regulating Education for Profit - WSJ

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Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Hillary's here, but where's the mayor?

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Food Research & Action Center Scorecard Ranks States on School Breakfast Participation: « Food Research & Action Center

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Schools Matter: Guest Post: To Good to Be True? + Susan Ohanian: See Bill. See Money. See News.

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Judge: State broke the law when it fired Newark attendance counselors |

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Education Reform in Common Core Land | Johnathan Chase | LinkedIn

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The Worst Thing About the Brutal 'No Excuses' Success Academy Video

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Housing squeeze leaves low-income students on the streets :: SI&A Cabinet Report

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Parents, teachers and children rally for public education at schools across the nation - The Washington Post

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Schools on Trial And What Does Progress Mean? | The Jose Vilson

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Seattle Schools Community Forum: "This Bill is Better Than no Bill"

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Supreme Court wipes out SRC's powers to waive provisions of Pa. school code

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APNewsBreak: Indiana Official Had Say in Independent Report - ABC News

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Reflecting on School Reforms: Scaling Up versus Short, Happy Life or Hanging in | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice: Reflecting on School Reforms: Scaling Up versus Short, Happy Life or Hanging in For decades, under the influence of efficiency-minded policymakers the “wisdom” of reform has been as follows:To solve serious school problems federal, state, and district policymakers

2 by mike simpson / 7h 

Study shows Grit not all it’s cracked up to be – Missouri Education Watchdog

Study shows Grit not all it’s cracked up to be – Missouri Education Watchdog: Study shows Grit not all it’s cracked up to beThese videos are hysterical. It is amusing to watch an animal who can’t help himself chase the shiny object.  It is less amusing when it is human beings who are chasing something shiny that is not real.In 2013, to much fanfare, the US The U.S Department of Education’s Office

by mike simpson / 7h 

The NEA’s strange fight against institutional racism. | Fred Klonsky

The NEA’s strange fight against institutional racism. | Fred Klonsky: The NEA’s strange fight against institutional racism.When the NEA talks of teaching excellence, do they mean white?Pictured above are the winners of the NEA Foundation awards for teaching excellence.I’m sure they are all good teachers. But it looks like the nominees for this year’s Oscars.At last year’s NEA Representative Assemb

by mike simpson / 8h 

New York City Has Created a Model Pre-K Program—Affordable, Accessible, High Quality | janresseger

New York City Has Created a Model Pre-K Program—Affordable, Accessible, High Quality | janresseger: New York City Has Created a Model Pre-K Program—Affordable, Accessible, High QualityA new report from Padres & Jovenes Unidos in Denver, Colorado names the classic problems that block families’ ability to enroll their children in preschool.  First there are not enough high-quality pre-K programs

1 by mike simpson / 8h 

It’s a CONFLICT OF INTEREST to serve on the State Board of Education while collecting hundreds of thousands of dollars a year via the State Department of Education - Wait What?

It’s a CONFLICT OF INTEREST to serve on the State Board of Education while collecting hundreds of thousands of dollars a year via the State Department of Education - Wait What?: It’s a CONFLICT OF INTEREST to serve on the State Board of Education while collecting hundreds of thousands of dollars a year via the State Department of Education The only thing more incredible than Governor Dannel Malloy

2 by mike simpson / 8h 

New York Schools Wonder: How White Is Too White? - The New York Times

New York Schools Wonder: How White Is Too White? - The New York Times: New York Schools Wonder: How White Is Too White?How white is too white? At the Academy of Arts and Letters, a small K-8 school in Brooklyn founded in 2006 to educate a community of “diverse individuals,” that question is being put to the test.The school — along with six others in New York City — is part of a newEducation Depart

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LAUSD needs to reverse its neglect of black students - LA Times

LAUSD needs to reverse its neglect of black students - LA Times: LAUSD needs to reverse its neglect of black studentsLAUSD superintendent Michelle King in the LAUSD board room, in Los Angeles on January 12. (Los Angeles Times) In the speculation about whether LAUSD superintendent Michelle King – a product of the district and its first black female chief executive -- will be a gentle consensus buil

1 by mike simpson / 8h 

Seattle Schools Community Forum: If I had a million dollars

Seattle Schools Community Forum: If I had a million dollars: If I had a million dollars The recent $1.5 Billion prize in the PowerBall lottery made a lot of news. A lot of people who don't normally buy lottery tickets bought some for that drawing. I didn't because, as my brother succinctly told me, buying a ticket does not significantly improve your odds of winning. Needless to say, I didn't win t

by mike simpson / 8h 

School budgets long recovered, not teacher-librarians :: SI&A Cabinet Report

School budgets long recovered, not teacher-librarians :: SI&A Cabinet Report :: The Essential Resource for Superintendents and the Cabinet: School budgets long recovered, not teacher-librarians (Calif.) The good news is that the number of certificated librarians in California schools has increased slightly the past three years.The bad news, however, is that the state’s ratio of one librarian f

2 by mike simpson / 8h 

I’m a New York City school administrator. Here’s how segregation lives on. - Vox

I’m a New York City school administrator. Here’s how segregation lives on. - Vox: I’m a New York City school administrator. Here’s how segregation lives onThe doors opened to our homemade banners and smiling faces. It was the first day of school ever for the Urban Assembly Unison Middle School in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn. It was my first day ever as a leader in the school I co-founded. I was 27 year

1 by mike simpson / 8h 

Hillary Clinton's plan to undo the school-to-prison pipeline, explained - Vox

Hillary Clinton's plan to undo the school-to-prison pipeline, explained - Vox: Hillary Clinton's plan to undo the school-to-prison pipeline, explainedAt a speech in Harlem on Tuesday, Hillary Clinton will call for a $2 billion plan to help end punitive school policies that can push black children from schools to jails and prisons.The new $2 billion plan, which goes after the so-called "school

1 by mike simpson / 8h 

Michigan: The Poster Child for How Not to do Charter Schools

Michigan: The Poster Child for How Not to do Charter Schools: Michigan: The Poster Child for How Not to do Charter Schools Behind the Detroit schools crisis lies a troubling charter school sector.As Detroit Public Schools' teacher sick-outs and mounting debt capture the attention of press around the world, it might be easy to conclude money alone will solve the Motor City's educational woes. The t

3 by mike simpson / 9h 

Charter schools bristle at Wolf proposal to give unspent cash to districts | TribLIVE

Charter schools bristle at Wolf proposal to give unspent cash to districts | TribLIVE:Charter schools bristle at Wolf proposal to give unspent cash to districts When City Charter High School invited state police to do a safety inspection of the building Downtown, the agency recommended adding bullet-proof glass at the entrance for extra security.The school followed that advice, CEO and principal R

2 by mike simpson / 9h 

Teachers Union Organizes ‘Walk-In’ Protests Over CPS Budget Cuts « CBS Chicago

Teachers Union Organizes ‘Walk-In’ Protests Over CPS Budget Cuts « CBS Chicago: Teachers Union Organizes ‘Walk-In’ Protests Over CPS Budget CutsCHICAGO (CBS) — Students, parents, and teachers at nearly 200 schools across Chicago were staging a series of “walk-in” demonstrations, to protest budget cuts by the Chicago Public Schools.The Chicago Teachers Union said the protests are part of a national

2 by mike simpson / 9h 

Frank Cagle: Beware the money behind vouchers

Frank Cagle: Beware the money behind vouchers: Frank Cagle: Beware the money behind vouchers The school voucher bill isn't dead, but it is lying in a coma on the clerk's desk, unlikely to rise for the rest of this session. The pros and cons of public school money being given to private schools aside, the fate of the bill is a hopeful sign for our state House of Representatives.The out-of-state spe

by mike simpson / 9h 

10 million California student records about to be released to attorneys - San Jose Mercury News

10 million California student records about to be released to attorneys - San Jose Mercury News: 10 million California student records about to be released to attorneysCalifornia public-school records on about 10 million students -- including their Social Security numbers -- will soon be handed over to attorneys for a parent group suing the state, with both parties blaming the other for the impend

1 by mike simpson / 9h 

YESTERDAY

Are Standardized Tests the New Hunger Games? – Welcome to the Testing Games

Are Standardized Tests the New Hunger Games? – Welcome to the Testing Games: Are Standardized Tests the New Hunger Games?  Are our children being used in a new, horrible form of the Hunger Games? Are the odds ever in their favor?Are you willing to be a tribute for your child? Listen in to learn how …. #MockingjayAre Standardized Tests the New Hunger Games? – Welcome to the Testing Games:

2 by mike simpson / 19h 

Reunión Comunitaria, 25 de febrero de 2016- Optar-Fuera las Pruebas del sector Urbano - UNITED OPT OUT: The Movement to End Corporate Education Reform

Reunión Comunitaria, 25 de febrero de 2016- Optar-Fuera las Pruebas del sector Urbano - UNITED OPT OUT: The Movement to End Corporate Education Reform: Reunión Comunitaria, 25 de febrero de 2016- Optar-Fuera las Pruebas del sector UrbanoLa división de clase/color en nuestras escuelas públicas urbanas es sostenida mediante una maquinaria de desigualdad y racismo que al fin le proporciona a las corp

1 by mike simpson / 19h 

Philadelphia Community Town Hall, February 25, 2106– Opting Out in the Urban Core - UNITED OPT OUT: The Movement to End Corporate Education Reform

Philadelphia Community Town Hall, February 25, 2106– Opting Out in the Urban Core - UNITED OPT OUT: The Movement to End Corporate Education Reform: Philadelphia Community Town Hall, February 25, 2106– Opting Out in the Urban CoreThe class/color divide in our urban public schools is propped up by an inequitable and racist high-stakes testing machine that ultimately provides for corporate profiteeri

2 by mike simpson / 19h 

NEA BAT Caucus – BATS

NEA BAT Caucus – BATS: NEA BAT Caucus OfficersBy-LawsCaucus MinutesMaster List of NBIs 2015Sign up for NEA BAT CaucusComplete the on line survey form above, send in dues via paypal button on this site with NEA BAT Caucus and full name in the note section.Optional: Downloadable Form if you prefer to mail inThe Badass Teachers Association, IncPO Box 1390 Bellmore NY 11710NEA BAT Caucus – BATS:

1 by mike simpson / 20h 

Feature: With ‘walk-ins,’ national teachers union spotlights LA charter fight | 89.3 KPCC

Feature: With ‘walk-ins,’ national teachers union spotlights LA charter fight | 89.3 KPCC: With ‘walk-ins,’ national teachers union spotlights LA charter fightWe hope you can join us on February 17! Walk-In Resources:Check out the Resources page for walk-in resources you can use!Teachers union sympathizers will rally at public school sites in more than two-dozen cities across the nation Wednesday

1 by mike simpson / 21h 

Elk Grove Mayor Gary Davis’(director for CCSA) plan to open a charter school may be postponed.

Elk Grove Citizen : News: Proposed charter school’s status being decidedCharter group to review district’s concernsElk Grove Mayor Gary DavisIn addition to being Elk Grove’s mayor, he is the director for the California Charter School Association.Elk Grove Mayor Gary Davis’ original plan to open a charter school in Elk Grove this late summer may be postponed.He is collaborating with Tri-Valley Lear

7 by mike simpson / 22h 

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 2/16/16

CORPORATE ED REFORMFebruary 2016 Meeting Agenda - Resources (CA Dept of Education)February 2016 Meeting Agenda - Resources (CA Dept of Education): AMERICAN INDIAN EDUCATION OVERSIGHT COMMITTEEMEETING AGENDAFriday, February 26, 201610 a.m.–5 p.m.California Department of Education1430 N Street, Room 1101Sacramento, CA 95814Soboba Tribal Administration Building23906 Soboba Road, Grants OfficeSan Jaci

2 by mike simpson / 1d