Latest News and Comment from Education

Show All

Saturday, August 25, 2018

2nd BANANA: Top Posts This Week 8/25/18



Top Posts This Week 


Top Posts This Month

Big Education Ape: California Legislature Approves McCarty Measure to Ban For-Profit Charter Schools | East County Today - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2018/08/california-legislature-approves-mccarty.html
Image result for For-Profit Charter Schools


Big Education Ape: An Explanation to My Readers | Diane Ravitch's blog - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2018/07/an-explanation-to-my-readers-diane.html

Big Education Ape: Wendy Lecker: As public education stumbles, democracy falls - StamfordAdvocate - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2018/08/wendy-lecker-as-public-education.html
This artwork by Kevin Kreneck refers to Betsy DeVos and how she might change and influence the Department of Education. Photo: Kevin Kreneck

Big Education Ape: It's time to address the hidden agenda of school dress codes - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2018/08/its-time-to-address-hidden-agenda-of.html

Big Education Ape: LeBron James Akron school: Why it matters that I Promise is public. - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2018/08/lebron-james-akron-school-why-it.html
Image result for LeBronâ€â„¢s Education Promise

Big Education Ape: Nearly 750 charter schools are whiter than nearby district schools - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2018/06/nearly-750-charter-schools-are-whiter.html

Big Education Ape: DeVos Family Money Is All Over The News Right Now | 89.3 KPCC - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2018/08/devos-family-money-is-all-over-news.html

Big Education Ape: OMG: Arizona school districts and charters that pay teachers the most, least - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2018/08/omg-arizona-school-districts-and.html

Big Education Ape: Healthy Kids Survey Results - Year 2018 (CA Dept of Education) - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2018/08/healthy-kids-survey-results-year-2018.html

Big Education Ape: COPPA in the Smart Home: Who Protects Our Children’s Data? - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2018/08/coppa-in-smart-home-who-protects-our.html


Posted by at

Fight Continues Against New Charter Schools in Oakland - Oakland Post

Fight Continues Against New Charter Schools in Oakland - Oakland Post

Fight Continues Against New Charter Schools in Oakland


A coalition of Ond students, educators, parents, unions, school board members and community groups caravaned to Sacramento to ask the State Board of Ed to reject the Latitude charter petition from the Education For Change charter organization.
By Shelly Weintraub and Emily Filloyakla
On a hot day in the middle of summer, 40 Oaklanders—students from 12-18 years old, teachers, OUSD Board members, community groups, and union members—went to Sacramento to urge the State Board of Education (SBE) to vote NO on the proposed new charter school Latitude 37.8.
The coalition was led by the students and staff of Fremont High who feared that the approval of Latitude, an Education for Change (EFC) charter, would adversely affect their school, forcing even more draconian cuts to Fremont’s budget than it has already sustained.
The State Board approved Latitude, but a question remains: was this the defeat it appeared to be?
Over months the coalition had developed a strong message, asking our elected officials to strengthen OUSD’s existing schools, not undermine them by adding another charter school, especially after a study earlier in the year found that charter schools are costing OUSD $57 million each year.
They also pointed out the weaknesses of the charter’s petition, including the charter organization’s failure to enroll African-American students at comparable rates to the District, their system-wide failure to serve the highest-needs Special Education students, and troubling academic and financial trends inside Education for Change’s schools.
The organizing was successful in convincing both OUSD and the county board of education to reject the petition.
After being denied by the District and County boards, the charter organization appealed to the appointed, not elected, State Board of Education.  As people gathered for the hearing Gema Quetzal, a OUSD student board director said, “I was shocked at how many people showed up—how much our community cared. There were not only people from District 5, but Life Academy and Castlemont, as well as parents and elders.”

Students implored the State Board to vote no, explaining that Latitude would be opened at their school’s expense.
Juan Matias Pablo, an 11th grader at Fremont High born in Guatemala said, “I love Fremont High, it’s like a second family to me. I learned English at Fremont. If Latitude is approved, it will mean cuts to Fremont. Programs like the one where I learned English might be cut.”
Renee Swayne, a retired teacher, observed, “The students were extremely articulate. They were committed and informed. They made everyone proud.”
The vote, as expected, was in favor of Latitude 7-1-1.  Expected because the State Board of Education has a history of Continue reading: Fight Continues Against New Charter Schools in Oakland - Oakland Post



Posted by at

Betsy DeVos Orders Flat Earth Disks In Every Classroom | Andrew Hall

Betsy DeVos Orders Flat Earth Disks In Every Classroom | Andrew Hall

Betsy DeVos Orders Flat Earth Disks In Every Classroom


 The Earth is a pancake. Hell is the griddle! Jesus loves flapjacks!

“We need to teach the controversy,” Ms. DeVos stated. “Students have the right to know every theory, not just the propaganda from the round earthers.”
The Education Secretary reassured her fiscally conservative constituents by stating the money funding flat earth discs is being taken from school lunch programs. Students will no longer be enjoying Taco Tuesday. Rather, they will be subjected to Mystery Meat Monday and Dry Wall Wednesday.
Flat Earthers are celebrating this win over logic and reason. Even some religiously minded round earthers are thinking this is a win for religious freedom. After all,  doesn’t the Bible say the Earth is flat? Some bright eyed religious optimists are even hoping to roll back the germ theory of disease and bring back the demonic possession theory of illness.
Are real witch hunts (as against to what President Trump calls legitimate legal proceedings) far away?
Students are getting ready just in case they have to identify witches in schools who are poisoning wells, spoiling milk, and making fart noises during Algebra.

”Rachel Cohen is a Jew. That may not make her a witch, but it doesn’t help,” one anonymous seventh-grader said. “I’m hoping to see her third nipple that she uses to suckle her demon familiar during gym class. And then I’m putting it on Instagram.”
In related news, Instagram’s new Third Nipple Filter is incredibly popular.
Andrew Hall is the author of Laughing in Disbelief. Besides writing a blog, co-hosting the Naked Diner, he wrote two books, Vampires, Lovers, and Other Strangers and God’s Diary: January 2017 Andrew is reading through the Bible and making videos about his journey on YouTube. He is a talented stand-up comedian. You can find him on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
Betsy DeVos Orders Flat Earth Disks In Every Classroom | Andrew Hall




Posted by at

L.A. charter school closes due to low enrollment; campus was in network co-founded by Ref Rodriguez

L.A. charter school closes due to low enrollment; campus was in network co-founded by Ref Rodriguez

L.A. charter school closes due to low enrollment; campus was in network co-founded by Ref Rodriguez


On the fourth day of its second school year, an Eagle Rock charter school closed its doors this week, leaving parents and students disappointed, angry and tearful — and bucking the usual narrative of ceaseless charter growth.
PUC iPrep Charter Academy had dual-language programs in English and either Spanish or Mandarin — the sort of offerings that are usually popular. But it was in an area with too many good school options, and it enrolled too few students.
It may or may not have been a factor that the school was part of Partnerships to Uplift Communities, the group of charter schools co-founded by Ref Rodriguez, who resigned from the Los Angeles Board of Education in July after pleading guilty to criminal charges related to his campaign for office.

The school aimed to enroll 275 students this year, although the organization told parents it would try to make things work with 200. But by Wednesday, it had only 114 students — and PUC’s board voted to shut it down.
“The last thing we wanted to do was disappoint the families who had chosen this school, but we can’t run the school without a certain number of students,” said Naush Boghossian, the school group’s spokeswoman. “It would have been impossible to continue to enlist high-quality staff and provide the kinds of programs that the kids and their families deserve.”


Parents arrive Thursday morning at PUC iPrep Charter Academy to find the school suddenly closed due to low enrollment.
Parents arrive Thursday morning at PUC iPrep Charter Academy to find the school suddenly closed due to low enrollment. (KTLA)
 
The PUC school — which served students in kindergarten through second grade and in grades 6-8 — is the second charter to close in Eagle Rock in the last several months. That other school also was in a school network that got some bad publicity, which may have affected recruitment efforts. Then again, the neighborhood has become saturated with public schools, and the other school also cited low enrollment.
There is no limit on how many independent charter schools can open for business. And there’s no question that their rapid growth has contributed mightily to steady enrollment decline in Los Angeles Unified, exacerbating financial problems in the nation’s second- Continue reading: L.A. charter school closes due to low enrollment; campus was in network co-founded by Ref Rodriguez






Posted by at
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)