Sunday, December 2, 2018

Badass Teachers Association: Solidarity with #UTLAStrong ! #TBATs #StrikeReady #kidsdeserveit #marchforpubliced #WeAreCTA @WeAreCTA

Badass Teachers Association: Solidarity with #UTLAStrong!
Solidarity with #UTLAStrong!
Things are heating up in Los Angeles...and we are paying close attention!
We have mentioning the contract campaign that UTLA has been running since we first spoke with UTLA leadership this summer. What first sparked our interest in this contract campaign was how UTLA went about developing the demands for their contract proposals. The development of their demands was done with the inclusion of what community members wanted to see in Los Angeles schools, not just salary and benefit demands. Utilizing what is known as bargaining for the common good, LA brought forth a list of contract demands that have not been seen in educational spaces in a long time.
To learn more about bargaining for the common good, check out this resource from Labor Notes! http://www.labornotes.org/2016/02/seven-steps-opening-bargaining
But the fight that Los Angeles is facing goes even deeper than just a contract battle. UTLA is standing up against strong forces that are working hard to take over the school district. Led by millionaire superintendent Austin Beutner, a portfolio model is being pushed into Los Angeles Unified School District under the misleading campaign of “Great Public Schools Now.” But, as we have seen in other cities like Newark, Indianapolis, and New Orleans this is just a neoliberal reform that brings in charter schools, undermines union power, and reduces local control.
As we watch things roll out in Los Angeles, another notable thing is happening, educators all over California are rising to the call for solidarity.
Battles are also being fought in Oakland (Interesting how these fights are in large communities of color…) From OPEN; “After suffering 2 years of budget cuts and with almost 30% of Oakland's students now attending charter school's Oakland’s school board is poised to pass Continue reading: Badass Teachers Association: Solidarity with #UTLAStrong!
Big Education Ape: Wow.This full page ad in today's @latimes by @UTLAnow. Fighting for public education. #UTLAStrong #StrikeReady #kidsdeserveit #marchforpubliced #WeAreCTA @WeAreCTA - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2018/12/wowthis-full-page-ad-in-todays-latimes.html

Big Education Ape: Time’s 2018 Person of the Year? How about the American teacher? - The Washington Post -http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2018/12/times-2018-person-of-year-how-about.html

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The LAUSD Widget Factory

The LAUSD Widget Factory

The LAUSD Widget Factory

The Los Angeles Unified School District’s (LAUSD) School Experience Survey is an opportunity for parents and guardians to grade the District’s performance. Included in this questionnaire are important statements  such as “Reports of bullying are taken seriously at this school” and “This school encourages my child to explore different career choices.” These apply to all students and are benchmarks on which all schools deserve to be judged.
Under a section reserved for parents of students in sixth to twelfth grades, the focus turns to preparation for life after high school.  Unfortunately, these statements seem to assume that all students will head off to college. If District schools are judged on a benchmark of “School staff expect my child to attend college”, will they bother to pay attention to children who have other plans? Will educators who present different paths to interested students be punished by their supervisors who judge them only on their performance in fulfilling the approved mission? Is a high school diploma nothing more than an admission card to collegiate life?

In the past, public schools had a different problem when they pushed students away from college based on their race or station in life. However, the atonement for this sin should not result in students who CHOOSE other career paths to be made to feel inferior. All students who are capable should be given an education that allows them the opportunity to continue on to college. However, a complete education should also present every Continue reading: The LAUSD Widget Factory





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Wow.This full page ad in today's @latimes by @UTLAnow. Fighting for public education. #UTLAStrong #StrikeReady #kidsdeserveit #marchforpubliced #WeAreCTA @WeAreCTA


Wow.This full page ad in today's @latimes by @UTLAnow



Big Education Ape: Time’s 2018 Person of the Year? How about the American teacher? - The Washington Post - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2018/12/times-2018-person-of-year-how-about.html


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Doris Fisher: Down the Dark Money Rabbit Hole | Capital & Main #UTLAStrong #StrikeReady #kidsdeserveit #marchforpubliced #WeAreCTA @WeAreCTA

Doris Fisher: Down the Dark Money Rabbit Hole | Capital & Main

Doris Fisher: Down the Dark Money Rabbit Hole
Doris Fisher and her family have quietly become among the largest political funders of charter school efforts in the country. Much of her money goes to promoting pro-charter school candidates and organizations.


As co-founder of the Gap, San Francisco-based business leader and philanthropist Doris Fisher boasts a net worth of $2.7 billion, making her the country’s eighth-richest self-made woman, according to Forbes. And she’s focused much of her wealth and resources on building charter schools. She and her late husband Donald donated more than $70 million to the Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP) and helped to personally build the operation into the largest network of charter schools in the country, with 224 schools serving nearly 100,000 students in 20 states. Doris’ son John serves as the chairman of KIPP’s board of directors.
Doris’ passion for charter schools also fuels her political donations. While not as well-known as other deep-pocketed charter school advocates like Eli Broad and the Walton family (heirs to the Walmart fortune), Fisher and her family have quietly become among the largest political funders of charter school efforts in the country. Fisher contributed $5.6 million to state political campaigns between 2013 and 2016, and much of her money goes to promoting pro-charter school candidates and organizations. While often labelled a Republican, she gives to Democrats and Republicans alike, just as long as they’re supportive of the charter school movement.

So far for this election cycle she’s spent more than $3.1 million on the political action committee of charter school advocacy group EdVoice, which is backing pro-charter candidate Marshall Tuck for superintendent of public instruction in California. Tuck is running against Assemblymember Tony Thurmond in what has become the most expensive race ever for state school superintendent. Supporters of Tuck have raised far more than those of Thurmond, with more than a two-to-one advantage. Thurmond’s largest source of support is teachers unions. (Disclosure: The teachers unions supporting Thurmond are financial supporters of this website.)
Fisher’s philanthropic and political efforts are not as straightforward as simply promoting education, however. Recent investigations have found that she’s used dark-money networks to funnel funds into California campaign initiatives that many say targeted teachers and Continue reading: Doris Fisher: Down the Dark Money Rabbit Hole | Capital & Main



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CURMUDGUCATION: ICYMI: Here's December Edition (12/2)

CURMUDGUCATION: ICYMI: Here's December Edition (12/2)

ICYMI: Here's December Edition (12/2)


Oh, that month again. Here's some reading from the week. Remember to pass along what speaks to you.

Common Core Creator Slammed Reading Teachers for Having a Research Gap-- How Ironic

Nancy Bailey sounds the irony alert on a critique of teachers and research.

Why New Educators Resent "Reformers".

Let's hear from the newest generation teachers-- the ones who grew up with reformster policies shaping their education.

Algorithms Ate My Homework

A new-to-me blogger talks about machine scoring and standardized testing. And there's a cartoon.

DeVos Sides With For Profit Colleges.  

Jan Resseger takes a look at one of Betsy DeVos's more recent bad decisions.

Paul Pastorak

The indispensable Mercedes Schneider takes a look at reformster Paul Pastorak. It's a long read, but it not only serves as a warning to Puerto Rico, but yet another case study of how these guys network and just keep falling upward.

Cultivating Kindness In An Unkind World.

An interesting classroom experiment, and some thoughts on kindness and narcissism.

Can We Get School Accountability Policy Right

Deven Carlson says no, and he gives two reasons why not. 



CURMUDGUCATION: ICYMI: Here's December Edition (12/2)
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Education Rebranders | Gary Rubinstein's Blog

Education Rebranders | Gary Rubinstein's Blog

Education Rebranders



For the past ten years, there have been two ‘sides’ in the debate over how to best improve schools in this country.
On one side, you had people like Michelle Rhee, Jeb Bush, Bill Gates, Arne Duncan, Mike Bloomberg, and Rahm Emanuel.  On the other side, you had people like Randi Weingarten, Diane Ravitch, Deborah Meier, and Leonie Haimson.
Both groups had ideas of how to best reform education.  The first group favored things like charter schools, test based accountability for schools and teachers, and, for some of them, vouchers.  The second group favored things like increased funding and reducing class size.
Though both groups wanted to reform, only the first group claimed the name ‘reformers.’  That first group also branded the other group with various negative monikers such as ‘status quo defenders.’  The ‘reformers’ were rich and organized and they came out with the movie ‘Waiting For Superman’ and they got Michelle Rhee on Oprah and there was really no way to take the name ‘reformer’ away from them, even though the other group wanted reform too, just of a different variety.  Some rich hedge-funders started Democrats For Education Reform and suddenly people who knew absolutely nothing about education, like Whitney Tilson, were influencing politicians including former President Obama.
The ‘reformers’ had a pretty good run.  From about 2008 until just recently ‘reformers’ had their way.  With Race To The Top they got states to invent complicated, though supposedly objective, ways to measure teacher quality by analyzing standardized test scores.  Bill Gates funded many studies to show that this was working.  But after ten years, it became clear that the ‘reformers’ didn’t really know much about improving education and maybe they didn’t deserve to have the steering wheel anymore.
But people don’t give up power easily.  So they changed their strategy.  They ditched the Continue reading: Education Rebranders | Gary Rubinstein's Blog



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Vocabulary Used to Sell Technology to Teachers and Parents

Vocabulary Used to Sell Technology to Teachers and Parents

Vocabulary Used to Sell Technology to Teachers and Parents



It’s the use of only technology in education without qualified teachers that is the concern. It’s “tech without teachers” and without public school buildings, a sense of community, student socializing, and the misuse of data collected on children that keep parents and teachers up at night!
The problem is that there is a concerted effort underway to transform public schools and put students on digital devices for all of their learning. This disruption will mean the end of public education and teaching. It will mean nonstop testing and data collection on children.
Tech companies must convince teachers and parents that technology is best. They do this with language. Below is a collection of words used to sell technology over teaching.
Students will learn on their own at home or in nonprofit or private facilities, or they will attend charters like Summit and Rocketship which are online schools.
There is no proof that students will learn best only with technology and no teachers. 
This idea of “nothing but tech” is being sold to teachers and parents as the best way to Continue reading: Vocabulary Used to Sell Technology to Teachers and Parents




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