Cary Booker Surprised to be Legally Held to His Charter School’s Application | deutsch29

Cary Booker Surprised to be Legally Held to His Charter School’s Application | deutsch29

Cary Booker Surprised to be Legally Held to His Charter School’s Application

On July 11, 2019, NJ.com published a story about Cary Booker, Democratic presidential hopeful Cory Booker’s brother: “Cory Booker’s Brother Opened a School So Bad It Got Shut Down. N.J. Just Gave Him a $150K Education Job.”

Cary Booker

Some excerpts:

It was spring of 2011, and Omni Prep Academy, the Tennessee charter school co-founded and led by U.S. Sen. Cory Booker’s older brother, could no longer pay its kindergarten and first-grade teachers….

Five years after that — with the school consistently ranked near the bottom of state rankings — Omni Prep was ordered to close. …

Omni Prep, which primarily served minority children in one of America’s poorest metro areas, was ordered to close by Shelby County Schools in 2016. Its appeal to the state was rejected, with a top Tennessee education official writing the school “continually failed to meet the most minimal of performance standards.” …

After working as a policy consultant on [New Jersey governor Phil] Murphy’s campaign in 2017, Cary Booker became the administration’s senior education adviser in 2018, earning $120,000. This June, six days before Murphy stumped for Cory Booker’s presidential campaign in Iowa, the Democratic governor’s administration awarded Cary Booker a new $150,000 position leading the state’s Division of Early Childhood Education, which focuses on birth to third grade.

Yet Cary Booker has never worked in preschools in any capacity, and his primary experience with young elementary school students was at Omni Prep, according to a resume obtained through an open records request. …

A resume provided to New Jersey’s state government made no mention of Omni Prep’s closing. …

In a statement, Gov. Phil Murphy expressed confidence in Cary Booker, who has worked in education-related jobs for 30 years….

So much is problematic here and yet unsurprising in this heyday of market-based ed reform. Cary Booker failed in a charter school venture and yet is promoted to CONTINUE READING: Cary Booker Surprised to be Legally Held to His Charter School’s Application | deutsch29

Reforming Student Report Cards | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Reforming Student Report Cards | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Reforming Student Report Cards

If there is one truth that good-hearted reformers forget time and again it is a political one. If you want to make a significant change in school organization, curriculum, instruction, and any school procedure that affect students–make sure you have teachers and parents on board.  Case in point is students’ report cards.

That report cards have changed over the years is a fact that any parent and grand-parent can swear to. Some past and current ones illustrate reforms that have occurred.

Get the picture? Over time, report cards have mixed academic performance with classroom behavior and personal traits. They have moved from judging children with percentages to letter grades to narratives joined to district and state standards. And, depending upon whether the report card is for elementary or  CONTINUE READING:  Reforming Student Report Cards | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

EVELYN DEJESUS BECOMES FIRST LATINA ELECTED TO UPPER LEADERSHIP OF UNITED FEDERATION OF TEACHERS | Black Star News

EVELYN DEJESUS BECOMES FIRST LATINA ELECTED TO UPPER LEADERSHIP OF UNITED FEDERATION OF TEACHERS | Black Star News

EVELYN DEJESUS BECOMES FIRST LATINA ELECTED TO UPPER LEADERSHIP OF UNITED FEDERATION OF TEACHERS

Evelyn DeJesus: “I am honored to represent the members of this union—their hopes, their aspirations and the incredible work they do every day to make people’s lives better in their communities. I am energized and ready.”

Evelyn DeJesus, the vice president for education of the AFT’s largest local, the United Federation of Teachers in New York City, was elected unanimously today by the national union’s executive council as executive vice president.

DeJesus will serve alongside President Randi Weingarten and Secretary-Treasurer Lorretta Johnson. She will finish out the remainder of Mary Cathryn Ricker’s term. Earlier this year, Ricker was appointed to serve as commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Education.

DeJesus was elected to the post as the union kicks off its biennial TEACH (Together Educating America's Children) professional learning conference in Washington, D.C., where more than 1,200 educators from across the country will gather over the next three days to highlight the union’s major initiatives, including investment in public education, taking on student debt, respecting the freedom to teach, creating safe and welcoming work environments with an eye toward building power, and safeguarding a democratic future through voting and advocacy.

In her new role, DeJesus will work with the union’s top leadership to advocate for the rights of educators, healthcare professionals and public employees across the country in their fight for a better life, a voice at work and a voice in their democracy.

“I am honored to represent the members of this union—their hopes, their aspirations and the incredible work they do every day to make people’s lives better in their communities,” DeJesus said. “I am energized and ready.”

DeJesus began her career when one of her daughters became ill during a school construction project, and she courageously exposed the toxic  CONTINUE READING: EVELYN DEJESUS BECOMES FIRST LATINA ELECTED TO UPPER LEADERSHIP OF UNITED FEDERATION OF TEACHERS | Black Star News

CURMUDGUCATION: Eight Weeks of Summer: Big Hairy Say What Now?

CURMUDGUCATION: Eight Weeks of Summer: Big Hairy Say What Now?

Eight Weeks of Summer: Big Hairy Say What Now?

This post is week 5 of 8 in the 8 Weeks of Summer Blog Challenge for educators.

I've been doing the Hot Lunch Tray eight week challenge. Unlike other challenges, it does not require me to eat responsibly or beat myself up with ice water or plastic gerbils. I'm answering the questions as my old pre-retirement self. You can see what other folks are writing by checking out the #8WeeksofSummer hashtag. So here's this week's prompt:

What is your BHAG for next school year?

That's "Big Hairy Audacious Goal" for those of you haven't sat through professional development that pushes this kind of thing.

So I guess I have to address this one with a confession-- in thirty-nine years of teaching, I never set a BHAG. For that matter, I not sure I know anyone who did.

Maybe it's just a matter of phraseology. BHAG strikes me like "wacky" or "wise" or "hilarious" or "weird" or "badass rebel"-- if you have to apply the term to yourself, then you aren't. BHAG is an approach that calls attention to itself, that hollers, "Wow! Look at how bold and outside the box I'm being!" Maybe it's my New England roots or my general attitude, but this kind of thing takes me right back to Rule 10: Shut up and do the work.

I always had goals. Any teacher who's worth their salt (or cod, or whatever you want to trade in)always has goals, because any decent teacher can tell you, right now, the list of things that she knows she needs to get better at. There's never enough time, and while we refine and refine our game, it's never perfected. So teachers have projects, all the time. Get faster at assessing papers. Reconfigure the room. Rebuild the reading list. Incorporate ideas from that book/video/presentation that set my brain on fire. Come up with a better approach for that unit I CONTINUE READING: CURMUDGUCATION: Eight Weeks of Summer: Big Hairy Say What Now?

Choosing Democracy: SCUSD Trying to Break Teachers Contract

Choosing Democracy: SCUSD Trying to Break Teachers Contract

SCUSD Trying to Break Teachers Contract

The Sacramento School District is trying to set a dangerous precedent of breaking contracts

By Katie Ferrari

Sacramento teachers have been fighting their district to get their contract implemented for nearly two years. Their struggle puts them on the frontlines of contract enforcement. If the district gets away with breaking the law and not honoring the legally binding contract, it sets a dangerous precedent for other districts and employers across the country.

David Fisher, president of the Sacramento City Teachers Association (SCTA), says that the Sacramento City Unified School District (SCUSD) “feels like [the teachers union] got too good of a deal…because we were too well organized, so now they’re reneging.” He points out that “other districts that have signed agreements that are going to be costly would like to have the precedent of a district like ours to be able to break a contract based on ‘inability to pay’ or budget problems, because if they are successful here, they can be successful in Oakland, LA, or anywhere else.”

District vs. the Union: A Play-by-Play 

In November 2017, teachers won a groundbreaking tentative agreement with major concessions from the district three days before they were scheduled to go on strike. The three-year contract included three annual 2.5% raises, the first of which was retroactive, dating back to July 2016. The union also won an additional 3.5% raise in the 2018-19 school year for mid-career teachers to keep experienced teachers from leaving for higher pay in neighboring districts. Fisher says that mid-career teachers in Sacramento “made anywhere from $10-18k less” than nearby districts.

Most significantly, teachers proposed a way to fund the smaller class sizes and more student supports they were demanding. They would switch their healthcare to a less expensive pool and funnel those savings back into classrooms. 

Nearly two years have passed since teachers won this contract, but it has still not been implemented fully. Instead, the district has done everything it can to renege on the contract. It has manufactured budget crises by hiring 18 new administrative positions (at an estimated cost of $3 million) despite a decline in enrollment and undertaking a $6 million vacation buyout for top administrators. 

In November 2018, the district sued the teacher’s union in an attempt to break the contract on the grounds of financial difficulties. That December, the district refused to sign a memorandum of understanding that would put health plan savings towards class size reductions and student supports. Instead, they wanted to use the health plan savings to cover the budget deficits they had created.

The Sacramento County Superior Court settled in favor of the union in February 2019 and forced the district to return to salary arbitration. On May 2, the court-appointed arbitrator ruled in favor of teachers. They  would get the additional 3.5% raise for mid-career teachers the contract mandated.

After losing the lawsuit, the district changed tactics and began threatening that implementation of the contract would induce a state takeover. In March, the district announced a $35 million budget deficit that needed to be closed by the end of the 2019 school year. On April 11, Sacramento teachers went on a one-day unfair labor practice strike to demand the district honor the written agreement that health plan savings be used to lower class sizes and improve student services. 

A few weeks later, the district released its third interim budget and publicly admitted to making a $16 million mistake in budget projections by undercounting over 700 students in its enrollment. The union had been sounding the alarm about these faulty enrollment numbers since February, and an email leak later revealed that Superintendent Aguilar had known about the miscount as early as April 1.

Despite the $16 million “setback,” the district quickly set to work to create another budget crisis and impending state takeover that they could use to justify breaking the contract and directing health plan savings towards the deficit rather than students. This time, they chose to double the percentage of state-mandated reserves that are required for a school district to stay out of state receivership.

The state-mandated amount is 2%, but SCUSD produced budget projections with a 4% reserve and said they were incapable of meeting this amount and implementing the contract. Another $23 million was added to the budget deficit. Later in May, the Sacramento County Office of Education (SCOE) reviewed the district’s proposed budget and re-adjusted the reserve back to 2%.

Projections went from a $64 million deficit to “a $15 million positive ending balance” in a matter of months, Fisher says. “That’s a $69 million reversal.” 

Local Media and Charters vs. the Union  

Throughout this debacle, local media has taken its cues from the district. A week before teachers won their contract, the Sacramento Bee ran an editorial that exemplifies their coverage of this ongoing issue. The Bee slammed the union for CONTINUE READING: Choosing Democracy: SCUSD Trying to Break Teachers Contract

Mike Klonsky's Blog: Lots of candidates but no real debate on school deseg

Mike Klonsky's Blog: Lots of candidates but no real debate on school deseg

Lots of candidates but no real debate on school deseg

Even though I have a lot is issues with Kamala Harris, I thought she was bold in confronting frontrunner Joe Biden and calling him out during the televised debate, for his opposition to "forced" school integration back in the '70s. Actually, as he pointed out, his position hasn't changed. He is still against a federal role in enforcing the Brown Decision.

His opposition to busing and his partnership with avowed "states-rights" segregationists like Eastland and Talmadge, seemed like fair game during the debate. Thanks to Harris, Biden himself was finally forced to apologize for touting his work with the racist senators.

In fact, I was surprised that not one of the other candidates, particularly white progressives like Sanders and Warren, had Harris' back at the time. None would even dare mention Biden's name during either of the two debates. This even though the road to the nomination obviously runs through him and the DNC leadership. If you're not willing to take on Biden, what's the point of running? Unless of course, you're just a stalking horse for Biden, trying to dissipate the opposition or an unprincipled kiss-ass, hoping for a V.P. slot or cabinet appointment if Biden wins.

Such is the intimidating power of the Pelosi party leaders who are really running Biden against young insurgents like Reps Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, and Ayanna Pressley, rather than any of the announced primary candidates who were on stage those nights.

Pelosi, it seems, would rather lose the election to Trump than risk losing the leadership of the CONTINUE READING: Mike Klonsky's Blog: Lots of candidates but no real debate on school deseg