The Israel loyalty oath. Teachers in Texas. Pensions in Chicago and Illinois. – Fred Klonsky The Israel loyalty oath. Teachers in Texas. Pensions in Chicago and Illinois. Ilhan Omar, the courageous Congress member from Minnesota, has introduced a bill affirming that Americans have the right to participate in economic boycotts for political purposes. The legislation doesn’t specifically mention th
Tone deaf DeVos disrespects educators in South Carolina - Education Votes Tone deaf DeVos disrespects educators in South Carolina Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos demonstrated her apathy toward underpaid educators yet again during a visit to Nephron, a South Carolina pharmaceutical company, on Thursday. While the purpose of DeVos’ visit was to call attention to a Trump administration initiative
What Should You Do If Your Students Start Using Chatspeak in Assignments? - Teacher Habits What Should You Do If Your Students Start Using Chatspeak in Assignments? Guest Writer: Agatha Singer As it always is with the matters related to teaching, your reaction to some issue should be determined on a case-by-case basis. Therefore, if your students start using chatspeak in their creative writing as
John Thompson: The Cruel Policy of Punishing Little Children to Raise Their Test Scores | Diane Ravitch's blog John Thompson: The Cruel Policy of Punishing Little Children to Raise Their Test Scores John Thompson, historian and retired teacher in Oklahoma, posts frequently about education in his state. Last week, National Public Radio’s Alexandra Starr first reported on Florida’s mandatory retent
School District Threatens Kids Could End Up In Foster Care Over Unpaid Lunches | HuffPost Life School District Threatens Kids Could End Up In Foster Care Over Unpaid Lunches A letter sent to parents in Pennsylvania's Wyoming Valley West School District says parents could be taken to court over children's lunch debt. KINGSTON, Pa. (AP) — A Pennsylvania school district is warning that children coul
eBackpack Bankruptcy May Put Student & Teacher Data in Peril | gadflyonthewallblog eBackpack Bankruptcy May Put Student &\ Teacher Data in Peril Teachers put their assignments into an on-line data base. Students access them on their computers, iPads or other devices and then submit their work via the Internet. What could go wrong? Plenty. Especially when the company that provides this service goe
New Orleans: One of City’s Oldest Charter Organizations Closes Down Amid Multiple Scandals | Diane Ravitch's blog New Orleans: One of City’s Oldest Charter Organizations Closes Down Amid Multiple Scandals The University of New Orleans was one of the first to jump into chartering after Hurricane Katrina, and it just announced that it is closing down its charter organization, New Beginnings, as a r
Education Research Report THIS WEEK Education Research Report Teachers should have broader access to high-quality professional development x by Jonathan Kantrowitz / 10min A new report by EPI Economist Emma GarcÃa and Research Associate Elaine Weiss looks at the career supports and professional development available to teachers and discusses how they can exacerbate the teacher shortage. The autho
Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... | The latest news and resources in education since 2007 This Week With Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... The latest news and resources in education since 2007 August 9th Is The International Day Of The World’s Indigenous People – Here Are Related Teaching & Learning Resources by Larry Ferlazzo / 1h Greenstock / Pixabay The United Nations has declared
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all KEEP UP/ CATCH UP WITH DIANE RAVITCH'S BLOG A site to discuss better education for all Big Education Ape: My New Book Was Just Announced! | Diane Ravitch's blog - https://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2019/05/my-new-book-was-just-announced-diane.html New Orleans: One of City’s Oldest Charter Organizations Closes Down Amid Multiple S
Once Again Public School Students Are Left Holding The Bag Once Again Public School Students Are Left Holding The Bag “ Our intention in establishing GANAS Academy was to provide families with an alternative option to public education for their child. ” - GANAS Academy The LAUSD budgeted $15,920,300 to renovate facilities for charter schools in 2019 When the GANAS Academy Charter School applied t
Sacramento City Unified officials slammed by fiscal adviser | The Sacramento Bee ‘No confidence’: State adviser slammed Sac City Unified officials in fiscal crisis, emails show An independent fiscal adviser blasted the Sacramento City Unified School District this spring while it was calculating huge cuts to jobs and programs, saying he had “no confidence” in its business staff or their data. “It
Teachers Pay Teachers Is Not the Problem - Teacher Habits Teachers Pay Teachers Is Not the Problem (A few disclosures: I have a Teachers Pay Teachers account. I think I have two products for sale. Last month, I made 24 cents. So this isn’t something vital to my financial survival. Second, I don’t often buy things from Teachers Pay Teachers. I’ve probably downloaded five or six freebies and purcha
What school segregation looks like in the US today, in 4 charts – Raw Story What school segregation looks like in the US today, in 4 charts Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, a senator from California, has spoken about how she benefited from attending Berkeley’s desegregated schools . “There was a little girl in California who was part of the second class to integrate her public sch
Michael Kohlhaas: Charter School Pays Consultant $850 for Every Student He Signs Up | Diane Ravitch's blog Michael Kohlhaas: Charter School Pays Consultant $850 for Every Student He Signs Up Blogger Michael Kohlhaas continues to pore through the treasure trove of leaked emails that he received concerning the charter industry in Los Angeles. There apparently are thousands of them, and he reports t
Student Test Scores May Play a Smaller Role in Future PA Teacher Evaluations | gadflyonthewallblog Student Test Scores May Play a Smaller Role in Future PA Teacher Evaluations Pennsylvania lawmakers may have finally realized that treating teachers like crap isn’t a good way to improve public schools. Across the country it’s getting harder to fill teaching positions with qualified educators. And t
Ohio Budget Sets Moratorium on New State Takeovers of School Districts, Fails to Resolve Lorain Crisis | janresseger Ohio Budget Sets Moratorium on New State Takeovers of School Districts, Fails to Resolve Lorain Crisis State budgets outline what sort of public investment is possible within the revenue constraints of any state government. They also outline the spending priorities of the majority.
Here’s what’s missing in music education: Cultural and social relevance - The Washington Post Here’s what’s missing in music education: Cultural and social relevance Lee Whitmore is executive director of the Grammy Music Education Coalition , a nonprofit collective dedicated to expanding music education in elementary and secondary schools. A former music teacher who says he was trained in “the tr
USDOE Alert: Security Breach at 62 Colleges Using the Ellucian Banner Tech/Data System | deutsch29 USDOE Alert: Security Breach at 62 Colleges Using the Ellucian Banner Tech/Data System On July 17, 2019, the US Department of Education (USDOE) Office of Federal Student Aid posted the following security breach announcement “regarding the active and ongoing exploitation of a previously identified vu
Badass Teachers Association Blog: Charter Scandal a Product of Shabby Law and Ignored Oversight by Thomas Ultican Charter Scandal a Product of Shabby Law and Ignored Oversight by Thomas Ultican Originally posted at: https://tultican.com/2019/07/07/charter-scandal-a-product-of-shabby-law-and-ignored-oversight/?fbclid=IwAR23CqY7_uOiqKG_6WiJ0zsck4iY_kUeX2ZzSrZEkBqeFn-TyKa2Uws8v6k Notoriously clever
NYS Education Commissioner Resigns (to move to another “Educational Opportunity”): Should the Next Commissioner Be an Innovator, a Reformer, an Administrator? | Ed In The Apple NYS Education Commissioner Resigns (to move to another “Educational Opportunity”): Should the Next Commissioner Be an Innovator, a Reformer, an Administrator? The July meeting of the Board of Regents is usually a discussio
THE PURPOSE OF SCHOOL: "TO HELP GROW AMERICAN CITIZENS" THE PURPOSE OF SCHOOL: "TO HELP GROW AMERICAN CITIZENS" What exactly is the public purpose of school? Why do communities invest in the education of all their young, instead of simply leaving the task of education to families? We know that parents send children to school for a host of reasons, but the larger purpose--the communal goal--is wor
Charter School Case Exposes Big Loopholes in How the State Funds Schools - Voice of San Diego Charter School Case Exposes Big Loopholes in How the State Funds Schools Here are three vulnerabilities the alleged A3 charter school scam revealed in how California tracks attendance and allocates funding that could be exploited by bad actors. Last month, an explosive indictment filed in San Diego alleg
Teachers Union President: Illegal Immigrants Don't Cause Overcrowding Teachers Union President: Illegal Immigration Doesn't Cause Overcrowding, It Makes Public Schools 'Stronger' WASHINGTON -- Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, the second-largest teachers' labor union in the nation, said illegal immigration makes America's public school system "stronger" by bringi
Los Angeles: Board Member Shares Secret Information with Charter Lobbyists First | Diane Ravitch's blog Los Angeles: Board Member Shares Secret Information with Charter Lobbyists First Jack Covey, a regular reader and contributor, posted the following comment about the latest revelation from blogger Michael Kohlhaas in Los Angeles. Kohlhaas (which may be a pseudonym) somehow gained access to a tr
Congratulations to Breanna Hall, Schott's Proud #PublicSchoolGrad Scholarship Winner | Schott Foundation for Public Education Congratulations to Breanna Hall, Schott's Proud #PublicSchoolGrad Scholarship Winner Local public schools and their educators have produced America’s most brilliant artists, scientists, doctors, musicians, lawyers, presidents, and more — people from all walks of life, cont
MetWest High School Story (Part 2) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice MetWest High School Story (Part 2) Part 2 deals with MetWest High School principals, the design of the school, and the Big Picture Learning network of schools to which MetWest belongs. School Leadership The founding teachers left in 2005 and since then there have been four principals who have accepted and ada
Casey, Aspen, United Way & The Two-Generation Con – Wrench in the Gears Casey, Aspen, United Way & The Two-Generation Con In a previous post, When We’re The Packages , I discussed the role the Annie E. Casey Foundation (UPS $) played in developing the field of human capital impact investing. One infrastructure element developed and promoted by the foundation is data collection across multiple-gen
FCC changes its rules, puts educational broadband service on free market FCC changes its rules, puts educational spectrum up for open auction Rural school districts had hoped to close “homework gaps” via access to wireless spectrum set aside for educational use 50 years ago A lot has been written about the “homework gap” in recent years, meaning the disadvantage placed on students in low-income a
Law enforcement seizes records of closed L.A. charter school - Los Angeles Times Law enforcement seizes records of closed L.A. charter school Federal law enforcement agents have seized records from the home of the former director of Community Preparatory Academy, a Los Angeles charter school that recently closed amid allegations of fiscal mismanagement. The raid was carried out Tuesday morning by
Reforming California’s Dysfunctional Charter School Law | tultican Reforming California’s Dysfunctional Charter School Law By T. Ultican 7/17/2019 Members of the California legislature have engaged in an internecine battle over charter schools. Even the California Charter Schools Association (CCSA) has expressed concern over lawless cyber charters and filed the first known complaint with the Cali
A Storm is Coming! (…again) | lacetothetop A Storm is Coming! (…again) A new Commissioner will have as much impact on our state ed system as a new meteorologist will have on the weather. We will be told a storm is coming, to buy milk, and stay tuned after to see how badly some were hit in the most underserved areas. Then the new Commissioner will unveil a “new” plan (that will sound identical to
Oakland Parent Jane Nylund Writes a Letter to Governor Gavin Newsom | Diane Ravitch's blog Oakland Parent Jane Nylund Writes a Letter to Governor Gavin Newsom Dear Governor Newsom : It is with profound disappointment that I heard that your office was responsible for essentially gutting the main features of these charter reform bills. While I can only speculate on the reasoning for essentially cav
NYSAPE Calls for a Commissioner Who Puts the Needs of Students First | Diane Ravitch's blog NYSAPE Calls for a Commissioner Who Puts the Needs of Students First NYSAPE-New York State Allies for Public Education-is the leading voice for parents and educators who want a forward-looking education agenda, not one that slavishly promotes No Child Left Behind-style policies of test-and-punish. It has l
Trump Picked the Perfect Education Secretary in Betsy DeVos - Bloomberg Trump Picked His Perfect Education Secretary in Betsy DeVos For all the years since Jimmy Carter picked Shirley Hufstedler in 1979 to be the first holder of the title, it’s been a tradition for the U.S. education secretary to address the annual gathering of the hundreds of journalists covering their department. Two years ago,
Moneyball For Government: Poverty Mining in Philadelphia – Wrench in the Gears Moneyball For Government: Poverty Mining in Philadelphia We finally got a new computer with enough memory for me to be able to edit the talk I gave at Wooden Shoe Books on May 9, 2019. It’s two hours long and covers quite a bit of ground. We had a couple dozen folks attend in person and many wanted to stay after and co
OSBI warrant: 'Ghost students' at Epic OSBI warrant: 'Ghost students' at Epic A state investigation alleges Epic Charter Schools, the state’s largest virtual charter school system, embezzled millions in state funds by illegally inflating enrollment counts with “ghost students.” The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation alleged Epic co-founders David Chaney and Ben Harris “devised a scheme to use
The AFT: Betsy DeVos Is Shortchanging Teachers - The Atlantic The Financial Calamity That Is the Teaching Profession Teachers are suing the government over debt relief that never came—but their financial problems go much deeper than student loans. America needs teachers: A majority of the country’s most experienced K–12 educators are expected to retire in the next few years, while research sugges
Jake Jacobs: Democratic Candidates Speak Double-talk about Charters | Diane Ravitch's blog Jake Jacobs: Democratic Candidates Speak Double-talk about Charters Jake Jacobs, a teacher in New York and BAT activist, writes in the Progressive about the pathetic evasion s of Democratic Candidates when asked directly about their stance on charter schools. Public school educators and advocates have been
Myths and Hype Fueled Charter School Expansion: Here Are 8 Essential Facts | janresseger Myths and Hype Fueled Charter School Expansion: Here Are 8 Essential Facts If you value the role of public schools—locally governed, publicly owned and operated—whose mission is to serve the needs and protect the rights of every child, you can be more supportive if you know the facts about charter schools. Th
Mike Klonsky's Blog: The power in a word The power in a word Response to the R-word, from the right was violent and swift. Trump's former ICE director threatened our congressman, Chuy Garcia with a "beating" after Chuy aggressively questioned him about the horrid conditions in the detention centers. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi got in trouble Tuesday for calling President Donald Trump’s racist twee
Charters and Dalios: What Do You Have To Hide? | Real Learning CT Charters and Dalios: What Do You Have To Hide? True enough: A Hartford Courant editorial (Sunday, July 14, 2019) strongly criticized the stipulation that the Dalio Foundation put on its offer to Connecticut public schools. The Dalio Foundation has committed 100 million dollars to Connecticut public education if we taxpayers also co
NYC Public School Parents: Commissioner Elia resigns; let's hope for a better one next time! Commissioner Elia resigns; let's hope for a better one next time! The serious concerns we expressed yesterday and shared with the Board of Regents about NYSED's new proposed privacy regs were overwhelmed in news of Commissioner Elia's sudden resignation . What wasn't reported on in the media crush, at lea
CURMUDGUCATION: Eight Weeks Of Summer: Getting It Done Eight Weeks Of Summer: Getting It Done This post is week 6 of 8 in the 8 Weeks of Summer Blog Challenge for educators . I've been doing this challenge because why not. I answer the prompts as my pre-tirement self. Here's this week's question: How are you planning to implement change next school year? This often depended on the change. For lot
As Hate Incidents Rise, States Require Teaching the Holocaust | The Pew Charitable Trusts As Hate Incidents Rise, States Require Teaching the Holocaust The Pew Charitable Trusts WASHINGTON, D.C. — Claire Sarnowski of Lake Oswego, Oregon, met Holocaust survivor Alter Wiener at a school event five years ago when she was 9 years old. Because her aunt had arranged the talk by the Holocaust survivor,
DeVos' use of personal email as secretary probed by House Democrats - POLITICO DeVos' use of personal email as secretary probed by House Democrats House Oversight Chairman Elijah Cummings said Monday that he is expanding an investigation into the use of personal email by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. Cummings told DeVos in a letter that his move came after "disturbing new revelations" released
Are Phones Distracting Teachers Too? - Teacher Habits Are Phones Distracting Teachers Too? Guest Writer: Frankie Wallace It’s hard to find anyone without a smartphone nowadays. Adults and kids alike seem to be glued to these handheld devices around the clock. While smartphones are meant to keep us connected and help us access useful information and tools, they can also end up causing a lot of pro
AFT PRESIDENT WEINGARTEN: PUERTO RICO GOVERNOR RICARDO ROSSELLO IS “REPREHENSIBLE” MUST RESIGN “IMMEDIATELY” | Black Star News AFT PRESIDENT WEINGARTEN: PUERTO RICO GOVERNOR RICARDO ROSSELLO IS “REPREHENSIBLE” MUST RESIGN “IMMEDIATELY” [Puerto Rico News] AFT's Weingarten: says to Puerto Rico's Governor Ricardo Rossello "it’s time to uphold your promise to lead by example and quit.” Photo: Wikimed
With A Brooklyn Accent: The Faces of Deported Children in the French Holocaust Museum The Faces of Deported Children in the French Holocaust Museum Along with the literally scores of positive memories that I will treasure from our 10 day trip to France, there is one image that will haunt me for all my days . It comes from the Shoah ( Holocaust) Museum in Paris and it was inspired by a small room,
The MetWest High School Story (Part 1) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice The MetWest High School Story (Part 1) Readers who have followed this blog know that I am writing a book about success and failure in American schools. Over the past year I have posted sections including descriptions of teachers I observed in two California high schools: Social Justice Humanitas Academy i
Schooling in the Ownership Society: K12 Inc. Data Breach Puts thousands of students at risk K12 Inc. Data Breach Puts thousands of students at risk It's hard to believe school districts are still contracting with this horrible company. K12 Inc. is the largest for-profit online alternative to actual public schooling. Trump's Ed Secretary Betsy DeVos touts the company and other for-profit cyber cha
How eight elite San Francisco families funded Gavin Newsom’s political ascent - Los Angeles Times How eight elite San Francisco families funded Gavin Newsom’s political ascent Gavin Newsom wasn’t born rich, but he was born connected — and those alliances have paid handsome dividends throughout his career. A coterie of San Francisco’s wealthiest families has backed him at every step of his politic
Why MaryEllen Elia, the New York education commissioner, is surprisingly set to resign Why MaryEllen Elia, the New York education commissioner, is surprisingly set to resign ALBANY - MaryEllen Elia, the New York education commissioner, will resign at the end of August to take a position with a national education group. Elia, the state's first woman education commissioner, submitted a resignation
What Can We Learn From An Experimental High Tech Wunderschool Failure? What Can We Learn From An Experimental High Tech Wunderschool Failure? Max Ventilla launched AltSchool quietly enough in 2013, but within two years it was a hot Silicon Valley startup. In 2015, $100 million of investment dollars from major education reform players like Mark Zuckerberg and the Emerson Collective spurred an impr
NYC Public School Parents: NYSED attempts to radically weaken NY Student privacy law to allow for the selling of student data NYSED attempts to radically weaken NY Student privacy law to allow for the selling of student data Here and below is a letter that NYSAPE, Class Size Matters and the Parent Coalition for Student Privacy sent to the Board of Regents last night. The Regents were set to discu
Tax credit for stay-at-home parents: the new proposal, explained - Vox Parenting can be a full-time job. Activists want the tax code to treat it that way. A “caregiver EITC” would reward parents who stay at home. About 11 million parents in the US don’t work for a wage. Most of those are stay-at-home moms primarily at home for caregiving reasons, but it’s a group that also includes ill or disable
Bill Phillis: Who Is Protecting Imam Gulen? | Diane Ravitch's blog Bill Phillis: Who Is Protecting Imam Gulen? Charter schools associated with the Gulen movement are found in many states. They have many different names, like Magnolia, Harmony, Sonoran and more. There are more than 150 of them. If asked, they always deny that they are Gulen schools. The best source for identifying Gulen schools is
PA Officials Want to Replace Bad Keystone Exams with Bad College Entrance Exams | gadflyonthewallblog PA Officials Want to Replace Bad Keystone Exams with Bad College Entrance Exams Pennsylvania officials are scandalized that the Commonwealth is wasting more than $100 million on unnecessary and unfair Keystone Exams . They’d rather the state spend slightly less on biased college entrance exams. S
Jeff Bryant: Why Won’t the Charter Industry Admit Its Failures and Clean House? | Diane Ravitch's blog Jeff Bryant: Why Won’t the Charter Industry Admit Its Failures and Clean House? Jeff Bryant notes the escalating scandals surrounding the charter industry, creating a stench that can’t be covered up and hidden. Yet the charter industry refuses to acknowledge its problems and act to correct them
AFT Sues Betsy DeVos over Mismanaged, Deceptive Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program | janresseger AFT Sues Betsy DeVos over Mismanaged, Deceptive Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program The federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness program has denied 99 percent of borrowers who—with the expectation their student loans would be forgiven after a decade—have worked for ten years in public service
Former TFAer/TFA Exec (shh…) Allison Serafin: From Texas, to Nevada, and Back to Texas | deutsch29 Former TFAer/TFA Exec (shh…) Allison Serafin: From Texas, to Nevada, and Back to Texas In April 2016, the Las Vegas Review-Journal published an article about former VP of the Nevada State board of Education, Allison Serafin, who resigned from the board in December 2015 because of a conflict of inter
The Science and Science Labs that Students Miss at a Time When Science is Critical The Science and Science Labs that Students Miss at a Time When Science is Critical Why are students being held back from being the best they can be in science? Making scientific advancements through exploration involves good preparation of the ninety percent of students who attend public schools across the country.
CURMUDGUCATION: ICYMI: House Painting Edition (7/14) ICYMI: House Painting Edition (7/14) Yes, we're getting the house painted. If that's not fun, I don't know what is. But in the meantime, here's some reading for you. How Did We Miss This? The story of the Indiana cyberschool collecting money for ghost students. Palm Beach Real Estate What can you do when you're a charter school entrepreneur? Se
Ideology at work: The politics of school choice research | Cloaking Inequity IDEOLOGY AT WORK: THE POLITICS OF SCHOOL CHOICE RESEARCH Ever wonder why a lion’s share of positive (non-peer reviewed) findings about school choice come from certain places? We take on that question in our new piece published in the 2nd edition of the Handbook of Research on School Choice . To conceptualize the politics
Betsy DeVos shows her true colors | Salon.com Betsy DeVos shows her true colors Education Department won’t give up blocking efforts to help disabled minority students T he U.S. Department of Education’s various attempts to stall the implementation of federal regulations created by the Obama administration to address racial disparities in special education has blown up into a civil rights issue th
States Are Ratcheting Up Reading Expectations For 3rd-Graders : NPR States Are Ratcheting Up Reading Expectations For 3rd-Graders Changes in education policy often emanate from the federal government. Think Common Core, the set of standards established in 2010 for what U.S. students should know. But one policy that has spread across the country came not from Washington, D.C., but from Florida. "M
Powerful, First-Ever Federal Hearing on “Identifying, Preventing and Treating Childhood Trauma” | LucidWitness.com POWERFUL, FIRST-EVER FEDERAL HEARING ON “IDENTIFYING, PREVENTING AND TREATING CHILDHOOD TRAUMA” Riveting and emotional: The full, first-ever Congressional hearing on “Identifying, Preventing and Treating Childhood Trauma” by the Oversight Committee chaired by Representative Elijah Cu
Beware! Powerful Koch Network Starts New Group to Fight Public Schools | Diane Ravitch's blog Beware! Powerful Koch Network Starts New Group to Fight Public Schools Charles Koch and his network of wealthy donors have created a new Astroturf organization called “Yes Every Kid” to promote school choice and take public money away from public schools. Yes, they are targeting “every kid” as a prime pr
Big Education Ape Top Posts This Week 7/13/19 The real story of New Orleans and its charter schools - The Washington Post Bill Gates spent hundreds of millions of dollars to improve teaching. New report says it was a bust. - The
