February 24-28 is Public Schools Week - Education Votes #PUBLICSCHOOLPROUD #PUBLICSCHOOLSWEEK #REDFORED #NEA #AFT #tBATs

February 24-28 is Public Schools Week - Education Votes

February 24-28 is Public Schools Week

A record number of lawmakers signed the bipartisan, bicameral resolution declaring February 24-28 Public Schools Week: 45 senators and more than 70 representatives—and still growing. The resolution recognizes the importance of our nation’s public schools and honors those who work tirelessly to support and strengthen them. Public education is the foundation of 21st century democracy. Our public schools are open to every child—regardless of ability, wealth, or country of origin—and 9 out of 10 students attend them. The Public Schools Week resolution sends an important message: Strengthening our public schools strengthens America. The House sponsors of the resolution are Mark Pocan (D-WI) and Sam Graves (R-MO); the Senate sponsors are Susan Collins (R-ME) and Jon Tester (D-MT). Urge your representatives to contact one of them and become a cosponsor.

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Email your representatives and urge them to cosponsor the Public Schools Week resolution.

February 24-28 is Public Schools Week - Education Votes

Love Public Education | Public Schools Week 2020 - 

http://lovepubliceducation.org/?p=835

San Diego prosecutors: Districts that authorized A3 charter schools should pay back oversight fees - The San Diego Union-Tribune

San Diego prosecutors: Districts that authorized A3 charter schools should pay back oversight fees - The San Diego Union-Tribune

San Diego prosecutors: Districts that authorized A3 charter schools should pay back oversight fees
Prosecutors say A3 charter schools were vehicles of fraud; six small districts benefited

Prosecutors leading the A3 charter school criminal case want to take back potentially millions of dollars of charter school oversight fees that were paid to small school districts that were supposed to hold the A3 schools accountable.

Prosecutors with the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office said in a motion last week that six small school districts — including Dehesa School District in San Diego County — were paid millions of dollars by the A3 schools to oversee them but ended up providing little to no oversight of the schools, which prosecutors said turned out to be vehicles for fraud.

The districts also collected oversight fees from the A3 schools beyond state law limits and beyond the actual costs of oversight, prosecutors allege. They want the excess oversight fees, which are state educational dollars, to be returned to the state.

The districts named in the motion are Dehesa, Trona Joint Unified in San Bernardino County, Bradley Union in Monterey, Cuyama Joint Unified in Santa Barbara, Acton-Agua Dulce Unified in Los Angeles and Meridian Elementary in Sutter.

It’s unclear exactly how much the districts would have to repay the state if the prosecutors’ motion is successful. Those amounts would be determined at a future evidentiary hearing.

Some districts named in the motion dispute the prosecutors’ claims that they provided no oversight. They also say it could be financially devastating if they are forced to pay back charter oversight money.

Dehesa, for example, already is operating with a projected $1.5 million deficit this year and expects to make $701,000 in budget cuts for next year. Bradley Johnson, who became Dehesa’s superintendent just this month, declined to comment on CONTINUE READING: San Diego prosecutors: Districts that authorized A3 charter schools should pay back oversight fees - The San Diego Union-Tribune

New Mexico Sues Google For Collecting Children's Data In Schools | HuffPost

New Mexico Sues Google For Collecting Children's Data In Schools | HuffPost

New Mexico Sues Google For Collecting Children’s Data In Schools
The suit accuses Google of using its “education services package” to spy on children and their families.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico’s attorney general sued Google Thursday over allegations the tech company is illegally collecting personal data generated by children in violation of federal and state laws.'

The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Albuquerque claims Google is using its education services package that is marketed to school districts, teachers and parents as a way to spy on children and their families.

Attorney General Hector Balderas said that while the company touts Google Education as a valuable tool for resource-deprived schools, it is a means to monitor children while they browse the internet in the classroom and at home on private networks. He said the information being mined includes everything from physical locations to websites visited, videos watched, saved passwords and contact lists.

The state is seeking unspecified civil penalties.

“Student safety should be the number one priority of any company providing services to our children, particularly in schools,” Balderas said in a statement. “Tracking student data without parental consent is not only illegal, it is dangerous.”

Google dismissed the claims as “factually wrong,” saying the G Suite for Education CONTINUE READING: New Mexico Sues Google For Collecting Children's Data In Schools | HuffPost

CURMUDGUCATION: OH: Whose Gold Makes That Parachute?

CURMUDGUCATION: OH: Whose Gold Makes That Parachute?

OH: Whose Gold Makes That Parachute?

It turns out there's one more problem with the kind of autocratic corporate-style takeover that Ohio implemented under HB 70.

You may recall that Lorain, Ohio, is one of three districts to be placed under the control of an all-powerful CEO. It was not pretty. An Ohio-style school CEO has all the powers of a school board and a superintendent, less the ability to levy taxes but plus the power to arbitrarily rewrite contracts. The job requires such a super-human level of expertise that it's unlikely that anyone could really do it well-- but Lorain was saddled with David Hardy, Jr., a guy who was especially not-superhuman. Hardy was relieved of his duties last November, effective the beginning of January.

David Hardy was yet another example of someone who built a career as an education expert based on his two year stint as a Teach for America guy. And he used his position of power in Lorain to bring along a bunch of his old TFA friends, including Arliss Prass, who he apparently knew from way back CONTINUE READING: CURMUDGUCATION: OH: Whose Gold Makes That Parachute?

American Federation of Teachers urges members to support Biden, Sanders, Warren - POLITICO

American Federation of Teachers urges members to support Biden, Sanders, Warren - POLITICO

American Federation of Teachers urges members to support Biden, Sanders, Warren
The move was a pointed rebuke of former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg.

The 1.7 million member American Federation of Teachers union announced Thursday that it would encourage its local and state affiliates to back or endorse the presidential bids of former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Bernie Sanders or Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

The move was a pointed rebuke of former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg, the day after Bloomberg was widely panned for his first appearance on the debate stage with other Democratic contenders. Bloomberg is a strong supporter of charter schools, which have come under attack by teachers unions for taking funds away from traditional public schools.

The announcement is not the union's coveted presidential endorsement, but it marks a first step toward that endorsement at a later date. It followed a telephone town hall meeting with thousands of AFT members and leaders who have been engaged in the union’s 2020 process.

AFT President Randi Weingarten said during the call that the AFT executive council, at this week’s meeting, voted to step up member engagement in the election, according to the union. The council encouraged “locals and state affiliates to support, be actively involved with, or endorse” the three candidates ahead of the selection of more than 60 percent of the delegates by the end of March.

“The resolution signals to members and leaders that support for any of those three candidates is welcome at this stage of the process before the union makes a national endorsement,” the union said.

A second teachers union, the larger National Education Association, has not yet CONTINUE READING: American Federation of Teachers urges members to support Biden, Sanders, Warren - POLITICO

Eye Opening Book: The Power Worshippers | tultican

Eye Opening Book: The Power Worshippers | tultican

Eye Opening Book: The Power Worshippers

By Thomas Ultican 2/20/2020

Katherine Stewart’s The Power Worshippers: Inside the Dangerous Rise of Religious Nationalism is a brilliant piece of investigative journalism. It shines a light on significant threats to American pluralism and representative democracy. The religious rights amazing successes now influence every aspect of American life, from the White House to local governments, from schools to hospitals. Stewart documents the origins of “the Russia thing” and the evangelical embrace of Donald Trump. She clarifies that the Christian right is not fighting a culture war; it is a political war waged against the institutions of American democracy and freedom of conscience.

Trump is a Gift from God

Ralph Drollinger: “I started sending him my Bible studies when he was running his campaign and Trump has been writing notes back to me ever since, in a positive sense. He likes loyalty.”

Paula White about Trump: “It is God that raises up a king.”

Franklin Graham on Trump’s election: “God’s had intervened.”

David Barton called Trump: “God’s guy.”

Sarah Huckabee Sanders claimed God: “wanted Trump to become president.”

Ralph Reed stated: “There has never been anyone who has defended us and CONTINUE READING: Eye Opening Book: The Power Worshippers | tultican

Inequitable Opportunity to Learn: Student Access to Certified and Experienced Teachers | Cloaking Inequity

Inequitable Opportunity to Learn: Student Access to Certified and Experienced Teachers | Cloaking Inequity

INEQUITABLE OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN: STUDENT ACCESS TO CERTIFIED AND EXPERIENCED TEACHERS

I gave a keynote for the Tucson Urban League yesterday and one of the topics of discussion was the persisting inequality in teacher quality for low income and students of color. On cue, The Learning Policy Institute (LPI) has released Inequitable Opportunity to Learn: Student Access to Certified and Experienced Teachers authored by Jessica Cardichon, Linda Darling-Hammond, Man Yang, Caitlin Scott, Patrick M. Shields and Dion Burns.

Access to fully certified and experienced teachers matters for student outcomes and achievement, yet many states have hired uncertified and inexperienced teachers to fill gaps created by persistent teacher shortages. These teachers are disproportionately found in schools with high enrollments of students of color, according to LPI analysis of the most recent U.S. Department of Education Civil Rights Data Collection, which has proposed cutting key data collection questions related to school funding and educator experience.

Researchers examined the two most recent CRDCs (2014 and 2016) to assess the degree to which students of color (including African American, Asian, Latino/a, Native American, Pacific Islander, and students of two or more races) have access to certified and experienced teachers compared to their white peers. The report also provides key policy strategies for increasing student access to certified and experienced teachers.

Some state statistics:

• In 13 states (Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, Kansas, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and Washington), there are about twice as many inexperienced teachers in schools with high enrollment of students of color compared to the share of inexperienced teachers in schools with low enrollment of students of color.
• In five states (Georgia, Indiana, Maryland, Rhode Island, and Tennessee), there are at least three times as many inexperienced teachers in schools with high enrollment of students of color compared to the share of inexperienced teachers in schools with low enrollments of students of color.

Another must read, check out the report Inequitable Opportunity to Learn: Student Access to Certified and Experienced Teachers.

Please Facebook Like, Tweet, etc below and/or reblog to share this discussion with others.

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Inequitable Opportunity to Learn: Student Access to Certified and Experienced Teachers | Cloaking Inequity

NANCY BAILEY: ‘Screens in Schools Action Kit’ to Help Parents Push Back Against Edtech Overuse

‘Screens in Schools Action Kit’ to Help Parents Push Back Against Edtech Overuse

‘Screens in Schools Action Kit’ to Help Parents Push Back Against Edtech Overuse

Parents and educators worry about how much time students spend facing digital devices. Here is a useful resource to help children live lives that aren’t dominated by screen use.

Contact: Seth Evans, Chair, (seth@commercialfreechildhood.org) Screens in Schools Work Group, Children’s Screen Time Action Network

Advocates Release ‘Screens in Schools Action Kit’ to Help Parents Push Back Against Edtech Overuse

The free resource from the Children’s Screen Time Action Network will help parents advocate for less device use and more hands-on learning in schools.

BOSTON, MA —February 10, 2020—Today, the Children’s Screen Time Action Network released the Screens in Schools Action Kit to help parents and educators address the overuse of educational technologies in schools. The Action Kit is a product of a grassroots movement challenging Silicon Valley myths that tech is a panacea for all that ails our educational system, and that “personalized learning” is better delivered by software and algorithms than highly skilled educators. The Children’s Screen Time CONTINUE READING: ‘Screens in Schools Action Kit’ to Help Parents Push Back Against Edtech Overuse

CURMUDGUCATION: Common Core Is Dead. Long LIve Common Core.

CURMUDGUCATION: Common Core Is Dead. Long LIve Common Core.

Common Core Is Dead. Long LIve Common Core.

The Common Core State Standards are dead. Done. Finished. Authorities have told us so.

Betsy DeVos delivered a brief eulogy at the American Enterprise Institute back in January. “And at the U.S. Department of Education, Common Core is dead,” she declared.

In Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis just announced that the work of “rooting out all vestiges of Common Core” done, and new standards would now replace the old, unloved ones.

So is that it? Can we get out our forks and prepare to stick them in the Common Core? Or have the reports of their death been greatly exaggerated? Sad to say, it’s probably that second one. The Common Core may very well be shambling along, zombie-like, at a school district near you. Here are the factors that may be keeping it up and shambling.

Yeti Repellant

When Betsy DeVos says the federal government isn’t supporting the Core any more, she’s being disingenuous. The Department of Education never officially endorsed or required the standards. It used winks and nudges and the extortion-style leverage that came from No Child Left Behind CONTINUE READING: CURMUDGUCATION: Common Core Is Dead. Long LIve Common Core.

NYC Educator: NYC Educator Endorses AFT's Multi-Endorsement

NYC Educator: NYC Educator Endorses AFT's Multi-Endorsement

NYC Educator Endorses AFT's Multi-Endorsement

Last night I got a phone call from AFT, which evidently had something to do with a presidential endorsement. Sensing near-certain disappointment, I decided to walk my dog instead.

Upon my arrival home I got a few questions about it, and went to AFT's website where I found this. I will cut to the chase in case you don't want to read the whole thing:

RESOLVED, until the American Federation of Teachers decides to make a national endorsement in the primary process or at the AFT convention, the AFT urges the affiliates, members and leadership, including the three AFT national officers, to be actively involved in supporting and helping Vice President Biden, Sen. Sanders, and/or Sen. Warren.

For me, this was not a bad surprise at all. It's vital that we defeat the criminal Trump, who has no regard for union, who pushed through SCOTUS candidates that don't represent the will of the people, who hurt us with Janus and continues to stifle union wherever possible. I don't think Biden, in particular, would succeed, but he nonetheless has a chance at the nomination.

Four years ago I was upset about the AFT poll, the one that no one I knew had even received. I have to say that this year I was polled, and I am and have been a Bernie supporter. I had wavered between Bernie and Warren right up until Warren opened attacks on Bernie. Personally, I think that's precisely what caused her decline in the polls. However, she has renewed energy after her withering  attacks against Michael Bloomberg Wednesday night. Bloomberg, incidentally, has his paid goons working to nullify the will of the people and anoint him king.

Bloomberg, who said a few years back that Sanders would've beaten Trump, is a particularly flawed candidate. For one thing, he's hopelessly out of touch. Saying he worked hard to earn his billions is an insult to each and every hard-working American who hasn't made that kind of money. Bernie pounced on this, saying a lot of people helped him. Delusional megalomaniacs like Bloomberg and Trump can't acknowledge others. Then, in true Scrooge McDuck fashion, Bloomberg said he couldn't "use Turbo Tax" to do CONTINUE READING: NYC Educator: NYC Educator Endorses AFT's Multi-Endorsement

After Years of Failed Initiatives, Gates Foundation Keeps on Trying to Fix the Schools | janresseger

After Years of Failed Initiatives, Gates Foundation Keeps on Trying to Fix the Schools | janresseger

After Years of Failed Initiatives, Gates Foundation Keeps on Trying to Fix the Schools

You might imagine that Bill and Melinda Gates, with all their money, a large staff, and access to research would have developed a more nuanced and helpful strategy for school reform.  But you’d be wrong.  In their 2020 Gates Foundation Annual Letter, Bill and Melinda Gates continue to assume that academic outcomes as measured by standardized test scores and college matriculation rates can be raised by fixing the public schools.

Melinda Gates expresses humility about the capacity of mega-philanthropy to solve what she and Bill understand are complex issues challenging public schools and their students: “We certainly understand why many people are skeptical about the idea of billionaire philanthropists designing classroom innovations or setting education policy.  Frankly, we are, too.”  But she doesn’t give up on the Foundation’s mission to keep on experimenting: “Our goal is to help make a huge difference for all U.S. students, so we’ve pivoted most of our work… to areas where we can have more impact for more students.”

Here are examples of some of the Gates’ best known education experiments. Unfortunately, while these Gates projects affected millions of students across the United States, the effect has been harmful.

In her incisive 2011 analysis of the role of venture philanthropy in education policy, Joanne Barkan reminds us of the 2007 Gates funded report, The Turnaround Challenge—thought to be the secret for turning around so-called “failing” schools: “Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has called it ‘the bible’ for school restructuring. He’s incorporated it into federal policy, and reformers around the country use it. Mass Insight Education, the consulting company that produced it, claims the document has been downloaded 200,000 times since 2007. Meanwhile, Gates also invested $90 million in one of the largest implementations of the turnaround CONTINUE READING: After Years of Failed Initiatives, Gates Foundation Keeps on Trying to Fix the Schools | janresseger

Make Your Own Light | Live Long and Prosper

Make Your Own Light | Live Long and Prosper

Make Your Own Light

COLD WAR FEARS

Many of us who grew up during the Cold War were emotionally traumatized by the fear of nuclear annihilation. Those of us old enough to remember hiding under our school desks during an air-raid drill remember the feelings of fear. Those of us old enough to understand what was happening in Cuba in late 1962 remember the feelings of fear…

Research on the effects of the nuclear threat on children is chilling. At the end of the 1950s, 60 percent of American children reported having nightmares about nuclear war. Few other comprehensive surveys were conducted at this time, though studies multiplied in the early 1980s. In the 1960s, 44 percent of children in one survey predicted a serious nuclear incident. By 1979, 70 percent of interviewees the same age felt sure of an attack. Researchers noted that the latter survey respondents seemed more resigned than their 1960s counterparts. A 1984 survey of 1,100 Toronto schoolchildren found that many reported feeling helpless and powerless in the face of nuclear war.

I lived in Chicago during the Cold War years of the 50s and 60s. I lived with the worry that the plane flying over my house was sporting the red star of the Soviet Union. Every time I noticed a plane overhead I would look up and try to identify the markings…to assure myself that this one wasn’t the plane that would drop “the bomb” on the city. The fact that I lived on an entrance route to O’Hare Field, at that time the busiest commercial airport in the world, made it just that much CONTINUE READING: Make Your Own Light | Live Long and Prosper

How should we evaluate teacher quality? | Cloaking Inequity

How should we evaluate teacher quality? | Cloaking Inequity

HOW SHOULD WE EVALUATE TEACHER QUALITY?

The education psychologist have recently released a policy brief that discusses empirically based assessment of teacher quality. They write,

Division 15 (Educational Psychology) of the American Psychological Association is proud to announce their second policy brief, “Addressing Teacher Evaluation Appropriately.” This brief, focused on teacher evaluation practices and policies in schools was written by Alyson Lavigne and Thomas Good. A copy of the brief is attached for you to read and share.

About the Brief: In this policy brief, Lavigne and Good argue that the most commonly used practices to evaluate teachers—statistical approaches to determine student growth like value-added measures and the observation of teachers—have not improved teaching and learning in U.S. schools.  They have not done so because these approaches are problematic, including the failure to adequately account for context, complexity, and that teacher effectiveness and practice varies.  With these limitations in mind, the authors provide recommendations for policy and practice, including the elimination of high-stakes teacher evaluation and a greater emphasis on formative feedback, allowing more voice to teachers and underscoring that improving instruction should be at least as important as evaluating instruction.

 

Share the Brief! It’s important that our national policy be based on sound evidence.  You can see a copy of the brief here so that you may share this directly with your constituents—local policymakers, practitioners, educational organizations, faculty, staff, and students who are engaged in K-12 settings and research.  You can also promote this important work via social media using Twitter or Facebook using the following link: EdPsych.us/AddressingTeacherEvaluation

 

If you have any questions about the contents of this brief, please contact Alyson Lavigne (alyson.lavigne@usu.edu).  Any questions or ideas for future Division 15 policy briefs should be directed to Sharon Nichols, Chair of Division 15’s Policy and Practice Committee (Sharon.Nichols@utsa.edu).  For additional information about research related to problems involved in current teacher evaluation practices, see Lavigne and Good’s recent publication, Enhancing Teacher Education, Development, and Evaluation.

I think the implications for practice are particularly poignant:

The brief also outlines the problems with value-added modeling and high-stakes evaluation of teachers. It’s a must read for policymakers and community members that need empirically based arguments to push back against improper evaluation of teacher quality.

Please Facebook Like, Tweet, etc below and/or reblog to share this discussion with others.

Check out and follow my YouTube channel here.

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How should we evaluate teacher quality? | Cloaking Inequity

Don’t Extend Kids’ School Day; Shorten Parents’ Work Week | gadflyonthewallblog

Don’t Extend Kids’ School Day; Shorten Parents’ Work Week | gadflyonthewallblog

Don’t Extend Kids’ School Day; Shorten Parents’ Work Week

It’s rough being the parent of an American school student.

You often leave for work before your kids have even made it to school yet – and you get home long after they’ve returned.

When exactly are you supposed to parent?

Your kids have to get themselves to school. They have to get themselves home. And helping with homework, talking about their days, even setting a good example are all luxuries you have to pay dearly for with an ever-shrinking amount of time.

So what’s the solution?

For those of the think tank persuasion, the answer is more school.

Parents and kids schedules aren’t aligned? Well, align them then. Have kids in class from 9 to 5 just like their parents.

Not only will that make it easier for adults to take them to-and-from school, but it CONTINUE READING: Don’t Extend Kids’ School Day; Shorten Parents’ Work Week | gadflyonthewallblog

Charter School Advocates Spending Big in LAUSD Board Elections – Los Angeles Education Examiner

Charter School Advocates Spending Big in LAUSD Board Elections – Los Angeles Education Examiner

Charter School Advocates Spending Big in LAUSD Board Elections

The California Charter School Association (CCSA) is the largest and most visible pro-charter organization in Los Angeles’ political scene. CCSA has chosen to endorse just one candidate in LAUSD’s 2020 school board elections, but that doesn’t mean that pro-charter candidates aren’t receiving millions of dollars in support from independent expenditure committees (IEC’s) aligned with the charter school movement.

In LAUSD District 3, the singularly favored CCSA Candidate is Madeline Koziatek, a specialist in community outreach who works at a charter school. When CCSA selects a candidate the tendency in giving is of shock and awe. Amongst other activities, the CCSA is responsible for the attack on Scott Schmerelson that has been called everything from dishonest to anti-semitic.

However, pro-charter candidates not in District 3 are not being left without support. One local free marketeer is functioning as de facto surrogate donor for the group by privately funding prodigious IEs in support and opposition to all four LAUSD races. Bill Bloomfield is a major benefactor of education reform groups such as Parent Revolution, Educators For Excellence, Students Matter, and Great Public Schools LA. Together with his immediate family he has contributed $3.2m between 2013-2016 to CCSA.

The figure below is a visual representation of the volume and distribution of CONTINUE READING: Charter School Advocates Spending Big in LAUSD Board Elections – Los Angeles Education Examiner