CURMUDGUCATION: PA: PNC A Charter School Player

CURMUDGUCATION: PA: PNC A Charter School Player

PA: PNC A Charter School Player

We may think of the financial arm of the charter movement coming from specialized groups like the NewSchools Venture Fund or from hedge fund groups, but I've been reminded that sometimes it's regular old everyday banks in their helping to prop up the privatization of public education.

PNC Financial Services is a big fat financial holding company with a long history. It's the 9th largest bank in the US by assets, 5th by number of branches. They own 22% of Blackrock, the biggest asset management company in the world. They operate in nineteen states, but they're headquartered jst up the road from me in Pittsburgh. They trace their history back to the Pittsburgh Trust and Savings Company, founded in 1845. After years of various mergers and acquisitions, the current PNC version appeared in 1982 when Pittsburgh National Corporation and Provident National Corporation (a Philly bank originally founded by Quakers) merged into a new entity named PNC Financial Corporation. It was the largest bank merger ever at that time. They've continued to gobble since then.

While most folks in these parts recognize them as a consumer bank, PNC is a busy little conglomerate. That includes sponsorships; PNC is a sponsor of Sesame Street, NASCAR, and six different sports teams.

They are also proud sponsors of the Pennsylvania Coalition of Public [sic] Charter Schools.

That makes sense, because they have a whole financing group dedicated to charter school finance. The PNC Charter School Team includes both Investment Bankers from PNC Capital Markets LLC and Corporate Banking Relationship Managers from PNC Bank, N.A., and they have handed out a collective $500 million in charter school financing-- and they just scraped together another cool $250 mill for charter school finance.

They know the rhetoric. Their charter schools page defines charter schools as "new, innovative public schools that have been freed from some of the rules, regulations, and statutes that apply to other public schools," and they repeat the talking point that charter schools are public schools, also calling charters "a way to increase educational choice and innovation within the public school CONTINUE READING: CURMUDGUCATION: PA: PNC A Charter School Player

Los Angeles: The New Reality: Overwhelmed. Isolated. Unfocused. Very Stressed. | Diane Ravitch's blog

Los Angeles: The New Reality: Overwhelmed. Isolated. Unfocused. Very Stressed. | Diane Ravitch's blog

Los Angeles: The New Reality: Overwhelmed. Isolated. Unfocused. Very Stressed.

While enthusiasts for online learning predict a boom after the pandemic, as students and teachers get used to learning at home online, the reality is different on the ground. Stress, loneliness, and boredom are typical reactions.

A team of reporters in Los Angeles reports on student reactions to the loss of face-to-face instruction.

A senior at John C. Fremont High School in South L.A., Emilio Hernandez has a class load that is about as rigorous as it gets: AP calculus, physics, design, English, engineering and government. He loves talking to his peers in English class, who make all the readings thought-provoking. He often turns to his math teacher, who has a way of drawing the graphs and walking him through derivatives and complex formulas.

Now, with a borrowed laptop from school and family crowded in the living room, he’s struggling to make school feel like, well, school. He has trouble falling asleep and finds himself going to bed later and later — sometimes as late as 3 a.m.

“Assignments that would normally take me two hours or 30 minutes are now taking me days to complete. I just … can’t focus,” he said. “I don’t have anyone giving me CONTINUE READING: Los Angeles: The New Reality: Overwhelmed. Isolated. Unfocused. Very Stressed. | Diane Ravitch's blog

Ed Notes Online: Rocked by 30 Teacher Deaths (so far), DOE Hides Data, UFT Could Poll Chapter Leaders but doesn't - so far

Ed Notes Online: Rocked by 30 Teacher Deaths (so far), DOE Hides Data, UFT Could Poll Chapter Leaders but doesn't - so far

Rocked by 30 Teacher Deaths (so far), DOE Hides Data, UFT Could Poll Chapter Leaders but doesn't - so far

There's one truth I learned in my 53 years about the DOE  -- there's a right way, a wrong way and the DOE way - and it's most often a shit-show.

DOE sent help to schools

Saying what they do is wrong is wrong - they are often worse than wrong. As for the UFT - I throw up my hands and surrender. 50 years of trying to organize teachers to fight the leadership is enough. The NY Post.

NYC DOE tight-lipped about coronavirus cases among educators

Teachers have ripped the Department of Education for not providing a public inventory of their fallen colleagues.

The FDNY, NYPD and other major city agencies have given regular updates on members with both suspected or confirmed coronavirus cases.

The UFT is relying on self-reporting from relatives and the growing tally does not always reflect new deaths....

NY Post 

Pretty outrageous that the DOE won't report teacher deaths while they do report police, fire etc. I think because they might be sued by families for keeping schools open so long. Some think the UFT could have been more proactive in pushing the DOE. They don't seem to be demanding the numbers on the deaths. James has addressed that on the ICEUFT blog:

UFT KNEW BUILDINGS WERE UNSAFE THE WEEK BEFORE THEY CLOSED

I did a few pieces on the death of NYC teachers due to the virus and touched on the implications of de Blasio and Cuomo having kept the schools open for so long - like how many less deaths and sick if they had closed schools a week early - but also those CONTINUE READING: Ed Notes Online: Rocked by 30 Teacher Deaths (so far), DOE Hides Data, UFT Could Poll Chapter Leaders but doesn't - so far

CURMUDGUCATION: In Short, I'm Unhappy With the Democrat Result

CURMUDGUCATION: In Short, I'm Unhappy With the Democrat Result

In Short, I'm Unhappy With the Democrat Result

So here we are.

Joe Biden is the worst possible Democratic candidate for public education; only Blomberg would have been worse.

It's possible that Biden so closely resembles an establishment Republican that traditional GOP members who are appalled by Trump will vote Biden. If there are any significant number.

The campaign will be awful and stupid and largely pointless, because Trump's supporters will stick by him, firmly insulated by Fox against any facts that don't fit their love of Beloved Leader. There can't be more than three or four undecided votes in the country, which means the campaign will be all about managing the actual vote. The GOP will focus on voter suppression (voter ID, closing polls in non-GOP areas, all the stuff they've been honing for years) not even just because they want power but because they believe some Americans should not count, and the Dems will try to somehow drive enthusiasm among the Common Folks that party hoi polloi barely can identify, let alone identify with. The GOP/Russians will remind all the Democratic voters about how the candidate they actually wanted was screwed over and don't they just want to stay home to teach the party a lesson. A whole bunch of low information voters will go ahead and believe whatever lies the Trump camp continues to pump out, with highly educated people somehow believing only what Fox tells them today (even if it's the opposite of what they said yesterday). The Democrats will struggle with creating a compelling campaign around a guy who has the same rapey mental blur corporate lovefest as the current occupant. It will be ugly, and it will suck, and by the time we're done, there will be a whole lot of people that I won't be able to look at the same way ever again-- kind of like the last four years, only worse.

And at the end, whatever the outcome, public education will once again have no friends in high places.

So, I'm not having a great day here. I'll hope and pray and work for the chance to hear about Senate Majority Leader Elizabeth Warren, and I'll wish that the amplification of Trumpian hatefulness won't completely ruin every day, and I will go and vote and hate every minute of it. And please God, oh, please, let nobody that I care about try to explain to me why a vote for that hollow shell of a CONTINUE READING: CURMUDGUCATION: In Short, I'm Unhappy With the Democrat Result

CURMUDGUCATION: Charter Schools: We Are Businesses - http://curmudgucation.blogspot.com/2020/04/charter-schools-we-are-businesses.html

Trainings: Digital Organizing in the COVID-19 Crisis | Schott Foundation for Public Education

Trainings: Digital Organizing in the COVID-19 Crisis | Schott Foundation for Public Education

Trainings: Digital Organizing in the COVID-19 Crisis

The Funders Collaborative on Youth Organizing (FCYO) is holding two digital organizing trainings coming up this week and next to give advocates the tools they need to continue serving the people and fighting for change:

In the midst of the COVID-19 crisis, youth organizing groups have been adapting to continue vital work in our new conditions. Groups are asking key questions about the best ways to manage their organizations and organize young people while social distancing. 

In response to these questions, FCYO is hosting a free webinar series to support youth organizing groups in navigating this new terrain. The series will be led by Social Movement Technologies, a movement training hub for digital organizing strategies. In 7 years as a nonprofit, unionized movement partner, Social Movement Technologies has supported over 70 organizations to build power and win transformative campaigns. The webinars will highlight best practices and resources for organizing young people in this time. 

Webinar 1: Transitioning to a Remote Organizing Team will be held on Thursday, April 9th at 3:00p - 4:30p ET. It will highlight strategies for effective online meetings, apps for visually connecting with community without computers, useful practices/policies for remote teams, and digital security considerations. 

Webinar 2: Organizing During Physical Isolation will be held on Friday April 17 at 2:00p - 3:30p ET. This webinar will focus on community building and mutual aid, narrative/messaging strategies for the moment, tools for action, and further training and resources.

Click here to register for one or both webinars!

Trainings: Digital Organizing in the COVID-19 Crisis | Schott Foundation for Public Education

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My Transition to Emergency Remote Teaching – radical eyes for equity

My Transition to Emergency Remote Teaching – radical eyes for equity

My Transition to Emergency Remote Teaching

Across my undergraduate and graduate courses in education, I stress the importance that all educators have a detailed understanding of the educational philosophies and theories that they claim to embrace as well as if their practices match those claims.

Teachers, however, are a practical lot, and most pre-service and in-service teachers resist my argument.

The somewhat abrupt move to remote teaching that has occurred during the Covid-19 pandemic has emphasized for me, again, that the value in educational philosophy/theory and how that matches practice cannot be overemphasized.

While my philosophy/theory and practice are well outside the norms of mainstream, traditional schooling—and that causes stress and anxiety for many of my students, at least temporarily—I was incredibly well prepared to shift my courses to remote and individualized structures within an hour of addressing my schedules (see foundations of education and scholarly reading and writing).

The entire transition is now being handled by email, smart phones (text, Facetime, phone calls), and the blogs linked above. I prepared no Zoom CONTINUE READING: My Transition to Emergency Remote Teaching – radical eyes for equity

Bill Gates and the 10 other tech titans with the power to shape how the US fights the coronavirus - Vox

Bill Gates and the 10 other tech titans with the power to shape how the US fights the coronavirus - Vox

Bill Gates and the 10 other tech titans with the power to shape how the US fights the coronavirus
The billionaires’ response has been called “lackluster.” Here’s who can change that.

What Silicon Valley billionaires decide to do with their money and power from now on in the Covid-19 crisis matters. It could affect the amount of suffering the US experiences in a recession and the amount of time before things return to normal. It might even have an impact on the number of people who will die from the coronavirus.

So this moment is a test for the nation’s billionaires, who tend to point to their philanthropy as a riposte against calls for higher taxes. If ever there were a moment for the nation’s wealthiest to part with considerable amounts of their net worth to solve a social problem, it is now.

But despite the frequency of the word “million” in press releases, observers say some of the public commitments to charity so far have been relatively small. For instance, two heavily tech-backed philanthropies, the Silicon Valley Community Foundation and Tipping Point, have both unveiled $30 million fundraising goals for Covid-19-related giving, amounts that have struck outsiders as surprisingly modest.

David Callahan, a prominent journalist on the subject, deemed the billionaire class’s total giving to be “lackluster.”

“If anyone can afford to give more in response to the pandemic, it’s the richest of the rich, with far greater assets than private foundations,” Callahan wrote in his newsletter Inside Philanthropy over the weekend. “In recent years, though, giving by billionaire donors has amounted to only a tiny sliver of their wealth and many billionaires barely give at all. There are no signs yet that this crisis will change that.”

Though billionaires’ foundations and donor-advised funds face calls to drastically increase or accelerate giving at this moment, philanthropy veterans say it can take time — CONTINUE READIING: Bill Gates and the 10 other tech titans with the power to shape how the US fights the coronavirus - Vox

A proposal for what post-coronavirus schools should do (instead of what they used to do) - The Washington Post

A proposal for what post-coronavirus schools should do (instead of what they used to do) - The Washington Post

A proposal for what post-coronavirus schools should do (instead of what they used to do)

What will schooling look like when the buildings finally reopen (whenever that may be) and authorities have determined it is safe for children and adults to resume their lives beyond their own homes? Will things simply pick up, relatively unchanged, from where they left off before the crisis, or will there be big changes in the way Americans view and do school?

The authors of this post hope it is the latter, especially for younger students who largely are not given the time to do what research shows is good for them: learning through structured play and an end to standardized testing.

The authors are William Doyle and Pasi Sahlberg, public school fathers in New York City and Sydney, respectively, and co-authors of “Let the Children Play: How More Play Will Save our Schools and Help Children Thrive.

Sahlberg is one of the world’s leading experts on school reform and is the author of the best-selling “Finnish Lessons: What Can the World Learn About Educational Change in Finland?” He is a former director-general at Finland’s Ministry of Education, and has taught in numerous countries. Currently, he is a professor of education policy at the University of New South Wales.

Doyle has served as adviser to the Ministry of Education of Finland and scholar in residence at the University of Eastern Finland. He was director of original programming and executive producer during seven years at HBO, and has written several books, including the award-winning “An American Insurrection: James Meredith and the Battle of Oxford, Mississippi.”

How ‘twisted’ early childhood education has become — from a child development expert

By William Doyle and Pasi Sahlberg

The coronavirus crisis has shattered one of the most dysfunctional pillars of childhood education. On CONTINUE READING: A proposal for what post-coronavirus schools should do (instead of what they used to do) - The Washington Post

Will Covid-19 certificates trigger biometric digital identity roll out? – Wrench in the Gears

Will Covid-19 certificates trigger biometric digital identity roll out? – Wrench in the Gears

Will Covid-19 certificates trigger biometric digital identity roll out?

It is week four of the Covid-19 pandemic lock-down. People have been told to get busy fashioning masks out of bits of cloth, hair bands, and filters they have around the house. The initial shock has worn off, and apparently we are supposed to gear up for the long haul as the global economy collapses around us. Unless you have a top-security clearance, your chances of knowing the full truth of what is happening is impossible.

What IS clear is that powerful global interests, including members of the World Economic Forum, are using this time of disruption and desperation to try and push through many elements needed to implement their Fourth Industrial Revolution program. This includes global digital currency, smart biometric surveillance, wearable technologies, online education, and tele-presence labor including tele-medicine and tele-therapy. All of this is happening against a back-drop of increased policing, diminished labor and environmental protections, and 5G infrastructure installation. CONTINUE READING: Will Covid-19 certificates trigger biometric digital identity roll out? – Wrench in the Gears

3 Videos que se recordarán después del COVID19 – Los emprendimientos son el futuro del desarrollo económico global

3 Videos que se recordarán después del COVID19 – Growing Your Small Business

3 Videos que se recordarán después del COVID19

El coronavirus nos solo ha puesto de rodillas a las potencias mundiales pero ha obligado al mundo entero a encerrarse en casa y hasta ceder muy calladamente sus derechos civiles todo en nombre de la prevención y paliativos para convatir la pandemia.

En estos momentos de estrés la inspiración y la solitud de quedarse en casa fue el motivo para la inspiración de ciudadanos que han querido animar y alentar a sus coetáneos.

1. El Poema “Esperanza” en la voz de Alexis Valdés

Valdés es un ingeniero, comediante, actor, escritor, director , productor, compositor, cantante y músico cubano.

2. Volveremos a Brindar, Lucia Gil

Lucia es una cantante y actriz española y ganadora del concurso en Disney Channel,  ‘My Camp Rock” SIGUE LEYENDO: 3 Videos que se recordarán después del COVID19 – Growing Your Small Business

You’ve Got Questions. We’ve Got Answers – Have You Heard

You’ve Got Questions. We’ve Got Answers – Have You Heard

You’ve Got Questions. We’ve Got Answers

What do you want to know about education in a time of pandemic? We put that question to Have You Heard listeners, then rounded up an all-star cast of experts with answers. Should I tell my son that the online assignments he’s been doing won’t count? What do we want kids to remember about this time? And now that we’ve all seen for ourselves that edtech is NOT a silver bullet, will we finally be able to force some accountability from the industry and its boosters? Special guests include Derek Black, Audrey Watters and Ethan Hutt. Complete transcript here.

Got a question that you want us to tackle in a future episode? Email Jennifer or tweet us @HaveYouHeardPod

You’ve Got Questions. We’ve Got Answers – Have You Heard

SPECIAL CORONAVIRUS UPDATE: Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... | The latest news and resources in education since 2007

Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... | The latest news and resources in education since 2007

SPECIAL CORONAVIRUS UPDATE

Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... 

The latest news and resources in education since 2007

Six Potential Models For School Schedules During The COVID-19 Crisis

by Larry Ferlazzo / 1h

We’re exploring what kind of schedule we want to institute at our school while we’re closed, and came up with a simple document examining six models. Please check it out and let me know what we’re missing… I’m adding this info to The “Best Of The Best” Resources To Support Teachers Dealing With School Closures.

Video: “7 Tips for Parents Supporting Remote Learning”

by Larry Ferlazzo / 3h

Here’s a video Katie Hull and I just did with Ed Week:

Stop Wasting Money - This App Finds Every Promo Code Online

by Honeysponsored

If you aren't using this tool when you shop online, you're probably wasting money.

Ed Tech Digest

by Larry Ferlazzo / 4h

Eight years ago, in another somewhat futile attempt to reduce the backlog of resources I want to share, I began this occasional “” post where I share three or four links I think are particularly useful and related to…ed tech, including some Web 2.0 apps. You might also be interested in THE BEST ED TECH RESOURCES OF 2019 – PART TWO , as well as checking out all my edtech resources . Here are this

YESTERDAY

“Editors Offer Suggestions to Teachers Who Want to Write a Book”

by Larry Ferlazzo / 13h

Editors Offer Suggestions to Teachers Who Want to Write a Book is the headline of my latest Education Week Teacher column. Two editors explain what it takes for teachers to get published in the education realm, such as doing homework about the education book field and the publishers, knowing the audience, and focusing the topic. Here are some excerpts:

Four Cool Sites Where Students Can Transcribe Historical Documents

by Larry Ferlazzo / 13h

LwcyD / Pixabay Having students transcribe actual historic documents for museums, universities and libraries is a pretty cool learning project for students – it’s certainly an authentic audience. I have many sites that teachers can use at The Best Sites Where Students Can Transcribe Historical Texts . Here are five more that I’m adding to the list: From The Page has about a zillion different proj

The House Of Representatives Has Designated April As “April is National Bilingual/Multilingual Learner Advocacy Month”

by Larry Ferlazzo / 13h

Yusril Permana ali The U.S. House of Representatives has designed April as “National Bilingual/Multilingual Learner Advocacy Month.” It’s a particularly timely reminder as many English Language Learners face a threat of being short-changed in our transition to online learning (see English-Learners May Be Left Behind as Remote Learning Becomes ‘New Normal’ ). You might also be interested in The Be

“Five Ways to Boost Student Participation in Remote Learning”

by Larry Ferlazzo / 20h

Five Ways to Boost Student Participation in Remote Learning is another new column at Education Week Teacher. Helping students form habits and explaining they’ll get a chance to see their friends are just two ways to motivate them to do their online learning, says educator and researcher Harry Fletcher-Wood. Here’s an excerpt:

The Best Videos In Spanish To Help Parents & Students Access Tech In Remote Learning

by Larry Ferlazzo / 20h

kaboompics / Pixabay With the mass distribution of Chromebooks around the country, and the subsequent increased use of web tools, lots of our students and their parents may need to learn how to use it all. We’re not in the physical classroom to show students what to do, and Spanish-language videos might be helpful. By the way, I’m adding this post to The “Best Of The Best” Resources To Support Te

Around The Web In ESL/EFL/ELL

by Larry Ferlazzo / 23h

BiljaST / Pixabay Six years ago I began this regular feature where I share a few posts and resources from around the Web related to ESL/EFL or to language in general that have caught my attention. You might also be interested in THE BEST RESOURCES, ARTICLES & BLOG POSTS FOR TEACHERS OF ELLS IN 2019 – PART ONE and THE BEST RESOURCES, ARTICLES & BLOG POSTS FOR TEACHERS OF ELLS IN 2019 – PART TWO. A

CommonLit’s Newly Released Units Could Be A Big Help To English Teachers Cobbling Together Online Curriculum

by Larry Ferlazzo / 1d

I’ve written a lot about CommonLit , and it’s on several “Best” lists. They’ve now released some fairly decent one-to-two week units for various grade levels, and are creating more. If you are an English teacher and are looking for some reasonably engaging off-the-shelf curriculum, I’d encourage you to take a look at them. I’m adding them to The “Best Of The Best” Resources To Support Teachers De

Statistic Of The Day: No Surprise, But Lots Of Our Students Don’t Have Internet Access

24by Larry Ferlazzo / 1d

Thousands of California students still without laptops and Wi-Fi for distance learning is a new article in Ed Source that’s worth reading. The information is no surprise, however, to many teachers, especially those of us who teach in 

Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... | The latest news and resources in education since 2007