Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Parents Uncomfortable With New Head Of City Education Dept. - NY1.com

Parents Uncomfortable With New Head Of City Education Dept.

By: Tina Redwine

In an exclusive Monday night interview with NY1, incoming Schools Chancellor Cathie Black expressed confidence about taking new position.

"I feel fantastic," said Black in the Upper East Side. "I just went to a couple of parties and people said, "How wonderful. Thank you for doing this for the city.' And I feel great."

Many parents throughout the city told NY1 Monday night that they did not feel nearly as good about the former publishing executive heading the largest school system in the country.

"She may be a good woman, but I think she should have the experience to be the chancellor for the entire school district of New York City," said Emmanuel Silvia, the parent of a public school student.

"She has zero public education experience. She doesn’t even have the experience of having a

This Week In Education: Leadership: Get Over Yourselves, Educators

Leadership: Get Over Yourselves, Educators [image: NYSchools002] Degreed educators don't "own" public education anymore, just like traditionally trained teachers don't own classrooms (and professional journalists don't own journalism, FWIW). Those times are gone. It's not like the old way ...

Thompson: Economy's Impact On My School [image: Hardtimes] After five years of economic growth, the suspension rate for our high school, which served 1,098 students, was down to one per day. After five years of recession, student population was down by more than 50%, and yet we averaged ...

Think Tanks: Obama Team Should Focus On Executive Authority [image: image from www.americanprogress.org] The influential Center on American Progress thinks that the Obama team should forget the Hill and focus on things that can be done without Congressional approval, including a productivity initiative that ...

Can We Build A Grad Nation? | Taking Note

Can We Build A Grad Nation?

by JOHN MERROW on 30. NOV, 2010 in READING, SCHOOL REFORM, TEACHING

We have 15 million high school students, but about 1 million drop out every year. That’s nearly 7%! This means that approximately 1 out of every 4 9th graders won’t graduate high school.

America's Promise, Building a Grad Nation Today’s report from America’s Promise, “Building a Grad Nation,” indicates that some progress has been made, but not enough. The report, made possible by Target, calls for a domestic Marshall Plan to address the problem.

I had strong reactions to five points in the report. And if you are too busy to read them all, please skip to #5.

#1: Credit card companies can track us anywhere, anytime, but schools don’t have a clue about where their students end up, because states and schools don’t count graduates and

The Associated Press: Student protests turn violent in Rome

Student protests turn violent in Rome

(AP) – 4 hours ago

ROME (AP) — Italian students angry at state university budget cuts clashed Tuesday with riot police who used tear gas and police vans to seal off much of Rome's historic center to stop protesters reaching Parliament.

There were no reports of serious injuries or damage.

Lawmakers on Tuesday are voting on a contested reform bill many students and professors say will give the private sector too much involvement in the state university system. Protesters claim the funding cuts mean faculty positions are going unfilled.

The protests turned briefly violent as students — about 3,000 in all with a core group of about 200 — poured onto the main thoroughfare of the historic center, throwing eggs, tomatoes and smoke bombs at police.

At one point, protesters tried to overturn a police van. Riot police charged after them, using tear gas.

The heavy police presence, designed to prevent the protesters from reaching the square outside the Chamber of Deputies, blocked bus and tram routes for hours and jammed traffic on the main roads leading into the center.

After the clashes, many protesters appeared to have retreated. Organizers said some were heading back to their universities.

Premier Silvio Berlusconi brushed off the protests, saying "serious" students were home

The Retirement Conversation

by CHAD ALDEMAN on NOVEMBER 30, 2010

in TEACHER QUALITY

Over the weekend Ezra Klein penned a nice column reminding us that the Social Security shortfall, state pension plan underfunding, and the declining value of 401k accounts are all related. The first two overlap on how demographics and the aging of the Baby Boomers will affect us all, while the latter two overlap on how the Great Recession left stock market investments decimated. Klein writes:

The failure [of the 401k], experts say, basically, is this: The typical worker approaching retirement needs about $250,000 in a 401(k). Most don’t come close. The average is closer to $98,000 – only a bit more than a third of the recommended amount.
That’s necessary context for considering the arguments over Social Security and state pensions. In both cases, most of the solutions don’t solve the problem so much as switch to a different one. The costs come off the

SpeEdChange: Carnegie v. Gates: Centuries of Educational "Reform"

Carnegie v. Gates: Centuries of Educational "Reform"

The Carnegie Library of Homestead, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

On a hill on the north side of the Monongahela River in Pittsburgh sits a remarkable public library. Actually not just a library, this incredible building, opened in 1898, includes a massive "Music Hall" and a full community athletic center, including a pool. It is a remarkable bequest to the "Steel Valley" community of western Pennsylvania from United States Steel pre-genitor Andrew Carnegie. But it was not just a good deed, it was a deep attempt at an apology.

The Library overlooks the waterfront site once occupied by the Homestead Steel Works, site of the nightmare Homestead Steel Strike of 1892, one of the low points of American industrial "democracy" - a moment when U.S. capitalists demonstrated exactly how little they thought of the society which had made them rich, and the U.S. government demonstrated that it belonged to wealth, and not the people.

Andrew Carnegie wanted to get into heaven, and unlike today's Christian capitalists, he did not believe his ruthless pursuit of profit and failure to support his society via taxes would get him there.

So once he sold the world's largest steel-making corporation to J.P. Morgan, he devoted much of his life to making amends for his commercial life by giving his money away. Much of this effort was directed toward education in the United

Don’t mess with my TRS. « Fred Klonsky's blog

Don’t mess with my TRS.

by Fred Klonsky

I have paid my contribution to the Teacher Retirement System out of my paycheck my entire teaching career.

The state has not been as responsible in making their promised contribution.

Tim Furman at School Tech Connect suggests we send a communication to our state legislators regarding SB 3415, which would allow the selling of bonds to raise funds for the state to meet their TRS obligations.

Dear ________
I’m concerned about the state’s commitment to TRS and IMRF, and I want to know if you’re in support of SB3415. For the record, I support this legislation: I think it’s the responsible thing to do. I worried that the Republicans in Illinois will be perfectly happy to just continue skipping the state’s pension obligations until the system collapses.
Please left me know if you are in support of this bill, and if not, what are your reasons.
Sincerely,

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Other messages starting to come through in mayor's race

Other messages starting to come through in mayor's race

by Mike Klonsky

For the past month in Chicago's media, it's been all Rahm, all the time. But this week, cracks began to appear in the wall protecting Emanuel. New, critical voices are coming through, making his cakewalk into the mayor's office a little more slippery. It's becoming obvious that not everyone, even in the city's business and political hierarchy is happy about the prospects of Emanuel taking over so easily.

Case in point--check out Greg Hinz' latest column in Crain's Chicago Business ("Miguel del Valle echoes Harold Washington in long-shot mayor's bid"). Hinz, probably more than any other journalist, has his finger on the pulse of the city's business community and del Valle is arguably the most progressive candidate in the mayoral

Schools Matter: Ravitch is right. Gates is wrong.

Ravitch is right. Gates is wrong.

by skrashen

Ravitch is right, Gates is wrong. My comment on "Ravitch answers Gates," The Answer Sheet:http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/diane-ravitch/ravitch-answers-gates.html

Ravitch is right, Gates is wrong. And those who think American education is broken are wrong, and so are those who think that Ravitch et al (I think I'm the et in et al) do not believe in helping children develop basic skills.

Poverty is the issue. Students from middle-class homes who attend well-funded schools score near the top on international tests. Our mediocre average scores are because we have such a high percentage of children living in poverty compared to other industrialized countries. This shows that poverty is indeed the factor. (Yes, I am aware of our "low" math scores in a recent analysis. We were beaten by two clear outliers, Korea and Taiwan) and countries with small populations, including Lichtenstein, Iceland,

Cathie Black makes debut as schools chancellor; meets, greets Bronx parents, students

BY HENRICK KAROLISZYN AND MEREDITH KOLODNER
DAILY NEWS WRITERS

Tuesday, November 30th 2010, 10:16 AM

RELATED NEWS

New city Schools Chancellor Cathie Black made her first foray into public schools Tuesday, meeting and greeting parents, students and teachers at Public School 109 in the Bronx.

Black was joined by Mayor Bloomberg and Deputy Mayor Dennis Walcott for her first formal visit to a city school.

She left her Park Ave. apartment early in the morning.

Asked what she would say to critics, who have opposed her appointment because she has no education experience, she said, "Get to know me. It's about the parents and the kids and the teachers."

Black needed a waiver to become chancellor because she is not an educator.

State Education Commissioner

Shanker Blog » Attention To Paz

Attention To Pay

by Matthew Di Carlo

The debate over how best to restructure teacher salary systems is older than I am—with good reason: Instructional salaries represent roughly 40 percent of current K-12 public school expenditures. And some of the arguments for changing current salary structures make sense, at least in theory.

For instance, there is a case for tying step increases (typically awarded according to years of service) to additional measures, such as strengthened evaluation systems and curriculum-linked professional development (as is the case in the recently-ratified Baltimore contract). These types of changes, if they are bargained and approved by teachers, could be of real benefit to all stakeholders.

At the same time, it’s unfortunate that some of the talking points used commonly by those who wish to overhaul teacher salary systems are rather misleading and oversimplified. Not only do they sometimes seem designed to inspire outrage against teachers, they also tend to obscure or ignore important facts about the relationship

Italian Students Challenge Government « Student Activism

Italian Students Challenge Government

by Angus Johnston

I’ve devoted a lot of attention in recent days to the extraordinary uprising of Britain’s students, but there’s a new student movement growing in Italy that’s at least as spectacular.

Last week Italian students occupied the Leaning Tower of Pisa and the Colloseum in Rome, as well as Turin’s Mole Antonelliano (symbol of the 2006 Winter Olympics) and other national monuments. Today they areblocking roads, public squares, and railway tracks throughout the nation.

Italy’s government is looking to increase student fees and cut aid to higher education, as many other

Queens Teacher: Ravitch 1, Gates 0

Ravitch 1, Gates 0

by Queens Teacher

By Valerie Strauss

In a paean to Bill Gates, Newsweek's Jonathan Alter calls Diane Ravitch the Microsoft founder's "chief adversary."

It's the world's richest (or second richest) man vs. an education historian and New York University research professor.

Ravitch answers Gates

Gates, through his philanthropic foundation, has invested billions of dollars in education experiments and now has a pivotal role in reform efforts. Ravitch, the author of the bestselling The Death and Life of the Great American School System, has become the most vocal opponent of the Obama administration's education policy. She says Gates is backing the wrong initiatives and harming public schools.

In the Newsweek piece, Gates poses some questions aimed at Ravitch. I asked her to answer them. Below are the questions Gates asked, in bold, and the answers, in italics, that Ravitch provided in an email.

Gates: “Does she like the status quo?"

Ravitch: "No, I certainly don't like the status quo. I don't like the attacks on teachers, I don't like the attacks on the educators who work in our schools day in and day out, I don't like the phony solutions that are now put

Bridging Differences - Education Week

Bill Gates Listens to the Wrong People

By Diane Ravitch on November 30, 2010 8:58 AM | No comments |

Dear Deborah,

I hope you and your family had a happy Thanksgiving, and I wish the same to all of our readers and friends.

The struggle for control of American education continues to evolve at a dizzying pace. I read that Bill Gates advised the Council of Chief State School Officers to eliminate seniority and tenure and recommended that schools stop spending to reduce class size and stop giving teachers extra money for master's degrees. He wants teachers to get paid based on "performance" (i.e., their test scores). I guess we are now seeing a full-court effort to impose the corporate model of school reform, and Gates is the leading spokesman.

No, wait, I take that back, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said something very similar in a speech a day or two earlier, where he seemed almost happy to say that the days of wine and roses are over and schools must learn to do more with less. They seem to be sharing scripts. I don't know who is the leading spokesman.

I can imagine some of Secretary Duncan's predecessors, such as Secretary Shirley Hufstedler or Secretary Richard Riley or commissioners of education such as Frank Keppel or Harold Howe saying something very different. I can imagine them going to the public and urging them to support more resources where they are needed and more equitable funding. I can hear them saying that we need to thank our hard-working teachers, and we need a stronger profession. But

Liveblogging Another Day of UK Student Demonstrations « Student Activism

Liveblogging Another Day of UK Student Demonstrations

by Angus Johnston

The third national day of action in as many weeks against the British government’s plans for massive student fee increases and higher education cuts is underway. The BBC has an overview of the day’s plans up here, while The Guardian is liveblogging. Twitter hashtags include #solidarity, #demo2010, and #dayx2.

A number of university occupations started last week are still ongoing, and one new one — at Nottingham University — was launched this morning. Their blog is here.

At last week’s London demonstration police used a tactic called “kettling” to bottle up demonstrators in confined

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Tuesday, November 30, 2010