Sunday, February 13, 2011

Rhee's five big missteps

Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, February 13, 2011; 6:03 PM

Richard Whitmire's deft and revealing book about former D.C. schools chancellor Michelle A. Rhee chronicles a difficult time in the history of the city's schools, when good people fought hard against one another because of sharply contrasting views on how to help our children.

The book is "The Bee Eater," the title a reference to a

D.C. schools using data from teacher evaluation system in new ways

by Stephanie McCrummen

While the main purpose of the District's controversial new teacher evaluation system is to rate teachers' effectiveness, officials are beginning to use the fresh troves of data it generates for other purposes, too, such as assessing administrators and determining which universities produce the be...

School Tech Connect: First They Came For Fred

First They Came For Fred

by effacethefacade@yahoo.com (Tim)

Adorable picture stolen randomly from here.

Apparently it's going to take a New Business Item and a floor strategy to get the IEA leadership to chirp inabout the right-wing intimidation attack on Fred Klonsky. I'm usually very forgiving of teacher union leadership; in my mind it's a daily uphill battle leading a union, given how out-of-the-fight most of the membership is. But in this case, I think there's definitely a lack of brass.

What we have here is an out-of-state zealot group

Schools Matter: An Indiana Teacher's Close Encounter with "Red Menace" Daniels

An Indiana Teacher's Close Encounter with "Red Menace" Daniels

by Jim Horn

Last Tuesday over a thousand teachers and parents showed up to lobby at the Indiana State House in Indianapolis. Below is a news clip of the event and below that is a testimonial from a 38 year veteran art teacher who had a close encounter with what turned into a bulging-eyed and red-faced menace--Governor Mitch Daniels.

TESTIMONIAL FROM A MEMBER AT WESTERN (HOWARD COUNTY) WHO LOBBIED TUESDAY

On Tues. Jan. 25th, 2011, I went to

Radical government takeover of the rights of workers in Wisconsin. « Fred Klonsky's blog

Radical government takeover of the rights of workers in Wisconsin.

by Fred Klonsky

Last Stand for Children First: Last Stand for Children First Attends the Teach for America Summit

Last Stand for Children First Attends the Teach for America Summit

by Last Stand for Children

I just got back from the Teach for America Summit in Washington, DC and though I am exhausted and hung over I am also extremely energized to continue my fight to get every student an excellent education. Many people think that our agenda is anti-teacher, but nothing could be further from the truth. We love teachers, but we simply want them to quit enriching themselves by draining future generations of their hopes and dreams by acting as vampires who feed on our children. It was amazing to see 11,000 like-minded people who weren’t

Miguel del Valle: A Mayor For Every Neighborhood

Del Valle for Mayor | For All Chicago For Every Neighborhood: Miguel del Valle: A Mayor For Every Neighborhood

Miguel del Valle: A Mayor For Every Neighborhood

by Joanna2011

The Answer Sheet - Veteran teacher: My problem(s) with Teach For America

Veteran teacher: My problem(s) with Teach For America

The first part of this was written by educator Anthony Cody, who taught science for 18 years in inner-city Oakland and now works with a team of science teacher-coaches that supports novice teachers. He is a National Board-certified teacher and an active member of the Teacher Leaders Network. This is part of a post he wrote that appeared on his Education Week Teacher blog, Living in Dialogue. Following Cody's piece is a response from veteran educator Nancy Flanagan that further develops the discussion about the best way to develop teachers. Flanagan is an education writer and consultant focusing on teacher leadership who spentt 30 years in a K-12 music classroom in Hartland, Mich, and was named Michigan Teacher of the Year in 1993. She is National Board-certified, and also member of the

Schools Matter: Mitch Daniels' Red Menace: Public Education

Mitch Daniels' Red Menace: Public Education

by Jim Horn

You can tell when the Presidential political season is starting to warm up when the demagoguery contests set in, and this past weekend at CPAC, the would-be Napoleon from Indiana was strutting his stuff and wearing his poker face. In fact, he'll see Obama a Sputnik Moment and raise him a Red Menace. Whereas Obama exploits America's golden age of fear to direct a cram-down ed policy, Mitch Daniels uses it to stage an extermination campaign against public services and employees.

Don't know if Little Mitch has Rove and Luntz on his payroll yet, but this use of metaphor in his CPAC speech is real political genius that goes to the heart of this Koch Brothers Era of American Corporate Politics: the real Enemy, as evil as any dirty Commie Atheist, morphs, as fast as you can say Bolshevik conspiracy, into the

Daily Kos: The Republican Assault on Education

The Republican Assault on Education

by teacherken <rss@dailykos.com>

can be seen in the contents of a proposed Continuing Resolution introduced late. Friday night by the House Republican Leadership. Alyson Klein of Education Week presented the education cuts in this blog post, upon which I am relying.

It is important to realize several things. First, as with any cuts in the CR, the fiscal year began October 1st, so the impact of percentage cuts carries even greater impact. Second, states and local school authorities are currently struggling to balance their budgets, and were already proposing cuts - in most cases severe, in some cases massive and catastrophic - based on their loss of revenue. In almost all cases they presumed the revenue

Dear Rainy. « Fred Klonsky's blog

Dear Rainy.

by Fred Klonsky

Dear Rainy,

Thank you for your email.

There is no more important principal to unionism, whether it is teacher unions or other unions, than the concept of an injury to one is an injury to all.

These people didn’t just want to secure my emails through FOIA. They wrote demanding that I be fired and are threatening a state-wide media campaign to do it.

I was heartened by the support I received in response to the EAG attempts to silence me because of my union

Robert Schwartz: Bringing Teach for America Back to the Core

by Robert Schwartz

I prepare to depart for the 20th Anniversary Alumni Summit for Teach for America in Washington, D.C. and I reflect on why I am attending. Some of the reasons are obvious -- seeing friends and acquaintances from long ago (I joined TFA in 1994), networking with some of the top educators and social entrepreneurs (a who's who in education newsmakers), and a chance to see some of my former students working and going to college in DC. The real question on my mind -- does my attendance signal my agreement with the general direction of the organization?

I credit Teach for America with giving me my start into teaching. I decided late in college I wanted to be a teacher and this was the quickest path to get there. Attracted by the mission and the idea of being part of something bigger, it was also a convenient excuse to move from snowy upstate N.Y. to sunny L.A. I loved my two years as part of the corps. The L.A. office organized some great parties and every once in a while, a bunch of us science teachers got together to plan -- admittedly, much has changed in supporting corps members since then.

Much has changed in many aspects of TFA. Maybe I was blind to the plan all along, but I thought the main idea

Apples to Apples « Strategicteaching's Blog

Apples to Apples

February 13, 2011 by strategicteaching

Apples to Apples

Let’s compare apples to apples. This is what I think whenever I hear one of those dire comparisons between the public schools in the United States and India…or China…or Japan…or Finland. Without exception the US stats pale in comparison. But are we comparing the same populations? Several years ago I had the opportunity to visit a high school in Shanghai. It was impressive. I observed diligent students in well run classrooms; computer use by all students; high college entrance rates. Definitely this was a high performing public school. Or was it something else? As I passed other schools in Beijing where student

Neaclass - classroom sites and blogs

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KIDDOKI: NEWS SITE FOR KIDS

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Democurmudgeon: Did you hear the one about the $28,000 per student Charter School? No? Then the private school savings joke is on you.

Did you hear the one about the $28,000 per student Charter School? No? Then the private school savings joke is on you.

by Democurmudgeon

Well what do you know:

The Wisconsin State Journal-An all-male charter school geared toward Madison's minority population is projected to cost as much as $28,000 per student when it opens in fall 2012, more than twice as much as another charter school expected to open this fall … The high cost results from the likelihood that Madison Prep will serve more low-income, non-English speaking and special education students.

The excuse used in the above article to double the price is the same excuse used to push privatization at just half the price of public schools. What gives?

NYC Public School Parents: Teachable Moments?

Teachable Moments?

by Steve Koss

Anyone who has spent more than a year or two in the classroom has probably heard the phrase "teachable moment." Loosely speaking, that's when something unexpected, often even negative, is turned by a teacher into a spontaneous mini-lesson. Teachable moments can be so small that they're hardly noticed, they can be built around bad behaviors or local tragedies, or they can be the product of extemporaneous discussions about national or global events. Their efficacy lies in the teacher's recognition of the opportunity as well as his/her willingness to deviate, at least for the moment, from a structured lesson plan in favor of a broader notion of what teachers do to educate their students (nearly always in areas that are not testable by standardized exam).

A wonderful story in the NY Times City Room blog on Tuesday (2/8) and appearing in the Times print edition today (2/11) presents the case that PEP student representative Lizabeth

Illinois legislature targets active teacher pensions. IEA yawns. « Fred Klonsky's blog

Illinois legislature targets active teacher pensions. IEA yawns.

by Fred Klonsky

It’s going on just across the border.

In Wisconsin the governor and Republican controlled legislature are days away from outlawing public employee unions, or at least their right to bargain on behalf of their employees which is the same thing.

In Illinois there are bills before the legislature that will effectively destroy the pension system for currently working teachers.

The most powerful Speaker Madigan has hinted he could support the measure.

The response from the IEA leadership?

Eh. Shrug. Yawn.

The IEA, IFT, and other labor organizations, along with the Governor’s office,

Public Policy Blogger: Photos of Egypt's Revolution: Lessons for educating, engaging & empowering youth and children in U.S. and the world

Photos of Egypt's Youth & Children: Lessons for educating and empowering youth and children in U.S. and the world

by Anne Geiger

I have been spellbound by Egypt these past days. How the youth of the Middle East's most populous nation, educated, tech-savvy, worldly and...frustrated....no, enraged over the authoritarian rule of Hosni Mubarak took to the virtual streets of Facebook and Twitter. Then, on January 25th, started marching through the ancient streets of Cairo and gathered in Tahrir Square. Emboldened their countrymen---and countrywomen---to participate in what may be one of modern history's most momentous acts of civil disobedience. Grew bigger and stronger with each day. Old. Middle-aged. Young. Workers. Professionals. Fathers. Mothers. Babies on shoulders. Children hand in hand. Unified voice and unified message. Determined to be non-violent but determined to prevail. Did not scatter or succumb to despair when Mubarak's henchmen struck back one brief and violent day. And despite early defiance, in an instant it seemed, President Mubarak stepped down and fled from view. All in eighteen days. Eighteen days. Then, after a night and day of jubilation, what seemed both industrious and poignant, the protesters immediately worked together to wipe, sweep, scrub their treasured city---their nation---clean. Practical. Symbolic. Hopeful.

It all revealed a people, a culture, a history that I had not fully known or understood. Inspired and humbled at the

Sunday links. « Fred Klonsky's blog

Sunday links.

by Fred Klonsky

Kindergarten art lessons in Tahrir Square during the revolution.

There is a great interactive map of Tahrir Square on the eve of the fall of Mubarak.

The finger-pointing has begun. Check out this White House spin on the front page of today’s NY Times. My prediction? Clinton gone by summer, if not sooner.

My smarter older brother: “Gee, how did the Egyptians manage to topple a dictator without Iraq-style U.S.

AP Source: Obama to seek changes in Pell Grants - Yahoo! News

AP Source: Obama to seek changes in Pell Grants

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE, Associated Press – 51 mins ago

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama's budget plan would cut $100 billion from Pell Grants and other higher education programs over a decade through belt-tightening and use the savings to keep the maximum college financial aid award at $5,550, an administration official said.

Nearly $90 billion of the projected savings would be achieved through two changes, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of Monday's release of Obama's 2012 budget. The spending plan applies to the budget year that begins Oct. 1.

Congress would have to approve both changes.

The first proposal would end the "year-round Pell" policy that let students collect two grants in a calendar year, with the second grant used for summer school. The official said the costs exceeded expectations and there was little evidence that students earn their degrees any faster.

The change would save $8 billion next year and $60 billion

February 10, 2011 - Interview with Miguel del Valle - Chicago Tonight Video - WTTW

Interview with Miguel del Valle
The most recent poll in the Chicago mayoral contest places City Clerk Miguel del Valle at a distant third. Eddie Arruza talks to the self-proclaimed "poorest candidate" on his plans for the final 12 days of the race.

Watch Video

Latest News and Comment from Education

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Engage your students. Keep your parents up-to-date. Connect your class community.

MORE TO COME

KIDDOKI: NEWS SITE FOR KIDS

ONLINE ACTIVITIES

MORE STORAGE SPACE

LIVE VIDEO BROADCASTING

The IEA, IFT, and other labor organizations, along with the Governor’s office,

AP Source: Obama to seek changes in Pell Grants