New TV Advertisement, Mayoral Candidate Miguel del Valle Says “It’s Time” for Reform

Del Valle for Mayor | For All Chicago For Every Neighborhood: In New TV Advertisement, Mayoral Candidate Miguel del Valle Says “It’s Time” for Reform

In New TV Advertisement, Mayoral Candidate Miguel del Valle Says “It’s Time” for Reform

by Joanna2011

New commercial will hit Channels 2, 5, and 7 on tonight’s 10:00 news

February 15, 2011 (CHICAGO)--City Clerk and mayoral candidate Miguel del Valle’s message of reform will hit Channels 2, 5, and 7 on tonight’s 10:00 news. The new ad, “It’s Time,” emphasizes major themes of del Valle’s campaign: that the city has fostered an oppressive climate for residents in the neighborhoods, and that February 22 offers an historic opportunity to change the course of this city.

“My vision for reform means that we change the antagonistic relationship between city government and residents,” del Valle said at a press conference today at his West Town campaign headquarters. “Neighborhood leaders and community organizations deserve seats at the table with business executives and elected officials.”

Del Valle articulated three beliefs central to his candidacy:

“We know the City is trying to balance its budget on the backs of Chicagoans.”

Having spoken a day ago about the ineffective deployment of red light cameras, del Valle targeted the parking

New National Parent Group Launches | Engaging Parents In School...

New National Parent Group Launches | Engaging Parents In School...

Florida’s Parent Agenda? The newly-elected governor is Florida has some decidedly unhelpful ideas on what to do in the name of parent involvement. Read about them here.

Parent Trigger Parody Edtweak, which periodically publishes school reform-related parodies, recently published a piece on the “parent trigger.” Here it is: *Teachers Face California’s Student Trigger Law * *Beginning next month, any child in a failing classroom will be ...

New National Parent Group Launches A new national parents group launched this week. Here’s an excerpt from an article about it: *Parent advocates from across the country converged on New York City on Monday, February 7 for the first national forum of Parents Across America, a ...

“State education board delays fate of ‘parent trigger’ law until March” “State education board delays fate of ‘parent trigger’ law until March” is the headline of a Sacramento Bee article describing what happened at today’s California State Board Of Education’s meeting. In other words, it showed some wisdom. Here is an ...

The Best Resources For Learning Why The Parent Trigger Isn’t Good For Parents, Kids Or Schools As regular readers know, I have very serious concerns about the so-called “parent trigger.” This California law (which may be spreading to other states) allows 51% of parents whose children attend a “low-performing” school ( or parents who will have ...

“Seeking Something Better Than the Trigger” “Seeking Something Better Than the Trigger” by David B. Cohen may be the best article yet written about the Parent Trigger. It’s a must-read.

“Bloomberg talks down to parents, teachers and students fighting for lives of their schools” “Bloomberg talks down to parents, teachers and students fighting for lives of their schools” is the headline of an article in The New York Daily News. It relates to the same event I wrote about in “Bloomberg Appears Tone Deaf.”

Good “Push Back” On My “Quack Like A Duck” Post — And My Response Sherman Dorn, a Florida professor who always writes thoughtful posts, pushed back on my post, If It Quacks Like A Duck — Thoughts On The “Parent Trigger.” In his response, he writes that my same arguments could be used to oppose letting workers vote ...

Modern School: Critically Acclaimed Corporate Propaganda

Modern School: Critically Acclaimed Corporate Propaganda

Attacking Teacher Pensions is Misguided and Stupid *The following is a repost from the San Diego Education Report Blog and highlights some important points about teacher pensions and the particular plight of CalSTRS, the California educators’ pension system.* *It is important to recognize that ...

Critically Acclaimed Corporate Propaganda Here’s another Good One From Chris Guerrieri at Education Matters You say critically acclaimed, I say propaganda designed to destroy our public schools and to line the pockets of corporate fat cats. In a recent article about Micelle Rhee, ...

Stand Up for Seniority Rights *For many school districts, March is pink slip season. The first to go are generally the temporary and probationary teachers. For many school districts, they will also need to go after tenured teachers in order to balance their budgets. The following ...

California’s Nuclear Option If Republicans block a tax extension from being placed on the June ballot or if voters reject it (as they may, since it increases taxes for the majority of Californians, while letting the rich off painlessly), Gov. Brown has threatened to push the ...

Schools Matter: Michelle Rhee, The Liar Who Just Keeps on Lying

Schools Matter: Michelle Rhee, The Liar Who Just Keeps on Lying

Michelle Rhee, The Liar Who Just Keeps on Lying

by Jim Horn

The corporate education reporters have been working overtime to downplay Rhee's big lie that she has been repeating for years about the miracle test scores of children at the Baltimore school where she taught in the early 1990s. It makes one wonder if they will notice that she has now moved on to add to her repertoire of extreme fabrications.

Jay Mathews will probably say that we cannot be sure if Rhee, now secure in her role as the Sarah Palin of corporate ed reform, knows that the lies she's telling now are lies. Hey, she could just be repeating fake facts that she has been handed by the same gofers to the Oligarchs who supplied the fake facts for Guggenheim's not-nominated-for-an Oscar, Waiting for Superman. What do we know?!

With so many dollar to raise (a billion of them) before the 2012 elections, who can blame her for pulling lines out of her broomstick to spice up the slick ads for potential donors. Here is a recent fabulous fabrication that

Ten Thousand Protest Budget Bill in Madison, Wisconsin « Student Activism

Ten Thousand Protest Budget Bill in Madison, Wisconsin « Student Activism

Ten Thousand Protest Budget Bill in Madison, Wisconsin

by Angus Johnston

Yesterday saw protests against Governor Scott Walker’s budget plan — which would slash faculty pay and roll back unionization rights for state employees — across the state of Wisconsin. A hundred high school students walked out in Stoughton, for instance, while in Madison, at least a thousand students, faculty, and supporters marched on the state capitol.

Today hundreds of people packed a

Del Valle for Mayor | For All Chicago For Every Neighborhood: It's Time.

Del Valle for Mayor | For All Chicago For Every Neighborhood: It's Time.

It's Time.

by Joanna2011

Kevin Chavous: Louisiana Lobbyist « DFER Watch

Kevin Chavous: Louisiana Lobbyist « DFER Watch

Kevin Chavous: Louisiana Lobbyist

by kennethlibby

Kevin Chavous, chair of DFER’s Board of Directors, is also a lobbyist in Louisiana. Below is a screenshot from the Louisiana Ethics Administration Program: Chavous and DFER’s Ravenel Boykin Curry IV are also on the board of the relatively young American Federation for Children, the 501c4 connected to the Alliance for School Choice, a 501c3. Both … Read more

Shanker Blog » The Legend Of Last Fall

Shanker Blog » The Legend Of Last Fall

The Legend Of Last Fall

by Matthew Di Carlo

The subject of Michelle Rhee’s teaching record has recently received a lot of attention. While the controversy has been interesting, it could also be argued that it’s relatively unimportant. The evidence that she exaggerated her teaching prowess is, after all, inconclusive (though highly suggestive). A little resume inflation from a job 20 years ago might be overlooked, so long as Rhee’s current claims about her more recent record are accurate. But are they?

On Rhee’s new website, her official bio - in effect, her resume today (or at least her cover letter) - contains a few sentences about her record as chancellor of D.C Public Schools (DCPS), under the header “Driving Unprecedented Growth in the D.C. Public Schools.” There, her test-based accomplishments are characterized as follows:

Under her leadership, the worst performing school district in the country became the only major

This Week In Education: Books: Merrow's New Book Available Today

This Week In Education: Books: Merrow's New Book Available Today

Books: Merrow's New Book Available Today [image: Picture 95] Check out PBS news correspondent John Merrow's new book, THE INFLUENCE OF TEACHERS, out today to rave reviews: "*Terrific*" *Jim Lehrer* **"*Invaluable*" *Marian Wright Edelman, Children's Defense Fund* "*Important and enjoyable, ...

Video Interlude: How Do Fleas Jump? At long last, the superslowmo answer to the debate over whether fleas jump with their knees or their feet (via The Awl).

Chicagoland Researchers and Advocates for Transformative Education (CReATE): Myths and Realities: A Public Forum on Chicago School Reform

Chicagoland Researchers and Advocates for Transformative Education (CReATE): Myths and Realities: A Public Forum on Chicago School Reform

Myths and Realities: A Public Forum on Chicago School Reform

by Create Chicago

MYTHS AND REALITIES:

A Public Forum on

Chicago School Reform

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

7:00-9:00 p.m.

UIC Forum (725 W. Roosevelt St., Chicago)

In the midst of the 2011 Chicago mayoral election season, we hear many proclamations and promises about what it means to improve public schools. But how do they compare to what we know so far from research about the real problems and solutions? Dozens of local education researchers have come together to release a fact sheet, "Chicago School Reform: Myths, Realities, and New Visions.” To discuss this fact sheet and examine ways that it converges with the work of community organizations, please join this Public Forum as we explore next steps in the movement to improve public education.

Speakers Include:

• Kevin Kumashiro, University of Illinois at Chicago (moderator)
• Leslie Rebecca Bloom, Roosevelt University
• Sumi Cho, DePaul University
• Gregory Michie, Concordia University Chicago
• Isabel Nunez, Concordia University Chicago
• Brian Schultz, Northeastern Illinois University
• Therese Quinn, School of the Art Institute of Chicago
• William Watkins, University of Illinois at Chicago

With Responses By:

• Jitu Brown, KOCO (Kenwood-Oakland Community Organization)
• Jackson Potter, CORE (Caucus of Rank and File Educators), Chicago Teachers Union
• And More

Organized by CReATE (Chicagoland Researchers and Advocates for Transformative Education).

Sponsored by the UIC Institute for Policy and Civic Engagement.

This event is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be provided.

For more information: createchicago@gmail.com, and Facebook.

Stop the Walker Valentine's Day Massacre!!!!!!!

valueteachingt8 | February 14, 2011 |

Governor Scott Walker wants to take away the legal rights of teachers. The right of representation and to form Unions. The vote is this week. Please call your Senator and House Representatives and tell them to vote NO on the Budget Repair Bill. Please do this now. Wisconsin Public Education is in danger.

This was all just a big mistake. They were looking for “Mr. Klomsky.” « Fred Klonsky's blog

This was all just a big mistake. They were looking for “Mr. Klomsky.” « Fred Klonsky's blog

This was all just a big mistake. They were looking for “Mr. Klomsky.”

by Fred Klonsky

Ben Velderman of EAG filed a FOIA request on my work emails. Did he go after the wrong guy?

From Steve Gunn, “Communications Director of the Michigan-based Education Action Group:

Unfortunately Mr. Klomsky used our completely legal request as an excuse to launch a vicious Internet attack on our employee. Perhaps that’s an indication that Klomsky has indeed been using his site illegally, and decided that he needed to strike at us first. We’ll find out about that soon enough.

New Income Data Show Even More Uneven Gains « California Budget Bites

New Income Data Show Even More Uneven Gains « California Budget Bites

New Income Data Show Even More Uneven Gains

At first glance, it appears that Californians as a whole are far wealthier today than they were two decades ago. The total adjusted gross income (AGI) of all California taxpayers rose by nearly $300 billion on an inflation-adjusted basis over the past two decades – a gain that is roughly equivalent to the gross domestic product of Argentina today. But, as we’ve blogged about before, most of that additional income has flowed to a small sliver of wealthy Californians. New Franchise Tax Board data that we recently received enabled us to extend our analysis of income gains back to 1987 – six years earlier than our previous analysis. These new data show that of the nearly $300 billion increase in total AGI between 1987 and 2008:

• 40 percent of the gains went to the wealthiest 1 percent of California taxpayers;
• More than 70 percent of the gains went to the wealthiest 10 percent of taxpayers;

In Wisconsin, the Pack backs WEAC! « Fred Klonsky's blog

In Wisconsin, the Pack backs WEAC! « Fred Klonsky's blog

In Wisconsin, the Pack backs WEAC!

by Fred Klonsky

STATEMENT BY CURRENT AND FORMER MEMBERS OF THE SUPERBOWL CHAMPION GREEN BAY PACKERS ON GOVERNOR WALKER’S ATTACKS ON PUBLIC WORKERS

We know that it is team work on and off the field that makes the Packers and Wisconsin great. As a publicly owned team we wouldn’t have been able to win the Super Bowl without the support of our fans.

It is the same dedication of our public workers every day that makes Wisconsin run. They are the teachers, nurses and child care workers who take care of us and our families. But now in an unprecedented political attack Governor Walker is trying to take away their right to have a voice and bargain at work.

The right to negotiate wages and benefits is a fundamental underpinning of our middle class. When workers join

Don’t e-mail from work. « Fred Klonsky's blog

Don’t e-mail from work. « Fred Klonsky's blog

Don’t e-mail from work.

by Fred Klonsky

One lesson of the past week is one I have been preaching for a while: Don’t use work e-mail for personal use.

Your employer has always had the right to look at what you send out over their e-mail system.

But Illinois, and other states, have made teacher e-mails done on district e-mail systems available under state Freedom Of Information Acts.

In our district, the union may use district electronic communications systems to do union business. But we may

This Week In Education: Thompson: What Malcolm Gladwell Asked Wendy Kopp

This Week In Education: Thompson: What Malcolm Gladwell Asked Wendy Kopp

People: A NYT Valentine For Ron Ferguson [image: image from graphics8.nytimes.com]On Monday the NYT's Mike Winerip profiled Harvard education guru Ron Ferguson -- apparently the first mainstream profile Ferguson's ever received -- and painted him as a sort of go-to guy on the achievement gap ...

Thompson: What Malcolm Gladwell Asked Wendy Kopp [image: Kopp]Last week in New York City, Wendy Kopp told Malcolm Gladwell that TFA is not a teaching organization but rather a leadership development organization. That's good to know. Then the conversation briefly turned to ways to make teaching ...

Schools Matter: Welcome to Planet Gladwell

Schools Matter: Welcome to Planet Gladwell

Welcome to Planet Gladwell

by Kenneth Libby

The snippet below is from a recent interview/conversation between Malcolm Gladwell and Wendy Kopp. Just after the 25:00 mark, Gladwell and Kopp have this exchange:

Gladwell: I only ask because whenever I see Teach For America spoken of in a durogatory manner, it's invariably by someone on the right, which confuses me because because I would have thought that it was almost the other way around. Do you have a sense of this? Am I wrong in thinking this?

Kopp: Um...I doubt it. I mean, you're saying our folks are largely from the left? We have a diverse group of people.

Gladwell: What percentage of TFA alumni voted

Violence: Bloodbath At Bogan - District 299: Chicago Public Schools Blog

Violence: Bloodbath At Bogan - District 299: Chicago Public Schools Blog

Violence: Bloodbath At Bogan Thanks to a a reader for sending in this jarring image of bloodstains on the floor near the entrance to Bogan that was apparently left over after a Thursday night confrontation at Bogan: "The students upon entering the building were greeted by the ...

Event: Fundraiser For Francisco Mendoza "You may be aware that this fall just before the beginning of school over 1100 teachers were laid off, 50 of whom were National Board Certified Teachers and many other award winning teachers. 200 were tenured and CPS ordered the court to reinstate ...

AM News: Teachers Union Can't Agree On Endorsement [image: image from webmedia.newseum.org] Testing young kids Tribune: To test into some of Chicago's top schools, incoming kindergartners must be able to do more than just count to 10 or rattle off the alphabet... South Shore High School students flag ...

Del Valle Blasts Red Light Cameras--Chicagoist

Del Valle for Mayor | For All Chicago For Every Neighborhood: Del Valle Blasts Red Light Cameras--Chicagoist

Del Valle Blasts Red Light Cameras--Chicagoist

by Joanna2011

From Chicagoist, 2.15.2011

Prior to last night's debate on WTTW, Miguel del Valle held a press conference at the intersection of Halsted and Madison, where he said thathe would review how the city is implementing its red light camera programif elected mayor and would reform what he called "oppressive" city driving and parking policies.

“Red light cameras were originally intended for the purpose of protecting pedestrians and reducing the number of automobile accidents at intersections with a history of automobile accidents,” said del Valle who voted for the original legislation allowing RLC enforcement when he was in the Illinois General Assembly. “I wan

THE PERIMETER PRIMATE: To Rockford, Illinois: In solidarity!

THE PERIMETER PRIMATE: To Rockford, Illinois: In solidarity!

To Rockford, Illinois: In solidarity!

This is a piece by David Stocker of Rockford, Illinois. He sent it to me to let me know what his city is experiencing, and I asked if I could post it here. Rockford residents are distraught and enraged at what is happening to their school district. Check out their Facebook page “Wanting a Resignation of LaVonne Sheffield” (“liked” by 2,993 people as of today).

David is just one of several people from Rockford who have contacted me over the past several weeks after discovering my blog, The Broad Report. One person wrote this: “Lavonne Sheffield (2002 Broad graduate) is running Rockford Public Schools in Illinois into the ground.” Another wrote this: “Help!!In Rockford Illinois we are suffering the "Broad Effect" with Broad Graduate