Schools Matter: Oceans Dying As NYTimes Gives Front Page Environmental Coverage to Bad Cable Boxes

Schools Matter: Oceans Dying As NYTimes Gives Front Page Environmental Coverage to Bad Cable Boxes

Oceans Dying As NYTimes Gives Front Page Environmental Coverage to Bad Cable Boxes

by Jim Horn

The real story from Slate:

The oceans are in a far worse state than previously thought, according to a prestigious group of scientists. Of course, doom-and-gloom environmental stories are so common they’re almost yawn-inducing. But this one is different, insists Time’s Bryan Walsh. The state of the oceans never gets the coverage it really deserves and a report issued by the International Program on the State of the Ocean reveals things are more dire for the marine world than previously thought.

Sure, there’s overfishing, and global warming has created dead zones in the oceans. But the truth is far more frightening as we are “at high risk for entering a phase of extinction of marine species unprecedented in human history,” notes the report written by a global panel of experts. In what is the report’s most stark and shocking suggestion, scientists say that the unprecedented loss of

Report: School districts at funding cliff - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

Report: School districts at funding cliff - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

Report: School districts at funding cliff

by Valerie Strauss

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This was written by Jack Jennings, president and chief executive officer of the Center on Education Policy, a nonpartisan, nonprofit education research group in Washington, D.C. From 1967 to 1994, he served as subcommittee staff director and then as general counsel for the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Education and Labor.

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NYC Public School Parents: Two important education laws requiring more transparency from DOE passed today!

NYC Public School Parents: Two important education laws requiring more transparency from DOE passed today!

Two important education laws requiring more transparency from DOE passed today!

by Leonie Haimson

Today, along with the budget, the City Council approved two new important bills requiring more transparent reporting from the DOE.

According to the first bill, 354-A, the DOE will now be required to report each year by June 30 on the number of students discharged by individual schools and systemwide, as well as by discharge code, so we will know better what is happening to the thousands of students that continue to leave NYC high schools each year before graduation but are not counted as dropouts.

Some students move out of state or transfer to parochial and private schools, but many transfer to GED programs or alternative schools where they do not have a chance to graduate with a real diploma, and currently we have no idea how many are in each category. Moreover, the percent of 9^th graders who are discharged from high school has doubled under this administration, without any explanation.

Daily Kos: PA Senate trying to push through voucher bill today, before end of session

Daily Kos: PA Senate trying to push through voucher bill today, before end of session

PA Senate trying to push through voucher bill today, before end of session

by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken)

Note - what I am posting is at the request of Rachel Tabachnick, who has been all over this issue. The rest of the words are hers.

If they can pull this off in Pennsylvania, public education in this country could be finished!

It is frustrating to watch some otherwise progressive Catholic and Jewish leaders advance these "school choice" programs. They want the voucher money for their students at their schools and are apparently willing to help collapse the public education system to get it. They don't talk about the fact that much of this money will go to Protestant fundamentalist schools that demonize pretty much everyone else, are particularly hostile to Catholicism, and teach that Israel's role as a nation is to bring about the end times.

If you have any contacts in Pennsylvania or other states considering vouchers and corporate tax credit programs,

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Darling-Hammond's commencement speech at Columbia Teachers College

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Darling-Hammond's commencement speech at Columbia Teachers College

Darling-Hammond's commencement speech at Columbia Teachers College

by Mike Klonsky

I'm reprinting this speech by Linda Darling-Hammond in full because -- well read it and you will know why. -- M.K.

---

The Service of Democratic Education

Linda Darling-Hammond | May 21, 2011

At the commencement ceremony for Columbia University's Teachers College on May 18, Stanford education professor Linda Darling-Hammond—a nationally renowned leader in education reform and former education adviser to Barack Obama's presidential campaign—was awarded the Teachers College medal for distinguished service. Professor Darling-Hammond marked the occasion by delivering the following address:

I could not be more honored than to be awarded this recognition from Teachers College, one of the places of all

The muddy process of discovery in DPS « Failing Schools

The muddy process of discovery in DPS « Failing Schools

The muddy process of discovery in DPS

JUNE 29, 2011

by mariasallee

Today I finally looked closely at my district’s teacher appreciation gift to us, one which, by the way, arrived well after the end of Teacher Appreciation Week. We were given a plastic tumbler equipped with lid and straw which has a Mark Van Doren quote affixed to it, declaring: “The art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery.” Those are nice words, and ones worth applying in my own teaching practice, yet they have an ironic ring to them considering the source sharing them. My distaste for the contradictory use of this quote stems from DPS’ ongoing, increased lack of transparency. Imprinting the quote on the tumblers may suggest that the discovery process is important to DPS leadership, but recent actions tend to muddy the water, provoking additional questions, rather than answering the ones at hand. For example:

• Top-down “grassroots” effort in the Far Northeast claimed to seek community input on

Schooling in the Ownership Society: Ownership Society News

Schooling in the Ownership Society: Ownership Society News

Ownership Society News

by Mike Klonsky

The death of the Dodgers by corporate greed

McCourt & commissioner, Bud Selig

Dave Zirin, writing in The Nation asks, "What does the L.A. Dodgers bankruptcy say about America?"

The Dodgers are arguably the most culturally significant franchise in the history of American Sports. It’s the team of Jackie Robinson, Sandy Koufax, Fernando Valenzuela, and Hideo Nomo. That’s more than just a tradition. That’s a Ken Burns epic From their days in Brooklyn, the Dodgers were the franchise of the immigrants, the strivers, the ones who thought the American Dream was there for those willing to scratch and bleed for it....

...As Harold Meyerson wrote in the Washington Post, the Dodgers now represent “a particularly vicious form of capitalism that America has come to know too well the past few decades: a new owner takes over a venerable firm and extracts what he can for himself, decimating the company and damaging the community in the process”...

...As Meyerson wrote, “I’ve long believed that kids who grew up listening to Scully got at least a 30-point bump

miracleschools - home

miracleschools - home

Welcome to miracleschools.wikispaces.com, a place to gather research about schools that are touted in the media to demonstrate how well the current reform movement is going.

Who maintains this site?
This site was started by Gary Rubinstein and Noel Hammatt, two educators. They were introduced to each other by Diane Ravitch, after each had sent her independent investigations of miracle schools. After Diane Ravitch wrote a New York Times Op-Ed citing the work, Newsweek published a top 10 "miracle schools" list, which made us realize that two people might not be enough to counter the current so-called reform movement. This site is an opportunity to get other people involved.

Why are you doing this? Do you like insulting hard-working kids and teachers?
The current reform movement in education is based on principles that have not been proved. The only 'proof' that the current reformers have of the effectiveness of their policies is a handful of 'miracle' schools. They claim that the only difference between these miracle schools and the failing schools down the street is the hard-working staff. The implication is that if teachers were made to work harder through the threat of being fired -- or actually fired, then eventually all schools could replicate such success.
Since this is the only 'proof' the reformers have, it is important that these miracles be scrutinized. If it turns out that they are not truly miracles, but just pseudo-miracles, it is important for the public to know. And we do not see this as insulting the kids or teachers from the miracle schools we debunk. Just because they are not miracle schools, does not mean that they are not good schools. The point is that there are other schools that are just as good that are getting shut down since they are failing to be miracles. It is important to reveal that the miracle schools aren't that miraculous either.

What is the definition of a miracle school?
It hasn't been officially defined, but we think that a true miracle school would have the following characteristics:
1) A low attrition rate

Why I ain’t ain’t marching anymore. (with apologies to Phil Ochs)

Why I ain’t ain’t marching anymore. (with apologies to Phil Ochs)

Why I ain’t ain’t marching anymore. (with apologies to Phil Ochs)

by DavidGreene

The last and only time I marched on Washington D.C. was the Moratorium to end the Vietnam War in November 1969. Hundreds of thousands marched through the cold streets of Washington D.C. while FBI agents took pictures of us as we shouted “Peace Now” and waved our flags and signs. My friend and I had constructed a giant (we thought it novel) Peace Flag that was eventually used up on the speaker’s platform. We were so proud. We slept on the gym floor of a local parish church. When it was time to leave, at first we couldn’t find our bus to go back to NY, but eventually we did. Frankly, it is all a blur but a well worthwhile one.

I was not a joiner, a marcher or a protester. I was not much of an activist either. I had friends who were deeply involved in the movement but I was happy to get involved in conversations and do my little part to convince people, one at a time, that the War was wrong. However, when friends were deployed I felt it important to do

Modern School: Reagan Blames Segregation For Failing Schools

Modern School: Reagan Blames Segregation For Failing Schools

Reagan Blames Segregation For Failing Schools On this day in 1983, President Reagan said that one cause of the decline in public education was the effort to comply with court-ordered desegregation. ------------------------------ Modern School

Today In Labor History—June 29 Michael Schwab *June 29, 1898* – Michael Schwab, who was convicted for the Haymarket bombing, died from tuberculosis, having been pardoned and released from prison just a few months prior. *June 29, 1919* – Striking meat-workers in Townsville, ...

Hechinger Report | Q&A with Marc Tucker: Why we need a new reform agenda to compete internationally

Hechinger Report | Q&A with Marc Tucker: Why we need a new reform agenda to compete internationally

Q&A with Marc Tucker: Why we need a new reform agenda to compete internationally

by Liz Willen

Marc Tucker

Why is the performance of students in other countries surpassing that of U.S. students? It’s a question thatMarc S. Tucker, president and CEO of the National Center on Education and the Economy in Washington, D.C., sought to answer at a symposium last month focused on education reforms in other countries, including Canada, China, Finland, Japan and Singapore. The report, “Standing on the Shoulders of Giants: An American Agenda for Education Reform,” provides some scathing criticism of the U.S. for allowing other nations to catch up and then surpass America in K-12 education.

After the symposium, I spoke with Tucker about what we can learn from his group’s findings. Below are excerpts of our conversation.

The report indicates that countries outperforming the U.S. have developed strategies we have not. What are the key lessons about high performance we can take away from what is being done elsewhere?

In one phrase, the key lesson is there are no shortcuts. If you look at the essence of what these other countries have done, they have made their funding systems equitable in that they have put more money behind the kids

Who is Jason Mancini and why isn't he registered as a Rhee lobbyist?

Who is Jason Mancini and why isn't he registered as a Rhee lobbyist?

Who is Jason Mancini and why isn't he registered as a Rhee lobbyist?

by admin

Jason Mancini is an MI House staffer who is acting as the defacto lobbyist for Rhee’s front group. Yet nowhere is he registered as her lobbyist.

StudentsFirst’s only registered lobbyist in Michigan, according to the leaked internal document, is Sarah Lynn Hubbard, of the lobbying firm Acuitas. Hubbard’s husband, David Murley is on the advisory board of the Institute for Public Policy and Social Research at Michigan State, Michigan State’s public policy school. Jason Mancini just happens to be receiving a scholarship from the very same policy school.

MI ethics police, take note—this sounds like how Rhee operated as DCPS chancellor.

You might remember Mancini from an article in last week’s DailyKos, where it was noted that a certain Republican house aide was helping Michelle Rhee’s front group pass union-busting legislation in Michigan:

“Additionally, the document ends by thanking a Republican House aide:

Also, if given the chance, you should thank Jason Mancini who literally ran every amendment by me before

AFT - A Union of Professionals - Groundbreaking Partnership Will Revamp Teacher Workforce

AFT - A Union of Professionals - Groundbreaking Partnership Will Revamp Teacher Workforce

Groundbreaking Partnership Will Revamp Teacher Workforce

AFT and AASA's Nationwide Work Will Focus First on Districts in
Michigan, Ohio and Colorado

WASHINGTON—Real education reform takes a significant step forward today as the American Federation of Teachers and the American Association of School Administrators launch a groundbreaking partnership based on their commitment to ensure a skilled teacher workforce for the knowledge-based economy.

The broad goal of the partnership is to take the concrete steps that are necessary to make our American school systems world-class. As a first step, we need to systematically recruit, develop and retain great educators. The two organizations have adopted a framework to continuously improve the nation's teaching force, revamp teacher development and evaluation systems, and provide teachers and schools the tools and support they need. The framework is based on the principles that most successful countries use to develop and sustain a highly trained and well-supported educator workforce.

The collaboration between the two organizations, often seen as being on opposite sides of issues affecting the teacher workforce, is a sharp contrast to ideology-driven efforts in some states that would strip teachers of resources and rights.

AFT President Randi Weingarten and AASA Executive Director Dan Domenech said the partnership between the groups is significant for two reasons—it reinforces their commitment to labor-management collaboration at the

Here's to the Teachers! SOS March and National Call to Action #neara11

learn more at http://www.saveourschoolsmarch.org/
Join us July 28-31 2011 in Washington DC to support equitable funding for all public school communities, end high stakes testing used for the purpose of student, teacher, and school evaluation, give teacher, family and community leadership a clear place in forming public education policies, and encourage local school communities to develop curriculum specific to their needs.
Images in chronological order:
photos: John Dewey, Deborah Meier (from "The Power of their Ideas"), anonymous teacher
films: "To Make a Difference" by Tom Valens,"Lessons from the Real World" by Bob Gliner, "August to June: Bringing Life To School" by Tom Valens, "The Hobart
Shakespeareans" (Rafe Esquith) by Mel Stuart, "World Peace and other 4th-grade Achievements" (John Hunter) by Chris Farina
Script: Anthony Cody Narrator: Jim Griffiths Editor: Tom Valens

Black student chained to locker, finds noose around dummy in alleged racial bullying incident - latimes.com

Black student chained to locker, finds noose around dummy in alleged racial bullying incident - latimes.com

Black student chained to locker, finds noose around dummy in alleged racial bullying incident

An African American student at Santa Monica High School says fellow members of the wrestling team chained him to a locker and hung a noose around a brown wrestling dummy.

The alleged racial incident is being investigated by Santa Monica police and school officials, who sent an email to parents earlier this month calling it a "serious matter that warranted a swift and appropriate response." The students accused were given "appropriate disciplinary consequences, including suspension," Principal Hugo A. Pedroza said in the email to parents.

The student and his mother, Victoria Gray, reported the incident to police on June 21. The incident happened more than a month ago, but Gray told The Times she was never notified by the school and didn't find out about

School Tech Connect: New Standards Are Here

School Tech Connect: New Standards Are Here

New Standards Are Here

by effacethefacade@yahoo.com (Tim)

And nothing will change.

First of all, Race to the Top was supposed to be, among other things, economic stimulus for the recession. Maryland is now getting around to spending money to bus teachers hither and yon to learn about the Common Core Standards, which are still in that nebulous state prior to being interpreted differently from district to district, school to school, teacher to teacher. How it's all a stimulus, I don't know. Did some unemployed people get hired to work on the standards?

As for the standards themselves, if I were still a teacher, by this point I'd be asking, "Will someone just tell me what to friggin' teach and where to stand and which tests I have to give and what should I say to the kids at every minute of the day?"

The real issue for me is toward the bottom of the article, where some of the Maryland teachers are pointing out that the new high-stakes, connected-to-evaluation tests don't even exist yet, and still the evaluation laws have moved forward.

During an opening question-and-answer session, one audience member asked Jenkins

Note to NEA RA: Support for endorsement waning? « Fred Klonsky's blog #neara11

Note to NEA RA: Support for endorsement waning? « Fred Klonsky's blog

Note to NEA RA: Support for endorsement waning?

by Fred Klonsky

The Twitter buzz is that floor fights over an early no strings Obama endorsement and the Policy Statement on accountability and teacher evaluation will be front and center at the NEA RA starting tomorrow in Chicago.

But don’t bet on it.

The National Council of Urban Education Associations (NCUEA), which met earlier this week in anticipation of the RA, failed to support the early endorsement or the policy statement.

This might be seen as sending a message to NEA President Dennis Van Roekel that the votes aren’t there for either one, or that the fight over both or either would be so bruising as

Modern School: CA Charters Under Attack? Let’s Hope So!

Modern School: CA Charters Under Attack? Let’s Hope So!

CA Charters Under Attack? Let’s Hope So!

by Michael Dunn

Image by skippyjon

The right wing and pro-charter web educational clearinghouse Media Bullpen thinks charters are under attack in California, that their precious freedoms are being suppressed and their necessarily positive innovations stymied. They also think that Emily Alpert ‘s piece in theVoice of San Diego is too hyperbolic. Yet Alpert does not question the unproven presumptions that increased “freedoms” and innovation are necessary or beneficial to students, nor the equally unproven assertion that bureaucracies limit the effectiveness of traditional public schools. She doesn’t even suggest that charters are bad or need to go. What she does do is

Capitol Alert: Emotions run high as Jerry Brown vetoes farmworker bill

Capitol Alert: Emotions run high as Jerry Brown vetoes farmworker bill

Emotions run high as Jerry Brown vetoes farmworker bill

Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed legislation tonight that would have let farmworkers unionize more easily, despite intense pressure from fellow Democrats and labor allies who considered Brown their best chance in years to pass the bill.

The veto came just about one hour before midnight, when the legislation would have become law.

The veto touched off an emotional scene outside Brown's office, where about a dozen lawmakers and 100 farmworkers and supporters called unsuccessfully for Brown to come out.

In the middle of the crowd, United Farm Workers president Arturo Rodriguez took a call from Brown, telling the Democratic governor his remarks sounded a "little hollow." Some women in the crowd started crying, while Assembly Speaker John A. Perez called Brown's action a "setback," saying Brown sided

Read more: http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2011/06/emotions-run-high-as-jerry-bro.html#ixzz1Qg8cMf4w

More Than 1,400 Jobs Cut, Classes Sizes Balloon in San Diego Schools - voiceofsandiego.org:

More Than 1,400 Jobs Cut, Classes Sizes Balloon in San Diego Schools - voiceofsandiego.org:

More Than 1,400 Jobs Cut, Classes Sizes Balloon in San Diego SchoolsComments (1) | 7:07 pm

After months of agonizing over budget cuts, San Diego Unified quickly passed a budget Tuesday night that will lead to ballooned class sizes in kindergarten, second and third grade; suspended beloved programs that take students to places like Balboa Park; thinned bus routes and a slew of other cuts.

More than 1,400 positions were cut from the payroll, including more than 800 teachers, counselors, nurses and other educators. That accounts for more than one in 10 educators in the school district. All in all, the school district budget shrunk from $1.22 billion this year to $1.057 billion.

"Make no doubt about it, this board is very, very aware that passing this budget is going to cause grave damage to our schools in San Diego," school board member John Lee Evans said.

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A Battle Over Charter School FreedomsComments (1) | 6:00 pm

A raft of state bills would add new rules and regulations for California charter schools, setting up a showdown over just how far charters' famed freedoms will go.

The bills span a wide spread of subjects, from worker rights to conflicts of interest to classroom intercoms, but they have reignited the same age-old debate over freedoms between charter schools and their critics in unions and school boards.

State legislators have pushed for more restrictions on charters for many reasons: Some lawmakers were spurred to act by charter school scandals. Others want school districts to have more leeway to say no before a faulty charter opens. One argued that charter school admission rules were screening out students who might perform badly. And one wanted more rights for charter school workers.

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Rating Teachers: What VOSD Members ThinkComments | 4:00 pm

In the last year, a national debate over whether there's a better way to judge teachers has exploded. The Obama administration has pushed schools to use what's known as "value-added data" to evaluate teachers and decide their pay.

A Los Angeles Times investigation last year pushed the issue out of academia and into the mainstream, inspiring strong backlash and fevered discussion.

The idea is simple: Measure how much each child improves over time, instead of simply how high they score.

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Schools' Volunteer Tax Nets LittleComments (4) | 9:00 am

After San Diegans turned down a new tax for schools last year, school board member John Lee Evans came up with a new idea: create a special fund that willing donors could chip into for school supplies.

Taxpayers who had been willing to pony up the $98 per parcel (or more) that the tax would have charged could give their money to the district voluntarily. He told the Union-Tribune that if just 10,000 people contributed that $98,they'd reap almost $1 million.

Five months later, the fund has raised a little less than $6,036. That is much less than the $50 million annually the tax would have reaped and less than some foundations drum up for specific schools. Evans said Monday that he wasn't surprised. Nobody had made phone calls to rustle up more donations.

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