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Thursday, October 13, 2011

All Education Matters: Conversation With First Tier Toilet About Occupy Wall Street #ows

All Education Matters: Conversation With First Tier Toilet About Occupy Wall Street:

Conversation With First Tier Toilet About Occupy Wall Street

by Cryn Johannsen
The creator of First Tier Toilet was kind enough to request a brief interview about my thoughts on the occupy movement. Here's what we discussed:


FFT: Why are you getting involved with the "Occupy" movement?

CCJ: There is an overwhelming number of young people who are driving this movement. Of course, there are people of all ages who are taking a role in the protests, and that's because it is resonating with so many Americans. The saying, "We are the 99%," makes sense. It's a powerful way to identify with other Americans. Many supporters have jobs, are doing well, etc. But they recognize, just like the
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Stop NYC From Evicting #OccupyWallStreet | OurFuture.org #ows

Stop NYC From Evicting #OccupyWallStreet | OurFuture.org:

Stop NYC From Evicting #OccupyWallStreet

Robert Borosage's picture

By Robert Borosage

October 13, 2011 - 3:39pm ET


(Updated with new action items.)

Disturbing developments in New York City. Mayor Mike Bloomberg just said he's going to use the police to effectively end "Occupy Wall Street" Friday morning.

In a transparent ploy, new rules were passed out this morning prohibiting tarps, sleeping bags and "lying down"—even as temperatures plummet.

We must stand up in defense of "Occupy Wall Street."

Here are three things you can do:

1. You can sign MoveOn.org’s petition. That petition is going to be delivered to Mayor Bloomberg at 6pm this evening.

2. You can email or call Brookfield CEO Richard B. Clark. Brookfield Office Properties owns Zuccotti Park, where the protest is being held, and has asked

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How many schools are in OUSD, anyway? - The Education Report - Katy Murphy's blog on Oakland schools

How many schools are in OUSD, anyway? - The Education Report - Katy Murphy's blog on Oakland schools:

How many schools are in OUSD, anyway?

By Katy Murphy
Thursday, October 13th, 2011 at 2:07 pm in school closures.

The number 101 (as in “101 schools for 38,000 kids”) has a catchy ring to it, but how accurate is OUSD’s school closure talking point?

Board member Noel Gallo raised the issue last night, saying he’s seen totals in the mid-90s. A parent just asked about it too, wanting to get the number right for an editorial. It’s not a figure you can round very easily.

A school enrollment spreadsheet I requested from the district lists a total of 99 schools, and that includes Youth Empowerment, a small high school on the King

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List of states seeking waiver around education law

List of states seeking waiver around education law:

List of states seeking waiver around education law

By The Associated Press

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(10-13) 10:59 PDT , (AP) --

States that have told the Education Department they intend to apply for a waiver around the "No Child Left Behind" education and the dates of the application:
By Nov. 14 By mid-February Past mid-February
Colorado Arkansas Connecticut
Florida District of Columbia Oregon
Georgia Delaware
Indiana Hawaii
Kentucky Idaho
Massachusetts Illinois
Michigan Iowa
Minnesota Kansas
Mississippi Maine
New Jersey Maryland
New Mexico Missouri
North


Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2011/10/13/national/a102221D54.DTL#ixzz1ahsb182o
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Harkin’s Achievement Gap Schools by the Numbers

Harkin’s Achievement Gap Schools by the Numbers:

Harkin’s Achievement Gap Schools by the Numbers

by Anne Hyslop



“Split Classroom-Achievement Gap” Copyright © by Amanda Long.

More than any other provision of the Harkin-Enzi ESEA bill (synopsis here), the rollback of federal accountability for student performance in schools and districts (no more AYP and targets for student achievement, no strict consequences for schools that fail to make AYP) has gotten the most attention over the last two days. Civil rights’ groups hate it, teachers’ unions are okay with it, and I imagine states and districts are pretty thrilled. Instead of a federally-designed system, states will be able to create their own school accountability plan, so they’ll have much more control over what measures of achievement are included, what performance targets students must meet for a school to be “continually improving,” what designations schools could receive, and


How We Calculated State Testing Costs

by Bill Tucker
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My Education Week “Truth About Testing Costs” commentary outlines why the rhetoric about the high budgetary costs of testing is not only overblown, but in many ways counter-productive, because it stifles investment in the very sorts of high-quality assessments that most educators deeply desire.

My inquiry found that states actually spend very little of their per-pupil spending on standardized testing costs:

States spend very little in per pupil terms on testing costs
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NYC Public School Parents: Which charters are flunking according to DOE's own metrics?

NYC Public School Parents: Which charters are flunking according to DOE's own metrics?:

Which charters are flunking according to DOE's own metrics?

by Leonie Haimson
About two weeks ago, DOE officials released a list of twenty elementary and middle schools that they are considering closing. According to the NY Times, “The schools on the list fit at least one of the following criteria: they got a D or F on their most recent progress report, or a C for a third consecutive year; they were on the state’s list of persistently low-achieving schools last year; or they received a C or D from the teams of state and city officials who were sent to review them.”
Interestingly, there is not a charter school on the list, even though according to another New York Times article , a higher percentage of charter schools got failing grades than district public schools: 13% received Ds or Fs, compared to 7% of non-charters. Given
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Missouri Education Watchdog: Life Learning - The Lost Art

Missouri Education Watchdog: Life Learning - The Lost Art:

Life Learning - The Lost Art



Professor Lois Weiner worries about the deprofessionalization of teaching. This is a new word that gets flagged by spellcheck every time, but I thought this was the best definition of it:

The process by which members of a high-status occupation lose the facility to have autonomous control over its internal affairs and the behaviour of its membership. Deprofessionalization also results in a loss of the monopoly of the members of the profession to have exclusive rights to do certain kinds of work and a loss of control over the expert knowledge that, before deprofessionalization, was not available to the general public.http://www.answers.com

Perhaps the greater tragedy of the 20th century (yes I meant 20th) was the professionalization of teaching. In the 19th century teachers were sometimes criminals who could find no other work.
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Teachers are joining occupation of Wall Street, Philly | Philadelphia Public School Notebook #ows

Teachers are joining occupation of Wall Street, Philly | Philadelphia Public School Notebook:

Teachers are joining occupation of Wall Street, Philly

by Ron Whitehorne on Oct 13 2011 Posted in Blogger commentary
Photo: Ron Whitehorne

At the Occupy Philadelphia rally at the Liberty Bell.

Tags:

Battered by layoffs, cutbacks, and attacks on their unions, teachers are joining the Occupy Wall Street movement, standing with students, parents, and community activists concerned about public education.

In New York, the United Federation of Teachers has been among the most active unions insupporting the occupation. In Chicago, the Chicago Teachers Union and CORE (the Caucus of Rank and File Educators) has joined the action. Here in

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Old art. « Fred Klonsky's blog

Old art. « Fred Klonsky's blog:


Old art.

by Fred Klonsky

We have this long – almost 40-year-long – tradition in our school.
Every year the art teacher selects three or four pieces of student artwork and we have it professionally matted and framed. A little window is cut into the mat and the student’s name and the year it was made is printed. Years ago, an ugly little metal plaque was tacked on instead of the name in the mat window.
But it was all good.
The work fills the hallways, teachers lounge and front office.
The work isn’t done with archival materials. It is made with construction paper, inexpensive school temperas, water colors, markers. That kind of thing. Over the years some of it has faded and looks a little worn.



Don’t let this stop you from contacting your Illinois legislators. Now.

by Fred Klonsky
I hesitated posting this video of IEA President Cinda Klickna and chief lobbyist Jim Reed because it is one of the most downbeat, unmotivating videos imaginable. And I want nothing more than for you to go to the IEA website, hit the pension button on the top of the menu bar and contact your General Assembly representative.
Don’t let them stop you. The veto session starts October 25th. Make a contact every day.
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Wall Street Journal Snoozes, But Apparently Wakes Up To See The Connection Between #OWS and Student Loan Debt

All Education Matters: Wall Street Journal Snoozes, But Apparently Wakes Up To See The Connection Between #OWS and Student Loan Debt:

Wall Street Journal Snoozes, But Apparently Wakes Up To See The Connection Between #OWS and Student Loan Debt

by Cryn Johannsen
Wow. So, I have been reporting, as well as others, notably Dustin Slaughter (@DustinSlaughter), about the direct relationship between the occupy movement and student loan debt. As you can see from my related links below, those two themes have been covered since the 17th of September!

WSJ reporter Mary Pilon has apparently 'realized' the connection, but it seems a little late, don't it?

Related Links
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solidaridad: Aaron Krager begins Petitioning Progressive Sites to Stop Promoting Michelle Rhee

solidaridad: Aaron Krager begins Petitioning Progressive Sites to Stop Promoting Michelle Rhee:

Aaron Krager begins Petitioning Progressive Sites to Stop Promoting Michelle Rhee

by Robert D. Skeels * rdsathene
After I signed the petition, other petitions popped up for me to consider as a member of Change.Org. One of them was from nation's leading teacher foe, the venomous Michelle Rhee, under the name of her corporate reform schooler astroturf group called Students First. — Dr. James Horn

Michelle Rhee is a favorite among teabaggers and other disciples of Ayn Rand. Rhee collaborates with, and has even worked on the transition teams of the most reactionary right-wing Governors from Florida, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Ohio.
Schools Matter was the first place I read about the vile and venomous Michelle Rhee and her plutocratic backers scamboozlingunsuspecting activists into unwittingly signing petitions supporting reactionary causes dear to the furthest right-wing think-thanks in existence.

Rhee is a favorite among teabaggers and other disciples of Ayn Rand. Rhee collaborates with, and has even worked on the transition teams of the most reactionary right-wing Governors fromFlorida, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Ohio. All of the ideas Rhee
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