AMERICA OCCUPIES THE CAPITAL | OccupyWallSt.org #ows

AMERICA OCCUPIES THE CAPITAL | OccupyWallSt.org:

AMERICA OCCUPIES THE CAPITAL

Posted 5 hours ago on Jan. 16, 2012, 1:20 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt

#Occupy Brings Democracy to DC

January 17 at 9 am
Capitol Hill

Washington, DC—On January 17 Americans from across the nation and the world will assemble in the shadows of a broken system to participate in real democracy.

At 9 am on the opening day of Congress, Occupy Congress will convene for a day of action against a corrupt political institution. Actions include a multi-occupational General Assembly, teach-ins, an OCCUParty, a pink slip for every congressional “representative” and a march on all three branches of a puppet government that sold our rights and our futures to the 1%.

This is an illegitimate system. Around half of the nation’s population doesn’t participate in electoral politics. More than 6 million Americans who want to vote are disenfranchised, including the entire

Des Moines Education Association: My Letter to Iowa Senate Education Committee Members

Des Moines Education Association: My Letter to Iowa Senate Education Committee Members:

My Letter to Iowa Senate Education Committee Members

by Mr. R

Here is the letter I sent to the members of the Iowa Senate Education committee as they take up the Governor's education "reform" proposals. In this letter, I focused on the creation of "value added models" to our state education system. Make sure you are all advocating to your legislators early and often so they hear our voices! - A. Rasmussen, DMEA Executive Board

Dear Senator,

I am a veteran teacher of 17 years. I have devoted those years to teaching social studies to urban students in Des Moines, many of whom live in poverty. I am proud of my service to the

Support PURE! » For MLK Day – “Put pressure where it really hurts”

Parents United for Responsible Education » Blog Archive » For MLK Day – “Put pressure where it really hurts”:

For MLK Day – “Put pressure where it really hurts”

by admin

Last year on the observance of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday, I offeredthis quote from Dr. King’s famous last message, the “Mountaintop” speech:

We don’t have to argue with anybody. We don’t have to curse and go around acting bad with our words. We don’t need any bricks and bottles. We don’t need any Molotov cocktails. We just need to go around to these stores, and to these massive industries in our country, and say, “God sent us by here, to say to you that you’re not treating his children right. And we’ve come by here to ask

Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top late Early Evening Posts #ows #edreform 1-16

Schools Matter: Accountability without Autonomy Is Tyranny

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 15 minutes ago

Schools Matter: Accountability without Autonomy Is Tyranny:Accountability without Autonomy Is Tyrannyby P. L. ThomasAccountability without Autonomy Is TyrannyWhen educational research reaches the public through the corporate media, the consequences are often dire. Chetty, Friedman, and Rockoff released "The Long-Term Impacts of Teachers: Teacher Value-Added and Student Outcomes in Adulthood" and immediately The New York Times pronounced in "Big Study Links Good Teachers to Lasting Gains":"Elementary- and middle-school teachers who help raise their students’ standardized-test scores ... more »

Study on Teacher Value Uses Data From Before Teach-to-Test Era - NYTimes.com

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 15 minutes ago

Study on Teacher Value Uses Data From Before Teach-to-Test Era - NYTimes.com:Study on Teacher Value Uses Data From Before Teach-to-Test EraBy MICHAEL WINERIPPublished: January 15, 2012RECOMMENDTWITTERLINKEDINE-MAILPRINTREPRINTSSHAREMy four children have all attended public schools in our middle-class suburban district. When my oldest was in fourth grade, in 1998, he took the state tests, and I was not even aware of it. Later, he said the tests were kind of fun; he got to miss his regular classes.RelatedTimes Topic: Michael WineripNews, data ... more »

Missouri Education Watchdog: A Death March? The Takeover of American Education by the Elites

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 15 minutes ago

Missouri Education Watchdog: A Death March? The Takeover of American Education by the Elites:A Death March? The Takeover of American Education by the Elitesby stlgretchenTo understand how and why American taxpayers are paying into an public education system that really isn't a public entity any longer, you should read this post from Potter-Williams Report detailing the privatization of public education. There is not much add to this excellent article on the total co-opting of

Jersey Jazzman: Content of Their Test Scores

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 15 minutes ago

Jersey Jazzman: Content of Their Test Scores:Content of Their Test Scoresby DukeHappy Martin Luther King Day!I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal." I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down ... more »

MLK’s prescient thinking on education reform - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 15 minutes ago

MLK’s prescient thinking on education reform - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post:MLK’s prescient thinking on education reformby Valerie StraussMartin Luther King Jr. wrote repeatedly on the subject of education and some of his thinking on the subject, while decades old, is still relevant. Each year on the federal holiday that honors his life, I publish excerpts of King writings on education. Here they are:Read full article MLK digital archive goes live with nearly 200,000 documentsby Valerie StraussNearly 200,000 ... more »

NYC Educator: Martin Luther King's Legacy

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 15 minutes ago

NYC Educator: Martin Luther King's Legacy:Martin Luther King's Legacyby NYC EducatorI want to retch when I read Arne Duncan is going somewhere to pay tribute to MLK. In fact, King was assasinated while in Memphis, supporting striking workers. Duncan, conversely, is in the pocket of billionaires like Bill Gates and Eli Broad, tinkering withineffectual pipe dreams that target working people and do nothing whatsoever to help the kids it's, ostensibly at least, his job to represent.Four years ago, I voted ... more »

Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top AM Posts 1-16 #edreform #ows

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 15 minutes ago

Dead Poets Society: Contact Microsoft or the Gates Foundation for Free One-Time Membership « Living Behind the GatesBig Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All)-3 hours agoDead Poets Society: Contact Microsoft or the Gates Foundation for Free One-Time Membership « Living Behind the Gates:Dead Poets Society: Contact Microsoft or the Gates Foundation for Free One-Time MembershipBy livingbehindthegatesTruth like-like a blanket that always leaves your feet cold.Y-Y-You push it, stretch it, it’ll never be enough.You kick at it, beat it, it’ll never ... more »

Daily Kos: of "quiet rooms" . . .

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 15 minutes ago

Daily Kos: of "quiet rooms" . . .:of "quiet rooms" . . .by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken)Mitt Romney says that we should discuss income inequality, if at all, only in “quiet rooms.” There was a time when people said the same thing about racial inequality. Luckily, however, there were people like Martin Luther King who refused to stay quiet. And we should follow their example today. For the fact is that rising inequality threatens to make America a different and worse place ... more »

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: \WEEKEND QUOTABLES

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 15 minutes ago

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: \WEEKEND QUOTABLES:\WEEKEND QUOTABLESby Mike KlonskyDr. King“...The richest nation on Earth has never allocated enough resources to build sufficient schools, to compensate adequately its teachers, and to surround them with the prestige our work justifies. We squander funds on highways, on the frenetic pursuit of recreation, on the overabundance of overkill armament, but we pauperize education.” -- Valerie Strauss, "MLK's prescient thinking on education reform."Bill MoyersIn an era of gross inequality there’s both irony and relevance

Dead Poets Society: Contact Microsoft or the Gates Foundation for Free One-Time Membership « Living Behind the Gates

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 13 hours ago

Dead Poets Society: Contact Microsoft or the Gates Foundation for Free One-Time Membership « Living Behind the Gates:Dead Poets Society: Contact Microsoft or the Gates Foundation for Free One-Time MembershipBy livingbehindthegatesTruth like-like a blanket that always leaves your feet cold.Y-Y-You push it, stretch it, it’ll never be enough.You kick at it, beat it, it’ll never cover any of us.From the moment we enter crying t-to the moment we leave dying,it’ll just cover your face as you wail and cry and ... more »

Bitter Politics of Envy? - NYTimes.com

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 17 hours ago

Bitter Politics of Envy? - NYTimes.com:Bitter Politics of Envy?By CHARLES M. BLOWPublished: January 13, 2012RECOMMENDTWITTERLINKEDINCOMMENTS (421)E-MAILPRINTREPRINTSSHAREYou’re just jealous. At least that’s how Mitt Romney sees it. The millionaire who posed for a picture with the boys at Bain Capital with the long green clinched between their teeth and poking out of their collars and jackets now says that people who question what he did there, and what rich people do now, are just green with envy.Enlarge This ImageDamon Winter/The New ... more »

Peg with Pen: Yelling from Who-ville. We Will Be Heard. Occupy the DOE in DC.

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 17 hours ago

Peg with Pen: Yelling from Who-ville. We Will Be Heard. Occupy the DOE in DC.:Yelling from Who-ville. We Will Be Heard. Occupy the DOE in DC.by PeggyYou’ve already heard the Whos in Who-ville haven’t you? The Whos were always there, while many of us basked inthe Jungle of Nool, In the heat of the day, in the cool of the pool…Yet, it’s not so easy to bask these days, because once youhave heard them in Who-ville, you cannot turn away. ... more »

Some Ugly Details from the Daley/Duncan/Obama Connection | Dailycensored.com

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 17 hours ago

Some Ugly Details from the Daley/Duncan/Obama Connection | Dailycensored.com:Some Ugly Details from the Daley/Duncan/Obama Connectionby susanoIt is not my custom to spent time on an article from American Thinker, a conservative publication whose political editor brags about appearances on the Dennis Miller show, but Unsolved Mystery: D.C. Public Schools Cheating Scandal by M. Catharine Evans and Ann Kane is informative and important. I’m interested not so much in the D. C. cheating scandal as I am in the exposure of ... more »

Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top late Early Evening Posts #ows #edreform 1-15

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 17 hours ago

Century-old 8th-grade exam: Can you pass a 1912 test? - The Answer Sheet - The Washington PostBig Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All)-21 minutes agoCentury-old 8th-grade exam: Can you pass a 1912 test? - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post:Century-old 8th-grade exam: Can you pass a 1912 test?by Valerie StraussHere’s a copy of the eighth-grade exam used in schools in Bullitt County, Ky., in 1912. It was recently donated to the Bullitt County History Museum, which is a service ... more »

The Corporate Management Is An Unfit Model for Education | Miguel Angel Escotet

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 17 hours ago

The Corporate Management Is An Unfit Model for Education | Miguel Angel Escotet:The Corporate Management Is An Unfit Model for Educationby Miguel Angel EscotetWhat are the bases of culture and society? What is the cultural and social context of education? How can the social forces that influence teaching and learning be adapted to enhance the educational process? What are the cultural and social foundations of education in America? What are the purposes of education in a global society? What higher ... more »

Jersey Jazzman: Are TFA Teachers Superior? No.

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 17 hours ago

Jersey Jazzman: Are TFA Teachers Superior? No.:Are TFA Teachers Superior? No.by DukeReliably, Jay Matthews at the Washington Post tells us why Teach For American is so awesome:I understand why many NEA members are bothered by TFA. They feel it demeans their profession to give classroom responsibilities to young people with so little preparation. They know that novice U.S. teachers need even more training than what they are getting in regular education school programs. Experts say new teachers should be closely ... more »

Schools Matter: It's the Socioeconomic Segregation, Stupid

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 17 hours ago

Schools Matter: It's the Socioeconomic Segregation, Stupid:It's the Socioeconomic Segregation, Stupidby Jim HornIt’s theSocioeconomic Segregation, Stupid Jim HornIna piece for The Nation by a fewdays ago, Linda Darling-Hammond demolishes most of the remaining chunks of anysize within the crumbling structure of corporate education’s mostironically-titled reform ever—No Child Left Behind. NCLB is rubble, even though many unseen victims continue tobe buried beneath its mammoth pile. Darling-Hammond, who was recruited to get Team Obama up to speed oneducation issues following the 2008 ... more »

Occupy Zelig | California Father #ows

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 17 hours ago

Occupy Zelig | California Father:Occupy Zeligby California FatherPopoutOne of the best things about Occupy? You get to meet a lot of great people.Here is ReFund California’s Jono Shaffer, legendary organizer, speaking at the January 1, 2012 Occupy the Rose Parade kick-off teach-in event. The guy to his (camera) right is my good friend blogger/agitator Marty Berg

Jersey Jazzman: High School Sr. Speaks Out on Charters

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 17 hours ago

Jersey Jazzman: High School Sr. Speaks Out on Charters:High School Sr. Speaks Out on Chartersby DukeA reader at my Facebook page (you "like" me, don't you?) pointed me to this great letter in the Chicago Tribuneabout charters from a high school student:The charter school system is one of the biggest problems with our current education system. Charter schools are allowed to be privately operated yet publicly funded, which is a paradox. Instead of public tax dollars going solely to public ... more »

Century-old 8th-grade exam: Can you pass a 1912 test? - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 22 hours ago

Century-old 8th-grade exam: Can you pass a 1912 test? - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post:Century-old 8th-grade exam: Can you pass a 1912 test?by Valerie StraussHere’s a copy of the eighth-grade exam used in schools in Bullitt County, Ky., in 1912. It was recently donated to the Bullitt County History Museum, which is a service of the Bullitt County Genealogical Society and which gave me permission to republish it.Read full article Tim Tebow’s unusual educationValerie Strauss at The Answer ... more »

All Things Education: Opportunity to Develop Literacy

All Things Education: Opportunity to Develop Literacy:

Opportunity to Develop Literacy

On Monday, January 9th, Virginia Governor McDonnell announced his education agenda, entitled, "Opportunity to Learn." This has been covered by The Virginia Education Report, The Washington Post, as well as commented on by many throughout the state (For Chad Sansing's excellent commentary, read here. Or, for a partial listing of other reactions, see here.) I am going to offer my reactions in a series of posts starting with this one.

Before I comment on the agenda, I want to reiterate a point that Chad Sansing made in his piece:

McDonnell’s blueprint promises “a bold education proposal that will dramatically increase money for Virginia’s teachers and

NYC Public School Parents: Martin Luther King Jr. and education reform

NYC Public School Parents: Martin Luther King Jr. and education reform:

Martin Luther King Jr. and education reform

by Leonie Haimson

On Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, too many of our elected leaders are using this day as an opportunity to attack teachers and their unions, and put in a system which would lead to 50 percent of NYC teachers to be fired at struggling schools, if the UFT does not succumb to the DOE’s demand to impose an evaluation system with no safeguards against unfair or abusive principals and no appeals.

Let us remember that MLK Jr. was highly supportive of unions and the right of their members to collectively bargain and have the right to due process. Let us all remember that many of these same oligarchs who are now scapegoating teachers actually favor increasing class size at a time when NYC schools still have the largest class sizes in the nation – despite the fact that smaller classes is of the few reforms proven to work tonarrow the achievement gap. I wrote more about this last year on MLK Jr. birthday here.

There is little doubt that Martin Luther King Jr. would support a far different agenda: one that was supportive of teachers, integration, and equitable resources and conditions in inner city schools, including smaller classes.

Bayard Rustin was another brilliant civil rights leader, who promoted non-violent resistance and acted as a mentor for MLK Jr.