Jersey Jazzman: The Bizarre World of Chris Cerf's Brain

Jersey Jazzman: The Bizarre World of Chris Cerf's Brain:

The Bizarre World of Chris Cerf's Brain

by Duke

NJ Education Commissioner Chris Cerf's brain must be a remarkable place. How does a person in such an important position manage to contradict himself on the same night? (all emphases mine)

New Jersey Education Commissioner Christopher Cerf insisted during a meeting with residents last night that he did nothing improper when he met privately with Ward E Concilman Steven Fulop and a small group of residents and school board members last year to discuss issues related to finding a new superintendent, though he later refused the school board’s invitation to do the same in a public meeting.
    
“If I am invited into a community, whether by elected officials or private citizens, I am happy to meet with them,” Cerf said during a two-and-a-half hour meeting at New Jersey City University. “I’ve done it before. I’d be happy to do it again.”

 Later:

Cerf also declined Grigsby’s request that he meet with Jersey City parents two to four times a yeargiven the state’s actions within the district. While Cerf did not rule out additional public meetings, he 

Fundamentally Opposed to Mandatory Standardized Education | Lefty Parent

Fundamentally Opposed to Mandatory Standardized Education | Lefty Parent:

Fundamentally Opposed to Mandatory Standardized Education

by Cooper Zale

So I was in the mood for a rant today… You’ve been warned…
Based on all my life’s experience, all the principles I hold dear, and all my study of human history and development, I am fundamentally opposed to having a standardized education imposed on young people by the government. It is the most effective tool of the totalitarian state, and all the more pernicious when wielded by the highest levels of government in a democratic society. I fear that it will continue to erode the underpinnings of the democratic principles the United States was founded on, continuing to teach each successive generation that 

“Won’t Back Down”: Why do teachers’ unions hate America? - Salon.com

“Won’t Back Down”: Why do teachers’ unions hate America? - Salon.com:

“Won’t Back Down”: Why do teachers’ unions hate America?

"Won't Back Down" is an offensive, lame, union-bashing drama, which somehow stars Viola Davis and Maggie Gyllenhaal

BY ANDREW O'HEHIR

 
•  525
 
•  117
 
 
• more
 

TOPICS: LABOR, MAGGIE GYLLENHAAL, MOVIES, TEACHERS, TEACHERS UNIONS,THE LABOR MOVEMENT, VIOLA DAVIS, WON'T BACK DOWNENTERTAINMENT NEWS,POLITICS NEWS,

Maggie Gyllenhaal, Rosie Perez and Viola Davis in "Won't Back Down"

So teachers’ unions don’t care about kids. Oh, and luck is a foxy lady. This is what I took away from the inept and bizarre “Won’t Back Down,” a set of right-wing anti-union talking points disguised (with very limited success) as a mainstream motion-picture-type product. Someone needs to launch an investigation into what combination of crimes, dares, alcoholic binges and lapses in judgment got Viola Davis and Maggie Gyllenhaal into this movie. Neither of them seems likely to sympathize with its thinly veiled labor-bashing agenda and, way more to the point, I thought they had better taste. 

Do We Need to Burn Our Violins and Close Our Swimming Pools? — Whole Child Education

Do We Need to Burn Our Violins and Close Our Swimming Pools? — Whole Child Education:

THE WHOLE CHILD BLOG

Do We Need to Burn Our Violins and Close Our Swimming Pools?

September 26, 2012 by Sean Slade

"To compete with China in education we will need to burn our violins and close our swimming pools."

This was said last week in Melbourne, Australia, by author Yong Zhao at the 2012 Joint Australian Primary Principals Association and New Zealand Federation of Principals Trans-Tasman Conference. Zhao presented a keynote at the conference, as did ASCD Board of Directors member Pasi Sahlberg and author Andy Hargreaves. Interestingly, the themes each speaker touched on have relevance to not only Australian audiences, but also those around the world that are going through similar discussions.

Call them the Global Education Reform Movement (GERM) discussions.

"The latest infection sweeping schools, according to Finnish education reformer Pasi Sahlberg [and from which Finland has remained uninfected], is the GERM 

Through the end of October, ASCD is hosting a Whole Child Down Under Webinar Series for Australian audiences, focusing on the questions above and how schools and districts can best implement a whole child approach to education. The first episode on the role of the principal aired earlier this week and will be archived for general viewing soon.

The next episode airs on Tuesday, October 10, at 12 p.m. in Sydney and 9 a.m. in Perth. It will focus on how schools and districts can implement not only a whole child approach but a systemic approach to school improvement provide for longer term success and sustainability. We'll share the new and free ASCD School Improvement Tool which, using the Whole Child Tenets and their indicators, allows schools and districts to conduct a needs assessment and receive next steps for improvement. Register now!.

The Whole Child Is Going Down Under

by Sean Slade

Over the next two months, we will be hosting a webinar series designed specifically for Australian educators. It has become obvious over the last year that the discussions being conducted in Australia about education reform reflect many of the same conversations held here in the United States. Whether it is the debate on the development and expansion of a national curriculum, the basis for funding for states and schools (Gonski), or even the premise and unexpected baggage that accompany initiatives that rank schools by—among other things—academic test scores (My School), there are lessons that Australian educators can learn by reviewing what has occurred in the United States. Larger than all of these discussions, yet embedded into all, is the fundamental question of "what do we want to achieve out of our education system?" Do we, as Australian Minister for School Education Peter Garrett stated, on reviewing the 2009 PISA Results, "prioritize English, Maths, and Science or see the Arts as fundamental to a fully rounded education? What do we learn from looking overseas?" (April 12, 2012).

Our answer is "yes" to all these questions: "yes" to a whole child approach to education, "yes" to a fully well-

NYC Public School Parents: Noah Gotbaum vs. Mitt Romney on who parents trust more, the union or Michael Bloomberg?

NYC Public School Parents: Noah Gotbaum vs. Mitt Romney on who parents trust more, the union or Michael Bloomberg?:

Noah Gotbaum vs. Mitt Romney on who parents trust more, the union or Michael Bloomberg?

by Leonie Haimson

See the video below, in which NYC parent leader Noah Gotbaum confronts Mitt Romney at the propaganda fest known as Education Nation about how parents support the teachers union more than the Mayor, a proposition that Mitt says he doesn't believe. Noah is right , of course.

Parents do support the teachers union far more than they support Bloomberg and  the Chancellor as seen in thisQuinnipiac poll from last February. The poll found that overall, NYC voters trust the teachers' union more than the mayor to protect the interest of public school children 56 - 31 percent,; and public school parents trust the union by an even larger margin: 69 - 22 percent.

The same was true in Chicago, with most registered voters supporting the teachers, even during the strike, 

Charter School Teachers Vs. Public School Teachers (Education Nation) [Why We Write] | The Jose Vilson

Charter School Teachers Vs. Public School Teachers (Education Nation) [Why We Write] | The Jose Vilson:

Charter School Teachers Vs. Public School Teachers (Education Nation) [Why We Write]

by Jose

Education Nation Teacher Town Hall 2012

She said she doesn’t like when teachers differentiate themselves between charter and public. I nodded cautiously.
At the Education Nation Teacher Town Hall, while NBC anchor Brian Williams feigned nervousness in front of the hundreds of educators in front of us, teachers from all different groups convened at the Public Library, some from groups like National Board for Professional Teaching Standards and the American Federation of Teachers (full disclosure: I went under the AFT) and other groups like Educators for Excellence (another full disclosure: -

“Give it a rest, Rahm”: Great Sun-Times letter by PURE member Parents United for Responsible Education

Parents United for Responsible Education » Blog Archive » “Give it a rest, Rahm”: Great Sun-Times letter by PURE member:

“Give it a rest, Rahm”: Great Sun-Times letter by PURE member

by admin

Yesterday’s Sun-Times carried this to-the-point letter from PURE member and active mom Linda Hudson: 

Dear Mr. Mayor: It is far too early to be campaigning for re-election. Stop the commercials and radio ads already. Tell your rich hedge-fund friends to use the money spent on these misleading commercials to help the children of Chicago. You know, those kids whose parents can’t afford the Lab School. Show the children of Chicago you truly have their best interest at heart by forging a relationship with the CTU and draw a line in the sand and play fair.
Linda Hudson, Avalon Park

Respect teachers | Uppity Wisconsin

Respect teachers | Uppity Wisconsin:

Respect teachers

by Sen. K. Vinehout

“How do I attract and keep the best teachers?” the school administrator asked me.

“I’m losing my best teachers,” another said.

The state’s school superintendents recently gathered for their state convention. I spoke to their convention and listened to their concerns during a break in the action.

Many superintendents are concerned about the upcoming state budget. They told me if the state continues to short-change schools of needed cash, our schools will struggle to attract and retain qualified teachers.

Already the state has experienced a significant loss of public school teachers.  The Department of Public 

Seattle Schools Community Forum: BEX IV Re-order

Seattle Schools Community Forum: BEX IV Re-order:

BEX IV Re-order

by Charlie Mas

I think some of the District's urgency around capacity is real and some is manufactured. They have a real need for additional elementary school capacity in West Seattle and the northeast. They have a real need for middle school capacity in the north. The high school and central region middle school capacity needs aren't all that urgent.

Outside of capacity needs, they do need to take care of the World School without further delay and the renovation to Arbor Heights cannot wait.

Keeping the cash flow in mind, I would make a little re-order of the projects. The chart with the projects and their price tags is a bit misleading since the money isn't actually spent only in the year that the project completes. Still, any changes in timing have to be made with an eye to the cash flow.

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: What's the difference (if any) on education? And why?

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: What's the difference (if any) on education? And why?:

What's the difference (if any) on education? And why?

by Mike Klonsky

"I once thought classroom size was … [the] only thing I could do to make our schools better." --Mitt Romney

"Come be in a classroom with fifth graders and tell me class size doesn’t matter." -- Pres. Obama   

"But in secondary schools, districts may be able to save money without hurting students, while 

NYC Public School Parents: NJ parents occupy the NJ Dept of Education to fight the scourge of charter schools in their community!

NYC Public School Parents: NJ parents occupy the NJ Dept of Education to fight the scourge of charter schools in their community!:

NJ parents occupy the NJ Dept of Education to fight the scourge of charter schools in their community!

by Leonie Haimson

Parents protesting at the NJ Department of Education credit: NJ Star Ledger

A few days ago we featured the real-life "Won't Back Down" story of a Brooklyn parent and teacherwho together battled to prevent a billionaire-backed charter school from invading their successful public school building.  Today we feature the story of Darcie Cimarusti, who with other NJ parents, successfully fought to prevent a charter school from siphoning off funds from their public schools. You should also follow Darcie's terrific blog,Mother Crusader.  Please send us your own real-life Won't Back Down stories at info@classsizematters.org

My name is Darcie Cimarusti, and I am a parent of 

The Innovative Educator: 3 ways to measure students, teachers, & schools without standardized tests

The Innovative Educator: 3 ways to measure students, teachers, & schools without standardized tests:

3 ways to measure students, teachers, & schools without standardized tests

by noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Nielsen)

A theme at this week’s Education Nation was the failure of standardized tests as a measurement of student achievement and teacher effectiveness. Those who know better know that standardized tests tell us more about a student’s language acquisition, parental involvement, poverty level, and developmental level than they do about teacher effectiveness or student ability. But, it is hard for anyone to imagine how we would possible assess student, teacher, and school effectiveness without the mindless drill, kill, bubblefill that forces students to memorize and regurgitate on demand.  Yet we all know these are not the skills that our students need for success in life.  

So how might we measure students, teachers, and schools if there were no tests? There are countless ways besides the mega-billion testing industry model, but here are three ideas for our policy makers like Mitt Romney who admit they don't know a better model than a testing system.

1. Measure student achievement via authentic teacher assessmentTeachers already have

RheeFirst! » Why is StudentsFirst so desperate to get people to see Won’t Back Down?

RheeFirst! » Why is StudentsFirst so desperate to get people to see Won’t Back Down?:

Why is StudentsFirst so desperate to get people to see Won’t Back Down?

by admin

StudentsFirst is desperately trying to get people to see Won’t Back Down, a new movie from the makers ofWaiting for Superman.  And it’s no wonder why– the movie is getting trashed by reviewers, and is currently neck-and-neck with Dude, Where’s My Car? on Rotten Tomatoes.

(apologies to the makers of Dude, Where’s My Car?)
StudentsFirst has given out over a thousand tickets to this film, not counting their screenings at the conventions, and their New York branch is currently offering two tickets to anyone that donates $25.  What’s driving this desperate promotion?  Might it have something to do with StudentsFirst getting funding from Rupert Murdoch, whose company is producing the film?   Or the fact that a StudentsFirst board member is a key advisor to Murdoch?  One thing is for sure: it’s certainly not their appreciation for great cinema.

“The more time spent by teachers on measuring their own effectiveness, the less effective the teachers become.” | Get Schooled

“The more time spent by teachers on measuring their own effectiveness, the less effective the teachers become.” | Get Schooled:

“The more time spent by teachers on measuring their own effectiveness, the less effective the teachers become.”

by Maureen Downey

I have been hearing about the new Student Learning Objectives from teachers statewide, including this note from a teacher in central Georgia:

I was wondering what you might be able to tell me about Student Learning Objectives or SLO’s (called “Slows” by the teachers).  I teach kindergarten and have never seen anything in my life that seems to be such a waste of time.  I understand why they are “needed,” but they take up to 10 days to administer at the beginning of the year, and then up to 10 days at the end of the year.  This is a total of 20 days basically wasted administering these tests.  And it’s not just in kindergarten, but all elementary grades (Pre-K through 5) for the Teacher Keys Evaluation System (TKES).
My kids come into kindergarten hardly knowing anything, and now I have to waste up to 20 days of valuable instruction time administering these tests so that there are “valid and reliable” tests to use 

Afternoon UPDATE: LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 9-26-12 Diane Ravitch's blog

Diane Ravitch's blog:

A Political Analysis of a Propaganda Film

by dianerav

Liza Featherstone wrote a fascinating analysis of the anti-union film “Won’t Back Down.”
To whet your appetite, read this:
“Despite scapegoating teachers’ unions, ‘Won’t Back Down’ is not an anti-teacher movie. Most of the teacher characters—especially Nona, played by Viola Davis—are heroic. That’s because one of the film’s messages is that busting teachers’ unions is better for teachers. In one scene, a meeting to discuss the possible takeover, 

The Absolutely Best Review Ever of “Won’t Back Down”

by dianerav

Salon writer Andrew O’Hehir absolutely nails the anti-union, anti-teacher “Won’t Back Down.”
He opens by saying: “Someone needs to launch an investigation into what combination of crimes, dares, alcoholic binges and lapses in judgment got Viola Davis and Maggie Gyllenhaal into this movie. Neither of them seems likely to sympathize with its thinly veiled labor-bashing agenda and, way more to the point, I thought they had better taste.”
I won’t spoil your fun in reading the review. It is hilarious and spot-on.

See This Youtube Video “Educating Maggie”

by dianerav

NYC parents organized a protest outside the opening of “Won’t Back Down.”
The parents say they don’t want corporations taking over their schools and their children. They know how little the corporations care about equity or children.
They

You Too Can Review the Anti-Union, Anti-Teacher Film

by dianerav

Go to “Rotten Tomatoes” and post your review here.

Has Teaching Become an Abusive Relationship?

by dianerav

What defines an abusive relationship?
Has teaching become an abusive relationship?
Why do teachers remain in jobs where they are treated like infants or meek wives?
More important, how can they stand up and say enough is enough? See “Chicago, Teachers Strike”

Bill Moyers on ALEC

by dianerav

Bill Moyers reports on ALEC this week.
I hope he pays attention to what ALEC is doing to American education.
It has a bold agenda of privatization. It has model legislation for charter schools and vouchers.
It wants to destroy the teaching profession. It has model legislation for alternative certification so anyone can 

Charter Schools in South Carolina: No Better than Public Schools

by dianerav

By now, there should be a standard headline that reads: “Once again, charter schools are found to get no better results than public schools.” Some get worse results.
Here is the latest from South Carolina.
There are some high-performing charter schools; some low-performing charter schools. On average, the results from charter schools are no different from those of public schools. Many of the South Carolina charters getworse results than the public schools.
Yet state after state is increasing the number of charters, taking resources away from public schools to educate 

Analyzing President Obama’s Education Interview with NBC

by dianerav

Yesterday I posted an interview in which President Obama expressed his views about education.
I wanted you to read it in its entirety without my comments.
Here are my comments.
First, the President acknowledged that he was not a very good student when he was in school. He said that he was “mediocre.” Several readers have asked: Does the President think that his teachers should have been fired because he didn’t try? Did he have bad teachers? Were they responsible for his poor performance or was he?
Second, the President lauded the idea of merit pay, paying teachers more if the test scores of their students go up (and firing them if they don’t). No one has told him that merit pay has failed wherever it was tried. No one has told him that it failed in Nashville in 2010, it failed in New York City in 2010, it failed in Chicago last year. Yet his 

Rhee’s Teacher Evaluation Program Bombs in DC

by dianerav

This is a stunning article about the teacher evaluation system that Michelle Rhee put in place in the District of Columbia.
Rhee fired about 1,000 teachers during her time as chancellor.
Since her evaluation system was put into place, 400 teachers have been fired.
Since the evaluation system was put into place, the federal test scores for the District went flat.
Some teachers get big bonuses. One teacher, at the end of the article, says she is rated “highly effective” and she turned down the bonus.
As Mary Levy, a long-time analyst of the DC school system, says in the article: We have gone from a system where almost no one was terminated, no matter how bad, to the other extreme, where good teachers as well as bad are terminated,” said Mary Levy, an attorney and a longtime analyst of city education policy. “The latter is 

Why Are the Media So Upset about an Inexperienced Referee?

by dianerav

A reader reacted to an earlier post about TFA by noting how upset the media are about an inexperienced referee. She sees an important parallel:
Isn’t it ironic that the news stations and many fans are more upset about a second-rate referee making a bad call in a football game, but they are not so worried about untrained, novice TFA teachers practicing on our kids for 180+ days and then ditching the profession?
No wonder the teaching profession is doomed.
Will the politicians and corporate reformers be working to dismantle the referees’ union as fiercely as they are the teachers’ union?

A Sound Mind in a Sound Body

by dianerav

As everyone knows by now, there are districts that are eliminating recess and physical education because they want that time to devote to test preparation.
The test scores determine who will get a bonus, who will be fired, and whether the school lives or dies.
This is awful for children. They are active, growing, and in need of a break from study.
Now comes more evidence that physical activity is good for mental activity.
Actually, physical activity, play, unsupervised play is good in and of itself.
Whether it is walking, running, jumping, playing games, or just messing around, children and adults need time to 

Why Is TFA Collecting Your Nickels and Dimes?

by dianerav

TFA is clearly a very successful operation. It places some 10,000 or so young college graduates in the nation’s schools each year, after giving them five weeks of training. They commit to stay for two years but some stay for three or four, and a few stay longer. Districts pay TFA $2,000-5,000 for each recruit.
According to a recent article in Reuters, TFA has assets of $300 million.
TFA has an awesome fund-raising machine. It won $50 million from the U.S. Department of Education; anothe

An Ironic Story

by dianerav

Viola Davis, the film star who appears in the anti-union, pro-charter movie “Won’t Back Down,” recently appeared on the Ellen DeGeneres show.
Davis is a graduate of Central Falls High School in Rhode Island. This is the school that was targeted for closure in 2010, where there was a pitched battle between the district/state leadership and the teachers in the school. When Davis won an Academy Award in 2010, she gave a shout-out to her alma mater, Central Falls High School, and that gave the teachers there a big boost.
So now she is a star in a movie that encourages parents and teachers to “seize control” of their public school 

Why Is the South So Easily Fooled?

by dianerav

When I lectured in Chattanooga last week, I noticed a strange phenomenon. When I said things bluntly, people gasped. At one point, for example, I responded to a question by saying that the Legislature should not cut education to give tax breaks to corporations. The audience noticeably gasped. There were several moments like that. It occurred to me that the politicians in Tennessee are so eager to attract corporate investment, that it is a sacrilege to question the strategy of cutting education to fund corporate tax breaks.
A thoughtful comment by 

Superintendent Tony Bennett Has a Plan

by dianerav

Tony Bennett of Indiana is so sure that he knows how to reform schools. He knows that reform is all about threatening teachers and schools, holding their feet to the fire, and testing ceaselessly.
He has a new idea. He wants to take over districts with low scores. Indianapolis is in his sights. He wants to take it over, shut it down, possibly privatize it.
There is an election in November. Glenda Ritz is running against Tony Bennett. She is an educator. She wants to improve schools, not privatize them. This is a chance for the citizens of Indiana to stop the assault on public

The Georgia Federation of Teachers Denounces Charter Legislation

by dianerav

Governor Nathan Deal of Georgia is supporting a constitutional amendment to create a commission to approve charter schools despite the objection of local school boards. This proposal was drafted by the rightwing ALEC organization, which is heavily funded by big corporations and counts 2,000 state legislators among its members.
This is the statement issued by the Georgia Federation of Teachers about the constitutional amendment that would curtail the powers of local school boards:
Children, Not Profits, Are Our Priority
Georgia Federation of Teachers President Verdaillia Turner

What’s Wrong with This Picture?

by dianerav

A reader watched Jeb Bush on television today. She reports:
I am watching Jeb Bush talk on msnbc…he says to give teachers the deal that if students learn more you get paid more. He says it is complicated but it is doable, particularly with new assessment tools that exist. He says you should get paid more if your students make better gains than the teacher who has like type kids next door, paid more if you work in a more difficult school, paid more if you are teaching science and math, and that differentiated pay was part of issue in Chicago. Joe asks why teachers resist it and Jeb says that is why it is called collective bargaining. The union most represents the teachers who have been in the system longer. LIFO is protected by the union to protect the teachers who pay more dues.
He ends by saying that middle class families think they are doing ok because they are benchmarking 

Las Vegas: Class Size Up, Morale Down

by dianerav

In response to the transcript of President Obama’s interview with NBC, a teacher writes:
Class sizes here in Las Vegas are not going down. When they reshuffled on count day we lost teachers at our sites There are now 36 kids in all our 4th and 5th grade classes. Schools are only staffed at 93%. I think it is the districts way of punishing the Union for winning arbitration where it was clearly proved the money for salary 

President Obama Explains His Views to Education Nation

by dianerav

TRANSCRIPT: PRESIDENT OBAMA SITS DOWN WITH SAVANNAH GUTHRIE
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW FOR NBC NEWS’ “EDUCATION NATION”
September 25, 2012 — As part of the NBC News 2012 “Education Nation” Summit this week, President Barack Obama sat down with NBC’s Savannah Guthrie to discuss his vision for the future of education in America.
The exclusive interview aired Tuesday on “TODAY” and this afternoon on MSNBC. A full transcript is below. If