UPDATE: Daine in the Evening 10-3-12 Diane Ravitch's blog

Diane Ravitch's blog:

A Parent’s Letter to President Obama

by dianerav

This came from a parent in California, who revised my draft:
Submitted on 2012/10/03 at 6:02 pm
I second the motion for a similar letter coming from parents. Here’s my draft…
***
Dear President Obama,
We assume you know that there are many thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of parents, who are disappointed in your education policies.
We assume you know that some will vote for you reluctantly, some will vote for a third party candidate, and some will not vote at all. Our votes will make a difference.
Given the choice between you and Mitt Romney, who seems to view public education with contempt, we want to

Send a Letter to the President on October 17

by dianerav

Earlier I posted the draft of a letter to President Obama and asked for your help.
I got some excellent suggestions.
To begin with, this is not an online petition, but an invitation to join together to write your own individual heartfelt letter to the President and to email the White House on the same day.
The President should understand that he can’t take educators for granted–or parents. We want change. We want a constructive education program, one that supports children and teachers and schools, not carrots and sticks and sanctions and punishments. We want support for public schools, not privatization.
So if you are willing, everyone should turn October 17 into the target day, for maximum effect.
One excellent idea came from a parent, who changed the letter to make it a letter from

Help Write a Letter to President Obama

by dianerav

Based on your many comments, I have drafted the following letter to President Obama. Please tell me if you have any changes or corrections. Once the letter is edited, I will post it again, and whoever wishes to do so will send it on October 17, two weeks from today.
The letter is called:
Teachers’ Letter to President Obama
Dear President Obama,
We assume you know that there are many thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of teachers, who are disappointed in your education policies.
We assume you know that some will vote for you reluctantly, some will vote for a third party candidate, and 

Beware the Reorientation Room!

by dianerav

What kind of a school has a “reorientation room?”
What kind of a school has a “Dean of School Culture?”
What kind of a school has large numbers of uncertified teachers?
Would you send your own child there?
What kind of school is this? Read the link. 

solidaridad: Help Save LAUSD's Crenshaw and Dorsey High Schools

solidaridad: Help Save LAUSD's Crenshaw and Dorsey High Schools:

Help Save LAUSD's Crenshaw and Dorsey High Schools

by Robert D. Skeels * rdsathene

PREVENT SCHOOL CLOSURE/RECONSTITUTION!
Join Crenshaw and Dorsey High Schools at an EMERGENCY Community Meeting
Join Us at Our Community Meeting
Thursday, October 4, 5:30pm – 7:30pm
African-American Cultural Center
3018 W. 48th Street, LA, 90043 (at corner of 9th Avenue)
After years of instability and lack of support from LAUSD, Crenshaw High School has been on its way back. A dedicated team of educators, parents, students, alumni, administrators, and community have been working in collaboration with the school’s partner, the Greater Crenshaw Educational Partnership (GCEP), to ensure that every student’s potential is fully developed. This 

Parents United for Responsible Education » Blog Archive » Parent testing opt-out meeting tomorrow

Parents United for Responsible Education » Blog Archive » Parent testing opt-out meeting tomorrow:

Parent testing opt-out meeting tomorrow

by admin

This meeting started out as a small parent meeting for Drummond school and is not being  advertised it as a huge event, but there is so much interest in this topic that I just want people to be aware that it is happening. Meanwhile, several parent groups are working on a larger testing forum for later in the fall.

PSAT for 9-2-12: How to boycott hedge funder “reformers”?

by admin

Have been spending some time thinking about how to call for a boycott of people like hedge funder, former Bain guy, and Rahm Emanuel best buddy Bruce Rauner, chairman of the Education Committee of the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago and a member of the board of the Chicago Public Education Fund and New Schools for Chicago.
Why Rauner? Well, he’s recently set himself up as the primary nemesis of the CTU (maybe to deflect parent anger from his pal Rahm?). The day after the CTU strike ended, Rauner went on a rant against the union at a civic event and then went off on local public television. He followed that up with a particularly ugly editorial in today’s Tribune in which he actually accused a CTU member of calling him a derogatory name out 

The State of Education | ED.gov Blog

The State of Education | ED.gov Blog:

The State of Education

Posted on October 3, 2012 by Cameron Brenchley

Secretary Duncan spoke on the state of education at the National Press Club. Official Department of Education photo by Joshua Hoover.

“States and districts, schools and communities are driving more change than ever before,” Secretary Arne Duncan told reporters during a speech at the National Press Club yesterday. “Educators at every level are being more and more creative — pairing good schools with struggling schools, creating smaller, more manageable districts, and building partnerships between both high schools and colleges – and between colleges and industries,” he said.

During his speech and follow-up question and answer, Duncan reflected on the Department’s recent Education Drives America cross-country back-to-school bus tour, as well as explained how far we’ve come in last three years, and how far the country still needs to go.

On Flexibility Under No Child Left Behind

Above all there is enormous enthusiasm at the state level to build more effective accountability systems through the waiver process we began last fall – and now affecting more than 60 percent of the schoolchildren in the country in 33 states – with about 10 more in the pipeline.

Waivers are not a pass on accountability – but a smarter, more focused and fair way to hold ourselves accountable. In exchange for adopting high standards and meaningful systems of teacher support and evaluation:

• States set ambitious but achievable targets for every subgroup.
• More children at risk – who were invisible under NCLB – are now included in state-designed accountability systems — including low-income students, English-language learners and students with disabilities.
• Finally, local districts decide the most effective way to intervene in underperforming schools, instead of applying rigid, top-down mandates from Washington.

On Race to the Top

Our job — for the last three and a half years – has been to support that work – to support bold and courageous reform at the state and local level. That’s what Race to the Top was all about.

We offered the biggest competitive grants in our department’s history – and 45 states raised standards and 33 states changed laws – in order to compete and accelerate student achievement. In a fascinating lesson on the power of incentives, we have seen as much reform in states that didn’t receive a nickel as in states that received tens of millions of dollars.

The fact that 45 states have now adopted internationally benchmarked, college and career-ready standards is an absolute game-changer. Virtually the entire country has voluntarily raised expectations for our children.

On Strengthening Teaching

I also know that some educators feel overwhelmed by the speed and pace of change. Teachers I speak with always support accountability and a fair system of evaluation. They want the feedback so they can get better and hone their craft.

But some of them say it’s happening too quickly and not always in a way that is respectful and fair. They want an evaluation system that recognizes out-of-school factors and distinguishes among students with special needs, gifts and backgrounds.

They certainly don’t want to be evaluated based on one test score – and I absolutely agree with them. Evaluation must be based on multiple measures.

On Investing in Education

And the choice facing the country is pretty stark – we are at a fork in the road. Some people see education as an expense government can cut in tough economic times. President Obama sees education as an investment in our future – the best investment we can make, especially in tough economic times.

Duncan ended by calling for the country to unite behind the cause of public education and realize that the solutions won’t come from one party or ideology, but that all of us need to challenge and hold ourselves accountable.

Read the entire speech here, and watch the video from C-SPAN here.

Cameron Brenchley is director of digital engagement at the U.S. Department of Education

The Responsibility Myth: Asking Kids To "Own" Our Choices — Whole Child Education

The Responsibility Myth: Asking Kids To "Own" Our Choices — Whole Child Education:

THE WHOLE CHILD BLOG

The Responsibility Myth: Asking Kids To “Own” Our Choices

October 3, 2012 by Bob Sullo

Adults rightfully want children to take responsibility for their actions. I'm guessing the following scenarios are familiar to you:

• Cassandra, a 2nd grade student, is doodling rather than completing her work in class. A competent student, Cassandra frequently squanders time and has been spoken to by her teacher on numerous occasions. Today, her teacher says, "Cassandra, I see you've chosen not to go out for recess with your classmates today."
• DeShawn frequently disrupts class. Today is no exception. His teacher has had enough and announces, "OK, DeShawn. I guess you've decided you want to spend some time with me after school today. I'll see you for thirty minutes after dismissal."
• Jocelyn has been told repeatedly to clean her bedroom. Her mother believes it's reasonable to require a 13-year-old to keep her room tidy. After repeated warnings, Jocelyn's mother tells her, "I can see by 

Civil rights complaint filed over Philadelphia school closings | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

Civil rights complaint filed over Philadelphia school closings | Philadelphia Public School Notebook:

Civil rights complaint filed over Philadelphia school closings

by thenotebook

Photo: Benjamin Herold/NewsWorks

Theodore Stones speaks to the rally outside School District headquarters Wednesday morning

• COMMENTS (0)PRINT
• EMAIL

By Benjamin Herold
for WHYY/NewsWorks, a Notebook news partner

Seeking a moratorium on dozens of plannedschool closings, community organizing group Action United filed a federal civil rights complaint Wednesday against the School District of Philadelphia.

The eight schools approved for closure last spring serve a disproportionately high percentage of African-American students, resulting in a negative "disparate impact" on the city's African-American communities, argued Action United member Theodore Stones during a Wednesday morning rally outside district headquarters.

As a result, said Stones, the district should halt its stated plan to close several dozen more schools over the next few years.

"The School Reform Commission says that up to 64 more schools will be closedover the next several years...That by itself will be a disaster," said Stones. "If the trend of closing disproportionately African-American schools continues on such a 

Mis-Education Nation: Why Were Student Voices Silenced at NBC's Town Hall? | Education on GOOD

Mis-Education Nation: Why Were Student Voices Silenced at NBC's Town Hall? | Education on GOOD:

Mis-Education Nation: Why Were Student Voices Silenced at NBC's Town Hall?

When an event is advertised as a student town hall you expect that the people driving the conversation will be, well, students. Last week I had the privilege of speaking at NBC’s Education Nation Student Town Hall hosted by Melissa Harris-Perry. While I was initially thrilled that NBC wanted to involve students in the discussion, my optimism quickly soured.

Half of the "student" town hall was dedicated not to hearing what students had to say, but to venting by various adult journalists and politicians on the challenges affecting education. During the panel discussion portion, students in the audience who wanted to ask questions weren't 

Chinese funding Florida charter schools

Chinese funding Florida charter schools:

Chinese funding Florida charter schools

By Meisha Perrin

中國的融資佛羅里達州特許學校

    Investment money is pouring into Florida from wealthy Chinese who find that Florida has exactly what they are looking for — and what they need to secure US green cards.
   Chinese investors are taking advantage of the EB-5 investment visa program, the so-called "green card via red carpet," by putting millions into Florida's charter schools and an aquaculture farm in Central Florida. 
   Under the EB-5 program, through investments of at least $1 million — or $500,000 for "targeted employment areas" — foreign nationals are able to obtain legal residency in the US so long as the money they invest will help secure or create at least 10 full-time jobs. 
   A group of Chinese investors have put $30 million into the state's charter school program to date and are looking to invest three times that amount in the next year, Ilona Vega Jaramillo, director of international business development for Enterprise Florida, the state's economic development arm, said in a US-China roundtable discussion last week. 
   She would not name any of the investors, citing confidentiality.
   In addition, about 12 other Chinese investors have put their $500,000 into a $16 million aquaculture project on 100 acres in Fellsmere, FL. 
   The project, according to Clifford Morris, president of Florida Organic 

Tom King's Blog of De-Fog!: The Educated Man (And Woman)

Tom King's Blog of De-Fog!: The Educated Man (And Woman):

The Educated Man (And Woman)

by Tom King

56 years ago I was a sophomore at the College of St. Thomas. Msgr. James P. Shannon was President and frequently held convocations that dealt with topics important both inside and outside the classroom.

One that I will never forget was titled "The Tradition of Respectful Argument." As you listen to the upcoming debates along politicians, or read current political articles by many axe-grinding journalists, you will find far more disrespectful argument.

Like most ad hominem, personalized attacks, all these diatribes do is cause further diatribe.

Read Shannon's piece below and reflect on it. Pass it on if you find it worthwhile. I did. That's why I saved it all these years. As it yellows, it still holds its truths.