Sunday, October 7, 2012

by admin

The Niagara Region PTA in New York has written a resolution opposing high-stakes testing and calls for a moratorium on the 3-8 testing program. The following documents should be shared with all PTAs across the nation. United Opt Out National suggests adding the following – if the testing is NOT suspended, the PTA should recommend all parents opt their children out of the state test. Make this go viral. Well done Niagara Region PTA. Liberators, take action!

Download (PDF, 149KB)

Download (PDF, 131KB)

Schooling in the Ownership Society: A non-productive prison-based economy

Schooling in the Ownership Society: A non-productive prison-based economy:

A non-productive prison-based economy

by Mike Klonsky

The hard economic times explain why many residents enthusiastically welcomed the abrupt announcement Tuesday that the Federal Bureau of Prisons is buying the mothballed prison for $165 million from Illinois.

In Illinois, when pols talk about "job creation" they probably aren't talking about capital investment in manufacturing. Big corporate investors would rather do that in other countries where labor is cheap and

LAUSD begins accepting magnet school applications Monday - LA Daily News

LAUSD begins accepting magnet school applications Monday - LA Daily News:

LAUSD begins accepting magnet school applications Monday

By Barbara Jones, Staff Writer

Posted: 10/07/2012 02:54:24 PM PDT

Updated: 10/07/2012 02:55:53 PM PDT

Applications will be accepted beginning Monday for Los Angeles Unified's popular magnet programs and will be due Nov. 16, a month earlier than usual, because of the early start of the 2012-13 school year.
Information and applications are available at echoices.lausd.net. Paper applications will be availale at local schools, city libraries and LAUSD headquarters.
Students who will be continuing in the same magnet program at the same school do not have to submit an application. However, those on a magnet waiting list, who want to change magnets or who will be matriculating to the next school level have to apply.
According to the district, more than 59,000 students are enrolled in its 172 magnet programs.
Six more are set for approval during Tuesday's school board meeting, including a performing arts magnet at Verdugo Hills High and three at Sun Valley Middle School - environmental science, social justice, and civis and leadership.

Creating the Conditions: Student Discipline | Connected Principals

Creating the Conditions: Student Discipline | Connected Principals:

Creating the Conditions: Student Discipline

by Chris Wejr

“The proper question is not, ‘How can people motivate others?’ but rather, ‘How can people create the conditions within which others will motivate themselves?’ ” — Edward Deci

In the past number of years we have gone through a very positive and significant transition at our school. Through the work of the staff (current and previous), we have moved from a punish and reward mentality to one that is focused on creating the conditions for students to learn the skills to be successful. We have gone from long line ups of students at the office at the end of lunch to maybe one or two students ‘arriving’ at the office during an entire day. Most of the issues we now deal with are minor and dealt with in the moment in a learning manner, away from “the office”.
So how has the staff of our school worked to create these conditions?
A few teachers and special education assistants often talk about “backing up to where they are” when working

School districts warned about millions in expiring technology funds - latimes.com

School districts warned about millions in expiring technology funds - latimes.com:

School districts warned about millions in expiring technology funds

State officials have urged school districts and charter schools to use $66 million in vouchers to buy technology before they expire next year.
The warning, issued Friday, pertains to funding remaining from an antitrust settlement with the Microsoft Corp. One set of vouchers must be redeemed by April; the other has a deadline in September.
Most of the available dollars, $212 million, have been claimed, but substantial resources remain, including more than $10 million for the Los Angeles Unified School District, according to the state’s most recent update onunused funds. L.A. Unified’s total share of the settlement was about $37 million.

Schools Matter: Huck Finn On Interpretation: Jim Answers Coleman

Schools Matter: Huck Finn On Interpretation: Jim Answers Coleman:

Huck Finn On Interpretation: Jim Answers Coleman

by Storm

Coleman's Nihilistic Pedagogy
Morse Peckham's non-final Answer
The Instability of "Meaning"
GOP Rep. Dr. Paul Broun (GA) offers an example asserting a "Young Earth" Answer
Jim's goodness as answer to all of this (Huckleberry Finn)
Huck in the fog

***

Famously (apparently) David Coleman uttered the ultimate truth of the ground zero stance in his "pedagogical" nihilism:

Common Core’s architect, David Coleman, says the new writing standards are meant to reverse a pedagogical pendulum that has swung too far, favoring self-expression and emotion over lucid

School Tech Connect: Let's Hang Out In Rogers Next Sunday

School Tech Connect: Let's Hang Out In Rogers Next Sunday:

Let's Hang Out In Rogers Next Sunday

by noreply@blogger.com (Tim Furman)

If you happen to be one my neighbors up here in the hub of the city, and by that, I mean Rogers Park, and you want to come talk about the negative impact of charter schools on the neighborhood, then by all means get out your calendar.

Sunday, October 14, 2012

3 PM

Community Meeting in Rogers Park

Topic: No More Charters In Rogers Park!

Rogers Park now has UNO sitting in St. Scholastica's old building, which I have no doubt was a highly profitableNMTC deal for a certain commodiously chinned mogul, and we have long had the union-busting Turkish schoolon Clark expelling its less compliant students back over to Sullivan right before the spring testing season. This meeting will give the neighbors a chance to meet each other and chat about all that.

Contact me for the location; it's at a private residence. I'm available @tbfurman or you can leave your email here in the comments, or you can email me at the gmail. And my name there is timothyfurman.

Big Education Spenders Interactive | USC News21

Big Education Spenders Interactive | USC News21:

An estimated $4 billion of philanthropic money is spent on education each year in the United States. A large percentage of that pool comes from the pockets of reformers Bill Gates, Eli Broad and the Walton family. According to their 990 tax forms, these philanthropists spent over $500 million in 2009 on the promotion of education reform practices in school districts nationwide.

CLICK EACH STACK FOR MORE

Deep-Pocket Reformers: The Shadow Secretaries of Education

By Catherine Cloutier

In advancing some interests, foundations have inevitably not advanced others. Hence, their actions must have political consequences, even when political purposes are not avowed or even intended. To avoid politics in dealing with foundation history is to miss a crucial part of the story. —Ellen Lagemann, Private Power for the Public Good

When Microsoft magnate Bill Gates decided a decade ago that the “solution” to what he saw as America’s failing school systems was an expansion of smaller schools, he started writing checks, a whole lot of checks, totaling more than $2 billion.

Gates is not the only billionaire who has decided to make education reform one of his pet projects. Los Angeles–based developer Eli Broad, the mega-rich Walton family (founders of Walmart) and other philanthropists currently give some $4 billion a year in contributions to education.

But these handouts are hardly purely philanthropic. They come tied with policy strings and a well-defined agenda.

While not the only donors, Gates, Broad and the Waltons have emerged as the highest-profile deep-pocket benefactors of what has become a nationwide education reform movement.

Though this push for reform of public schools dates back several decades, it has steadily moved from the margins of the political debate to occupy center stage in the tussles over domestic policy. The influence that these private philanthropists exercise is now being felt in school districts from coast to coast and manifests itself in the policies favored by the donors: the introduction of a corporate model in school administration, merit pay for teachers, giving local schools greater autonomy from their respective districts and the opening of more charter schools.

In these uncertain economic times where American families put an ever-higher premium on a good education, and with

Los Angeles: The Proving Ground of Education Reform | USC News21

Los Angeles: The Proving Ground of Education Reform | USC News21:

Los Angeles: The Proving Ground of Education Reform

By Catherine Cloutier

A College-Ready Academy #7 student hurried to class minutes after the afternoon bell.

Walter Rich’s history class atDavid Starr Jordan High School in South-Central Los Angeles spent the last 20 minutes of a spring school day watching Schindler's List. The classroom was dark, save for the flickering light of the projector and the bluish glow of a couple cell-phone screens in the back row.

In the highly acclaimed Steven Spielberg movie, Poland’s Jewish population packed their lives into small suitcases, loaded them onto horse-drawn carts and commenced their journey to Krakow and, ultimately, into oblivion.

In the classroom, students twirled fingers around their hair, whispered behind cupped hands or sat with eyes fixated on the black-and-white pictures before them.

“Where are they going?” one student asked, a tall African-American boy who watched

Capitol Alert: Good Golly Miss Molly Munger calls Jerry Brown's ads 'utterly deceptive,' plans to be even more deceptive

Capitol Alert: Molly Munger calls Jerry Brown's ads 'utterly deceptive,' plans to be even more deceptive

Molly Munger calls Jerry Brown's ads 'utterly deceptive,' plans to be even more deceptive

Molly Munger
'utterly deceptive'

Accusing Gov. Jerry Brown of running "utterly deceptive" ads in his campaign to raise taxes, Molly Munger said on a Los Angeles TV show this morning that her own tax campaign will air television ads making a "distinction" between her measure and Brown's.

Munger, the chief proponent of Proposition 38, said on NBC 4's "News Conference" that a series of ads released by Brown last week unfairly cast his initiative, Proposition 30, as the most helpful for schools.

"It is utterly deceptive," she said. "And so you really can't be in a situation where 30, which is really a budget patch, is going around saying that it's the schools initiative, when we - who are really the schools initiative - you know, are being asked not to say anything."

Munger said, "If you're going to say that you're something you're not, we do have to say, 'Well, actually,

Yes on Prop 30

http://www.yesonprop30.com/

Read more here: http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2012/10/molly-munger-calls-jerry-browns-ads-utterly-deceptive-plans-to-counter.html#storylink=cpy

#ImHere - THE CALL: A choice no mother should face

LEARN

Imagine dropping your child off at school every day afraid that you won't be back at pickup time. Imagine staying with a violent partner because calling the cops could tear you away from your kids. Imagine arranging for a neighbor to take care of your children in case your disappear — which could happen any time.

Tough to imagine? This is reality for millions of immigrant women in the United States.

In June 2012, President Obama announced a historic plan to help make this country safer for over one million young immigrants who have built their lives here. Now it's time to ask: what about their mothers? Cruel U.S. laws deny immigrant women the right to protect themselves and raise safe, healthy families. In the first six months of 2011 alone, the U.S. deported more than 46,000 parents of American-born children. Other families – especially in states such as Arizona and Alabama — live in fear of these threats, rarely leaving home at all.

Many women are also forced to choose between the threat of an abusive husband and the risk of being detained or deported if they call the police. Pregnant mothersgive birth in shackles with federal agents by their side. Women and LGBTQ peoplesuffer in immigrant detention centers, often without due process, under the constant danger of physical and sexual abuse.

This is not the America we stand for. But together we can change it. With your help, #ImHere will make the human rights of immigrant women impossible to ignore. Join us and say "#ImHere to put the rights of immigrant women on the national agenda."

Say #ImHere now: Watch and share the short film, "The Call," take a photo, register to vote, and learn more.

Teacher’s Coffee Spiked With Butt-Enhancing Drug | toteachornototeach

Teacher’s Coffee Spiked With Butt-Enhancing Drug | toteachornototeach:

Teacher’s Coffee Spiked With Butt-Enhancing Drug

by aristotlethewise

Ellen Vick, North Carolina Teacher, Says Student
Spiked Her Coffee With Butt-Enhancing Drug

A North Carolina teacher says her student “spiked her coffee with butt-enhancing pills.”
According to WBTV, 61-year-old Ellen Vick, a teacher at Independence High School in Charlotte, N.C., told police Monday that a student put a “butt-enhancing” drug in her coffee during class.
Investigators say the drug was “GluteBoost,” a supplement that claims to plump up one’s derriere.
As WCNC notes: “One month’s supply with of GluteBoost sells for $50 on the company’s website. The pills

UPDATE: Diane in the Evening 10-7-12 Diane Ravitch's blog

Diane Ravitch's blog

SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT OCTOBER 17 CAMPAIGN FOR OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS! « DIANE RAVITCH'S BLOG

Shared byDiane Ravitch

dianeravitch.net - I will write about this every

single day from now until October 17. Please

write your thoughts about what needs to

change in federal education policy and

send a letter to President Obama by that da...

A Teacher for the New Jersey Legislature

by dianerav

Here is a great way to stop the attacks on teachers and stop the privatization of public education: elect teachers to fight for kids and public schools.

Marie Corfield is a teacher who is running for the New Jersy Assembly. She already has had one face-to-face confrontation with Governor Chris Christie. I hope she has the chance to have many more. The Christie administration is determined to give public funds to profiteers and entrepreneurs to run schools.
New Jersey has great public schools. They regularly rank #2 or 3# of all states on NAEP. New Jersey also has districts that are intensely poor and segregated. Profiteers won't cure their deep economic ills.
Corfield is in a tight race. She has a good chance to win.
You can help her with a contribution or by clicking on the link in Jersey Jazzman's post about her.

A Rebuke to Testing Fanatics–Not That They Care

by dianerav

An interesting article in the Sunday New York Times about how test performance is affected by social and psychological factors.
Our public policy today seems built on the assumption that standardized tests accurately measure what was taught and learned. Teachers and most test experts know how fallible the tests are.
The author, Annie Murphy Paul, concludes:
This research has important implications for the way we educate our children. For one thing, we should replace

Testing Runs Amok in Oklahoma

by dianerav

Florida pioneered the use of school grades. New York City followed. Now other states and districts are jumping aboard.
The latest to adopt school grades is Oklahoma. The superintendents there don’t understand what is gained by this action. For some reason, the people who put grades on schools think of this as “reform,” but it is not.
It is a label based mostly on test scores. What we have learned in New York City over the past decade is that

A Question for Mitt Romney

by dianerav

Mitt Romney likes to boast that Massachusetts is number 1 in the nation in academics, and he is right. Massachusetts is the highest scoring state on the National Assessment of Educational Progress in math and reading, in fourth and eighth grades.
Now, as we know, Mitt is very anti-union. His educational platform excoriates the bad teachers’ unions, that allegedly protect bad teachers and drive down educational quality.
But, wait a minute! Massachusetts has a completely unionized teaching force. How can

Helping Kids or Helping Charters?

by dianerav

Wendy Lecker, advocate for public education in Connecticut, raises important questions.
Why was Hartford’s low-performing Milner School handed over to charter operator Jumoke Academy? Why did Hartford officials do nothing to help Milner until the charter school took over? Why did Jumoke get $2 million to fix Milner but no help was available to Milner before the takeover?
Lecker asks: is the responsibility of the state to help the kids or to help grow the charter sector?
Since State Commissiomer of Education Stefan Pryor comes from the charter sector, she suspects it is the latter

Corporatization of Public Education?

by dianerav

An interesting article at open.salon.com speculates about the current drive to privatize American public education.
Inevitably, the author makes the US/Finland comparison. What is missing? He or she never mentions that Finland does not have any standardized testing. Not until students apply to college (which is tuition-free, by the way).
Teachers are respected not only because it is tough to become a teacher–the selection process is rigorous–but

Schools may outsource substitutes | The Columbia Daily Tribune - Columbia, Missouri

Schools may outsource substitutes | The Columbia Daily Tribune - Columbia, Missouri:

Schools may outsource substitutes

Unfilled jobs are teacher concern.

By CATHERINE MARTIN

Sunday, October 7, 2012

When Columbia Public Schools sent out a survey about substitute teachers, the district got a big response — the second-largest of any employee survey since staff members were asked about funding cuts.

"Teachers are passionate about this topic," said Dana Clippard, assistant superintendent for human resources.

Clippard talked to the Columbia Board of Education last month about issues with filling substitute teacher positions. The district's schools had a 92.72 percent fill rate last school year and have an average of six unfilled jobs a day.

In September, Clippard discussed possible ways to improve that, including the idea of hiring a pool of 30 permanent substitutes who would get district benefits but could not turn down assignments. The district had

Many students scared to go to school | WashingtonExaminer.com

Many students scared to go to school | WashingtonExaminer.com:

Many students scared to go to school

October 6, 2012 | 8:00 pm

Students at Richard Montgomery High School (Examiner file photo)

By most regards, John F. Kennedy High School is a good high school in Silver Spring. The overwhelming majority of students pass state exams with flying colors, and 82 percent graduate within four years. Later this month, students will dress in university gear to celebrate College Readiness Day.

So why do only half of Kennedy students feel safe in school?

On just-released surveys, students in even the Washington suburbs' best schools say bullying remains a serious problem at a level undetected by parents and teachers. Some campuses suspended students hundreds of times for endangering school safety in the 2011-12 school year.

(See a chart of incidents in Montgomery and Fairfax schools)

At Kennedy, only 53 percent of students agreed with the statement "I feel safe at school," while students were suspended 131 times for

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Understanding 1240 Thru the Lens of Other States' Experiences

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Understanding 1240 Thru the Lens of Other States' Experiences:

Understanding 1240 Thru the Lens of Other States' Experiences

by Melissa Westbrook

So let's run through the experience of other states with charter schools.

Trigger Law

Now the proponents of 1240 will say the word "trigger" isn't in there (it's called "conversion"). But if it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck - it's a trigger.

But wait, other states have trigger laws, right? Correct. But none have been able to legally use them. Here's a great wrap-upof the history of the charter trigger. Also, here's a chart of all the trigger laws. You can see that nowhere else can teachers alone takeover a non-failing public school.

This articleexplains some of who is pushing the trigger for charters. It's people like Michelle Rhee, Rupert Murdoch and right-wing extremist, Philip Anschutz. That's a nice group of

Jersey Jazzman: "Silver Bullet" Watch

Jersey Jazzman: "Silver Bullet" Watch:

"Silver Bullet" Watch

by Duke

Who was that masked man?

I'm going to start a new feature: the "Silver Bullet" Watch.

It's well-known that corporate reformies push policies - test-based teacher evaluations, charters, merit pay, vouchers, gutting tenure, ending LIFO - that have little evidence to support them. But one thing I've noticed is that they always seem to sell these with a qualifier: "I'm not saying _____ is a 'silver bullet.' It's just one part of a larger program we need..."

The "silver bullet" excuse is basically a way of saying that even though the reformies' favored policies won't do much of anything, they should still be implemented. Here, again, are a couple of examples:

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Jonny Alter: "Charters, by themselves, are not any kind of a cure-all. You now, a magic pill."

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Michelle Rhee: "There is no one thing that's going to bring about the

UPDATE: The Sunday Mail. « Fred Klonsky

The Sunday Mail. « Fred Klonsky:

The Sunday Mail.

by Fred Klonsky

This monument to Civil Rights hero Fannie Lou Hamer was unveiled this week in her hometown of Rueville, Mississippi.
Glen Brown reprints this column by Jim Dey on the Constitutional Amendment you will find on the Illinois ballot November 6th. “Just because you’re paranoid, doesn’t mean they’re not out to get you.” Vote no.
Xian Barrett doesn’t get snarky towards the corporate reform group, Democrats for Education Reform (DFER) until the last paragraph. Now that’s discipline.
Can you say, “recall?”
It’s a big win for Wal-Mart workers.
Who couldn’t have predicted this? When Romney pivoted to the center in the debate it pissed off the right-

An interesting TRS board meeting on October 24th.

by Fred Klonsky

Illinois Teacher Retirement System members who have been following the antics of TRS Executive Director Richard Ingram have been concerned since his interview with Crain’s last week.
Ingram, who was hired to manage the system, has been confused about his role and now sees himself as representing the financial interests of the Civic Committee instead of present and future teacher retirees.
In the interview with Crain’s, Ingram targets the cost of living adjustment to retirement payouts. His position is so clear that Crain’s headlines the interview, “Head of teacher pension fund says state will need to cut COLAs.”
In a statement published on the IEA web site Ingram denies that he said this and claims that Crain’s understood