Thursday, May 2, 2013

by pureparents

TX House Public Education Committee Hearing

Public Testimony of Lorie Barzano

Good afternoon/Evening, Committee members, guests. My name is Lorie Barzano, a public school parent, taxpayer and Chair of the Coalition to Strengthen Austin Urban Schools (SAUS), a local affiliate of Parents Across America. We are a parent led group committed to quality, accessible Public Education for all children. As parents, we actively work to support our neighborhood schools and make a concerted effort to educate ourselves about education issues and policies affecting the public education system.

We have come to recognize that “trigger” laws masquerading as parent empowerment bills actually enable the elimination of local public schools and silence the voice of parents in
governing the charter schools established in their wake. In this light, I speak on behalf of Coalition SAUS parents to urge you to oppose HB300 & HB2976.

As parents, we recognize these bills as classic cases of bait-and-switch. Marketed under a guise of family empowerment and parental choice, once implemented, they actually handover our
neighborhood public schools to the control of private charter operators, which afford families fewer choices

BESE President Chas Roemer Knows Nothing. | deutsch29

BESE President Chas Roemer Knows Nothing. | deutsch29:

BESE President Chas Roemer Knows Nothing.

by deutsch29

It amazes me how many high-profile reformers know nothing regarding the deceptions occurring during their well-fed tenures. Atlanta Superintendent Beverly Hall supposedly knew nothing of the incredible cheating for which she has recently been indicted. Former DC Chancellor Michelle Rhee is innocent of any involvement in systematic test score erasures in DC’s schools, an issue that simply will not go away. And, though a lesser player than Hall and Rhee, Louisiana BESE President Chas Roemer has assumed the reformer vogue of “hearing nothing” about LDOE data manipulation.
Professed innocence from a high-ranking Louisiana official. Imagine that.
Except that I know firsthand Roemer is lying. I have the email to prove it.
However, let me not get ahead of myself. This story is connected to the recent legislative session and the ongoing battle between the Jindalites and those who exercise independent thought.
During the Louisiana Senate Education Committee meeting on Wednesday, May 1, 2013, my colleague Herb Bassett, a band teacher in Grayson who also happens to have a minor in math, presented his findings regarding

UPDATE: $20 a month Social Security? + The shame of Illinois House Representative | Fred Klonsky

The shame of Illinois House Representative Robyn Gabel. | Fred Klonsky:

$20 a month Social Security? “I’m stunned.”

by Fred Klonsky

Fred,
I’m concerned when I read the following: “By the way, even though I paid into Social Security for 25 years before I began teaching, my Social Security benefit will be $20 a month.”
What? How can that possibly be? I’m not questioning your veracity and I’m most definitely in strong agreement with your viewpoints. But I’m incredulous that this could really be accurate.
How do you work at a job for 25 years and only receive $20 per month in Social Security benefits? Unless, like a “black sheep” distant uncle of mine, you’re were working “under the table” and not paying into FICA.
Maybe you could explain. I’m stunned!
- Puget Sound Parent

Dear Puget Sound Parent,
Illinois is one of a dozen or so states that fall under federal law – Government Pension Offset (GPO) and Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) – which limits access to Social Security in exchange for membership in the state’s

The shame of Illinois House Representative Robyn Gabel.

by Fred Klonsky

I’m not the kind of guy who hangs with the big shots.
Drop a name and I’m more likely to say, “Who is that?”
What was that song by Garth Brooks?
I’ve got friends in low places.
So I don’t know many elected politicians personally.
Okay.
I don’t know ANY elected politicians personally.
Oh. I once knew a north side alderman. But we saw each other regularly every ten years.
Just a brief personal note about this afternoon’s Illinois House vote on SB1.
Friends of mine in Chicago and Evanston have watched closely how two House Reps would vote.
Kelly Cassidy and Robyn Gabel.
Both have reputations as progressives and both have friends who are friends of mine. Cassidy, to her credit, voted against SB1 and against Madigan today. It wasn’t always clear what she would do. She was an early

Jersey Jazzman: Cerf and NJDOE: In Way Over Their Heads

Jersey Jazzman: Cerf and NJDOE: In Way Over Their Heads:

Cerf and NJDOE: In Way Over Their Heads

by Duke

I'm searching around for a word that best describes my reaction to the latest bit of cant from NJ Education Commissioner Chris Cerf; my best response is "pathetic":

After first proposing that scores would amount to 35 percent of a performance evaluation for math and language arts teachers in grades 4-8, Cerf yesterday said that total would be trimmed to 30 percent for next year.
In addition, he said only the scores of students who had been enrolled with a given teacher 70 percent of the year would be applied to his or her rating. The previous level was 60 percent. [emphasis mine]

Seriously?

The notion that this little bit of mucking around with percentages makes up for the vast, serious problems withAchieveNJ, the new teacher evaluation system, is an act of enormous self-deception on the Commissioner's

The Search for Gold | Deborah Meier on Education

The Search for Gold | Deborah Meier on Education:

The Search for Gold

by debmeier

Dear friends,
Perhaps it’s a good thing that we keep looking for someone, somewhere who has created the utopia we’e dreaming about. In my lifetime I’ve lived through a number of grandiose claims: Russian communism (for some Fascism), various third world utopias, then Cuba, and of course, China. And many in-between. Ditto for schools. We keep reinventing “success” rather than exploring the history of our past successes. Instead we let them die for lack of support whenever a new fad rolls in.
Even the ones–the schools– I co-created with friends young and old in NYC and Boston were always short of what I hoped for. Having been through it personally I laugh when others are heralded not because they don’t “deserve” it but they deserve it usually for every reason except the one acclaimed: their high test scores or graduation rate, etc Like Obama’s peace prize, I got a MacArthur for the success of our CPESS secondary school in NYC before it had anything but 7th graders. I appreciated it because it gave me just the extra leeway I needed to actually become a 7th-12th grade success–until finally it too succumbed approximately a decade after I moved on. But it enabled me to go from being a lowly elementary head teacher to a very wise and renowned

Tweet That: Bush’s Foundation Not Giving Up On Parent Trigger Bill | StateImpact Florida

Tweet That: Bush’s Foundation Not Giving Up On Parent Trigger Bill | StateImpact Florida:

Tweet That: Bush’s Foundation Not Giving Up On Parent Trigger Bill

MAY 2, 2013 | 12:47 PM

BY GINA JORDAN

FOUNDATION FOR FLORIDA'S FUTURE

The Foundation for Florida's Future is out with a new video after the defeat of the parent trigger bill. A provision of the bill lives on after it was added to another piece of legislation.

The Foundation for Florida’s Future isn’t giving up on the parent trigger bill. They’re asking people to announce their support on Twitter and other social media with ready-made post to cut and paste.

The bill — officially titled Parent Empowerment in Education — would give parents more power in choosing how to change a chronically failing school.

But it died this week, just as it did last year, in a 20–20 tie vote in the Senate.

The foundation, an education policy organization founded by former Gov. Jeb Bush, sent an email today with the subject line: “We will not ignore parents.”

From the email:

20 Florida senators and 68 representatives trusted Florida parents and voted to include them in the decision-making process on how to improve failing schools. But

Diane in the Evening 5-2-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all:

The Cathie Black Emails

by dianerav

For the past two years plus, Mayor Michael Bloomberg fought legal battles to try to avoid releasing a series of emails written about the time that he named publisher Cathie Black as chancellor of the New York City public schools.
The mayor finally lost in court, and the emails were released.
They are surprisingly banal.
There is no bombshell, no smoking gun. Just a frenzied PR campaign to figure out how to build the appearance of public support for a person who had no qualifications for the job.
Many emails were written to and from Gayle King, Oprah’s confidante, to persuade Oprah to endorse Black as

This Is Where True Reform Begins

by dianerav

Imagine this: An elected official who fought the parent trigger in Florida and worked with parents and civil rights groups to beat it.
Governor Rick Scott has been an enemy of public education throughout his term. His poll numbers are now in the 30s.
We need more public officials like Nan Rich in every state!
;

;

Dear Xxxxxxxxx,
As the leader of the Senate Democrats last year, I considered the defeat of the Parent Trigger Bill one of the most important bi-partisan efforts in my legislative career.
Forging a coalition of 8 moderate Republicans to join our 12-member Democratic Caucus to kill a bad bill on the last day of the 2012 Legislative Session was an accomplishment few thought possible – but we did it.
And now it’s déjà vu all over again!
Today, a unified Democratic Caucus of 14 Senators was joined by 6 equally-concerned Republicans to defeat the latest version of the bill we stopped last year. It’s truly heartening to see that a legacy of bi-partisan leadership lives on in the Florida Senate.
The so-called “Parent Empowerment Act” (also known as the “Parent Trigger Bill”) had little to do with empowering parents and everything to do with letting for-profit management companies take over public schools.
In fact, all Florida parent groups, as well as the NAACP and LULAC (League of United Latin American Citizens) representing more than 1 million Floridians, raised their voices in unison against this terrible legislation.
Fortunately, their voices were heard – again!
Click here to support Nan’s Campaign
We all want the best for our children, and are constantly searching for new ways to improve their education, but this legislation was not one of them. Relinquishing control of our public education system to for-profit management companies essentially would have put a price tag on every one of our public school students.
But today, the Florida Senate again sent a clear message — our students, our teachers, and our schools are not for sale!
Nan Rich

The Mess That Is Obama’s Education Policy

by dianerav

Valerie Strauss does an excellent job of deconstructing the disaster of Obama’s education policy.
Remember when candidate Obama in 2008 spoke of hope and change. That kicked many educators to believe that NonChild Left Behind would be ended, tossed into the dustbin of history, where it belongs.
Sadly, President Obama built his Race to the Tip right on the flawed foundation of NCLB, and made teaching to the test a necessity.
As the for-profit charters proliferated, he said nothing.
As radical governors destroyed collective bargaining and teacher due process, he said

Testing Frenzy in Georgia Continues Unabated

by dianerav

Despite the massive scandal in Atlanta, which many attribute to the hyper-pressure attached to testing and scores, the frenzy continues.
I just received this story from Edward Johnson, a persistent critic of short-term thinking in Atlanta:
“CRCT Pep Rally at Thomasville Heights Elementary_

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 5-2-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 2 hours ago

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: [image: Click on picture to Listen to Diane Ravitch] As Reforms Fail, Will Duncan Make Mid-course Correction? by dianerav Norm Scott, retired New York City teacher and inveterate blogger, notes the mid-course corrections of some of the corporate reform cheerleaders. He is especially impressed by John Merrow’s change of views about Rhee. He wonders whether Duncan too will change course, though he doubts that he can do so. Scott, by the way, refers to the present misguided education movement not as corporate reform... more »

Rally Against Common Core in Topeka, KS on May 8th | Truth in American Education

Rally Against Common Core in Topeka, KS on May 8th | Truth in American Education:

Rally Against Common Core in Topeka, KS on May 8th

by truthed

From Kansans Against Common Core:

Kansans Against Common Core Rally in Topeka at the Capitol on May 8^th

with special guest and Common Core expert

Shane Vander Hart

From Truth in American Education

2-4pm on the South Lawn

We are very happy to have Common Core expert Shane Vander Hart with Truth in American Education joining us and speaking about Common Core.

Shane Vander Hart is the Editor-in-Chief of Caffeinated Thoughts, a popular Christian conservative blog in Iowa. He is also the President of 4:15 Communications, a social media & communications consulting/management firm, along with serving as the communications director for American Principles Project’s Preserve Innocence Initiative. Prior to this Shane spent 20 years in youth ministry serving in church, parachurch, and school settings. He has taught Jr. High History along with being the Dean of Students for Christian school in Indiana. Shane and his wife home school their three teenage children and have done so since the beginning. He has recently been recognized by Campaigns & Elections Magazine as one of the top political influencers in Iowa. Shane and his family reside near Des Moines, IA. You can connect with Shane on Facebook, follow him onTwitter or connect with him on Google +.

We hope to have a large turnout so grab your friends and family, make some signs (respectful and appropriate please) and head to Topeka! This is the first day the Kansas Legislature returns to start wrapping-up the session, so it’s a great day to let our opposition to Common Core be heard. We hope you will join us at the Capitol!

We have been working very hard over the last several months, many of you much longer, to spread the truth about Common Core and help return Kansas to locally controlled education. We appreciate your support in these efforts, and have been amazed to see the continually growing grassroots support to return to local/state education and STOP Common Core in our state.

Photo credit: J. Stephen Conn via Flickr (CC-By-NC 2.0)
The post Rally Against Common Core in Topeka, KS on May 8th appeared first on Truth in American Education.

The New Poverty: Dealing with Economic Change — Whole Child Education

The New Poverty: Dealing with Economic Change — Whole Child Education:

THE WHOLE CHILD BLOG

The New Poverty: Dealing with Economic Change

May 2, 2013 by Whole Child Podcast

Download Podcast Now [Right-Click to Save]

In today’s global economic state, many families and children face reduced circumstances. These "poor kids" don't fit the traditional stereotypes—two-thirds live in families in which at least one adult works and the percentage of poor students in many rural districts equals that in inner-city districts. In the U.S., the economic downturn has dramatically changed the landscape, and districts that were previously vibrant are now dealing with unemployment, underemployment, and more transient families.

In this episode, our guests discuss the implications of this new poverty and its implications for schools, many of which have seen drastic changes in the populations they serve and their communities. Schools that took their communities' wealth for granted more frequently need to deal with issues of child hunger, fewer resources, and more demands for services. You'll hear from

Deborah Wortham, superintendent of the School District of the City of York, Pa., and former assistant

Religious Right Using After-School Bible Clubs to Undermine Public Education, Says Author | NEA Today

Religious Right Using After-School Bible Clubs to Undermine Public Education, Says Author | NEA Today:

Religious Right Using After-School Bible Clubs to Undermine Public Education, Says Author

by twalker

By Tim Walker

For many anti-public education activists, maybe, as the saying goes, “nothing succeeds like failure.” Pushing extremist agendas is often more about undermining, or even dismantling, the institution they claim they want to “reform.” Journalist Katherine Stewart sees such a dynamic at work with the Religious Right and its aggressive and increasingly successful campaign to install so-called “Good News Clubs” in schools across America. In a nation as diverse as ours, a plan to transform public schools into fundamentalist boot camps is bound to ultimately fail. But, says Stewart, much can be accomplished along the way to chip away at the institution and exhaust and frustrate its supporters.
Stewart’s book, “The Good News Club: The Christian Right’s Stealth Assault on America’s Children”investigates a specific brand of after-school bible study programs (called “Good News Clubs”) that have proliferated across the country. Her interest was piqued a few years ago when her own daughter’s elementary school opened its doors to such a club. Initially, Stewart thought the program sounded harmless enough – it

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: The loyal-to-whom? opposition to CORE

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: The loyal-to-whom? opposition to CORE:

The loyal-to-whom? opposition to CORE

by Mike Klonsky

Who is Tanya Saunders-Wolfe and why is she using the pages of the anti-union Chicago Tribune to say all these terrible things about Karen Lewis and her hard-charging CORE Caucus, currently leading the CTU? Answer: I don't have the faintest idea. The reason I don't is, I'm not a union insider. But I do know that I haven't seen her at any of the dozens of citywide events, hearings or protests against school closings, where Karen Lewis was speaking out and forging alliances with parents and community groups.

When thousands of CTU teachers were on strike, fighting for their very survival, Saunders-Wolfe and her "Coalition to Save Our Union" were nearly invisible even though they were invited in to be part the negotiating team by Lewis and her CORE Caucus, who were out in front of the struggle.

Now, suddenly her name is appearing in carefully-planted stories in the Tribune where she is being promoted as

Bill Gates’ Damage Control via Student Test Prep Questions? | Seattle Education

Bill Gates’ Damage Control via Student Test Prep Questions? | Seattle Education:

Bill Gates’ Damage Control via Student Test Prep Questions?

by seattleducation2011

In a 3rd grade student workbook for MSP Reading Assessment preparation, which is a Washington State mandated test for grades 3 through 8, a parent found this question:

Directions: Read the selection and answer the questions.

Bill Gates

Bill Gates had a dream that changed the world. Born in Seattle, Washington, on October 28, 1955, Bill Gates grew up with his parents and his two sisters. As a teenager Bill believed that computers would change everyone’s life, and he wanted to be a part of it.Bill Gates went to Lakeside School in Seattle. He was very smart and got straight A’s in school. After school and on weekends, he worked on what he loved best. computers. Sometimes he would forget to sleep and would work all night on the computer. He knew more about computers than most grown-ups.

When he was 13, Bill began writing computer programs that told the computer what to do. Bill knew that computers could be used for things like helping kids with math problems, writing stories, drawing pictures, or playing games.

In 1973, Bill went to Harvard University as a freshman. In college, Bill began to write a computer language. In 1975, Bill and his old school friend Paul Allen began a company called Microsoft. Bill believed that computers would one day be used by people at

Deconstructing Disinformation on Student Growth Percentiles & Teacher Evaluation in New Jersey | School Finance 101

Deconstructing Disinformation on Student Growth Percentiles & Teacher Evaluation in New Jersey | School Finance 101:

Deconstructing Disinformation on Student Growth Percentiles & Teacher Evaluation in New Jersey

by schoolfinance101

CROSS-POSTED FROM: http://njedpolicy.wordpress.com/
Deconstructing Disinformation on Student Growth Percentiles & Teacher Evaluation in New Jersey (Printable Policy Brief): SGP_Disinformation_BakerOluwole

Bruce D. Baker, Rutgers University, Graduate School of Education
Joseph Oluwole, Montclair State University

Introduction

This brief addresses problems with, and disinformation about New Jersey’s Student Growth Percentile (SGP) measures which are proposed by New Jersey Department of Education officials, to be used for evaluating teachers and principals and rating local public schools. Specifically, the New Jersey Department of Education has proposed that the student growth percentile measures be used as a major component for determining teacher effectiveness:

“If, according to N.J.A.C. 6A:10-4.2(b), a teacher receives a median student growth percentile, the student achievement component shall be at least 35 percent and no more than 50 percent of a teacher’s evaluation rubric rating.” [1]

Yet those ratings of teacher effectiveness may have consequences for employment. Specifically, under proposed

UPDATE:Defending Public Education: “You may know a person by the company they keep.” + Connecticut TFA Director wants to open a charter school…in Bridgeport - Wait, What?

Connecticut TFA Director wants to open a charter school…in Bridgeport - Wait, What?:

Defending Public Education: “You may know a person by the company they keep.”

by jonpelto

To remove a needless distraction when there are far more important public policy issues to deal with, Gov. Malloy has made the decision to personally reimburse People Magazine for the costs of his attendance at the White House Correspondents Dinner. He has written a personal check for $1,234.62,” said his spokesman, Andrew Doba.

You have got to be kidding me!

So it was an official visit to Washington, but he will reimburse People Magazine…and yet the taxpayers will still pick up the tab for the airfare, accommodations, payroll and overtime for Malloy’s security detail – - – the cost of which Malloy’s office refused to provide…

As just reported in the CT Mirror, Malloy’s spokesperson said;

“We are confident that People Magazine’s payment would have been proper under Connecticut’s ethics laws…The governor attended the event in his official capacity and used the opportunity to advance Connecticut’s interests. The governor’s office accepted People Magazine’s gift in order to relieve taxpayers of the cost. Instead of shifting the cost to the taxpayers, the Governor is personally paying the cost.”

Wait, What? Malloy Reimburses People Magazine…

by jonpelto

“To remove a needless distraction when there are far more important public policy issues to deal with, Gov. Malloy has made the decision to personally reimburse People Magazine for the costs of his attendance at the White House Correspondents Dinner. He has written a personal check for $1,234.62,” said his spokesman, Andrew Doba.

You have got to be kidding me!

As just reported in the CT Mirror, Malloy’s spokesperson said;

“We are confident that People Magazine’s payment would have been proper under

Connecticut TFA Director wants to open a charter school…in Bridgeport

by jonpelto

Yup, the Connecticut Director of Teach for America has submitted an application to open a charter school in Bridgeport.

Nate Snow arrived in Bridgeport in 2007 as a new TFA recruit.

Today he serves as the Executive Director for the Connecticut Chapter of Teach for America and President of the Board of Directors of Excel Bridgeport, Inc., a corporate funded education reform organization that he co-founded with Meghan Lowney, an aide to billionaire, hedge fund owner Steven Mandel.

Excel Bridgeport serves as the primary advocacy group supporting Governor Malloy, Mayor Bill Finch and “Superintendent of Schools” Paul Vallas’ education reform policies.

After graduating from Texas A&M University, Snow joined TFA and taught for two years in Bridgeport. He then joined TFA’s fundraising operation and then made an unsuccessful

Latest News and Comment from Education

Thursday, May 2, 2013

The New Poverty: Dealing with Economic Change

Introduction