Schooling in the Ownership Society: The privatization of science replaces public good with super-profits

Schooling in the Ownership Society: The privatization of science replaces public good with super-profits:

The privatization of science replaces public good with super-profits

INTEL billionaire Gordon Moore and his new Thirty Meter Telescope which will sit on a Hawaii mountain top.

In Washington, budget cuts have left the nation’s research complex reeling. Labs are closing. Scientists are being laid off. Projects are being put on the shelf, especially in the risky, freewheeling realm of basic research. Yet from Silicon Valley to Wall Street, science philanthropy is hot, as many of the richest Americans seek to reinvent themselves as patrons of social progress through science research. 

American science, long a source of national power and pride, is increasingly becoming a private enterprise. This according to New York Times science writer William Broad who reveals that while government financing of basic science research is plummeting, private donors have filled the void, raising questions about the future of research for the public good.

According to Broad, this is philanthropy in the age of the new economy — financed with its outsize riches, practiced according to its individualistic, entrepreneurial creed. The 

Geaux Teacher!: SBAC Test "NOT READY" as Scheduled!

Geaux Teacher!: SBAC Test "NOT READY" as Scheduled!:

SBAC Test "NOT READY" as Scheduled!

My letter to members of the Louisiana House Education Committee on the eve of hearing proposed legislation to return Louisiana education to Louisiana!

Ladies and Gentlemen - 

"As teachers and school administrators learned on Friday, the Common Core Smarter Balanced Assessment Field Test isn’t (quite) ready to be given.

Years in the making and the consortium behind the absurd Common Core test informed partner states on Friday that things would not be ready to go this coming Monday, as scheduled.

The “shocking new” should come as no surprise to many since the companies developing the tests have had massive problems all the way along.  Early benchmark tests froze computers and eventually crashed school Internet networks in many schools."

There is no doubt in my mind that the concept of NATIONAL standards, curriculum and testing will be seen in hindsight as a national disgrace.  Everyone on the same page at the same time will be required if our performance on a national test will 

Arne Duncan, Instructional "Shifts" and the Bad Old Days - Teacher in a Strange Land - Education Week Teacher

Arne Duncan, Instructional "Shifts" and the Bad Old Days - Teacher in a Strange Land - Education Week Teacher:

Arne Duncan, Instructional "Shifts" and the Bad Old Days

By Nancy Flanagan on March 15, 2014 2:28 PM

The moment for teacher leadership is now...and I absolutely promise my support.

Arne Duncan, yesterday.

 Hmm. I'd be a little less dubious about the Secretary's absolute pledge if I hadn't heard him makevirtually the same statement three years ago, July 2011, at yet another National Board for Professional Teaching Standards conference in Washington, D.C.  At the time, his "teacher leadership" approach centered around paying "good" teachers more--six figures, in fact--a planned applause line that fell as flat, that day, as an unexploded scud missile. Evidently, the moment for "efficient" teacher leadership consisting of larger classes but "better" teachers has passed.

 Arne Duncan's current take on "leadership," in the teaching profession: Go forth and lead your colleagues into promoting the Common Core standards and teacher evaluation systems based on aligned assessments. Although he was smart enough to mask the language:

 [Duncan] acknowledged that many teachers have felt overwhelmed by, or not included in, efforts to raise expectations for students (read: the Common Core State Standards, which Duncan did not once actually name in his 30-minute presentation) or to establish new teacher-evaluation 

NPE: Time for Congressional Hearings into the Abuse of Standardized Testing

The Network For Public Education | Grassroots Toolkit: Time for Congressional Hearings into the Abuse of Standardized Testing:

SAVE the DATE!

Wednesday March 19th

@NetworkPublicEd

Twitter Storm

5-7 pm PDST

Join us!

Grassroots Toolkit: Time for Congressional Hearings into the Abuse of Standardized Testing

Grassroots Toolkit: Time for Congressional Hearings into the Abuse of Standardized Testing

March 7, 2014 NPE Tool Kit

Will Your Congressperson or Senator Join Us?

On March 2, 2014, The Network for Public Education issued a call for congressional hearings into the overuse and abuse of tests in our schools. Our campaign is gaining steam! We need your help in getting even more traction. We are asking our friends and allies to reach out to your Senators and Representatives.

Below are two ways that you can help out. The first is a letter that you can send via mail or email to your Congressperson or Senator. The second is a guide to making an appointment with their staff. Thank you for taking the time to do one or both of these actions?

1. Write a letter to a member of Congress using the following template.

Dear Representative/Senator_______

On March 2nd the Network for Public Education called for Congressional hearings about high-stakes standardized testing. As (identify yourself—a retired teacher, a parent, etc), I encourage you to accept NPE’s request to hold formal hearings.  I believe that it is important to investigate the overuse, misuse, and abuse of high stakes standardized testing.  These tests are having a negative impact on children, public schools, and communities.  Tests should be diagnostic or evaluative. Currently, high stakes tests are used to punish rather than to benefit children.  These tests are not being used in an instructionally appropriate manner, and are wasting precious time and money.The Network for Public Education is calling on Congressional leaders to pursue the following eleven questions concerning testing:

1. Do the tests promote skills our children and our economy need?
2. What is the purpose of these tests?
3. How good are the tests?
4. Are tests being given to children who are too young?
5. Are tests culturally biased?
6. Are tests harmful to students with disabilities?
7. How has the frequency and quantity of testing increased?
8. Does testing harm teaching?
9. How much money does it cost?
10. Are there conflicts of interest in testing policies?
11. Was it legal for the U.S. Department of Education to fund two testing consortia for the Common Core State Standards?

I encourage you to visit the NPE website here (http://www.networkforpubliceducation.org/2014/03/npe-call-for-congressional-hearings-summary/), to study the questions, and to answer the call for a formal hearing.

Sincerely,

Name
address
phone
email

2. Schedule a meeting with a Congress person or their staff.

Put together a group of like minded constituents (e.g. school board members, teachers, administrators, parents, students.) and contact your Representative or Senator. If you plan to make an appointment with a legislator by email, write the words ”SCHEDULE AN APPOINTMENT in the subject line.

What do you say and do when you get there?

• Have specific talking points. Have a specific focus or goal in mind.
• Prepare stories and facts to share that show why Congressional hearings are needed.
• Bring handouts that you can leave with them.

Don’t forget to follow up by sending an email or letter. Consider writing a thank-you note to let the legislator know you appreciate their time and interest. Be sure to ask if they need any further information. Also consider writing letters and op-eds in local newspapers making the call for congressional hearings.

Your congressional delegation will be home March 17-21 for constituent work week. Now is the perfect time to get in touch and urge them to hold the hearings.

To contact your senators, go here:
https://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

For your congressional representative, go here:
http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/

The following web pages explain The Network for Public Education’s call for Congressional Hearings. Please distribute widely!

PRESS RELEASE: http://www.networkforpubliceducation.org/2014/03/press-release-npe-calls-for-congressional-hearings/

SUMMARY: http://www.networkforpubliceducation.org/2014/03/npe-call-for-congressional-hearings-summary/

FULL TEXT: http://www.networkforpubliceducation.org/2014/03/npe-calls-for-congressional-hearings-full-text/

http://www.networkforpubliceducation.org/2014/03/grassroots-toolkit-time-for-congressional-hearings-into-the-abuse-of-standardized-testing/

Were Charter Teachers and Students Pressured to Rally for Charter Schools in Albany? | The Nation

Were Charter Teachers and Students Pressured to Rally for Charter Schools in Albany? | The Nation:

Were Charter Teachers and Students Pressured to Rally for Charter Schools in Albany?

 On the first Tuesday in March, thousands of students, parents and teachers rallied at the New York state capitol in Albany to protest what the media quickly dubbed New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s “war” on charter schools and minority students. Eva Moskowitz, the founder of the Success Academy charter network and one of the mayor’s fiercest critics, closed all twenty-two of her schools so that students and staff could participate in what she called “the largest civic field trip in history.”

But it wasn’t merely a field trip; the rally was a political event, in protest of de Blasio’s decision not to approve plans for three Success Academies to co-locate with traditional public schools, and more broadly his proposal to charge rent to charters occupying city school buildings. (The mayor approved forty-five other co-location proposals, five of them put forward by Success Academy.) Moskowitz has been the most vocal opponent of the new mayor’s education policies, though few have been enacted. As the debate intensifies, staff and students at Success Academy are being increasingly drawn into the political battle—or pushed into it, according to several employees who spoke to The Nation on condition of anonymity.

“I don’t want to say it’s hostile, or abusive, but definitely I feel that coercive measures are taken,” said a staff member who works in the school’s administration. “The rally really demonstrated this 

Arne Does Boston | EduShyster

Arne Does Boston | EduShyster:



Arne Does Boston





 What a week, reader! The excellence express rolled into the Bay State, carrying some seriously career-ready cargo—none other than Arne Duncan himself. What do you mean you didn’t know anything about it??? Now ordinarily this is the point at which I would lambaste you for eschewing excellence in favor of conducting your own race to the bottom of the wine box. But you’re off the hook. You see, almost no one knew that Arne was in town this week as his visit garnered nary an inch of newsprint. Which seems a little, well, odd, given that the battle over the Liftin O’ the Charter Cap is reaching its acme. Tin foil at the ready, reader. It’s time for another edition of *the story behind the story.* 

¡SIGcess!
The first leg of Arne’s journey retraced a by now well-trod path: to Orchard Gardens, a Boston SIGcess story, otherwise known as the most 

Measuring Privilege | educarenow

Measuring Privilege | educarenow:

Measuring Privilege

Posted on March 15, 2014 | Leave a comment

Diane Ravitch was recently interviewed in Salon on her thoughts on the current state of education reform.  It’s a great interview with an appropriately prophetic title,  Saying Goodbye to Public Education, so be sure to read it.

Ravitch, very knowledgeable about testing and its effects, highlights here the way that standardized test do not measure the effectiveness of public education, as they are purported to do, but simply measure privilege, and thus reinforce it.

“We’re doing to standardized testing what was done in ‘Brave New World.’ And in ‘Brave New World,’ the meritocracy was determined at conception. We use standardized tests as our means of sorting out kids, and saying ‘you’re at the top, and you’re at the bottom.’ The problem with that is that suggests an end to social mobility. Because the one thing we know about standardized testing is that no matter what standardized test it is, those who have are at the top and those who have not are at the bottom…

There are a few kids who rise to the top despite all obstacles. And kids from 

solidaridad: Not data-driven? Perhaps a key reason David Coleman excluded most literature from Gates Foundation's CCSS racket

solidaridad: Not data-driven? Perhaps a key reason David Coleman excluded most literature from Gates Foundation's CCSS racket:

Not data-driven? Perhaps a key reason David Coleman excluded most literature from Gates Foundation's CCSS racket

Not data-driven? Perhaps a key reason David Coleman excluded most literature from Gates Foundation's CCSS racket

Not data-driven? Perhaps a key reason David Coleman eliminated most literature from @gatesfoundation's #CCSS racket. pic.twitter.com/1qDAGhRTIo— Robert D. Skeels (@rdsathene) March 15, 2014

by Robert D. Skeels ... / 33min 

YESTERDAY

LAUSD Parent writes about John Deasy and Casey Wasserman's deceptive practices

LAUSD Parent Crystal Smith posted this incredible expose of John "let them eat iPads" Deasy and right-wing-meddling-millionaire Casey Wasserman's grand deception of Los Angeles families and educators on the Repairs not iPads facebook page. Reprinted here with permission. The teachers, administrators, parents, but especially the students deserve better By Crystal Smith Does anyone reme

by Robert D. Skeels ... / 21h 

Winning LAUSD breakfast combo: Deasy Drinking Water + LA Fund BIC Muffin Mold!

Winning #LAUSD breakfast combo: Deasy Drinking Water® + @LAFund BIC Muffins! @RepairsNotIPads https://t.co/rWSnNI1bbq pic.twitter.com/OAWrtFvIRF— PESJA Los Angeles (@PESJA_LA) March 14, 2014

by Robert D. Skeels ... / 21h 

Repairs, not iPads presents: Repairs not DEASY Rally!

REPAIRS NOT IPADS FACEBOOK PAGERepairs not Deasy RallyTuesday, March 18, 20 at 4:00pm Chatsworth High School10027 Lurline Ave, Chatsworth, CA 91311 We will be Heard!Repair our SchoolsHands off our Repair and Construction BondRestore our Libraries, Early Education, Adult Education, Physical Education, Arts Education, Counselors, Lower Class Size iPads are not a Civil Right! Repairs not Deasy

by Robert D. Skeels ... / 23h 

Teacher help needed: Hannah Nguyen of Students United for Public Education recruiting students for EmpowerED 2014

We need help Los Angeles teachers! Some of you may already be familiar with Hannah Nguyen. She is the USC student who gained national attention when she called Michelle Rhee out at Rhee's own event. Hannah was recently one of the student panelist at Diane Ravitch's Network for Public Education (NPE) event in Austin. She is in integral part of the national leadership of Students United for Public

1 by Robert D. Skeels ... / 1d 

MAR 12

Boyle Heights Parents and Students Rally to Save Beloved School

**************************** Media Release March 11, 2014 For Immediate Release Boyle Heights Parents and Students Rally to Save Beloved School333 Beaudry Ave, Los Angeles, CA. 90017 4-6pm For the third week in a row, students and parents from Roosevelt High School's Academy of Environmental and Social Policy (ESP) will take to the streets in protest of LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy's decisi

2 by Robert D. Skeels ... / 2d 

SKrashen: Yes, let's drop the SAT essay. While we're at it, let's drop the SAT

SKrashen: Yes, let's drop the SAT essay. While we're at it, let's drop the SAT: Sent to the NY Times, March 11 Re: "Can writing be assessed?"  March 10. There is no point in testing writing form, i.e. the use ...

1 by Robert D. Skeels ... / 2d 

Vote to transform UTLA into an effective defense of public education and humane pedagogy

1 by Robert D. Skeels ... / 3d 

MAR 11

Return Dr. Rangel, OUR Principal, back to Maya Angelou High School, Fine Arts Academy!

Return Dr. Rangel, OUR Principal, back to Maya Angelou High School, Fine Arts Academy! #LAUSD http://t.co/2GbsKiHClM pic.twitter.com/FkAOw1Z47Y— Robert D. Skeels (@rdsathene) March 12, 2014 Petition | Rally & Press Conference

1 by Robert D. Skeels ... / 3d 

MAR 10

Ed Notes Online: Dora Taylor: What is a Charter School

Ed Notes Online: Dora Taylor: What is a Charter School: Dora reminds us of her 2010 piece on charters at the Seattle Education blog. What is a Charter School? The basic difference between a tr...

1 by Robert D. Skeels ... / 4d 

Did Genethia Hudley-Hayes use John Deasy's ONE WEIRD TRICK to 'earn' [buy] PhD?

L.A. school board candidate accused of falsely claiming doctorate Did Genethia Hudley-Hayes use John Deasy's ONE WEIRD TRICK to "earn" [buy] PhD? #LAUSD #edchat http://t.co/U7GqpbxX7O pic.twitter.com/S6h51rNIhA— Robert D. Skeels (@rdsathene) March 11, 2014

1 by Robert D. Skeels ... / 4d 

Professional educator Lydia Gutierrez versus profit minded businessman Marshall Tuck

I'm currently not endorsing anyone in the race for California State Superintendent of Public Instruction, but there is one individual whose life-long mission to destroy public education must be stopped. Tom Torlakson would have easily won my endorsement had it not been for his support of the abject Pearson plc, News Corp, and Gates Foundation profit pit otherwise known as Common Core State Standa

1 by Robert D. Skeels ... / 4d 

Once more the tyrannical Deasy regime sacks an excellent administrator whose service to students was peerless

Once more the tyrannical Deasy regime sacks an excellent administrator whose service to students was peerless. #LAUSD pic.twitter.com/xCF4fBVXsj— Robert D. Skeels (@rdsathene) March 10, 2014

4 by Robert D. Skeels ... / 5d 

MAR 09

Lisa Karahalios calls for iPad CCTP oversight committee to continue

March 5, 2014. Speaking at the CCTP Tech (iPad) Committee, Lisa Karahalios expresses disappointment in Dr. Vladovic's decision to shut down the ad hoc committee. "Given that this is probably the largest public works rollout of technology in schools in history, I think this committee should go forward, and it shouldn't just be an ad hoc committee, I think it should be an official committee of

8 by Robert D. Skeels ... / 5d