Friday, June 13, 2014

June 13th, 2014 | Add a Comment |
By John Fensterwald

Organizations representing school districts and superintendents are trying to stop a last-minute effort to limit the size of their budget reserves, which they’re characterizing as a bald-faced attempt by Gov. Brown and the Legislature to meddle with their finances. With the Legislature set to vote Sunday on the measure and the state budget, they have two days to head it off.

Issuing a warning to Gov. Jerry Brown, the presidents of three main education organizations threatened Friday to oppose the governor’s proposal to strengthen the state’s rainy day fund – which is on the November ballot – if he allows the cap on districts’ reserves to go through.

The cap on reserves, which education organizations say they never saw coming, was inserted this week in the state budget trailer bill, which is the technical language accompanying the budget that Gov. Brown and legislative leaders negotiated behind closed doors.

As of next year, state law will reset the minimum for school districts’ reserves. For Los Angeles Unified it will be 1 percent and for small districts, which have less room for error during a fiscal crisis, it will be 5 percent. For most districts, the minimum will be 3 percent.

The trailer bill, if approved, would set a maximum reserve that districts could set aside in their budgets for a potential fiscal emergency. Under the proposal, the maximum reserve for most districts would become 6 percent, with 3 percent in Los Angeles and 10 percent for small districts.

Coming out of the recession, a number of districts have built up reserves much larger than that: 20 to 30 percent in some of the smaller districts. Initially they did this because they didn’t know if Proposition 30 – which raised sales and income taxes partly to help fund schools – would pass. Districts protesting closed-door deal restricting control over their budgets | EdSource Today:

Head of American Federation of Teachers weighs in on Pittsburgh teacher ratings - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Head of American Federation of Teachers weighs in on Pittsburgh teacher ratings - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

Head of American Federation of Teachers weighs in on Pittsburgh teacher ratings

June 13, 2014 4:41 PM

American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten today weighed in on the release of Pittsburgh Public Schools teacher ratings that show 96.9 percent of classroom teachers are proficient or distinguished.

She made her remarks in the context of a recent California case in which a Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Rolf M. Treu declared laws governing teacher job security unconstitutional, including those that require furloughs to be by seniority rather than performance.

“On one side of the country, a judge in California wrongly ruled that the only way to ensure that kids — particularly kids who attend high-poverty schools — have good teachers is to take away teachers’ due process rights,” Ms. Weingarten said. On the other side of the country, the most recent teacher evaluation results in Pittsburgh proved this is absolutely not true. Due process not only goes hand-in-hand with this new evaluation system, having those rights helped to strengthen it."

She said she wasn't surprised by Pittsburgh's results, given the "dedication and talent" of the staff, but "there's a bigger story here that rejects the assertion made in California that due process rights hurt educational quality."

The evaluation system in Pittsburgh was developed by district officials and teachers who are members of the federation. A dispute arose over the scores required to meet certain performa

empathyeducates – The Case for Banning Laptops in the Classroom

empathyeducates – The Case for Banning Laptops in the Classroom:

The Case for Banning Laptops in the Classroom

By Dan Rockmore | Originally Published at The New Yorker. June 6, 2014

A colleague of mine in the department of computer science at Dartmouth recently sent an e-mail to all of us on the faculty. The subject line read: “Ban computers in the classroom?” The note that followed was one sentence long: “I finally saw the light today and propose we ban the use of laptops in class.”

While the sentiment in my colleague’s e-mail was familiar, the source was surprising: it came from someone teaching a programming class, where computers are absolutely integral to learning and teaching. Surprise turned to something approaching shock when, in successive e-mails, I saw that his opinion was shared by many others in the department.

My friend’s epiphany came after he looked up from his lectern and saw, yet again, an audience of laptop covers, the flip sides of which were engaged in online shopping or social-media obligations rather than in the working out of programming examples. In a “Network”-inspired Peter Finch moment, he quickly changed the screen of his lecture presentation to a Reddit feed and watched some soccer highlights. That got everyone’s attention.

I banned laptops in the classroom after it became common practice to carry them to school. When I created my “electronic etiquette policy” (as I call it in my syllabus), I was acting on a gut feeling based on personal experience. I’d always figured that, for the kinds of computer-science and math classes that I generally teach, which can have a significant theoretical component, any advantage that might be gained by having a

empathyeducates – The Case for Banning Laptops in the Classroom:

NYC Educator: The Amazing Disappearing Mr. Astorino

NYC Educator: The Amazing Disappearing Mr. Astorino:

The Amazing Disappearing Mr. Astorino

A few months ago, I went to an anti-testing demonstration at Comsewogue High School. One of the speakers was gubernatorial hopeful Rob Astorino. Astorino spoke forcefully against Common Core, to the overwhelming approval of the crowd. Cuomo was awful. He was dancing around the truth. He supported this awful testing program. Who needs someone like Andrew Cuomo?

And no one really disagreed. Only while Astorino was ridiculing Cuomo for dancing around the issues, he somehow forgot that he himself opposed a woman's right to choose. His enthusiastic support for charter schools somehow never made its way into his speech that day.

It also slipped his mind that he opposed gay marriage. That was fortunate, because many in the crowd could have suffered a distinct slip in enthusiasm had they known that. In fact, it's pretty well-known that the Tea Party shares pretty much the same sentiments, and they wouldn't be likely to make much headway in NY without wearing a fairly convincing mask.

But there's even more reason to be wary of the slippery GOP candidate. Astorino opposes the Triborough Amendment, and wrote an op-ed in the NY Post explaining why. Astorino, like many tabloid writers, maintains that collectively bargained step increases are in fact raises, and wants an end to them while contracts are being negotiated. He claims working people have zero incentive to come to the bargaining table. Ask UFT teachers who waited over five years for a raise and then voted for delays and givebacks whether or not that's so.

He further claims having municipalities hold up the terms they've negotiated is a drag on the economy. Astorino also rails against retroactive NYC Educator: The Amazing Disappearing Mr. Astorino:

Why Arne Duncan needs to listen to Bill and Melinda | Lily's Blackboard

Why Arne Duncan needs to listen to Bill and Melinda | Lily's Blackboard:

Why Arne Duncan needs to listen to Bill and Melinda

Jun 13th, 2014

by Lily.

I do not hate the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. I know it might seem strange to have to make that statement, but such are the times we live in. I’ve just had too many arguments with too many friends who, when I ask specifically why they are upset with some aspect of educational “reform”, respond, “Well, you know this was funded by the Gates Foundation,¨ as if this was evidence of the Mark of the Devil.

So let me say again… I do not hate the Gates Foundation. I also feel compelled to state for the sake of balance that I do not love the Gates Foundation. The Foundation, for me, is not a thing to love or hate. It is what it is, and it is many things. It is impossible to put them in some ideological box.

The Gates Foundation funds ideas. Lots. And lots. And lots of ideas. Some extremely good ideas (meaning I like them) like how to prevent malaria and HIV infection and college success programs in Denver public schools and Michigan and California and Florida and Wisconsin and just about every other State University system and Oxfam and county libraries, and thousands of others.

I had to really search for extremely bad ideas (meaning I didn’t like them) and eventually found the American Enterprise Institute and their teacher evaluation project (which, let’s just be honest, Rick Hess is going to need some adult supervision.)

But I digress. Back to Bill and Melinda. They fund ideas, not ideologies.

For instance, early on, someone convinced them to fund an idea about doing something about mega-gigantic high schools. The idea was to reduce – not class size, but – school size. Hypothesis: Small schools would give kids a more personal education; families would be more involved; better learning; fewer Why Arne Duncan needs to listen to Bill and Melinda | Lily's Blackboard:

NYC Public School Parents: Please attend class size hearings starting next week and make your voices heard!

NYC Public School Parents: Please attend class size hearings starting next week and make your voices heard!:

Please attend class size hearings starting next week and make your voices heard!

As the result of a lawsuit, DOE is holding borough hearings starting next week on their use of $531 million in annual Contract for Excellence state funds. A flyer you can post in your school is here. Places and times are below.

These funds were approved with the requirement that NYC submit a plan to lower class size, as well as hold borough hearings to gain feedback from parents and community members. Yet for the last four years, the DOE had refused to hold these hearings until they were sued in court.

Even worse, class sizes have increased each year since this law was passed-- and are now the largest in 15 years in grades K-3 and the largest in grades 4-8 since 2002.

Class size reduction is the #1 priority of parents citywide, according to the DOE’s own surveys, and the constitutional right of NYC children, according to the state’s highest court.

Please come and make your voices heard! Let me know if you would like some talking points in advance, and/or class size data specific to your district or borough.

Manhattan: Tuesday, June 17 – 7:00-8:00 p.m. – Stuyvesant HS (345 Chambers Street, New York, NY 10282)

Brooklyn: Wednesday, June 18 – 6:30-7:30 p.m. – Edward R Murrow HS (1600 Avenue L, Brooklyn, NY 11230)

Bronx: Thursday, June 19 – 6:30-7:30 p.m. – M.S. 223 (360 E.145^th Street, Bronx, NY 10454)

Staten Island: Monday, June 23 – 6:30-7:30 p.m. – Petridis Complex (715 Ocean Terrace, Staten Island, NY 10301)

Queens: Wednesday, June 25 – 6:30-7:30 p.m. – Long Island City HS (14-30 Broadway, Queens, NY 11106)

Last month we sent a letter co-signed by 15 Community Education Council presidents and other parent leaders, urging the Chancellor to allocate specific funds for class size reduction. We also posted an online petition that now has more than 400 signatures.

Nevertheless, the DOE has NOT allocated any funds specifically for class size reduction, and never mentions any obligation to reduce class size in its proposed C4E"non-plan” here.

Despite Mayor de Blasio’s campaign promise to comply with the city’s 2007 plan to lower class size to no more than 20 students per class in grades K-3, 23 in grades 4-8 and 25 in HS, the DOE’s new proposed plan merely leaves it up to principals to decide how they want to spend these funds among five choices, and allows them to use the funds to minimize INCREASES in class size, which by no definition means lowering class size.

Public comments are due July 19– and can either be submitted at the hearings or by emailing ContractsForExcellence@schools.nyc.gov.

Please let us know at info@classsizematters.org if you can attend these important hearings. I know it is a busy time of year, but I urge you to do it for your children and all NYC public school kids.

New report on crisis in school overcrowding

6-13-14 The Whole Child Blog — Gaming in the Classroom Can Be an Epic Win — Whole Child Education

Gaming in the Classroom Can Be an Epic Win — Whole Child Education:

THE WHOLE CHILD BLOG

Gaming in the Classroom Can Be an Epic Win

June 13, 2014 by ASCD Whole Child Bloggers

Post written by Mikaela Dwyer, a journalism student at Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester. She considers herself a human rights activist and spends her time volunteering on campus and with various local nonprofits. After graduation, Dwyer hopes to join the Peace Corps and then become an investigative journalist for human rights issues.

Jane McGonigal - 2014 ASCD Annual Conference

Research has proven that children who play games have the opportunity to become great creative and critical thinkers as well as quick problem solvers, resourceful engineers, and empathetic individuals. For years, however, the media has tried to convince parents and educators that gaming is a way to escape real-life problems and a real waste of time. Jane McGonigal, game designer and author of Reality Is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World, held a session at the 2014 ASCD Annual Conference advocating that gaming can be an incredibly positive thing. It is our responsibility as the adults and role models in the children's lives, however, to focus on the benefits of gaming when talking to them.

Research over the years has proven that playing video games sparks activity in the brain's hippocampus, which enlightens memory, thus creating a stronger ability to retain information as well as master new techniques or knowledge. Today, 99 percent of boys and 94 percent of girls ages 18 or younger play some type of video game. Boys are actively engaged in gaming 13 hours a week and girls play about 8 hours a week. "If these kids are spending so much of their time in such great states of learning with games, why aren’t they really successful in the classroom?" McGonigal asked. In her recent research, she has discovered what she feels is the root of the issue.

Ultimately, McGonigal discovered, children play video games for one of two reasons. The first is to escape—to tune out the real world and ignore their real lives. The other reason is to play with purpose. Children playing Gaming in the Classroom Can Be an Epic Win — Whole Child Education:

6-12-14 The Whole Child Blog — Believing in Students So They Believe In Themselves — Whole Child Education

Believing in Students So They Believe In Themselves — Whole Child Education: THE WHOLE CHILD BLOGBelieving in Students So They Believe In ThemselvesJune 12, 2014 by Whole Child PodcastDownload Podcast Now [Right-Click to Save]Ask educators why they went into teaching, and the majority will respond that they wanted to make a difference in the lives of young people. That initial idealism, however, i

by mike simpson / 19h

6-13-14 Curmudgucation

CURMUDGUCATION:

Directory of Anti-Teacher Trolls

It may or may not be a good idea to attempt reading all the pieces responding to the Vergara decision, but it's definitely a mistake to read the comments section for any of them.If there is any group that has been emboldened by the California court's fact-free finding against teacher job protections, it has been the legion of anti-teacher trolls. From mainstreamish media like Slate to the usual bl

by Peter Greene / 3min

Dear Teacher Educators at CUNY: Why You Failed To Convince Me

Dear CUNY Teacher Educators:I just saw your letter in support of edTPA on Diane Ravitch's blog. As will become obvious, I am not an academic. I'm a classroom teacher with thirty-some years of experience; I've also served as co-operating teacher for ten or so student teachers. Let me tell you why your letter did not convince me that edTPA is a great, good, or even okay program.You characterize edTP

10 by Peter Greene / 8min

6-12-14 Curmudgucation

CURMUDGUCATION: Are Reformsters Under Attack?I have generally avoided picking on quotes from That Woman that appear in her joint blogventure with Jack Schneider, mostly because I think it's a worthy experiment that deserves some place to breathe. But recently she dropped an extraordinary quote that I can't let pass. It happened in a discussion of unions, specifically discussing the need for bridge

by mike simpson / 23h

6-13-14 Ed Notes Online

Ed Notes Online:

Teachers Unite: Countdown to Summer

Countdown to SummerJune 2014 You're invited! Celebrate Summer at Teachers Unite's Ice Cream Social! Friday, June 27th, 4-6pmStuyvesant ParkNew York, NY Ice cream & carnival games provided by Milk, Not Jails Milk, Not Jails is seeking to revitalize and invest in NY's agricultural economy as a model alternative to the prison economy All are welcome! < Please RSVP Here on Eve

by ed notes online / 3min hide // save

John Thompson at The Chalkface Expores the Subtleties of the Tenure Battle

Something tells me...that getting rid of our due process rights won’t be a promising tactic for recruiting and retaining new teacher talent..... Without seniority, this school closure mania gives districts a Get Out of Jail Free Card – they can commit age discrimination at will.....Obamacare might now be the best education reform of his administration. .. John ThompsonSome more great points from J

by ed notes online / 3min

Why MORE? Vergara Tenure Decision, Eva Charter Expansion, UFT/AFT Tepid Responses

It will take an army to defeat ed deform. The UFT actually has a potential army through its large (but shrinking, and due to shrink more) membership (108,000 contract vote ballots were sent out to working UFT members) but wants to keep it defanged because an army with teeth may turn on the leadership.There is much hang-wringing over the California tenure decision, though it may well be overturned.

by ed notes online / 1min hide // save

Vergara Tenure Commentary: High Crime Areas Due to Ineffective Police?

Police and firemen could be next. Let's say the same parents in the Vergara case claimed that crime was higher in their neighborhoods BECAUSE the police in their communities were all off probation. We could avoid blaming centuries of racism, discrimination, poverty exploitation of immigrants etc... blame crime on the police.And their unions / civil service job protections.... Their goal is to make

by ed notes online / 1min

6-12-14 Ed Notes Online

Ed Notes Online: Anti-Tenure People Try to Have it Both Ways...flaws in reasoning... were in full bloom from the minute Judge Treu announced that court was in session. How else to explain the paradox by which teacher tenure laws apply to the state’s wealthiest school districts and its poorest, but only violate the civil rights of students in the latter? Or how about the related and even paradoxier

by mike simpson / 19h

Residents are crowded out of college by out-of-state and foreign students | Hechinger Report

Residents are crowded out of college by out-of-state and foreign students | Hechinger Report:

Residents are crowded out of college by out-of-state and foreign students

Universities concede the trend is largely about money

By Timothy Pratt

This story also appeared at:

In her 18 years as a counselor at California high schools, Kirsten Barnes has seen hundreds of seniors apply for college. But few were as qualified as this one.

The student’s grade-point average was near perfect.She took the maximum number of advanced-placement classes. She had joined extracurricular clubs, and was in the National Honor Society.

But the University of California at Berkeley, her first choice, turned her down.

“You’re basically auctioning off spaces for people with more money.” Patrick Callan, president of the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education

“I thought, ‘Wow, a couple of years ago, she would’ve gotten in,’” said Barnes, who works at Hanford West, a Central Valley high school.

Barnes and other counselors have seen the public University of California system steadily increase their enrollments of out-of-state and international students they accept. Coveted for the higher tuition they pay,the number of nonresident students enrolled at the University of California’s 10 campuses rose from 22,984 to 31,991 between 2009 and 2012, an increase of nearly 33 percent, UC figures show.

During the same period, the number of in-state students has fallen from 199,431 to 196,917, a decline of 1.3 percent.

Facing the double whammy of reduced state funding and flat tuition, public colleges and universities nationwide are pursuing an obvious source of income: out-of-state and international students who are not eligible for in-state tuition subsidies.

After all, resident students paid an average of $8,893 for tuition and fees at public, four-year Residents are crowded out of college by out-of-state and foreign students | Hechinger Report:

Protest the Gates Foundation’s takeover of public schools | Seattle Education

Protest the Gates Foundation’s takeover of public schools | Seattle Education:

Protest the Gates Foundation’s takeover of public schools

Announcement issued by local teachers:

Teachers Rally To Highlight Proposed Budget Cuts

Protest the Gates Foundation

Rally at Westlake Park

(401 Pine St, Seattle)

March to Gates Foundation

(440 5th Ave N, Seattle)

June 26th at 5:00 PM

Our schools are under attack from the mega rich who seek to reduce education to standardized test scores while busting unions & denying at-risk youth a rich and holistic school experiences. To broaden and deepen public awareness about this, the BadAss Teachers (BATs) of Washington and their allies are protesting the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation on Thursday June 26th.

The Gates Foundation is a symbolic site because many of their experimental ‘reforms’ have done untold damage to our school system. Over-testing, charter schools, replacing teachers with computers, competitive grants, Teach for America, new standards profiting publishing companies instead of funding basic education; these will continue until we rise up and say “NO!” Educators should lead education, not profit-driven entities and their foundations.

The monetary power of the Gates Foundation has changed the face of our country’s school policy and agenda.

With this protest we galvanize a coalition of supporters to demand that teacher assessments are measuring student learning, that education policy is transparently and democratically created, and that every child’s needs are met in their public school.

Our Demands

Redirect monies spent on experimental school reforms to empower citizens and promote whole child education. Further, we demand that philanthropists and the rest of the 1% pay their fair share for a socially just society.

Speakers:

Educator Anthony Cody

Seattle Councilperson Kshama Sawant

From Westlake Park we will march to the corner of 5th Avenue N and Mercer with chants and our chorus leading songs about positive education themes.

This march and rally have been endorsed by:

Seattle Education Association

Renton Education Association

Highline Education Association

Tacoma Education Association

Marysville Education Association

Reynolds Education Association

Social Equality Educators (SEE) of SEA

Chicago Teachers Union CORE Caucus

Parents Across America

Network for Public Education

United OptOut

Save Our Schools

Fairtest.org

National BATS

Online Presence:

Facebook Group:

https://www.facebook.com/EducatingTheGatesFoundation?ref=hl

Facebook Event (RSVP here or on Weebly site below):https://www.facebook.com/events/1414946478760549/?ref_dashboard_filter=upcoming

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/EducatingGatesF

Alternate Event Website:

http://wabatsrally.weebly.com/

The Tenure/LIFO Court Decision | Taking Note

The Tenure/LIFO Court Decision | Taking Note:

The Tenure/LIFO Court Decision

by JOHN MERROW on 13. JUN, 2014 in 2014 BLOGS

“Sh*t, Sh*t, Sh*t!!!”

I wasn’t present when AFT President Randi Weingarten and NEA President Dennis van Roekel heard about “Vergara vs California,” but it’s easy to imagine them uttering an expletive (or two or three).

Understand, I’m not talking about their reaction to the judge’s decision earlier this week. I’m imagining how they might have reacted when the lawsuit challenging California’s tenure and seniority rules wasfiled in May 2012, more than two years ago.

Why might they have cursed when the lawsuit was filed? Because, I suspect, they knew that the three California rules were indefensible. These rules are not based on anything remotely connected to pedagogy or the needs of students but were political decisions made by the state legislature, heavily influenced by the powerful California Teachers Association, the CTA[1].

Consider the three provisions:

1) Tenure after TWO years? How can any organization, let alone something as complex as a school function that way? And by the way, the ‘two year’ rule actually means that a school principal has to make that ‘lifetime’ decision about halfway through the teacher’s second year on the job, after he or she has been in charge of a classroom for perhaps 14-15 months at most.
2) Slavish devotion to “Last Hired, First Fired,” as if the profession of teaching were labor’s equivalent of sanitation workers or pipefitters. 100% seniority! Nothing else matters, not a principal’s judgement, not student performance, not the teacher’s contributions to the school, and not student evaluation. Just years on the job!
3) A convoluted and complex process to remove inadequate teachers that reportedly involves about 70 discrete steps, takes years and can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The case against those three provisions, “Vergara[2] vs. California,” was decided this week: “A California judge ruled [3] Tuesday that teacher tenure laws deprived students of their right to an education under The Tenure/LIFO Court Decision | Taking Note: