2017 U.S. Senate Youth Program Delegates Announced - Year 2016 (CA Dept of Education)

2017 U.S. Senate Youth Program Delegates Announced - Year 2016 (CA Dept of Education):

State Schools Chief Tom Torlakson Selects California High School Students to the 2017 U.S. Senate Youth Program

SACRAMENTO—State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson today announced two outstanding high school students to represent California in the 55th annual United States Senate Youth Program (USSYP), sponsored by the William Randolph Hearst Foundation.

Samuel Goidell of Davis (Yolo County), a senior at Davis Senior High School in the Davis Joint Unified School District, and Amira Chowdhury of Glendale (Los Angeles County), a junior at Herbert Hoover High School in the Glendale Unified School District, were selected for their outstanding scholastic achievement, leadership qualities, and commitment to their schools and communities.

Torlakson also named two alternates in the event that one or both of the delegates are unable to attend the program. The first alternate is Michael Tseitlin of Sunnyvale (Santa Clara County), a senior at The Harker School, a private school in San Jose. The second alternate is Stuti Grover of Cypress (Orange County), a senior at Oxford Academy in the Anaheim Union High School District.

"These four students are amazing individuals who have demonstrated significant leadership abilities and have contributed much to their schools and communities while maintaining strong and rigorous academic schedules, “ Torlakson said. “I am encouraged by their passion for public service and their desire to make this world a better place. These young people make me optimistic for our future.”

The delegates and alternates are scheduled to be recognized by the State Board of Education during its January 11-12, 2017, meeting in Sacramento.

To qualify for the program, high school juniors or seniors must hold student body office or other elected or appointed civic or educational organization and express an interest in pursuing a career in public service. They are then nominated by their high school principal.

A selection committee from the California Department of Education (CDE) reviews eligible nominees, and Torlakson selects the awardees based on the quality of the application, academic achievement, interpersonal and communication skills, knowledge of American government and history, involvement in school and community activities, demonstrated qualities of leadership, and extracurricular activities.

The USSYP provides a yearly opportunity for selected students to gain an in-depth view of the Senate and the federal government overall as well as a deeper understanding of the legislative, judicial and executive branches, according to the national United States Senate Youth Program’s Overview  Web page. The program provides a foundation of knowledge and encouragement for those considering a future of public service.

Two student leaders from each state, the District of Columbia, and the Department of Defense Education Activity each receive a $10,000 scholarship and attend a one-week all-expenses paid trip to Washington, D.C. from March 4–11, 2017.

For more information, please visit the CDE's United States Senate Youth Program Web page.

The following are synopses compiled from their applications:

Samuel Goidell — Delegate

Samuel Goidell of Davis (Yolo County), is a senior with a 4.4 grade point average at Davis Senior High School in the Davis Joint Unified School District. He currently serves as Student Body President as well as Education Policy Director with the California Association of Student Councils, which provides leadership development and training. He was also a top finalist-candidate for the Student Board Member position on the California State Board of Education. He wants to major in political science and international relations and either get a law degree or master’s degree in public policy. His career goal is to someday become the White House Chief of Staff.

Amira Chowdhury — Delegate

Amira Chowdhury of Glendale (Los Angeles County), is a junior carrying a 4.28 grade point average at Herbert Hoover High School in the Glendale Unified School District. She serves as Junior Class President. Her school activities include Founder/President of the Political Club, President of the Distinguished Scholars Academy, President of the Debate Club, Vice President of the Key Club, and membership in the California Scholarship Federation and the National Honor Society. She has volunteered on presidential and city council campaigns, as well as the Los Angeles Kidney Walk and Aids Walk and Relay for Life. She plans to double major in political science and economics and hopes to someday be a state legislator or a law professor.

Michael Tseitlin — First Alternate

Michael Tseitlin of Sunnyvale (Santa Clara County), is a senior a 4.4 grade point average at The Harker School, a private school in San Jose. He serves as Senior Class Secretary and is Varsity Captain of his school’s Water Polo team, leading them to be the CIF State Academic Champions and also Captain of his school’s championship Debate Team. He has over 2,000 community service hours as a tutor in both Russian and Hebrew as well as with Nova Ukraine, a non-profit organization which raises awareness about the Ukraine. He would like to study a mixture of International Relations, Economics, Neuroscience, and Language and Cultural Studies. He plans to join the U.S. Foreign Service, working abroad as a diplomat followed by law school.

Stuti Grover — Second Alternate

Stuti Grover of Cypress (Orange County), a senior with a 4.57 grade point average at Oxford Academy in the Anaheim Union High School District. She is Student Body President where she presides over class committees and plans all class activities. She is a Varsity competitor and mentor on the Oxford Speech and Debate Team, ranking 27th in the nation in Public Forum Debate. A National Merit Semifinalist and AP Scholar with Distinction, Stuti volunteers as a teacher’s aide, helping students in subjects where they are struggling. She wants to major in political science or law and pursue a master’s degree in international relations. Then, she would like to become one of the few Indian female ambassadors for the U.S. and also perform volunteer service domestically and internationally.

# # # #

Tom Torlakson — State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Communications Division, Room 5206, 916-319-0818, Fax 916-319-0100

2017 U.S. Senate Youth Program Delegates Announced - Year 2016 (CA Dept of Education):

NYC Meet and Greet with Helen Gym - Network For Public Education

NYC Meet and Greet with Helen Gym - Network For Public Education:

NYC Meet and Greet with Helen Gym

To register for the New York City Meet and Greet with Helen Gym, click on NYC Meet and Greet with Helen Gym - Network For Public Education:

NYC Meet and Greet with Helen Gym - Network For Public Education:

A sobering look at what Betsy DeVos did to education in Michigan — and what she might do as secretary of education - The Washington Post

A sobering look at what Betsy DeVos did to education in Michigan — and what she might do as secretary of education - The Washington Post:

A sobering look at what Betsy DeVos did to education in Michigan — and what she might do as secretary of education

The people who best know the education advocacy work of Betsy DeVos, the billionaire tapped by President-elect Donald Trump to be his education secretary, are in Michigan, where she has been involved in reform for decades.

DeVos is a former Republican Party chairwoman in Michigan and chair of the pro-school choice advocacy group American Federation of Children, and she has been a shining light to members of the movement to privatize public education by working to create programs and pass laws that require the use of public funds to pay for private school tuition in the form of vouchers and similar programs. She has also been a force behind the spread of charter schools in Michigan, most of which have recorded student test scores in reading and math below the state average.

[What’s the worst that can happen with Betsy DeVos as education secretary? Two scenarios.]

Many pro-reform groups have praised the choice, saying DeVos will work hard to grow new programs that give parents more school choice. But public education advocates say they fear she will help propel America’s public education system toward destruction.

The Detroit Free Press has written a number of articles about DeVos’s education record in Michigan. Here is an important piece looking at what a DeVos Education Department could be expected to do, written by someone who has watched her work for some time. He is Stephen Henderson, editorial page editor of the Free Press, where this first appeared.  He gave me permission to republish it.

By Stephen Henderson

In Detroit, parents of school-age children have plenty of choices, thanks to the nation’s largest urban network of charter schools.

What remains in short supply is quality.

In Brightmoor, the only high school left is Detroit Community Schools, a charter boasting more than a decade of abysmal test scores and, until recently, a superintendent who earned $130,000 a year despite a dearth of educational experience or credentials.

On the west side, another charter school, Hope Academy, has been serving the community around Grand River and Livernois for 20 years. Its test scores have been among the lowest in the state throughout those two decades; in 2013 the school ranked in the first percentile, the A sobering look at what Betsy DeVos did to education in Michigan — and what she might do as secretary of education - The Washington Post:

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Trump's charade

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Trump's charade:

Trump's charade

No, it's not the companies he's after. It's their workers' standard of living. It's a political bait-and-switch. On the campaign trail, the billionaire populist rails against against corporations on behalf of the "little people". But it's all done with a wink and a nod.

Trump's staged fight with Carrier was never about exporting jobs to Mexico. Carrier is still doing that and will continue to do that, or threaten to do it with impunity under the Trump regime. The very threat sparks a Trumpian sweetheart deal including fat government contracts for giant parent company United Technologies and a whopping tax break in exchange for a promise to retain a relative tiny number of those jobs here.

In the case of Carrier, many of the "saved" jobs were never going away in the first place. To put it another way, I'll quote USW Local 1999 Pres. Chuck Jones, whose union was never even consulted in the negotiations between Trump and Carrier.:

“But he got up there,” Jones said Tuesday, “and, for whatever reason, lied his ass off.”

Turns out, there were never any 1,100 jobs on the line. But those whose jobs were "saved" are grateful for Trump and Carrier's benevolence. It's as if having a job that pays a living wage is some sort of gift to workers from the almighty "job creators". The media buys the narrative, without even looking at the real numbers. The phony war ends up being a win-win for Trump and the company.

The same hold's true with his phony spat with Boeing over the $4B price tag on the new Air Force 1. There was never a $4B price tag. Trump made that up. In fact, the plane they were Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Trump's charade:

TBT: Wizard of Oz Lollipop Guild Gets Update for Trumplandia

Lollipop Guild Gets Update for Trumplandia

We represent the Sugar Daddy Guild,

The Sugar Daddy Guild,

The Sugar Daddy Guild

And in the name of the Sugar Daddy Guild,

We wish to welcome you to Trumplandia.

We welcome you to Trumplandia, Tra la la la la la la

Big Education Ape: Broad's Billion dollar Babies rack up early fundraising leads in LA Unified school board race | 89.3 KPCC - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2016/12/broads-billion-dollar-babies-rack-up.html

Do Charter Schools Really Rely on Private Money? – School Data Nerd

Do Charter Schools Really Rely on Private Money? – School Data Nerd:

Do Charter Schools Really Rely on Private Money? 

I was scrolling through my Facebook feed today and came across this piece of News: Kipp Ignite Academy has received $100,000 through a Farmers Insurance Thank America’s Teachers grant. First of all, congratulations – more money for schools is always awesome. And that got me thinking….

How much money do KIPP and other charter schools get from non-governmental grants? 

One way to look at is to think about their total revenue. Of course, schools get money on a per student basis from the California State government. But in addition, schools can get extra money by applying for government grants, such as those from the US Department of Education, or private grants, such as those from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation or Great Public Schools Now. Schools can also raise money through traditional fundraising and gifts from individuals.

While government grants are hard to tease out in public documents, those private grants and gifts are written on a separate line of tax documents – so we can see exactly how much revenue each group gets from non-governmental sources.

I was surprised to see that KIPP is not king when it comes to private grants. In 2015, Citizens of the World raised a whopping 32% of its revenue through private grants. KIPP was not far behind raising almost 25% of their revenue through private means.

But as you go down the list, you see major charter players, such as Green Dot and PUC raise far less (as a percent) from private sources. This is not to say that they spend any less per student – in fact Green Dot’s per pupil revenue appears to be higher than KIPP’s, but it says that the source of the revenue is clearly different.

Analysis

Let’s flesh out the arguments a bit for both sides so you can think about it through Do Charter Schools Really Rely on Private Money? – School Data Nerd:

California will soon provide ethnic studies classes for all high schoolers. Here’s why.

California will soon provide ethnic studies classes for all high schoolers. Here’s why.:

California will soon provide ethnic studies classes for all high schoolers. Here’s why.

In a second-floor classroom at San Francisco’s Washington High School, David Ko is leading freshmen in a discussion about bullying. But it’s not the typical conversation about treating others nicely.

“We’re learning about power — political, economic, social — our race, ethnicity, culture, nationality,” says 14-year-old freshman James Liu.

That’s because ethnic studies is not simply a history course detailing the achievements of members of different racial groups; the curriculum is conscious of and sometimes analytical about how race and ethnicity are intertwined with power.

Earlier this fall, California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law a bill that will, by 2019, create an ethnic studies program for all of the state’s public high schools. Three similar bills failed in recent years, over lack of funding or concerns that they would create additional red tape.

Ko’s class, which he describes as a good representation of Washington High’s diversity — 64 percent Asian, 13 percent Hispanic, 8 percent white and 5 percent African American — engages in weighty and sometimes personal discussions. Earlier this year, for example, they had a conversation about changing their school’s name because its namesake, George Washington, was a slave owner.

“Some students got very emotionally charged and moved by it,” says Ko. “We were able to have that discussion and at the end of the class period no one was calling anyone names, there weren’t grudges held, people didn’t throw any punches.”

Classes like this one are taught at almost all of San Francisco Unified’s 19 high schools. Washington was one of the first campuses to offer ethnic studies in a pilot program, beginning eight years ago. Two years ago, San Francisco expanded the program across the city.

Now a committee of teachers, professors, community members and students will spend the next two years developing an ethnic studies curriculum that will be taught across the state. It’s not as simple as replicating San Francisco Unified’s lessons. In San Francisco, ethnic studies is a ninth grade class that includes the histories of minority groups — including Black, Latino and Asian Americans — as well as curriculum about how race may affect power and opportunity. In other schools, such as in Los Angeles, courses might be focused on one topic, such as African American history or Mexican American literature. Currently, 20 California school districts already teach ethnic studies or are in discussions to add them.

San Francisco’s courses may be a good example of what other classes in California may look like, although organizers want to leave enough flexibility to tailor the lessons to the needs in different parts California will soon provide ethnic studies classes for all high schoolers. Here’s why.:

Let's Talk About Vouchers, Part Three (The Majority Opinion in Zelman) | Blue Cereal Education

Let's Talk About Vouchers, Part Three (The Majority Opinion in Zelman) | Blue Cereal Education:

Let's Talk About Vouchers, Part Three (The Majority Opinion in Zelman)

We’ve been looking at Zelman v. Simmons-Harris (2002), the case most often cited when I’m researching vouchers and their constitutionality. 

If you haven’t been with me on this lil’ journey so far, you might want to check out Part One or Part Two of this series. Or you might not. You might decide to consult other bloggers or experienced voices instead – it’s completely your choice. 

And as it turns out, “choice” is central to the Court’s 5-to-4 determination that Ohio’s voucher program was, in fact, constitutional. 

Chief Justice Rehnquist delivered the opinion of the Court. 

The State of Ohio has established a pilot program designed to provide educational choices to families with children who reside in the Cleveland City School District. The question presented is whether this program offends the Establishment Clause of the United States Constitution. We hold that it does not.

It’s worth noting that the question before the Court was about separation of church and state, and involved this specific program. The Court did NOT decide that all voucher programs everywhere were constitutional, and it certainly did not proclaim that they were equitable, justifiable, or in any way a good idea. 

Perhaps most significantly, this decision does nothing to address the question of whether vouchers worked.  

Rehnquist goes on to lay out the severity of the situation in Cleveland and to describe state efforts to address it before getting to the legislation in question. 

It is against this backdrop that Ohio enacted, among other initiatives, its 

Let's Talk About Vouchers, Part Three (The Majority Opinion in Zelman) | Blue Cereal Education:

'Fake News,' Bogus Tweets Raise Stakes for Media Literacy - Education Week

'Fake News,' Bogus Tweets Raise Stakes for Media Literacy - Education Week:

'Fake News,' Bogus Tweets Raise Stakes for Media Literacy

Media literacy is suddenly a front-burner issue for schools, thanks to the recent presidential election, a spate of reports on “fake news,” and new research demonstrating just how ill-equipped young people are to critically evaluate information they encounter online and via social media.

As a result, educators find themselves behind the eight ball, expected to help students negotiate everything from internet hoaxes, to partisan policy advocacy disguised as unbiased news, to a President-elect who has used Twitter to spread baseless claims originating in unfounded conspiracy theories.

The stakes are high, contend the Stanford University researchers behind a widely cited recent study,...'Fake News,' Bogus Tweets Raise Stakes for Media Literacy - Education Week:

 Big Education Ape: Mark Zuckerberg: We will not be able to Stop Fake Education News on Facebook - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2016/12/mark-zuckerberg-we-will-not-be-able-to.html


Mark Zuckerberg: We will not be able to Stop Fake Education News on Facebook

Zuckerberg cites the following reasons:

Schools Missing Big Opportunities to Engage Parents | Gallup

Schools Missing Big Opportunities to Engage Parents | Gallup:

Schools Missing Big Opportunities to Engage Parents

by Tim Hodges and Daniela Yu

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Schools need to conduct parent surveys or research
• Schools need to proactively communicate study results to parents
• Parents who don't participate in studies twice as likely to be actively disengaged

Parents play an essential role in school success and student achievement.

Gallup researchers, academic scholars and business practitioners have demonstrated this. A recent Gallup study shows that if parents are fully engaged with their child's school, 94% are very likely to recommend the school to friends or family members.

There's an increasing demand for schools to understand parents' needs and expectations and to build trust and gain the support of parents.

Engaged parents are not only great advocates for their child's school -- they also have ideas that will aid school improvement efforts. Parent engagement is relatively simple to measure, and schools can manage it with reasonable effort. However, Gallup's latest research shows that only one-third (32%) of parents have ever participated in a parent survey or research study conducted by their child's school or on behalf of their child's school.

Parent studies can inform school leaders of both the explicit and implicit expectations of parents. In addition, regular and timely measurement can establish an efficient feedback loop, so schools can quickly identify their strengths and opportunities as well as the effectiveness of their previous efforts.

Finally, parent studies provide an effective channel and framework for school leaders and parents to communicate and build trust with each other. This partnership between parents and schools can increase parents' ownership and responsibility to be more involved with and enthusiastic about the school -- Gallup's definition of engagement.

Communication Needs to Improve

Less than half of parents who have participated in a parent survey (46%) have received communication informing them of the results. This means that more than half of parents never receive any feedback of the study results, despite their participation.

While conducting parent surveys can be helpful and informative for school leaders, schools are missing an opportunity to build engagement if administrators keep the results to themselves.

Among parents who have received communication of the results, 71% think the parent survey or research will bring meaningful change to their child's school. Fifty-three percent of parents who have participated in the study but never received communication of the results say the same.

When parents believe the studies will bring meaningful change to a school, they are 2.6 times more likely to be fully engaged parents. Communication of results seems to instill faith and foster goodwill with parents, developing more loyal advocates for the school.

Schools need to communicate their results and change management plans to parents who have participated in studies, but the dissemination of results should not stop there. Gallup research shows that silent parents -- those who do not take advantage of opportunities to participate in the research -- are twice as likely to be actively disengaged with their child's school. Actively disengaged parents are more likely to consider sending their child to another school when they have that option and may be more likely to voice their negativity to others, undermining the reputation of the school.

Gallup research suggests that great schools put in the effort to measure parent engagement on an ongoing basis and make intelligent, data-backed decisions based on the insights from parent surveys. Further, measuring engagement creates opportunities for school leaders and parents to review the study findings and collaborate on a path to school improvement.

Survey Methods

Results are based on a Gallup Panel outbound phone study completed by 1,002 national adults, aged 18 and older, conducted from June 27-July 9, 2016. The sample for this study was weighted to be demographically representative of the U.S. adult population using the latest Population Survey figures. The Gallup Panel is a probability-based longitudinal panel of U.S. adults whom Gallup selects using random-digit-dial phone interviews that cover landlines and cellphones. Gallup also uses address-based sampling methods to recruit Panel members. The Gallup Panel is not an opt-in panel, and Gallup Panel members do not receive incentives for participating. For results based on this sample, the margin of sampling error is ±3 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. Margins of error are higher for subsamples. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.

Tim Hodges, Ph.D., is a Director of Research at Gallup.

Daniela Yu, Ph.D., is a Senior Researcher, Predictive Analytics, at Gallup.

 Schools Missing Big Opportunities to Engage Parents | Gallup:

Specialized burnout: Sacramento schools importing Filipino teachers to plug special education shortage - Sacramento News & Review

Sacramento News & Review - Specialized burnout: Sacramento schools importing Filipino teachers to plug special education shortage - News - Local Stories - December 8, 2016:

Specialized burnout: Sacramento schools importing Filipino teachers to plug special education shortage
Kids, parents suffer as districts scramble to address high turnover

As Sacramento-area schools reel from a nationwide shortage of special education teachers, one local school district is hoping to address the issue by taking its search global.

There are 30,232 special education students enrolled in Sacramento County school districts, according to the California Department of Education. The dearth of instructors to teach them is part of a national trend blamed on high burnout and fewer credentialed professionals in the hiring pool. And parents say it’s the students who rely on consistent classroom attention who stand to lose.

One class at Folsom High School was without a full-time special education teacher two months into the new school year. The array of substitutes brought in to fill the gap until a permanent replacement was hired left Kelly Supple’s son anxious. The 14-year-old has moderate autism and is nonverbal.

Supple, a credentialed special education teacher herself, said that when her son becomes nervous, he acts out by unraveling the threads of his knee socks. Sometimes, she said, he would arrive home from school with his picked-at socks unwound down to his ankles.

Supple said the Folsom-Cordova Unified School District eventually lured a special education teacher with three years of experience to her son’s school by offering a $10,000 signing bonus.

But a nationwide staffing shortage persists. Fifty-one percent of all school districts and 90 percent of high-poverty school districts struggle to attract qualified and credentialed special education teachers to fill these slots, according to the National Coalition on Personnel Shortages in Special Education and Related Services.

At Birch Lane Elementary School, part of the Davis Joint Unified School District, a special education teacher resigned just before the start of the school year. The job is now held by a former substitute teacher after the district failed to find a certified professional to teach moderately to severely disabled students in classroom.

DJUSD is coming up short even though administrators frequent recruitment fairs and nurture relationships with universities that turn out special education teachers. As a result, the district is planning to develop a student-teacher intern program to ease this crunch, according to DJUSD spokeswoman Maria Clayton.

Classroom consolidation is another tactic. DJUSD recently combined Birch Lane’s kindergarten-through-second-grade special education class with Pioneer Elementary’s third-through sixth-grade special education class.

“I think two classes of four kids that were more grade-level appropriate would have made more sense, Sacramento News & Review - Specialized burnout: Sacramento schools importing Filipino teachers to plug special education shortage - News - Local Stories - December 8, 2016:

Work ESSA from the ground up, Weingarten urges lawmakers | American Federation of Teachers

Work ESSA from the ground up, Weingarten urges lawmakers | American Federation of Teachers:

Work ESSA from the ground up, Weingarten urges lawmakers 

AFT President Randi Weingarten called on state legislators this month to seize the opportunity behind the federal Every Student Succeeds Act by taking an approach that begins with collaboration and planning in partnership with teachers, school staff, parents, students and community stakeholders.

 Speaking at "ESSA: An Opportunity for States to Shape Education Policy," a plenary panel discussion hosted by the State Innovation Exchange (SiX) at its 2016 National Conference for legislators in Washington, D.C., Weingarten stressed that the only way states can achieve the letter and spirit of the new federal law is to work it from the "ground up"—crafting plans for school accountability, testing and other ESSA-related matters with meaningful input from the community. The rewards for this big-tent approach are enormous, Weingarten added. With community engagement, ESSA can help reset the focus of schooling and place it where it needs to be: on children's well-being, on creating the conditions for powerful learning, on strengthening building-level capacity and on fostering collaboration.

"ESSA enables us to give kids the public schools kids deserve" by doing more than just "tinker with existing policies," Weingarten told state lawmakers at the conference. "We just have to work together to get it done."

SiX is a national resource and strategy center that supports state legislators in advancing and defending progressive policies; that means the organization couldn't be more important when it comes to ESSA, Weingarten noted, because states still hold the primary responsibility for education. Under ESSA, statehouses hold sway on essential conditions in education—ensuring that schools are evaluated on more than just test scores; making real supports available to struggling schools; and, above all, establishing a climate where schools are able to focus on improving teaching and learning.

Communities are counting on state legislators to see to it that all children get a free, high-quality public education. And key to those efforts, Weingarten said, are ESSA and "the $15 billion in Title I funding protected under the law."

Use your position, your voice, your oversight to help communities, parents, teachers and school staff have a voice in the process as well, Weingarten told the audience. That way, we can give kids the excellent public education they deserve.

[Mike Rose, Leilah Mooney Joseph]

- See more at: http://www.aft.org/news/work-essa-ground-weingarten-urges-lawmakers#sthash.TaeCX9ap.dpuf

CURMUDGUCATION: New Test Rules: Old Baloney

CURMUDGUCATION: New Test Rules: Old Baloney:

New Test Rules: Old Baloney

Yesterday, John King unveiled the Department of Education's final rules for testing under the Every Student Succeeds Act, aimed at spinning the continued emphasis on the Big Standardized Tests. Jennifer C. Kerr of the Associated Press signals that she bought the PR and fumbled the story with her very first sentence:

Aiming to reduce test-taking in America's classrooms, the Obama administration released final rules Wednesday to help states and school districts take a new approach to the standardized tests students must take each year.

If the Obama administration has ever done anything that was truly aimed at reducing test-taking, I have apparently forgotten all about it. The Obama administration increased the weight of standardized testing by using Race to the Top and RttT-lite waivers to double down on high stakes for testing. After a few years of realizing that the public was pushing back hard, they tried in both 2014 and 2015 to pretend that they had an "action plan" for cutting back on testing. This included some meaningless suggestions for how much time should be spent on testing, and a recommendation that schools cut back on all the other tests that weren't the Big Standardized Test.

This administration has stayed resolutely in the Cult of Testing, and they have not backed away a single inch in eight years. These new rules are no different.

King gives the AP a big fat slice of baloney right off the bat:

Our final regulations strike a balance by offering states flexibility to eliminate redundant testing and promote innovative assessments, while ensuring assessments continue to contribute to a well-rounded picture of how students and schools are doing.

"Continue" is a great word, since it assumes a fact not in evidence-- that BS Tests have been CURMUDGUCATION: New Test Rules: Old Baloney:

Congressional Leadership on Education Will Agree with Philosophy and Policy of DeVos-Trump | janresseger

Congressional Leadership on Education Will Agree with Philosophy and Policy of DeVos-Trump | janresseger:

Congressional Leadership on Education Will Agree with Philosophy and Policy of DeVos-Trump

Our democratic system was designed with checks and balances, but this year as Donald Trump’s presidential term begins, he and his secretary of education will likely be working with a very sympathetic Congress.  With our executive and legislative branches both dominated by conservative Republican majorities, there will be few checks and balances.

When President-elect Trump nominated Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education, Lamar Alexander (R-Tennessee), the Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, indicated his strong support: “Betsy DeVos is an excellent choice. The Senate’s education committee will move swiftly in January to consider her nomination. Betsy has worked for years to improve educational opportunities for all children. As secretary, she will be able to implement the new law fixing No Child Left Behind just as Congress wrote it, reversing the trend to a national school board and restoring to states, governors, school boards, teachers, and parents greater responsibility for improving education in their local communities.”  Alexander has long been a supporter of states’ rights in public education; he led the development of the new Every Student Succeeds Act, which curtails the role of the Secretary of Education to dictate policy to the states.

There is another area in which Betsy DeVos and Lamar Alexander agree. Alexander tried to make federal vouchers—the diversion of tax dollars for students to carry as tuition to private and parochial schools—part of the new Every Student Succeeds Act. He was unable to muster enough support in Congress to get federal vouchers inserted into the bill. We’ll have to watch what happens now that he and President-elect Trump and Trump’s nominee for secretary of education share, as a federal priority, the establishment of a school voucher program.

What about the chair of the House Education and the Workforce Committee? John Kline (R-Minnesota), the current chair, did not run for re-election in November. He is slated to be replaced by Virginia Foxx, a congresswoman from Banner Elk, North Carolina. Here is how Kimberly Hefling describes Foxx for POLITICO: “Virginia Foxx pulled herself up by her own bootstraps and wants every American child to be able to do the same. As the 73-year-old GOP lawmaker and former community college president is poised to assume the leadership of the Congressional Leadership on Education Will Agree with Philosophy and Policy of DeVos-Trump | janresseger:

Will the Past Be Repeated? | The Merrow Report

Will the Past Be Repeated? | The Merrow Report:

Will the Past Be Repeated?

What follows is a journal of response and reflection after a remarkable 4-day journey along what might be called the Civil Rights Trail, from Jackson, Meridian and Philadelphia in Mississippi, and Selma, Montgomery and Birmingham, Alabama. My wife and I and about 40 others made this trip at a time of rising anxiety among minorities and many whites about the increase in hate-related behavior following our recent presidential election.  The question hanging over us: will we allow the past to repeat itself?

 

J

ACKSON, MISSISSIPPI:  (Our first stop) The Greyhound bus station in downtown Jackson has been restored since the days of the Freedom Riders, who were seeking to desegregate public accommodations (as required by the Supreme Court). It takes a powerful imagination to visualize busloads of Freedom Riders arriving May 24th, 1961, guarded by tight security. In other cities the Freedom Riders had been viciously attacked, their buses burned, and the city of Jackson was determined to avoid violence (fearing for its reputation, not the Civil Rights activists.) And so, on arriving at the Greyhound station, the activists got off the buses and walked into the ‘White Only’ waiting room, where they were immediately arrested, marched into other buses, and taken to jail or directly to Parchman Farm, Mississippi’s notorious maximum security state prison. At their trial (and before convicting them), the judge actually turned his back whenever their defense attorney was speaking. He sentenced 161 Freedom Riders to 60 days in Parchman, although the convictions were eventually overturned. While at Parchman, most were held in isolation. Mississippi’s Governor, Ross Barnett, is supposed to have told prison officials, “Break Will the Past Be Repeated? | The Merrow Report:

Two Moody’s Reports: 2015 Michigan Schools and 2016 Charter School Ratings Criteria | deutsch29

Two Moody’s Reports: 2015 Michigan Schools and 2016 Charter School Ratings Criteria | deutsch29:

Two Moody’s Reports: 2015 Michigan Schools and 2016 Charter School Ratings Criteria

In this post, I offer two documents published by Moody’s Investors Service for perusal of any readers who wish to view them.

The first is a 16-page, November 2015 report on the credit weaknesses in numerous Michigan school districts:

Moodys-sector-in-depth-k-12-public-school-districts-michigan-school

I will highlight only one section of the above report; the section is entitled, “Competition from Schools of Choice Benefits Some Districts at the Expense of Others.”  Two issues caught my attention. The first is that the article includes stats from the Mackinac Center, which I wrote about in this March 2016 post, and which has pushed for emergency managers in Michigan and is funded by the Dick and Betsy DeVos Foundation. The second is the final statement of the excerpt about school choice not being “a reliable option” for “maintaining revenue” in struggling school districts:

Competition from Schools of Choice Benefits Some Districts at the Expense of Others

Since its inception in 1996, the state’s Schools of Choice program has provided students with significant flexibility in deciding whether to attend their home district or another. The state has promoted district participation with some funding incentives in the past, though the number of seats available for out-of-district students is at each district’s discretion. The number of students opting for schools outside of the district in which they reside through Schools of Choice has risen on an annual basis over the last decade. Total participation in the program now exceeds 100,000, nearly 8% of total Michigan students enrolled in traditional publicly funded schools. According to a 2013 research study conducted by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, students in rural districts (9.7%) were more likely to participate in Schools of Choice, than students in suburbs (8.0%), towns (6.7%) or cities (2.8%). Reasons why students in rural districts participate in a higher rate include, closer proximity to neighboring districts in expansive districts or greater programming offerings, while city students are more likely to have access to charters. The relatively high participation rates in Schools of Choice has been cited as an argument for increased consolidation among Michigan traditional school districts. Given the lack of revenue-raising options for individual districts, participation in the program provides a district with an opportunity to increase, or at least maintain, operating revenue via per-pupil state funding levels. In areas with widespread competition for students, such as tri-county metro Detroit, students are more likely to seek attendance at high-performing districts. High-performing districts are more likely to offer a greater variety of services than those districts cutting service levels as a result of deteriorating finances. As such, Schools of Choice may not be a reliable option for financially struggling districts to improve bolster or maintain revenue.

The second Moody’s report in this post is from August 2016. It is Moody’s 21-page, updated “charter school scorecard,” or the updated criteria by which Moody’s rates charter school credit risk:

moodys-charter-school-scorecard

An excerpt from the report intro:

The charter schools sector is still young and growing, and as such its credit fundamentals are characterized by multiple speculative elements. Given 

Two Moody’s Reports: 2015 Michigan Schools and 2016 Charter School Ratings Criteria | deutsch29: