Walt Gardner, writing in his EdWeek blog, concluded recently: “The latest reminder that freedom of speech for teachers in K-12 is an illusion came from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit in Cincinnati on Oct. 21. In Evans-Marshall v. Board of Education of the Tipp City Exempted Village School District, the court ruled that teachers cannot make their own curricular decisions.”
This significant court case revolved around an English teacher asking her students to choose among often banned books, to read the chosen books, and then to examine why the books were banned. Many would consider this assignment a rich and engaging lesson ideal for high school students.
But this ruling comes amid an unmatched season for examining teachers and teaching.
In Little Rock, AK, on 25 August 2010, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan presented a speech laced with civil rights rhetoric, mentioning teachers over four dozen times (and poverty none). In this speech, which echoed similar talks by President Obama, Duncan placed public school teachers front and center:
“[T]he big game-changer for us, in terms of both formula and competitive programs, revolves around the issue of teacher quality,” adding:
“Nothing is more important and nothing has a greater impact on the quality of education than the quality and skill of the person standing in the front of the class–and there is so much that needs to change in the way that
Changes at the top, week 2:
In other news:
It has been a long hard slog for rank-and-file IEA members these past six years.
It has been tough on us having the leadership of IEA President Ken Swanson, VP Bob Blades and Secretary Cinda Klickna, along with former Executive Director and now senior adviser to Arne Duncan, Jo Anderson and his successor as IEA Director, Audrey Soglin.
This has been a leadership of Eeyores, with no stomach for the fight necessary to keep teacher and union rights.
That should have been a red flag
The head of the City Council’s education committee and a vocal critic of mayoral control is now speaking out against the mayor’s choice of Cathleen P. Black to oversee New York City schools.
“Cathie Black meets none of the professional experience requirements, apparently satisfying only the undergraduate graduation standard,” the committee chairman, Councilman Robert Jackson,wrote in a letter to David M. Steiner, the state education commissioner.
The new issue of “The Call” zine was released recently by our friends at GuerrillaThink. Check it out here!
November 14, 2010 (GBN News): New York Philharmonic listeners will never know what they missed. Cathie Black, named this week as NY City Schools Chancellor, had actually preferred to become became the orchestra’s conductor.
In an interview with GBN News gossip columnist Cindy Runson, Ms. Black revealed that she had recently applied for the job, only to find that current conductor Alan Gilbert’s contract does not run out for a number of years. “It was a big disappointment,” she said. “I mean, Gilbert knows music and all, but it takes an experienced
Talk to You Later-Notes to My Son: Day 45 of School
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Civil rights leaders Norman Siegel and Michael Meyers spoke about how the selection by the mayor of such an unqualified individual made in secret violated principles of diversity and transparency and reeked of cronyism.
NYC Council Education chair Robert Jackson, parent leaders Tina Schiller from Manhattan, William McDonald of Queens, Philip DePaolo of Brooklyn, and teachers Julie Cavanagh and Justin Wedes spoke eloquently how the mayor’s choice of someone without any educational experience or credentials is a betrayal of our children.
The Siegel/Meyers letter, signed by more than 100 teachers and parents is posted here; news stories are already up at NY1 and AP/Wall St. Journal, AP photo above. Thanks to all who came!
If you didn’t make it to our event, you have two more chances this week to attend rallies opposing Black’s nomination:
Monday, November 15 at 10:00 AM at Brooklyn Borough Hall Sponsored by Chris Owens, Democratic district leader. For more info, call 718-514-4874/ /chris@owensforchange.com.
Thursday, November 18, 2010 at 4:45 PM in front of Tweed, 52 Chambers Street. For more info, contact William McDonald atwhm6363@gmail.com
Please be sure to sign onto our online petition, if you haven’t already, which has already generated more than ten thousand emails to Commissioner Steiner, the Regents, and state legislators. And then follow up with a phone call to Steiner at (518) 474-5844.
Finally, come to the PEP meeting and make your voice heard! Tuesday, Nov. 16 at 5:30 PM at Brooklyn Tech HS; map here. Just think, it’s one of the last chances you'll have to let Joel Klein know how you feel.
Robert Jackson, Chairman of the New York City Council Committee on Education, wrote a letter this week urging the State Education Department to prevent the mayor's choice for schools chancellor from being certified. (AP Photo/Shiho Fukada)By Olivia Scheck
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — The chairman of New York City Council’s Committee on Education is opposing the certification ofCathie Black, the mayor’s choice for Schools Chancellor.
Education Chairman Robert Jackson, who represents parts of Morningside Heights, Hamilton Heights, West Harlem, Washington Heights and Inwood, made his opinions known in a letter, dated Nov. 12, to New York State Education Department Commissioner David Steiner.
"School systems are not corporations; they differ profoundly in their mission, dynamics and governance processes," Jackson wrote in his letter to Steiner, which is available in full on his City Council webpage.
An anonymous essay by a guy who claims to make a living writing academic papers for students is kicking up some dust over at the Chronicle of Higher Ed— forty comments and counting over the course of the weekend.
What’s really dismaying to me about the kerfuffle is how quick many professors have been to disclaim responsibility for addressing this problem. Four of the first six commenters on the Chronicle essay are teachers who say it’s beyond their powers to put a stop to this kind of cheating in their classrooms, that because of their class sizes or their administrations’ policies, they’re just not able to do anything about the problem.
I just don’t believe it. I just don’t believe that there’s no way for them to address the issue, that they’ve tried everything there is to try and been stymied at every turn. That just doesn’t ring true to me — not on the basis of my own experience nor in light of the comments left by other aggressively anti-cheating professors in the thread.
Combatting cheating and plagiarism takes inventiveness. It takes dedication. It takes flexibility. But it absolutely can be done.
But let’s say I’m wrong. Let’s say that some professors are teaching under
11-12-2010 - A report released this week brings new, but not surprising data to a grim condition of American education and society. Using national assessment data, the Council of Great City Schools reported that 12 percent of African-American male fourth-graders tested proficient in reading, whereas 38 percent of white fourth-graders did.
African-American boys drop out twice as much as white students; their SAT scores lag and they represent 5 percent of college students (New York Times, NPR).
“At almost every juncture, the odds are stacked against these young men in ways that result in too much unfulfilled potential and too many fractured lives,” said Michael Casserly, council’s executive director. “It’s not just an education issue, it is not just an
While reading Sabrina’s recent post about an incident in one of Denver’s schools, I decided to take a look at her link to the May 20, 2010 DPS Board of Education meeting in which she and a number of other teachers spoke. It pained me to watch the presentations made by the teachers and their supporters, protesting non-renewal of their probationary contracts. The speakers were eloquent and intelligent and presented evidence suggesting the teachers’ effectiveness in the classroom. To me, there was an apparent pattern of ineffective, hostile and retaliatory leadership that traversed the district, of principals discarding teachers for personal, rather than professional reasons. It pains me all the more knowing that the Board of Education did not consider this apparent pattern reason enough to thoroughly investigate the contested non-renewals and that all were allowed to stand. Teachers spoke of reluctantly taking their considerable skills to the suburbs in the event their petitions be ignored. People spoke about the critical importance of developing and maintaining relationships with children and families. They also questioned the conflict between the district’s stated desire to retain quality teachers and its
Growing up with unlimited computer access, Jack Montgomery and Tyler Stout were shocked to realize some classmates at Los Altos High didn’t have a computer at home. For more than a year, the two friends have collected old computers, fixed them up and given them to students in need, reports the Mountain View Voice. Their nonprofit, Silicon for Society, has donated 30 computers, which come with tutoring on how to use them.
Montgomery, the computer whiz of the pair, set up shop in his bedroom, where he pulls the computers apart, cleans their components, installs operating systems and software, and recycles the parts that are too old or broken.
Stout, who has had an interest in philanthropy from a young age, began
Charter school officials say they've proven it is possible to have smaller class sizes and spend less money.
Lowering spending to create smaller class sizes may seem counter-intuitive, but it is a reality in some Utah public schools. As Alpine School District gears up to ask the public for a property tax increase of up to $230 million -- the third-such tax hike in a decade -- the Daily Herald investigated how charter schools keep class sizes lower than district schools without levying a penny in property taxes.
No one disputes charter schools spend fewer taxpayer dollars. And no one disputes charter schools have smaller class sizes. So with Utah clearly among the voices decrying big government spending in the recent national elections, the question must be asked: Could another property tax
