Just pick one schools chief with education experience, says Chicago principals union boss

Just pick one schools chief with education experience, says Chicago principals union boss

BY KATHLEEN LUCADAMO
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Friday, November 26th 2010, 4:00 AM

Wenig/AP

Mayor Bloomberg is trying to make Cathie Black the successor to Joel Klein.

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Chicago principals have a tip for New York: Pick one schools chancellor with education experience.

As state Education Commissioner David Steiner mulls whether to allow magazine executive Cathie Black to manage city schools with the help of a seasoned educator, Chicago principals who have a similar arrangement are advising against it.

"It's very difficult to have two people with such vastly different backgrounds and responsibilities [lead schools together]," Clarice Berry, president of Chicago's principals union, told the Daily News.

"We haven't had a superintendent in 10 years and we've found that it has been a mistake," Berry added.

"There's been no huge improvement in Chicago. It's not been the magic bullet people thought it would be," she said.

Chicago has an educator and manager share responsibility of the school system, a plan Steiner has suggested he favors for city schools. An advisory panel recommended this

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/education/2010/11/26/2010-11-26_just_pick_one_schools_chief_with_education_experience_says_chicago_principals_un.html#ixzz16OsZKU00

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Latest on Huffington

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Latest on Huffington

Latest on Huffington

by Mike Klonsky

School Reform in the Ownership Society

Movement between the education sector (as they call it) and the giant corporations is another ownership society hallmark. If it sounds reminiscent of the military-industrial complex, you're on the right track.

Tale of two cities

by Mike Klonsky

In Baltimore, a "contract school" in the neighborhood around Johns Hopkins, slated for gentrification, $40M will be spent on a beautiful new building. Meanwhile other inner city schools are in desperate need of basic

John Lennon - Cold turkey (video)

Alameda school board looks at details of proposed parcel tax - Inside Bay Area

Alameda school board looks at details of proposed parcel tax - Inside Bay Area

Alameda school board looks at details of proposed parcel tax Property owners likely to pay 32 cents per building square foot Education Report: Two East Oakland high school campuses to be redesigned -- again Nominations for philanthropically minded Jewish teens sought through Dec. 17 Student transfers under 'No Child' law swamp successful schools Student from Monte Sereno one of three from Stanford named Rhodes Scholars East Side Union board names Dan Moser as permanent superintendent Barnidge: Harvest Park's focus on character improves student achievement Corporate U: Industry's reach into academia renews fears of undue influence

The Education Report Oakland’s Eastside high redesign (#2) A staged scene in`Superman’ Baltimore teachers pass groundbreaking contract An overhaul of teacher prep, student-teaching It’s a strike vote. So why aren’t teachers voting? » More from The Education Report

Reaction to Cathleen Black, School Chief Candidate - NYTimes.com

Reaction to Cathleen Black, School Chief Candidate - NYTimes.com

Frustrations With Mayor Are Backdrop to Nominee Uproar

By ELISSA GOOTMAN

Published: November 25, 2010

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Like many other parents, Lisa B. Donlan was cautiously optimistic back in 2002 when Joel I. Klein, a former federal prosecutor andBertelsmann executive, was appointed chancellor of the New York City public school system. Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg had just won control of the city schools from Albany, and while Ms. Donlan was happy with her own children’s school, she knew that parts of the system were badly broken.

“Back then, people were hopeful, people were open-minded,” Ms. Donlan recalled this week.

But when Mr. Bloomberg announced this month that his next pick for chancellor wasCathleen P. Black, the chairwoman of Hearst Magazines, Ms. Donlan was outraged. She not only signed a petition asking the state education commissioner, David M. Steiner, to

Black Thursday: More Debate On Schools Chancellor Pick - Gothamist

Black Thursday: More Debate On Schools Chancellor Pick - Gothamist

Black Thursday: More Debate On Schools Chancellor Pick

Bloomberg, Black and Klein (NYC Mayor's Office)

In the wake of a state panel recommending against granting a waiver to allow Cathie Black to become NYC Schools Chancellor, the NY Times reports that Mayor Bloomberg's administration tried—in secret— to seek a compromise with the state: "State officials proposed that City Hall consider the second appointment to settle concerns about Ms. Black’s lack of experience in education, these people said Wednesday. But talks fell apart by Tuesday, and that afternoon David M. Steiner, the education commissioner, hardened the state’s position by saying publicly that he was disinclined to approve Ms. Black unless she had an official with education experience to help her run the system."

The panel's recommendation is not binding, and State Education Commissioner Steiner has final say in whether the successful publishing executive can get a waiver—necessary because she doesn't have education credentials— to lead the largest public schools system in

“Where I Stand” (Maria) « Failing Schools

“Where I Stand” (Maria) « Failing Schools

“Where I Stand” (Maria)

NOVEMBER 25, 2010

by mariasallee

Here is my long-delayed, wordy response to September’s survey. As today is Thanksgiving, I express my thanks for the educational opportunities I have had in my life.

“Where I Stand” (A School Reform Survey)

Name & role: Maria, bilingual early educator, advocate for families.

What “reform” means to me, and why I think it’s important: When I use the word reform, I am thinking about systems that need to be adjusted thoughtfully and with great purpose. We need to better align our resources regarding the public school system to ensure that all children (and families) have access to quality public education in order to engage them as

Schools Matter: Teachers Need to Finish the Job in DC: Put George Parker on the Same Rail with Michelle Rhee

Schools Matter: Teachers Need to Finish the Job in DC: Put George Parker on the Same Rail with Michelle Rhee

Teachers Need to Finish the Job in DC: Put George Parker on the Same Rail with Michelle Rhee

by Jim Horn

From the WTU website:

Washington Teachers’ Union

Important Run-Off Election Information

The WTU is conducting a run-off election to determine the officers and members of the Executive Board. No candidate (with the exception of treasurer) received a majority of votes in the first round of voting.

Please click here to review a sample ballot of the candidates for office.

Ballots for the run-off election are being mailed to WTU members on Nov. 15, 2010.

Your ballot must be placed in the reply envelope and mailed so that it is received no later than 4 p.m., on TUESDAY, NOV. 30, 2010.

School Tech Connect: Man of the Year

School Tech Connect: Man of the Year

Man of the Year

by effacethefacade@yahoo.com (Tim)

Happy Turkey Day, everyone.

gobble gobble

Michelle Obama Hires Gay Rights Superstar as Spokeswoman | Gay Rights | Change.org

Michelle Obama Hires Gay Rights Superstar as Spokeswoman | Gay Rights | Change.org

Michelle Obama Hires Gay Rights Superstar as Spokeswoman

by Brandon Miller

I love people who fight for gay rights. What I love even more than that is when those people go on to assume powerful positions in the world. And what's more powerful than the White House? We need as many homo-friendly supporters and advocates as can be squeezed into that place.

And maybe Michelle Obama gets that, because she just hired a new spokeswoman with an extensive background in LGBT activism. The new hire, Kristina Schake, co-founded the American Foundation for Equal Rights last year. The organization was formed in order to file a federal court lawsuit against Proposition 8, California's ban on same-sex marriage.

Sure, it has been reported that she was hired for her work on obesity and children's health, but I'm hoping that the gay rights issue on her resume helped her cause. I mean, the woman wrote about women's and gay rights

Church-charter school partnerships a growing trend in education - McClatchy Network - Kentucky.com

Church-charter school partnerships a growing trend in education - McClatchy Network - Kentucky.com

Church-charter school partnerships a growing trend in education

By JESSICA MEYERS - The Dallas Morning News

DALLAS -- Students at Duncanville's Advantage Academy follow biblical principles, talk openly about faith and receive guidance from a gregarious former pastor who still preaches when he speaks.

But his congregation is a swath of low-income students. And his sermon is an educator's mantra about the opportunities of charter schools.

Advantage's state-funded campuses showcase the latest breed of charter schools, born from faith-based principles and taxpayer funds. More than 20 percent of Texas' charter schools have some kind of religious ties. That's the case for six of the seven approved this year.

• http://www.dallasnews.com/

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• Most charter schools no better, worse than public ones
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Church-charter partnerships are springing up across the country as private institutions lose funding and nontraditional education models grow in popularity. Their emergence prompts questions about the role religious groups should play in the development of publicly funded schools.

"The church-state line is beginning to blur," said Bruce Cooper, a professor at Fordham University's Graduate School of Education, who has studied religious charter schools. "We may be coming to a midpoint between the best of what is private and the best of what is public."

Critics fear the fuzzy division means

Read more: http://www.kentucky.com/2010/11/25/1540278/church-charter-school-partnerships.html#ixzz16JX38Umx

Stuff to know about Thanksgiving The Answer Sheet - A School Survival Guide for Parents (And Everyone Else)

The Answer Sheet - A School Survival Guide for Parents (And Everyone Else)

Stuff to know about Thanksgiving: 242 million turkeys, 1.9 billion pounds of sweet potatoes, etc.

By Valerie Strauss

Here are some facts and figures about Thanksgiving, assembled by our friendly U.S. Census Bureau.

242 million
The number of turkeys expected to be raised in the United States in 2010. That’s down 2 percent from the number raised during 2009. The turkeys produced in 2009 together weighed 7.1 billion pounds and were valued at $3.6 billion.
The source for this and the following food facts is the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service.

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