You see, taking back our schools is not just something we do in Denver. It’s happening all over the country. Watch this video. Internalize what the protesters are pointing out about NYC schools.
Doesn’t it sound familiar?
Let’s take back our schools. Join us.
Jan 28 - 6:12 a.m. | Thursday was the second and last day school district officials in Compton were verifying signatures parents collected to radically overhaul a low-performing public school in the district under the state’s new “Parent Trigger” law. The officials’ process has drawn strong criticism by the group that helped parents gather the signatures.
It wasn’t enough for parents to sign a petition that would wipe the slate clean and turn 450-student McKinley Elementary School over to a charter school operator under the new law. Compton Unified is verifying those signatures by compelling parents to show up outside the school’s auditorium on one of two days, says principal Fleming Robinson. "They come over here to a reception area, and in the reception area there’s a
Progressives might be feeling pretty good right now about the defeat or delay of various attacks (Waiting For Superman, the anti-strike legislation in Illinois, the parent trigger in Compton) and the emergence of several champions (Ravitch, Strauss).
But in my mind at least progressives are still spending so much time tearing down any and all possible examples of progress, a tactic that while useful may have reached its limits. There's always something wrong, or not good enough, or an extenuating circumstance or special treatment that can be used to explain things away. Where's the money coming from? What about the teacher turnover rate?
As you'll see below, I think it's time for a more positive, hopeful narrative, with a new set of examples and heroes illustrating an
They rely on data but ignore the evidence. They have no argument based on credible evidence yet their position has the mic. It’s a philosophical war and the traditionalists are losing. And for once, the ‘revolutionary’ movement is trying to erase a hundred years of progress.
We’re not talking about second amendment advocates, creationists vs. rational scientific explanations, nor doves vs. hawks on a war and peace issue. The ‘movement’ away from sanity, accountability, responsibility, humility, and reasonable arguments is being led by a variety of MBA-type wonks who never spent a day in front of a classroom yet use everything made up at their disposal to denigrate public education.
Could it only be in public school where they teach when writing a paragraph
Tunisia, Yemen, Egypt.
This morning I’m sitting and watching Al Jazeera on my computer. Thousands of people are in the streets of Cairo and Suez.
In Tunisia, the dictator Ben Ali, long supported by the United States has fled.
In Suez, reports are that the government no longer is in control.
January 28, 2011 by gatorbonbc
I can’t attend Educon this year. Snow in Philadelphia has canceled school today so they’re moving to Plan B. I thought I’d share some questions for attendees to ponder as they interact with each other this weekend. These are some of the questions I asked attendees at last week’s ELMLE conference in Amsterdam.
Sacramento City Unified Superintendent Jonathan Raymond is hopeful that his district can move past the divisiveness surrounding Sacramento Charter High.
The district has formed a focus group that will decide how to best gauge the community's desire for the Oak Park campus, which district officials say is underutilized by Sacramento Charter High.
"There is a lot of history around this issue. There are a lot of rational and, frankly, irrational arguments," Raymond said. "It's time to put that aside and say, 'What is best for kids and how can we move forward?' "
The district approved the charter following a split vote in 2003, and the decision remains
I’ve been thinking a lot this week about Christa McAuliffe. The high school teacher who died in the Challenger explosion 25 years ago today would be near retirement age now.
Back then, McAuliffe lived a couple blocks away from me in a big Victorian in Concord, N.H., across the park where I’d take my daughter. I didn’t know her, but her selection as the first citizen in space and, of course, her death, deeply affected all of her neighbors – which is to say everyone in Concord – and beyond.
Over the years, I would sometimes stop by her black granite gravestone on my way to work. It’s a peaceful spot, with a good view of the hills beyond Concord, and I was fascinated by
This post was written by Sandy Dean, Director of the National Board Resource Center (NBRC) at Stanford. (Accomplished California Teachers is a project of the NBRC).
I turned off the television on Tuesday evening after President Obama had finished his state of the union address and vowed to think no more. I have by now become inured to the feelings that follow messages about reforming schools in America. Inevitably though, as I am trying to fall asleep, the messages start to replay and questions rear up in the dark and keep sleep at bay. On Tuesday night, the questions all revolved around the big disconnect between policy and practice. It is so easy to ignore the impact of decisions made at the top, but so crushing when you are on the receiving end.
So, as I lay sleepless I thought about what would I say if I could give the “rebuttal” to just that one part of Mr. Obama’s speech. Here is a sample.
No one disagrees that the future of our country and its prosperity is connected to how well we educate our children. I liked that part when the president said, “our students don’t just memorize equations, but answer
