Ravitch: What Scrooge might think of modern school reform - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

Ravitch: What Scrooge might think of modern school reform - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post:

Ravitch: What Scrooge might think of modern school reform

by Valerie Strauss

This was written by education historian Diane Ravitch for her Bridging Differences blog, which she co-authors with Deborah Meier on the Education Week website. Ravitch and Meier exchange letters about what matters most in education. Ravitch, a research professor at New York University, is the author of the bestselling “The Death and Life of the Great American School System,” an important critique of the flaws in the modern school reform movement that she just updated.

Read full article >>

Jersey Jazzman: Voucher Mendacity

Jersey Jazzman: Voucher Mendacity:

Voucher Mendacity

by Duke

The school voucher proponents are just so brazen in the way they twist the facts:

When critics worried that OSA would divert funds from local public schools, it is a revenue-neutral bill that was revised to pass on the savings as well as the costs to local school districts.

Although school districts bear the costs of their students’ scholarships, they also avoid the costs of educating those students. Since the average school district spends $18,000 on each student, districts will save at least $8,000 for each scholarship recipient in elementary or high school, respectively.

The money saved by OSA will allow school districts to invest even more money on the

Abandoned Library in South Central Los Angeles Liberated, Evicted « occupy california #ows

Abandoned Library in South Central Los Angeles Liberated, Evicted « occupy california:

Abandoned Library in South Central Los Angeles Liberated, Evicted

by mtd

INGLEWOOD, CA — Around 9am this morning, youth from South Central LA, Watts, Inglewood, and Compton liberated the LA City Library’s Hyde Park branch on Crenshaw and 66th. The library has been vacant since 2004 and is located in one of LA County’s poorest neighborhoods, not far from one of the major flash points of the Rodney King riots.

The action was intended to keep the building open to provide programming and services to the community, including free food, employment and health workshops, and classes for high school students who have been through the criminal justice system or are at risk.

LAPD officers arrived within an hour–apparently alarmed that young people of color were trying to enter a library–

NYC Public School Parents: Overwhelming Opposition to DOE Agenda for PEP

NYC Public School Parents: Overwhelming Opposition to DOE Agenda for PEP:

Overwhelming Opposition to DOE Agenda for PEP

by Patrick J. Sullivan

This week's agenda has some highly controversial items. Emails sent to me ran overwhelmingly against the co-location of Success Academy in Cobble Hill. There were 540 opposed and 5 emails in favor. I wrote back to four of the supporters. Their primary issue was simply overcrowding and are looking for more good schools. There was no preference for a charter.

For a good preview of the meeting and deep dive into the issues at stake, be sure to check out Liza Featherstone's Brooklyn Rail column Here Comes Success. Here's an excerpt:

At Success Academies, by contrast, the 1% runs the schools for the 99%. But public schools are not supposed to be charities. In fact, in the 19th century, the move away from charity schools, toward a publicly funded, publicly controlled system, was a significant step toward a more democratic society. That’s progress we’re rushing to undo in our own century. A public school is not supposed to use the generously donated largesse of the rich to benefit a handful at the

Margaret Mead and James Baldwin on Denying Your Brother « Student Activism

Margaret Mead and James Baldwin on Denying Your Brother « Student Activism:

Margaret Mead and James Baldwin on Denying Your Brother

by Angus Johnston

I recently read A Rap on Race, the book-length transcript of a conversation between James Baldwin and Margaret Mead, recorded in
the summer of 1970. As I noted last week it’s a fascinating book, and I’m going to be posting excerpts every Wednesday for the next while.

Here’s the first, from the third page of the book:

MEAD: I recall a boy whose father married again, married a woman who had a son about the same age. They weren’t related, of course, they were stepbrothers. And then that father and mother, the father of the first boy and the mother of the second, had a child. And the first boy said, “Now I feel differently about it. We have a brother in common.”

BALDWIN: Ah, that makes a great deal of difference.

MEAD: You see, this is true in a sense. Because as far as I know — and this is all any white person in the

The Truth Behind Stand for Children: A Video | Seattle Education

The Truth Behind Stand for Children: A Video | Seattle Education:

The Truth Behind Stand for Children: A Video

by seattleducation2011

The unholy trinity of Stand for Children (SFC), the League of Education Voters (LEV) and the Washington State PTA (WSPTA) will be lobbying for a charter school bill starting in January with the backing of Microsoft, Boeing and Bill Gates. They will be in the House and Senate halls in Olympia in front of our representatives saying that they stand for the rest of us when in actuality they are representing only a wealthy few.

After watching this video, please send this to your representatives in Olympia, you school PTA, your school board representatives and the board members of the WSPTA. Everyone needs to be informed about who is backing charter school legislation in our state and exactly what organizations like LEV, SFC and the Alliance for Education have become, puppets of the 1%.

Thanks to Parents Across America, Portland for

Florida Charter Schools Failing Disbaled Children | Scathing Purple Musings

Florida Charter Schools Failing Disbaled Children | Scathing Purple Musings:

Florida Charter Schools Failing Disbaled Children

by Bob Sikes

From reporters John O’Connor and Sarah Gonzalez of NPR:

According to state law, every student is supposed to have an equal shot at enrollment – including students with disabilities. But students with severe disabilities are not appearing in most charter school classrooms.

StateImpact Florida and The Miami Herald gathered and analyzed data on K-12 students with disabilities from 14 school districts representing more than three-quarters of Florida’s total charter enrollment.

The analysis focused on students in the state’s two most severe disability categories, which

Oakland teacher speaks at the White House - The Education Report - Katy Murphy's blog on Oakland schools

Oakland teacher speaks at the White House - The Education Report - Katy Murphy's blog on Oakland schools:

Oakland teacher speaks at the White House

By Katy Murphy
Friday, December 9th, 2011 at 5:16 pm in charter schools, teachers.

Laura Kretschmar, a newly National Board-certified teacher who teaches math and science at Lighthouse Community Charter School in East Oakland, spoke at a White House forum about the teaching profession this week with U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. Also there is Dan Brown, whose book (“The Great Expectations School”) I just finished reading.

Check out the video here. Laura’s the second person in from the left. She starts speaking around 39 minutes.

Here’s a note she wrote to her colleagues about the experience and forwarded to me to post:

Hey everyone!

I still can’t believe I was at the White House yesterday morning on a panel with Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, and former colleague and friend who facilitated the panel–Genevieve DeBose, plus the other National Board Certified teachers on the panel and in the room. I spoke mostly to the importance of school design models

Modern School: With Friends Like These—NEA Adopts Kapo Evaluation System For Teachers

Modern School: With Friends Like These—NEA Adopts Kapo Evaluation System For Teachers:

With Friends Like These—NEA Adopts Kapo Evaluation System For Teachers

by Michael Dunn

Your New Evaluator or Your New Job? (Image from Flickr, Senor Codo)

The National Education Association (NEA) has released a plan that would do away with tenure and seniority, according to an article in the Washington TimesBottom of Form. Under the new plan launched by the nation’s largest labor union, performance, not seniority, would become the primary factor determining whether teachers keep their jobs.

The new plan veers dramatically from the union’s traditional stance, which was to defend seniority and tenure. Madaline Fennell, the chair of the NEA’s Commission on Effective

Two dozen L.A. schools to lose federal funding - latimes.com

Two dozen L.A. schools to lose federal funding - latimes.com:

Two dozen L.A. schools to lose federal funding

In the face of declining federal funds, Los Angeles school officials stripped about two dozen campuses of aid that has been used to improve the academic achievement of low-income students.

The move, approved at Tuesday’s Board of Education meeting, was angrily opposed by school board member Tamar Galatzan. She represents the west San Fernando Valley, where eight schools are projected to lose the funding.

The students losing services are “just as deserving as students at other schools,” Galatzan said. Some schools facing sharp reductions are blocks from similar schools that will retain the extra aid. Galatzan also complained

L.A. Unified stops charters from letting 'volunteers' get admission preference

The Los Angeles Board of Education on Tuesday passed a resolution that would ban charter schools from offering admission to families in exchange for volunteer work or other services. The admission preference had been offered by two charter schools overseen by the Los Angeles Unified School District.

One, Larchmont Charter School, ended the practice recently. The other, Los Feliz Charter School for the Arts, was headed toward dropping the preference when the school board acted.

Critics have called such preferences inappropriate, noting that the law provides for a lottery when there are more applicants than spaces at a charter school. They said skirting the lottery could lead to abuses, such as families getting into schools because of connections or because they promised substantial donations or other valuable

Jersey Jazzman: 2 Legit To Quit

Jersey Jazzman: 2 Legit To Quit:

2 Legit To Quit

Duke at Jersey Jazzman - 7 minutes ago

I'm going to bring this up one more time: Apparently, you still can't mention me at B4K: OK, that's their right. But if I'm not "legitimate," why waste space and time on an entire essay debating me point-by-point? I mean, either you're going to engage me or you're not; it seems a little fickle to pick and choose when you want to take my arguments on. Perhaps B4K could let their readers know if the only problem they have with my "legitimacy" is that I write under a pseudonym. If that's the case, would they allow folks to post my work on their Facebook page if I wrote under my giv... more »

Don't Believe Everything You Read

Duke at Jersey Jazzman - 42 minutes ago

One of the hallmarks of our modern discourse is that there are those who hold a particular position so dear (usually on the right, but not always) that they not only block out masses of contradictory evidence; they jump on the first bit of "research" that comes along that comports with their world view, no matter how shoddy it may be. Case in point: B4K is jumping for joy that a study "proves" money doesn't matter in our schools: A NEW STUDY: MORE RESOURCES DO NOT MEAN BETTER SCHOOLSGetting Beneath the Veil of Effective Schools *12/12/11* Amid the debate on education reform in New J... more »

Halliburton High

Duke at Jersey Jazzman - 1 hour ago

Jersey Public education in New Jersey has been roiled recently by conflicts over charter schools, vouchers and "virtual" schools — but, now, a new type of privatization is on the horizon: allowing public schools to contract with a private company to offer "alternative" education. The idea has been promoted to school superintendents by one of their own, Mount Olive schools chief Larrie Reynolds. He says it could bring extra income both to cash-strapped school districts and to a private, Dubai-based company *for which he works as a consultant.* [...] He [Reynolds] also is president of ... more »

The Biggest Lie In America Today

Duke at Jersey Jazzman - 1 day ago

They got together a bunch of elites here in Jersey to whine and complain that "we just don't have the money!" In many ways, the New Jersey residents now know will disappear within five years because of yawning government budget gaps, a panel of top experts said Friday. The bipartisan group of former officials and academics presented a dark view of the state’s future that included widespread government consolidation, worker layoffs, service cuts and tax increases. Experts said that future was nearly certain to come to pass, even with a rosy economic scenario. Wow, sounds dire. Do ... more »

America's Best Judge

Duke at Jersey Jazzman - 2 days ago

The honorable Judge Sheila Rappaport from the great state of Colorado: In declaring Colorado's school finance system "significantly underfunded," Denver District Judge Sheila Rappaport *rejected virtually every argument presented by the state's star witnesses* in a five-week trial this year over school funding levels. Rappaport's ruling, issued Friday, blasted the state's level of school funding as "unconscionable" and not meeting the requirement in the Education Clause of the Colorado Constitution of a "thorough and uniform" system of public education. Her ruling handed the proble... more »

Great Moments in Reformy Hyperbole

Duke at Jersey Jazzman - 2 days ago

Billionaire-backed and newly-elected NJ Assemblyman Troy Singleton: That is why I am a strong supporter of the proposed Opportunity Scholarship Act (OSA), now under consideration in the state Legislature. The OSA would use corporate tax credits to transfer low-income students from failing schools into public or parochial schools with a track record of success. Our educational foundation must be steeped in the principle that every child, regardless of zip code, should be afforded the tools necessary to succeed. Adhering to this principle however, can be particularly daunting in so... more »

Why Does Anyone Listen to Michelle Rhee?

Duke at Jersey Jazzman - 2 days ago

NJ Governor Chris Christie on Michelle Rhee, former Washington DC schools chancellor, 11/11/11: “No one in America has been more clear that we must change our public education system,” said Christie. "Thank you Michelle" Michelle Rhee on Chris Christie, 11/16/11: Michelle Rhee, the former Washington schools chancellor, who sat beside Mr. Christie’s wife during Tuesday’s speech in Trenton, has committed her new organization, StudentsFirst, to providing policy support for Mr. Christie’s education initiatives. “I think it’s incredibly courageous of the governor to take these issues on... more »

The New, "Reasonable" Corporate Reformer

Duke at Jersey Jazzman - 2 days ago

Something is happening here in Jersey that ought to give hope to teachers and parents around the rest of the country: the corporate reform movement is running out of gas. Suddenly, privatizers are running into real grass-roots opposition to charters schools; voucher rallies are exposed as Astroturf operations while opposition to giving taxpayer dollars to religious schools grows. Chris Christie, who seemed hell-bent on gutting tenure only a month ago, has suddenly shifted his focus to sick pay reform (yeah, that'll fix all of the state's fiscal problems, sure...). The corporate refo... more »

Work as Play! Kids Just Want to Have Fun! « Diary of a Public School Teacher!

Work as Play! Kids Just Want to Have Fun! « Diary of a Public School Teacher!:

Work as Play! Kids Just Want to Have Fun!

by Oldschoolteach

My team teacher and I were standing in the hallway this morning when she walked over and whispered, “If I were a kid with all this testing, testing, testing, I wouldn’t want to come to school either.” Gasp! No, actually, I know exactly what she means, school has become the most boring place in the universe for these poor kids.

A large percentage of our students are bored with school. Standardized testing is a huge culprit, along with its accomplice, data. When this is the focus of your classroom, hmmm…

All Education Matters: PLEASE READ AT ALL EDUCATION MATTERS - ORIGINAL CONTENT BY CRYN JOHANNSEN - American Horror Story: Student Loan Debt and Suicide Over Wilted Pancakes

All Education Matters: PLEASE READ AT ALL EDUCATION MATTERS - ORIGINAL CONTENT BY CRYN JOHANNSEN - American Horror Story: Student Loan Debt and Suicide Over Wilted Pancakes:

PLEASE READ AT ALL EDUCATION MATTERS - ORIGINAL CONTENT BY CRYN JOHANNSEN - American Horror Story: Student Loan Debt and Suicide Over Wilted Pancakes

by Cryn Johannsen

If you have found this on an aggregated site, they have stolen my work and have republished it without my consent. PLEASE DO NOT READ IT THERE. Despite what people think, this activity HURTS struggling writers when people/bots aggregate original work. It does not HELP.

This piece was originally published over at Hypervocal on November 8th.

Several weeks ago I visited Austin, Texas to report on the #Occupy movement there. The mood was festive, friendly, uplifting. Occupy Wall Street had already turned ugly on several occasions, especially the pepper-

Killing Students’ Creativity. And Teachers? « Outside the Cave

Killing Students’ Creativity. And Teachers? « Outside the Cave:

Killing Students’ Creativity. And Teachers?

by Stephen Lazar

This was chilling to read:

One of the most consistent findings in educational studies of creativity has been that teachers dislike personality traits associated with creativity.

This comes from from Creativity: Asset or Burden in the Classroom?, a review paper on the research. As much as I wish I could say this doesn’t apply to me, I know that sometimes it does. On my best days, my favorite students are those who subvert my assignments, challenge me and others, and do so with sass and attitude. But on my worst days, I just want those students to shut up so I can move forward with what I have planned. This realization is something that will stick with me for a long time.

The entirety of the paper is worth reading, as is the post on the Marginal Revolution blog that led me to it. This