Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top Late Nite Posts 4-16 #soschat #EDReform

Chicago’s LSC election: largest, most diverse « Parents Across America

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Chicago’s LSC election: largest, most diverse « Parents Across America: Chicago’s LSC election: largest, most diversebypureparents“Largest municipal election yields largest number of public officials of color in the US.”Thanks to Don Moore of Designs for Change for this press release:6,500 Candidates Set To Run for Chicago’s Local School Councils This Week, After 28 Organizations Won a Two-Week Candidate Recruitment ExtensionChicago School System’s Central Administration Repeatedly Obstructs Recruitment EffortsCHICAGO, IL (APRIL 15, 2012). About 6,500 candidates signed up to run in ... more »

2012 SFSP Sponsor Training - Summer Food Service (CA Dept of Education)

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2012 SFSP Sponsor Training - Summer Food Service (CA Dept of Education): 2012 SFSP Sponsor Training The California Department of Education (CDE), Nutrition Services Division (NSD) is pleased to announce the annual mandatory training for all new and returning Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) sponsors. All sponsors must complete this mandatory program training before the NSD will approve your SFSP application to participate.During training, participants will learn all of the requirements to properly administer the SFSP. Topics include but are ... more »

ALEC EXPOSED IN MISSOURI: WHO IS WRITING OUR LAWS?

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Progress Missouri: ALEC EXPOSED IN MISSOURI: WHO IS WRITING OUR LAWS?The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is a corporate bill mill that is exerting extraordinary and secretive influence in the Missouri legislature and in other states.Through ALEC, corporations hand Missouri legislators wish lists in the form of "model" legislation that often directly benefit their bottom line at the expense of Missouri families. Numerous ALEC model bills are crafted behind closed doors by corporations, for corporations. Elected officials who are members ... more »

RheeFirst! » Why is Rhee’s astroturf using a fake front name in Connecticut?

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RheeFirst! » Why is Rhee’s astroturf using a fake front name in Connecticut?: Why is Rhee’s astroturf using a fake front name in Connecticut?byadminWritten by Jon Pelto for his blog. Read theentire post here.“No explanation or reference about why GNEPSA is the fake front name for StudentsFirst.So much for public disclosure.If you want to know what Michelle Rhee and her group are spending in Connecticut you have to know they are attempting to “fulfill the provisions of the law” by ... more »

NYC Public School Parents: Kindergarten wait list crisis continues: what we know and don't know

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NYC Public School Parents: Kindergarten wait list crisis continues: what we know and don't know: Kindergarten wait list crisis continues: what we know and don't knowbyLeonie HaimsonThe Kindergarten waiting lists were released, and they are nearly as long as last year. See map below and chart to the right. (You can also compare tolast year's maps, though they are not directly comparable; more on this below.)According to DOE, there are 2406 zoned Kindergarten children wait-listed for their zoned neighborhood school ... more »

tomhayden.com - Peace Exchange Bulletin - SDS Founder, Veteran Activist Tom Hayden on Participatory Democracy From Port Huron to Occupy Wall Street

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tomhayden.com - Peace Exchange Bulletin - SDS Founder, Veteran Activist Tom Hayden on Participatory Democracy From Port Huron to Occupy WallStreet: SDS Founder, Veteran Activist Tom Hayden on Participatory Democracy From Port Huron to Occupy Wall StreetbyTom HaydenInterview courtesyDemocracy Now!on April 13, 2012.We [Democracy Now!] speak[s] with Tom Hayden, principal author of the Port Huron Statement 50 years ago, the founding document of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). The Statement advocated for participatory democracy and helped launch the student ...more »

The pension panel time bomb is delayed and the unions are kept in the dark? « Fred Klonsky

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The pension panel time bomb is delayed and the unions are kept in the dark? « Fred Klonsky: The pension panel time bomb is delayed and the unions are kept in the dark?byFred KlonskyGovernor Quinn’s panel on pensions was scheduledto issue its recommendations tomorrow.Not going to happen.And the state’s public employee unions are complaining that, although there have been plenty of leaks about what will be in the recommendations, they have been kept in the dark.Further, it appears that whatever ... more »

Rochesterian reflects on Brizard’s leadership style » Parents United for Responsible Education

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Parents United for Responsible Education » Blog Archive » Rochesterian reflects on Brizard’s leadership style: Rochesterian reflects on Brizard’s leadership stylebyadminInteresting post by Rachel Barnhart on herRochesterian blog. She compares the district’s current interim superintendent with their former, unlamented Supt J C Brizard:“This time last year, former Superintendent Jean-Claude Brizard proposed cutting 900 jobs andgutting art, music and physical education. Tonight, Interim Superintendent Bolgen Vargasproposedadding 54 classroom teachers, primarily in the elective subjects... more »

Stand ON Children First: New AstroTurf from Teacher in the Box

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Just Like Michelle Rhee's Students first only BETTERAstroturf lobbying refers to political organizations or campaigns that appear to be made up of grassroots activists but are actually organized and run by corporate interests seeking to further their own agendas. Such groups are often typified by innocent-sounding names that have been chosen specifically to disguise the group's true backersJust Like Michelle Rhee'sStudents firstAstroturf lobbying(only Better)we support:Promoting voucher programs that drain public schools of resources by using taxpayer dollars to subsidize private ... more »

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Washington State PTSA - I Still Don't Get It

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Seattle Schools Community Forum: Washington State PTSA - I Still Don't Get It: Washington State PTSA - I Still Don't Get ItbyMelissa WestbrookThe Washington State PTA holds its annual convention on May 4,5, and 6th in SeaTac. I've attended a couple in the past and, as a former PTA Board member, I found them energizing (if not overwhelming). You kind of get the sense that there are major players holding the cards and you are just there to watch.Your unit ... more »

Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top Mid Day Posts 4-16 #edreform #soschat

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 5 hours ago

solidaridad: United Adult Students Meeting, April 21, 2012Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All)-28 minutes agosolidaridad: United Adult Students Meeting, April 21, 2012: United Adult Students Meeting, April 21, 201220120421 United Adult Students MeetingPosted byRobert D. Skeels * rdsatheneat01:23Labels:adult education,budget cuts,LAUSD,neoliberalism,resistance,social justice,UAS¡No La Quieren Mónica García!byRobert D. Skeels * rdsathene"When she needed us, to get to the position she's in, we were there for her. Now that we need her, she isn't helping us. We don't want Monica ...more »

Millions in stimulus funding went to failed charter schools | Bucyrus Telegraph Forum | bucyrustelegraphforum.com

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Millions in stimulus funding went to failed charter schools | Bucyrus Telegraph Forum | bucyrustelegraphforum.com: Millions in stimulus funding went to failed charter schoolsDAYTON (AP) -- More than $4.8 million in federal stimulus money went to Ohio charter schools that have closed, and millions more went to charter schools accused of mishandling hundreds of thousands of dollars, a newspaper reported Sunday.In Dayton, much of the more than $200,000 that went to two schools that were later shut down, New City ... more »

Shanker Blog » Becoming A 21st Century Learner

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Shanker Blog » Becoming A 21st Century Learner: Becoming A 21st Century LearnerbyEsther QuinteroThink about something you have always wanted to learn or accomplish but never did, such as a speaking a foreign language or learning how to play an instrument. Now think about what stopped you. There’s probably a variety of factors but chances are those factors have little to do with technology.Electronic devices are becoming cheaper, easier to use, and more intuitive. Much of the world’s knowledge is ... more »

FCMAT » California Education Headlines

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FCMAT » Fiscal Crisis Management Assistance Team: Layoff uncertainties roil San Juan UnifiedMore than 200 San Juan Unified School District teachers, counselors and other certificated employees on Friday snacked, read books, drank coffee, and checked smartphones and iPads while they attended a hearing on their potential layoffs.Expert sees conflict in consultant's ties to Sacramento City superintendentAn ethics expert says Sacramento City Unified School District consultant Don Katzir's involvement in the evaluation of Superintendent Jonathan Raymond is a conflict of interest.Program ... more »

In Case You Missed It: City won’t have State support for “turnarounds” by PEP vote; IBO says more high-needs students mean lower school ratings « EdVox

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In Case You Missed It: City won’t have State support for “turnarounds” by PEP vote; IBO says more high-needs students mean lower school ratings « EdVox: In Case You Missed It: City won’t have State support for “turnarounds” by PEP vote; IBO says more high-needs students mean lower school ratingsbyedvoxnyHere on EdVox we’re excited to bring you the latest news about education issues and policies affecting our communities. It can be hard to keep up with all of the events ... more »

Bully: Go to the Movies. Save a Life « MomsRising Blog

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Bully: Go to the Movies. Save a Life « MomsRising Blog: Bully: Go to the Movies. Save a LifebyLily Eskelsen You need to go to see the movieBully.You need to fill up the minivan, the truck, the car, the bus, walk, run, andjust go to see the movieBully.You need to take your kids and your grand-kids and your nieces and nephews. You need to take the church groups and the Little League team and the chess club and the Gay-Straight ... more »

Converting Schools: Charter Effect on District Schools | TheLedger.com

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Converting Schools: Charter Effect on District Schools | TheLedger.com: Converting Schools: Charter Effect on District SchoolsBy JESSE L. JACKSONPublished: Monday, April 16, 2012 at 1:48 a.m.Last Modified: Monday, April 16, 2012 at 1:48 a.m.Part 3 of 3This final part in the series "Converting Schools" addresses several of the more contentious issues that exist between charter schools and public school districts.A common argument among many charter school opponents is that the schools take money away from regular public schools. A charter ... more »

Guest view: Are test scores true measures of good teachers? | SouthCoastToday.com

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Guest view: Are test scores true measures of good teachers? | SouthCoastToday.com: Guest view: Are test scores true measures of good teachers?Text Size:A|A|APrint this ArticleEmail this ArticleShareThisByPAULA PARNAGIANPaula Parnagian lives in Revere. She is past president of Citizens for Public Schools.April 16, 2012 12:00 AMPOPULAR TODAYStudent loans — The debt bomb that keeps on tickingWareham goes after derelict propertiesSusan G. Komen for the Cure still hobbling after political misstepOrpheum Theatre celebrates 100th birthdayTitanic survivor lived in Westport Point many years ... more »

Schools Matter: From Occupy the DOE: Teach-In Continues with Shor and Naison

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Schools Matter: From Occupy the DOE: Teach-In Continues with Shor and Naison: From Occupy the DOE: Teach-In Continues with Shor and NaisonbyJim Horncalifatheron livestream.com.Broadcast Live Free1:30 p.m. – Mark Naison and Ira Shor: The Occupy Movement and the Struggle to Save Public Education in the United StatesMark and Ira will discuss the intense attack on public education while connecting it to larger policy campaigns in a class war underway in America. Further discussion will focus on the banning of Paulo ...more »

This Week In Education: Bruno: Bad District/Union Relations Lead to Bad Policy

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This Week In Education: Bruno: Bad District/Union Relations Lead to Bad Policy: Bruno: Bad District/Union Relations Lead to Bad PolicybyPaul BrunoThe controversydu jourin the Oakland Unified School District is a plan to replace all of the standard teaching positions at three struggling high schools with "teacher-on-special-assignment" (TSA) positions. Katy Murphyreports:Superintendent Tony Smith is requiring all teachers at those schools to apply for a new teacher-on-special assignment position if they want to remain on those campuses next year. In exchange for ... more »

solidaridad: United Adult Students Meeting, April 21, 2012

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solidaridad: United Adult Students Meeting, April 21, 2012: United Adult Students Meeting, April 21, 201220120421 United Adult Students MeetingPosted byRobert D. Skeels * rdsatheneat01:23Labels:adult education,budget cuts,LAUSD,neoliberalism,resistance,social justice,UAS¡No La Quieren Mónica García!byRobert D. Skeels * rdsathene"When she needed us, to get to the position she's in, we were there for her. Now that we need her, she isn't helping us. We don't want Monica Garcia to keep her position...She is affecting the needs of our communities, our children and our families." ... more »

solidaridad: ¡No La Quieren Mónica García!

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solidaridad: ¡No La Quieren Mónica García!: ¡No La Quieren Mónica García!byRobert D. Skeels * rdsathene"When she needed us, to get to the position she's in, we were there for her. Now that we need her, she isn't helping us. We don't want Monica Garcia to keep her position...She is affecting the needs of our communities, our children and our families." — Enoe Terra (Parent andAdult Student)PopoutLearn More and Get Involvedhttp://RecallMonicaGarcia.comtwitterfacebookUnited Adult Students Meeting, April 21, 2012byRobert D. Skeels * rdsathene20120421 ... more »

ALEC Senators in the State of Washington and a Response from Senator Devlin | Seattle Education

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ALEC Senators in the State of Washington and a Response from Senator Devlin | Seattle Education: ALEC Senators in the State of Washington and a Response from Senator Devlinbyseattleducation2011So far Mars, Inc., the Arizona Public Service Company (Arizona’s largest electric utility), Kraft, Wendy’s, McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Intuit, and(almost) the Gates Foundationhave parted ways withALEC.Even a legislator in Missouri publicly cut ties with ALEC. To follow is his statement:The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is not the innocuous, bipartisan organization it ... more »

Sacramento-area schools review racial imbalance of student suspensions - Education - The Sacramento Bee

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Sacramento-area schools review racial imbalance of student suspensions - Education - The Sacramento Bee: Sacramento-area schools review racial imbalance of student suspensionsShareByDiana Lambertand Phillip Reesedlambert@sacbee.comPublished: Monday, Apr. 16, 2012 - 12:00 am | Page 1ALast Modified: Monday, Apr. 16, 2012 - 12:23 amBlack students attending Folsom Cordova Unified schools were nearly five times as likely to be suspended as white students in the 2009-10 school year.Sacramento City Unified, Natomas Unified, Twin Rivers Unified and Elk Grove Unified all suspended black ... more »

NYC Educator: That Wacky Funster from New Jersey

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NYC Educator: That Wacky Funster from New Jersey: That Wacky Funster from New JerseybyNYC EducatorGovernor Chris Christie, though not a teacher by trade, has real class. You can tell, because he's brought hisALEC-inspiredwar on teachersstraight to the classroom. It's one thing to attack teachers. That's pretty common, and has become pretty much as standard as no. 2 pencils. However, His Governorship has taken things a step further:"There’s a lot of really great teachers in the state," said Christie. "But their ... more »

Beware the Education–Industrial Complex | LA Progressive

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Beware the Education–Industrial Complex | LA Progressive: Beware the Education–Industrial ComplexByAlan SingerSometimes we can learn lessons from history–if we are paying attention.In January 1961, as he completed his second and final term as President of the United States, Dwight Eisenhowergave a farewell address to the nation. It was a remarkable and prescient speech in many ways, especially given that Eisenhower was a West Point graduate, a retired five-star general, a military hero in command of all Allied troops in Western ... more »

An Ode To The Big Tests | The Jose Vilson

An Ode To The Big Tests | The Jose Vilson:

An Ode To The Big Tests

by Jose

Here’s to you.
Here’s to the students who will be pelted with Scantron sheets and test booklets emblazoned with the shape of New York State, a place they’ve explored so little.
Here’s to the students who, after 140 days of mixed concentration for varied reasons, will be asked to focus all their energies on answering 50+ multiple choice and 9+ extended response questions they’ll have to take over the course of three days for English … and 3 days for math.
Here’s to the students who have different accommodations, whose friends only get 90 minutes of torture a day when they have to sit there for 120 or 180 minutes, wasting their lives away slowly by this excruciating process.
Here’s to the students who get labels like ELL (English Language Learner) and also have the misfortune of making it to eight grade, where a kid has to take an ELA, Math, Science, ESL, Field Test, and city-administered 

Modern School: Data-Free Reform: The Bunkum of “Multiple Learning Styles”

Modern School: Data-Free Reform: The Bunkum of “Multiple Learning Styles”:

Data-Free Reform: The Bunkum of “Multiple Learning Styles”

by Michael Dunn

Every year teachers are asked to add more to their repertoire of teaching techniques, to work harder and longer to implement reforms that are supposed to improve student learning. If these reforms actually improved learning outcomes, the investment in professional development and teacher’s time might be worth it.

Teachers should be wary.

Administrators and proponents typically claim reforms are based on solid evidence and will enhance student learning and teachers routinely accept these claims, even though compelling evidence is rarely provided.

With scams like No Child Left Behind it was obvious that the benefits to students would be nominal or nonexistent and teachers opposed it from the start. However, teachers have uncritically accepted and embraced numerous other reforms and “theories” like Multiple Intelligences, popularized by Howard Gardner in the 1980s, and the notion that we must 

How to Destroy the Educational System » Counterpunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names

How to Destroy the Educational System » Counterpunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names:

Take Away Their Funding, Terrorize Teachers, and Send Kids Somewhere Else

How to Destroy the Educational System

by ELIZABETH WALTERS

How can we improve public education for our children?

The answers to this question–and the perspectives on the current quality of public education in the United States–are as varied and individualized as the 55 million students who attend public school in this country. Recently, legislators in Louisiana, like their counterparts in many other states, have sought to improve their state’s educational climate. They have good reason for doing so–in its annual Kids COUNT ratings, meant to evaluate quality of life for children in each state and based on measurements that include educational indices, the Annie E. Casey Foundation consistently ranks Louisiana as 49th (thank you, Mississippi).

As a public-school teacher in Louisiana, I can think of many ways to improve public schools here, and I heard the same sentiments voiced by fellow teachers during a rally outside the Capitol in Baton Rouge as the legislation was being debated last week (April 4). It seems self-evident that one of the best ways to to improve public education would be to allocate more resources for public schools–to improve technology, to expand professional-development opportunities for teachers, to buy classroom supplies, up-to-date textbooks and all the other materials that come with a good education. Perhaps one of the best ways to improve public education would be to loosen the strictures that tie student and school evaluations to test preparation and instead to allow teachers to instruct students in the sort of project-based units supported by 

Stand ON Children First: New AstroTurf from Teacher in the Box

Just Like Michelle Rhee's Students first only BETTER

Astroturf lobbying refers to political organizations or campaigns that appear to be made up of grassroots activists but are actually organized and run by corporate interests seeking to further their own agendas. Such groups are often typified by innocent-sounding names that have been chosen specifically to disguise the group's true backers

Just Like Michelle Rhee's
 Students first Astroturf lobbying (only Better) 
we support:

• Promoting voucher programs that drain public schools of resources by using taxpayer dollars to subsidize private school profits, and specifying that those schools must remain unregulated.
• Offering private school vouchers with “universal eligibility” (using taxpayer dollars to subsidize private schools for the rich and others); “means-tested eligibility,” (using poverty as the first domino in an effort to privatize public schools ; and “universal eligibility with means-tested scholarship.” (Here, “scholarship” means using taxpayer dollars to pay private school tuition and/or profits.)
• Creating a scheme to deem public schools “educationally bankrupt” to rationalize giving taxpayer dollars to almost completely unregulated private schools, rather than addressing any problems.
• Setting up low-income students for failure in college by incentivizing early graduation for students in need of a complete high school education.
• Certifying individuals with no education background as teachers, a move that would weaken the quality of education, that fails to recognize there is more to teaching than knowledge of a subject, and that would undermine the role and competitiveness of professional teachers.
• Eliminating tenure for teachers in favor of “performance,” allowing districts to fire older teachers in favor of lower-cost young teachers.
• Undermining teacher’s unions.

Other Astroturf lobbying groups love Stand ON Children First

Just Like Michelle Rhee's Students first only BETTER©

Proudly Sponsored by

School Tech Connect: Totally Not A Rant

School Tech Connect: Totally Not A Rant:

Totally Not A Rant

So... here's a cautionary tale, not a rant. It's going to sound like a rant. I'm not ranting, swear to God.

Anyway I get an email from my state representative, and it turns out she's having office hours at a place I can get to and I time I can make, if I A) drive instead of biking and B) haul ass.  Here's the relevant bit of email...

This email irks me a bit because I think wtf? Is revenue simply off the table forever? Anyhoo I drive to work, thinking the whole time about how weird it is to run a whole internal combustion engine for just one person.

But before I drive to work today, I do my homework. I prep like a madman, for a friggin' week. I read Glen's excellent series and I study the primary sources behind them. I'm briefed on CTBA's excellent case for a graduated income tax. I understand the