Daily Kos: The States: More Bully Politics of Education Reform

Daily Kos: The States: More Bully Politics of Education Reform:

The States: More Bully Politics of Education Reform

by rss@dailykos.com (plthomasEdD)

From South Carolina to New Jersey to Wisconsin—and all across the U.S.—universal public education is under assault by the bully politics of education reform.
In my home state of South Carolina, Governor Haley and Superintendent Zais, neither of whom have experience or expertise in education, are seeking to attack unions (although SC is a non-union, right-to-work state), increase education testing through adopting Common Core State Standards, deprofessionalize teachers through new accountability and merit-pay schemes, and cripple public schools by endorsing expanded choice initiatives.
Tractenberg details a similar pattern in New Jersey:

"Gov. Chris Christie wastes no opportunity to trash Newark’s public schools. His assaults continued recently at a national school choice conference, where he and odd-couple partner Mayor Cory Booker were featured speakers."Aside from Christie’s well-known penchant for confrontation, there are two big problems with his attacks.
"First, he insists on citing “facts” that are either flat-out wrong or cherry-picked to emphasize the 

solidaridad: Pico Union Save Adult Education Town Hall - Friday, May 25, 2012

solidaridad: Pico Union Save Adult Education Town Hall - Friday, May 25, 2012:

Pico Union Save Adult Education Town Hall - Friday, May 25, 2012

by Robert D. Skeels * rdsathene

CARECEN
2845 W. 7th Street
Los Angeles, CA 90005
Friday, May 25, 6:30-8:30PM

http://saveadulted.org
http://lastudents.org

Labor leader calls for end of layoff crisis | UTSanDiego.com

Labor leader calls for end of layoff crisis | UTSanDiego.com:

Labor leader calls for end of layoff crisis

 With 1,500-plus teachers set to lose their jobs and health benefits in little over a month, local labor leader Lorena Gonzalez Thursday urged the San Diego Unified School District and its unions to strike a deal to save jobs.

Gonzalez spoke of a growing sense of community desperation over the massive personnel cut that will put one in five teachers out of work June 30 and drive up class sizes to new heights come September.

“We can’t just take a hard line and say, ‘rescind the layoffs.’ We let this play out as long as we could…,” said Gonzalez, head of the San Diego and Imperial Counties Labor Council.

“It doesn’t make any sense to play a game of chicken, it’s not going to work on either side.”

Gonzalez said she was taking an unprecedented step personally in urging union representatives to sit down with district officials to reach an 

apaba panel discussion on bullying, hazing and discrimination, may 29

apaba panel discussion on bullying, hazing and discrimination, may 29:

apaba panel discussion on bullying, hazing and discrimination, may 29

Hey, Los Angeles. On Tuesday, May 29 come to the Asian Pacific American Bar Association presents a panel discussion on bullying, hazing, and discrimination affecting our community. Congresswoman Judy Chu will make opening remarks, with panelists ranging from an L.A. Superior Court judge to a school psychologist. More details:

APAHM: Panel Discussion on Bullying, Hazing and Discrimination

Tuesday, May 29, 2012
6:00 PM - 9:00 PM

Asian Pacific American Legal Center
1145 Wilshire Blvd.,
Los Angeles, CA 90017

Nearly one in three American students is bullied, but for Asian
American students, the numbers are even more staggering: more than
half. A report published just last year in the AAPI Nexus revealed that
54% of Asian American teenagers are victims of bullying in the
classroom. These findings were from a 2009 survey conducted by the U.S.
Justice and Education departments that interviewed 6,500 students aged
12 to 18 throughout the nation, who reported to being targets of
taunting, exclusion, and even physical violence.

This is a free event that will begin at 6:00 p.m. Tuesday, May 29, at the Community Room of the Asian Pacific American Legal Center. Food and drinks will be provided. The program will start promptly at 6:30 p.m. and a reception will follow.

As we anticipate a full house, please RSVP at your earliest convenience
and at the latest by May 25, 2012 to contactapaba@gmail.com.

The event is free, but it's suggested you RSVP by e-mailing contactapaba@gmail.com. For more information about the event, go to the APABA website here.

The Danger in School Spending Cuts - NYTimes.com

The Danger in School Spending Cuts - NYTimes.com:

Albany’s Unkindest Cut of All

By BILLY EASTON

Published: May 25, 2012

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For Op-Ed, follow@nytopinion and to hear from the editorial page editor, Andrew Rosenthal, follow@andyrNYT.

IN most states, top-ranked high school seniors are shoo-ins to attend their local state universities. But that’s not how it goes in New York these days. In one recent, glaring case, the valedictorian of a rural school district outside Rochester was rejected by a nearby State University of New York campus — not because her grades were too low, but because her high school didn’t offer the courses needed to compete for college admission.

Such stories are becoming increasingly common across New York State. Poor school districts are being forced to cut electives, remedial tutoring, foreign languages and 

Horace Mann & Compulsory Schooling | Lefty Parent

Horace Mann & Compulsory Schooling | Lefty Parent:

Horace Mann & Compulsory Schooling

by Cooper Zale

I have continued to ponder why school for kids continues to be compulsory (with the requisite coercion) while most everything else we do in America (except perhaps pay taxes) is by our own choice and direction. In trying to get a handle on the answer to a fundamental societal question like that, I tend to start with looking at our history and the flow of events that have led us to our present situation.
Being a kid who grew up in the 1960s, I can’t help but recall The Rocky & Bullwinkle Show and its Peabody’s Improbable History segment featuring the dog historian Mr. Peabody. I imagine erudite canine saying to his “boy” Sherman, “Let’s set the Wayback machine to Massachusetts in the year 1830 when Horace Mann led the 

School Tech Connect: What About Dick?

School Tech Connect: What About Dick?:

What About Dick?

by noreply@blogger.com (Tim Furman)

The One With Less Hair

So, after this is over--- after they pass the court-bound pension reductions, what happens to Dick Ingram? Does he stay on? I'm just sitting here in Rogers Park, so what do I know, but here's what it looks like to me.

The Speaker of the House wants to create an auditor to over-rule the director's state cost certifications.

The same Speaker wants to change the makeup of the TRS Board so that it's "50/50," which is all about reducing any advocacy for the pensions that the Board can provide.

The TRS Board of which I speak has thrown off any number of signals that they feel burned by the director.

The director himself would not win 5% of a confidence vote of the members.

I'm guessing he'll have a soft landing somewhere. And by soft landing, I mean fabulously lucrative next thing.

What's your take?

Education Votes:

NEA vice president pans Romney’s ed policy on MSNBC

by treed | May 25, 2012 | Discuss 0

 Share20 

Tags: class sizes, education policy, Lily Eskelsen, Mitt Romney, MSNBC, The Last Word, video

 

NEA Vice President Lily Eskelsen visited MSNBC’s “The Last Word” on Thursday, May 24 to discuss Mitt Romney’s recent education policy announcements and class sizes.

NEA Secretary-Treasurer Becky Pringle was interviewed on The Stephanie Miller Show and by DeSaundra Harris on American Urban Radio Network. You can listen to both broadcasts below.

• Becky Pringle on the Stephanie Miller Show 
• Becky Pringle on American Urban Radio Network 

Want to find out more about where the candidates stand on education? Check out the EdVotes Election 2012 page.

Engaging Parents In School… » Does Arne Duncan Support The Parent Trigger?

Engaging Parents In School… » Does Arne Duncan Support The Parent Trigger?:

Does Arne Duncan Support The Parent Trigger?

by Larry Ferlazzo

I’ve often published posts here and guest columns elsewhere criticizing the parent trigger.
However, I hadn’t heard until today that Education Secretary Arne Duncan supposedly supports it.
Alexander Russo tweeted out a Reuters article saying:
“The Obama administration backs parent trigger.”
Since that was new to me, I searched online to see if there were actual quotations documenting that support, but

NYSED Negotiates with Children’s Lives | United Opt Out National

NYSED Negotiates with Children’s Lives | United Opt Out National:

NYSED Negotiates with Children’s Lives

by admin

We at United Opt Out National do not.  The New York State Education Department has field tests scheduled for this June in order to test the validity of standardized test questions created by Pearson, as well as high school field tests created by NYSED.  Not only are children subjected to the abuse which comes with high stakes testing, but they are also required to work for NYSED and Pearson in order to get the questions standardized and ready for the next onslaught of new tests.  Child abuse. Child labor.  All in the name of high stakes testing which does not provide evidence of  learning, rather, it shoves children into boxes while profiting billionaires and privatizing our public education system.

However, mainstream media as well as the NYSED would prefer none of you know that -  especially the children who are needed to complete these mind-numbing tasks in order to keep corporate education reform moving along at a 

School Tech Connect: More Wagging of the Dog

School Tech Connect: More Wagging of the Dog:

More Wagging of the Dog

by noreply@blogger.com (Tim Furman)

So, the cigarette tax/hospital property tax just passed, raising what, $800m for Medicaid? Now it's headed over to the Senate. We'll see.

I'm posting it because in the back of my mind, if the cigarette tax passed, then the pensions were going to be successfully attacked, and I guess I'm sticking with that little prediction. There's a certain momentum in the air, isn't there? It's almost as if the outcome in the legislature is decided and that we should be focusing our phone calls on the negotiators of the We Are One coalition.

Judging from all the little complexities that are being thrown into the pension mix, I'm guessing that it will all be decided in court, pension-wise.

We're living in an age where the dog is being wagged by two easy-to-solve, yet intractable problems: our inability to tax wealthy people in the traditional way (progressively), and our inability to start a national health care system like the rest of the world.

Anyway, I'm glad they were able to raise the cigarette tax because I think its benefits outweigh the fact that it's a 

GOAL Awardees Named - Year 2012 (CA Dept of Education)

GOAL Awardees Named - Year 2012 (CA Dept of Education):

State Schools Chief Tom Torlakson Presents GOAL Awards During
California Advisory Commission on Special Education Meeting

SACRAMENTO—State Superintendent of Public Education Tom Torlakson presented the 2011-12 Grazer Outstanding Achievement in Learning (GOAL) awards today to two education organizations during a meeting of the California Advisory Commission on Special Education held at the California Department of Education.

The winners, selected among 26 entries, are:

• The Learn to Earn program for middle and high school students with mild to moderate disabilities, Riverside Unified School District, in the category of secondary transition; and
• The Speech Improvement Class for students with mild articulation (speech sound) disorders, San Diego Unified School District's Speech-Language Pathology Department, in the category of non-secondary transition.

Finalists in the category of secondary transition include:

• Post-secondary Program; East Side Union High School District;
• Miller Career and Transition Center; Los Angeles Unified School District; and
• Generation NeXt Transition Program at UCLA; Los Angeles County Office of Education.

Finalists in the category of non-secondary transition include:

• Deaf and Hard of Hearing Program; Burbank Unified School District, Foothill SELPA;
• Behavioral Parent Education, for parents of students with autism; District-wide in Orange County;
• Valley Learning IN a Caring, comprehensive, collaborative System (LINCS); San Joaquin County Office of Education.

The GOAL award was created in 2005-06 and was funded by Hollywood producer Brian Grazer's family to recognize exemplary practices in special education and to celebrate programs that serve California youth with disabilities and the professionals who provide these services.

This year the GOAL recipients will each receive a $2,500 check to invest back into their programs. For more information, please visit Advisory Commission on Special Education (ACSE) - Administration & Support.

# # # #

Tom Torlakson — State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Communications Division, Room 5206, 916-319-0818, Fax 916-319-0100

An open letter to President Obama about Romney’s class size comments « Parents Across America

An open letter to President Obama about Romney’s class size comments « Parents Across America:

An open letter to President Obama about Romney’s class size comments

 If you want to send your own message to Obama about class size, you can do it 

via his  campaign website.

Dear President Obama:

Yesterday, Mitt Romney went to visit a charter school in Philadelphia and got real push back from teachers when he said class size doesn’t matter.  A video of their remarks is below.  As a principal of a charter school pointed out,

“There was a study done by the University of Tennessee, a definitive study about class size and what they said was that in first through third grade, if the class size is under 18 those kids stay ahead of everybody else all the way through school, including classes where you might have 25 in the class and co-teachers. Those students lose their gains after a couple years. If you have small classes in those primary years, those most important years, that’s what makes the difference.”

This is the famed STAR experiment, probably the most rigorous experiment in the history of education reform.

Your campaign seized on Romney’s remarks immediately,

Pelto honored with Helen M. Loy Freedom of Information Award - Wait, What?

Pelto honored with Helen M. Loy Freedom of Information Award - Wait, What?:

Pelto honored with Helen M. Loy Freedom of Information Award

by jonpelto

I’d like to post a special note of thanks to the Society of Professional Journalists and the Connecticut Freedom of Information Commission for honoring me with the Helen M. Loy Freedom of Information Award last night.

CT NewsJunkie included the following in their news coverage of the event;

“Jonathan Pelto, the former lawmaker who has previously written for CTNewsJunkie and whose Wait, What? blog on state politics has developed a significant following in recent months, was also honored as the winner of this year’s Helen M. Loy Freedom of Information Award.

Pelto was honored because he took his FOIA complaint against the University of 

Private School Scholarships: Money Laundering for the Masses:

Private School Scholarships: Money Laundering for the Masses

Welcome to the United States of Scam-erica. Or Griftopia, as Matt Taibbi calls it in his book on the Wall Street meltdown. “There are really two Americas,” Taibbi writes. For the grifter class, government is “a tool for making  money,” while “in everybody-else land, the government is something to be avoided.”

Not anymore. Here is the lesson Americans gleaned from the financial meltdown on and bailout of Wall Street: If the feds won’t prosecute ‘em, join ‘em. Corruption has trickled down.

Now the government haters have their hands out, too. One Georgia Christian school, for example, instructs parents in how to use a state scholarship program to launder their taxable income and turn it into tax-free tuition money. Georgia’s private school 

Seattle Schools Community Forum: City of Seattle-Protect Neighborhoods Where Our Schools Sit

Seattle Schools Community Forum: City of Seattle-Protect Neighborhoods Where Our Schools Sit:

City of Seattle-Protect Neighborhoods Where Our Schools Sit

by Melissa Westbrook

I can't tell you how many times you hear the Mayor or the City Council members lament that they want to do more for Seattle Schools.

They don't have governance of the schools.  But while the district is responsible for what goes on inside and on the grounds of every school, it is the CITY'S job to protect the areas around the schools.

The Rainier Beach High School area (which also includes South Shore and Dunlap nearby) has had a huge amount of violence and shootings incidents.  RBHS suffers as a result of it and is that their fault?  It is not.

And now we have an innocent father killed while driving his children and his own father, right by Garfield High 

Schooling in the Ownership Society: Murdoch's News Corp. is an ALEC Member

Schooling in the Ownership Society: Murdoch's News Corp. is an ALEC Member:

Murdoch's News Corp. is an ALEC Member

by Mike Klonsky

Murdoch (l) and Joel Klein.

No big surprise here. Adam Peshek, who staffs ALEC's Education Task Force, told Education Week that News Corp. has been a member of both ALEC's Education Task Force and Communications and Technology Task Force since January 2012.

This according to PR Watch: 

When News Corp. acquired Wireless Generation, a for-profit online education, software, and testing corporation, for $360 million in cashin 2010, Rupert Murdoch called the for-profit K-12 education industry"a $500 billion sector in the US alone that is waiting desperately to be transformed." A few weeks 

Ed Roundup for 5-25-12 - Year 2012 (CA Dept of Education)

Ed Roundup for 5-25-12 - Year 2012 (CA Dept of Education):

Education Roundup for the Week Ending May 25, 2012

SACRAMENTO—The California Department of Education (CDE) today issued this week's Education Roundup of education-related announcements of public interest.

New Parent Handbook Available in Spanish

The Parent Handbook for California Common Core Standards is now available in Spanish. A "standard" means the knowledge, concepts, and skills students should acquire at each grade level.

The original publication in English was produced in 2011 by the California County Superintendents Educational Services Association and the Sacramento County Office of Education. The Spanish translation was produced by the CDEClearinghouse for Multilingual Documents.

The Parent Handbook supports local school efforts for effective communication with parents, including school site councils, and parent involvement initiatives. It provides a detailed overview of what students will be learning in English-language Arts and mathematics programs that are aligned with California Common Core Standards.

Teachers interested in using portions of the translation for back-to-school night, parent/teacher conferences, or Public Schools Week may duplicate sections pertaining to the grade levels or subjects they teach.

Users may download the free publications in English and Spanish versions from CDE Web page, California Stakeholder Organizations, keywords "parent handbook"; and the California County Superintendents Educational Services Association Web page, Common Core Standards Communication Tools  , keywords "parent handbook." For questions about the Spanish translation, email the Clearinghouse for Multilingual Documents at cmd@cde.ca.gov.

New Student Mental Health
Policy Workgroup Convened

In an effort to address state budget cuts over the past several years to mental health services that have affected student support services, the CDE today announced a Student Mental Health Policy Workgroup will soon meet to assess the mental health needs of California students.

Many students have mental health issues that interfere with their development, daily life, and education. The consequences of a mild mental health need can easily escalate to a full lifetime mental illness requiring more costly services and other problems, including dropping out of school, disability, unemployment, substance abuse, homelessness, inappropriate incarceration, and even suicide.

The volunteer Workgroup consists of 35 school teachers, counselors, social workers, psychologists, nurses, and administrators, as well as state and county mental health professionals. The Workgroup will make policy recommendations to State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson and the California Legislature designed to address student mental health needs.

The Workgroup is funded by the California Mental Health Services Authority, an organization of county governments working to improve mental health outcomes for individuals, families, and communities. It administers programs on a statewide, regional, and local basis through the Mental Health Services Act as a result of Proposition 63.

Meeting the mental health needs of students is part of Torlakson’s concept of meeting the needs of the whole child within hisBlueprint for Great Schools - Initiatives & Programs.

# # # #

Tom Torlakson — State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Communications Division, Room 5206, 916-319-0818, Fax 916-319-0100

What Was Your Favorite Quote from #WCVC12? — Whole Child Education

What Was Your Favorite Quote from #WCVC12? — Whole Child Education:

What Was Your Favorite Quote from #WCVC12?

by ASCD Whole Child Bloggers

Was it from Pasi Sahlberg or Daniel Kropf? Deborah Wortham or the kids at Quest Early College High School? Maurice Elias, Charles Haynes, or Mike Rulon? Maybe it was from authors Mike Anderson, Michael Opitz, Bob Sullo, or Peter DeWitt? Or from one of our school sites (Byrne Creek Secondary School, Iroquois Ridge High School, Batesville Community School Corporation, or LeConte Elementary School)?
Everyone mentioned (and more) were part of the 2012 ASCD Whole Child Virtual Conference held two weeks ago. The 7-day conference of 24 sessions was a full, rich, and compelling week of learning. And if you weren't able to participate, don't worry! All sessions have been archived for you to view and share.

A number of sessions were live-tweeted on the @wholechildadv Twitter feed and using the #WCVC12 hashtag. Here is a sampling of our favorite quotes and tweets:
The Whole Child Around The World (Pasi Sahlberg, Daniel Kropf, and Katarzyna Kubacka)

• Sahlberg: From Finnish point of view, role of edu has been/should be equalizer of inequalities and diversities in our societies.
• Kropf: Issue of partnership—should not precisely define responsibilities of community vs. school, systems are interdependent.
• Kubacka says that this isn't "zero sum game," schools are responsible for teaching social and academic skills.
• Kropf says it's clear that you need to help child understand who he/she is in relation to others, teach the individual.
• "If we want to really change, we must change assessment." - Finnish delegate, international summit on teaching profession
• Kropf: People behave the way they are measured. If we want to change education, we need to measure what is really important.
• Sahlberg: Best thing we can share with colleagues—take the child's well-being seriously. Put well-being & happiness in place first.

What Is a Whole Child Education? (Sean Slade)

• "We believe success of each learner can only be achieved through a whole child approach to learning and teaching" - Dr. Gene Carter
• Slade: End goal in mind is to think of a child important to you. Imagine them at 25-yrs-old. How do you want to describe them?
• Slade wants teachers to shift to believing that they're teaching children/individuals