Parents Fighting Back! - Wait, What?

Parents Fighting Back! - Wait, What?:

Parents Fighting Back!

by jonpelto

At last week’s Windham and New London Board of Education meetings, concerned parents and public school advocates handed out flyers educating citizens about the damage Steven Adamowski did when he served as Hartford’s superintendent of schools and warning Windham and New London residents, now that Adamowski has been put in charge of their school districts.

Earlier this year, Stefan Pryor, Governor Malloy’s Commissioner of Education, appointed Steven Adamowski Special Master of Windham’s Schools and then expanded his authority as the Special Master of New London’s Schools.  In a no-bid contract, Pryor gave Adamowski a compensation package of $225,000 per year plus benefits.

Adamowski, who along with Paul Vallas, is considered one of the country’s leading 

Dear Public Officials; Take off the rose colored glasses…

by jonpelto

Categories: Economic Development, Economy, Poverty Tags: Economic Development, Economy One of yesterday’s Wait, What? Blog posts dealt with the reality that, here in Connecticut, we taxpayers are giving the world’s largest hedge fund, $115 million dollars to stay and expand in Connecticut.  The public subsidy will cost us about $150,000 for each of the 800 jobs they are scheduled to create over the next ten [...] (Read more...)

Morning UPDATE: LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 8-30-12 Diane Ravitch's blog

Diane Ravitch's blog:

Putting Children First in NYC?

by dianerav

A reader in New York City has been studying the New York City Department of Education website. She keeps coming up with intriguing findings. Here are some of them:
A recent post on Diane Ravitch’s blog and a recent article in the New York Times Magazine got me curious. I wondered: Do New York City’s education policy makers really put children first? Are they doing all they can to make sure every single student succeeds, no matter their social or economic environment? Do they follow their own rhetoric?
We know that they blame teachers when students living in deep poverty do not graduate high school. But what 

The Ohio Voucher Program Grows

by dianerav

One of the model laws circulated and advocated by the rightwing group ALEC is a voucher program for students with special needs.
ALEC, you may know, represents many of our nation’s major corporations. It has about 2,000 conservative state legislators as members and a few hundred corporate sponsors. ALEC crafted the “Stand Your Ground” law that the shooter invoked when he killed Trayvon Martin last spring in Florida. ALEC also crafted model legislation for 

Reformers’ Double Talk

by dianerav

A reader comments on the conflict between what reformers say and what they do:
Ironically, sometimes, what corporate sponsored “reformers” say they want is the exact opposite of what they really want.
For example, this week on Twitter, Arne Duncan was promoting student involvement in mock elections and said, “Watch the MyVoice National Mock Election 2012 PSA series, and get involved!” However, this is a man who believes in, and personally benefitted from, mayoral controlled education, which has meant recinding the democratic rights of citizens to vote for and elect their local school boards and, instead, turning education over to mayors who appoint puppet boards and Superintendents –which is how he got his job as CEO of schools in 

Idiotic Pre-K Performance Assessments

by dianerav

A reader tells us what is expected of Pre-K teachers in New York CitY, where teachers must administer laborious tasks which are filed away and forgotten.

Is Education the Civil Rights Issue of Our Day?

by dianerav

Condoleeza Rice asserted in her speech to the Republican National Convention that education is the civil rights issue of our day. And the solution–music to GOP ears–is school choice. This echoes the findings of a report issued by a task force she co-chaired with Joel Klein, which said that US public education is a very grave threat to national security. (See my review of that report here.) And the solution: charters, vouchers, and the Common Core.
Rice was echoing Mitt Romney, who said in May that “education is the civil rights issue of our era” and the 

This May Sound Familiar

by dianerav

A reader in the U.K. sent this editorial about business leaders’ complaints about poorly educated workers. He thought it was interesting to note that the same laments are heard on both sides of the Atlantic ocean. I have noticed that such laments are often concurrent with a big push to outsource jobs to countries that pay a small fraction of what local workers expect to be paid.
Yet, as I read the editorial, I remembered reading a few years ago that Sir Michael Barber, late of McKinsey, now 

Why Public Education?

by dianerav

Philosopher Walter Feinberg recently wrote to explain the “Idea of a Public Education” in Review of Research in Education. Feinberg gave me his permission to reproduce part of that essay here.

In this section, I will examine the major justification for substituting private, parental choice for a larger public good and show why this justification is inadequate. I will do this by reconsidering the idea of a public value, showing that it cannot be reduced to an aggregate of private desires, and then by distinguishing a number of 

Tony Danza Apologizes to Every Teacher

by dianerav

Tony Danza did something amazing.
He put his Hollywood career on hold and taught English in a Philadelphia high school for a year.
He learned what every teacher knows.
It is really hard work.
Some kids don’t show up.
Some don’t try.
Some parents aren’t involved.
He discovered that everything he thought he knew was wrong.
Can the movie version be far behind?
We can all hope.

More CNN Deletions

by dianerav

This morning there were 66 comments following my interview with Randi Kaye.
Now there are 24.
More CNN hocus-pocus, now you see it, now you don’t.
What gives?

More amendments coming to AB 5, including sunset clause | EdSource Today

More amendments coming to AB 5, including sunset clause | EdSource Today:

More amendments coming to AB 5, including sunset clause

August 30th, 2012 | Add a Comment | 
By John Fensterwald

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With the list of opponents mounting, the author of a bill to rewrite the state’s 40-year-old teacher evaluation law rushed Wednesday to amend the bill for third time to try to get it through Senate committees and on to the floor of the Legislature by the end of the session tomorrow.

AB 5 author Felipe Fuentes

Meeting hastily Wednesday evening, ambivalent members of the Senate Education Committee approved AB 5 on the condition that Democratic Assemblymember Felipe Fuentes commit to a series of amendments. He agreed, although the wording won’t be ready until today.

Taken together, the amendments would restore districts’ authority to set local standards used to evaluate teachers and explicitly require that state standardized test scores be used as one measure. Sensing that AB 5 is an uncertain experiment in collaboration between unions and districts, the committee is also requiring that the bill be reviewed in five years and sunset in six if found not to work.

But opponents of the bill, which now include an unlikely 

It’s not easy being Bill Nye the Science Guy - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

It’s not easy being Bill Nye the Science Guy - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post:

It’s not easy being Bill Nye the Science Guy

By Valerie Strauss

It’s not easy being Bill Nye the Science Guy.

When Nye told an audience in Waco, Texas in 2006 that the moon reflects light from the sun — which, of course, it does — he was booed, the Waco Tribune reported. Why? He offended some folks who believed he was criticizing Genesis 1:16, which says that “God made two great lights,” the sun and the moon.

Then last weekend he was falsely reported on Twitter to have died, perhaps because of a phony Aug. 23 article in the satirical Onion newspaper that had this headline: “Science Guy Bill Nye Killed In Massive Vinegar/Baking-Soda Explosion.”

Now Nye, a scientist and mechanical engineer who used to host the 

The NYC DOE Is A Joke and a Disservice to Students.southbronxschool.com

http://www.southbronxschool.com:

The NYC DOE Is A Joke and a Disservice to Students

by noreply@blogger.com (Bronx Teacher)

Bear with me while I get to my opinion about today's revelation in the Daily News that the discipline code as been watered down. You'll see what I am getting at.

When I was a junior in high school, in the middle of math class I asked Mr Costa if he had any naked photos of his wife. After he "harumphed" several times, I then blurted out if he wished to buy some. That got me a week's detention. It kind of made a point with me, but with Mr Costa being such a dick, I continued to be the class wise ass.

That same year in science class, Ms Amy the teacher was busting my chops about something. I muttered

 

The NYC DOE Discipline Code Is A Joke and a Disservice to Students

by noreply@blogger.com (Bronx Teacher)

Bear with me while I get to my opinion about today's revelation in the Daily News that the discipline code as been watered down. You'll see what I am getting at.

When I was a junior in high school, in the middle of math class I asked Mr Costa if he had any naked photos of his wife. After he "harumphed" several times, I then blurted out if he wished to buy some. That got me a week's detention. It kind of made a point with me, but with Mr Costa being such a dick, I continued to be the class wise ass.

That same year in science class, Ms Amy the teacher was busting my chops about something. I muttered under my breath, "Jesus Christ." She looked at me 

Public Education's Eight Ball: Student Poverty | One Teacher's Perspective

Public Education's Eight Ball: Student Poverty | One Teacher's Perspective:

Public Education's Eight Ball: Student Poverty

by Imagine Wisconsin

As noted in an earlier blog, one of my summer reads was P.L. Thomas’ book, Ignoring Poverty in the U.S..  It is one of the most important education books I have read. He has reframed my thinking.

Contrary to what too many scapegoaters claim, I've never believed public education to be the cause of America's socioeconomic ills. However, I had fallen into the trap of repeating the mantra that quality public education is the cure-all for the poor. Thomas’ research highlights what all of us should be repeating in our communities and schools over and over. This is now my Thomas-induced mantra:

Reforming public education does little to reduce poverty. Reducing poverty does lots to reform public education.

Student poverty is the eight ball. I realize this is a tough concept for many Americans and some educators to 

Students Last: Defender of the Status Quo: America's Newest Superhero

Students Last: Defender of the Status Quo: America's Newest Superhero:

Defender of the Status Quo: America's Newest Superhero

by Students Last

"Holy Incompetent Teachers!" Rhee will be generously supported by her many minions, including Joel Klein and Arne Duncan.

California - Faster than dismissal on a Friday. More powerful than the smell of cafeteria pizza. Able to shut down a public school in a single bound.

Look! Over in Sacramento! It's a self-promoter. It's an education deformer. It's the Defender of the Status Quo, Michelle Rhee.

Strange visitor from a another 

Schools Matter: Chicago Teachers Fight for Our Lives

Schools Matter: Chicago Teachers Fight for Our Lives:

Chicago Teachers Fight for Our Lives

by Judy Rabin

As New Orleans is once again under water, as the Republican lie machine works overtime in Tampa, and real journalism or reporting is MIA in the corporate media owned airwaves, a social studies teacher is using email to spread the word about what's happening in Chicago and to teachers and public education all across the country. 

"Friends and Family across the United States-

As most of you know Chicago Teachers Union has been in a fight to win a contract that requests not only fair compensation, but also great teaching and learning conditions in the face of mass privatization and charterization.  Our mayor has promised 250 more charter schools in place of traditional public schools.  Our mayor has promised more testing for our kids, and rating teachers based on those tests.  Our mayor has promised merit pay, and a longer day.  This is also a mayor who has seen a 70% 

An Urban Teacher's Education: Jennifer Silves Speaks About TFA to RSD Board

An Urban Teacher's Education: Jennifer Silves Speaks About TFA to RSD Board:

Jennifer Silves Speaks About TFA to RSD Board

by James Boutin

Last week, I described the public comment portion of the Renton School District's board meeting on August 22nd.

Below are the comments spoken at that meeting by UniServ Representative Jennifer Silves:

Board President Franceschina, Members of the Board, and Superintendent Heuschel, My name is Jennifer Silves. I am the current WEA UniServ Representative that currently works with the Renton Education Association. I am here today to share with you the concerns and deficiencies that we believe exist with the Teach for America program and why the association would urge you to not consider entering into a contract with this group. A group that shares ties to other pseudo reformers who have pushed for education policy changes around charter schools, parent trigger, and high stakes testing.

First of all it is important that one look beyond just the research provided by Teach for America, as this research has been neither peer reviewed or duplicated by other leading researchers. When looking at the two reports I 

Schooling in the Ownership Society: "I'm the evil billionaire Koch brother," he quipped. "You're not afraid of me?"

Schooling in the Ownership Society: "I'm the evil billionaire Koch brother," he quipped. "You're not afraid of me?":

"I'm the evil billionaire Koch brother," he quipped. "You're not afraid of me?"

by Mike Klonsky

David Koch

"He wore a navy suit, red-and-blue checkered tie, and a couple of fancy-looking convention passes sure to open doors that we reporters couldn't dream of entering." -- Mother Jones reporter

NYC Educator: Getting Ready to Face the Trailer Again

NYC Educator: Getting Ready to Face the Trailer Again:

Getting Ready to Face the Trailer Again

by NYC Educator

Well, September 4th is soon approaching, and it's around this time I start to get nostalgic for the old classroom. There's no place like it.

Mitch Jayne from the Dillards once said all country music is about either being home and wanting to leave, or being away from home and wanting to go back. Teachers may feel the same way.

Sure, we spend a lot of time looking forward to the break, just as the kids do. But then we miss all the hubbub of work. We are what we do, after all. Of course, we aren't really where we do it, because we don't choose to do it there.

That would be, in fact, the choice made my Mayor 

The in box. It’s “Call Brizzard Thursday.” « Fred Klonsky

The in box. It’s “Call Brizzard Thursday.” « Fred Klonsky:

The in box. It’s “Call Brizzard Thursday.”

by Fred Klonsky

Call CPS today…and every Thursday until teachers win a fair contract!
Call CPS CEO J.C. Brizard today and every Thursday at 773-553-1500 until the current contract dispute is resolved in a way that benefits our teachers and our kids. Tell him you support the teachers’ contract demands for:
Smaller classes
A better, not just longer, day
More social services, counselors and nurses for our schools
Job security and fair compensation for teachers
Teachers’ needs and our children’s needs go hand in hand. With parents and teachers united, we can win the schools our children deserve!
Call 773-553-1500 and make your voice heard!
Host a parent/teacher meeting at your home or school
If you just listened to the media, you’d think the current teacher contract dispute is only about money. But nothing could be farther from the truth. Teachers are fighting for the things that matter most in our schools. Their teaching conditions are our children’s learning conditions.
Host a meeting at your home or school to discuss what’s at stake with your friends, neighbors and fellow parents. Contact info@parents4teachers.net and we’ll help facilitate the meeting and make a presentation.
Parent pressure on the board is the key to avoiding a strike. We all need to stay informed and involved.
Please share this email with your friends!
For more info, visit www.parents4teachers.net

Strike notice filed.

by Fred Klonsky

Nothing for me to say. The Chicago Teachers Union says it all.

Chicago Headed Toward First Teachers Strike in 25 Years

CTU files 10-day strike notice with labor board; strike date has not been set

CHICAGO - Today, the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) filed a 10-day notice with the Illinois Education Labor Relations Board indicating more than 26,000 public school teachers, clinicians and paraprofessionals may go on strike in coming days. The notice is a legal requirement defined by state law. No date for a strike has been set by Union leaders. The House of Delegates will meet Thursday at 4:30 p.m. to talk next steps.

Should CTU members call for a work stoppage, this will be the first “teachers’ strike” in Chicago 

Waitlist Purgatory: 472,000 California Community College Students Don't Have Classes - Education - GOOD

Waitlist Purgatory: 472,000 California Community College Students Don't Have Classes - Education - GOOD:

Waitlist Purgatory: 472,000 California Community College Students Don't Have Classes

by Liz Dwyer

For a nation that has a goal of having 8 million more college graduates by 2020, we sure do make it tough for students to get an education. Community college students in California looking to gain some new job skills or get some general education credits out of the way before transferring to a four-year university are having to put their dreams on ice due to massive class waitlists. According to an informal survey by the California Community Chancellor’s Office a whopping 472,349 students are currently waitlisted.
How did California's community college system, the largest in the nation, get to this point? Three years of budget 

Parents, activists discuss potential strike | catalyst-chicago.org

Parents, activists discuss potential strike | catalyst-chicago.org:

Parents, activists discuss potential strike

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By: Nicole Koetting and Sarah Karp / August 29, 2012

Tags: Chicago Teachers Union

At a raucous town hall meeting Wednesday night, a diverse group of activists showed their support for the Chicago Teachers Union.

Attendees of the event sponsored by the Chicago Teachers Solidarity Campaign filled the pews at the Chicago Temple, which is located downtown. Across town, a much smaller event featuring retired teachers attracted teachers wanting more information about the looming strike.

Among the speakers at the Chicago Temple were Jitu Brown, who is in the midst of a battle with CPS over the closings of many schools in his community of Kenwood Oakland, and students from Social Justice High School upset that their principal was removed.

The meeting also highlighted two groups of parents who support the teachers union.

“Badmouthing, belittling and disrespecting teachers is disrespecting my kids,” said Erika Clark from Parents 4 Teachers. “The struggle is not just about the contract.