UPDATE: “Why I’m striking.” « Fred Klonsky

“Why I’m striking.” « Fred Klonsky:

Ten minute drawing. David Vitale

by Fred Klonsky

CTU: “Recognizing the Board’s financial woes, we are not far apart on compensation.” But there are other major concerns.

by Fred Klonsky

Teachers and staff at Logan Square’s Darwin Elementary School at 6:30 this morning.
From the CTU:
“Recognizing the Board’s fiscal woes, we are not far apart on compensation. However, we are apart on benefits. We want to maintain the existing health benefits.
“Another concern is evaluation procedures. After the initial phase-in of the new evaluation system it could result in 6,000 teachers (or nearly 30 percent of our members) being discharged within one or two years. This is unacceptable. We are also concerned that too much of the new evaluations will be based on students’ standardized test scores. This is no way to measure the effectiveness of an educator. Further there are too 

“Why I’m striking.”

by Fred Klonsky

My friend, CPS teacher Xian Barrett in front of the Mayor’s house last February.
By Xian Barrett
CPS CEO Jean-Claude Brizard is on record saying both that CTU leadership is deciding whether or not to strike, and that “everyone knows that a strike would only hurt our kids.”
I just wanted to educate my boss a little on the history of Chicago, as he is relatively new to the area. Chicago is founded on the hard daily struggle of working people. It is the birth of the labor movement—not a movement just for wages and benefits, but a movement that stopped child labor so that each of the kids in CPS schools could attend school instead of working. It was a movement that stopped the practice of working conditions so unsafe

“I join my colleagues in calling on the media to ensure that women are part of this story — as teachers, parents, union members, and as journalists.” – Gloria Steinem

by Fred Klonsky

“Tonight, I proudly wear a red t-shirt in support of the Chicago Teachers Union strike.  They have been forced to strike – for the first time in 25 years – by the false economy of firing and penalizing the experienced teachers most needed by the students and by new teachers; by lengthening the school day as warehousing without educational services, healthy school buildings, and paid teachers; by what they have the knowledge to call the “apartheid-like system” of differential 

Teacher Retirees: These are our people. This was us. Join me at CPS this afternoon.

by Fred Klonsky

Dear Retired Colleagues,
This morning I walked over to my neighborhood school in Logan Square.
Darwin Elementary.
It is a large red brick school house. 100 years old.
One of my daughters went to that school 40 years ago.
40 years ago!
It is a community school. A neighborhood

Failed DC Chancellor Michelle Rhee Says GOP Shouldn't 'Kowtow' to Tea Party:

Failed DC Chancellor Michelle Rhee Says GOP Shouldn't 'Kowtow' to Tea Party

Ann Kane and M. Catharine Evans

Weighing in on education reform at the Democratic National Convention last week, Michelle Rhee, former DC Schools Chancellor, and CEO of the lobbying organization StudentsFirst said the Republican Party shouldn't "kowtow to the special interests within their own party."

After almost two years of vetting Rhee as a liberal Democrat who won the hearts and minds of conservative Republicans, we are seeing our apprehension of her motives vindicated.

We've been covering both Democrats' and Republicans' reactions to Rhee since our first article about her in AT in January 2011. Teachers' unions have been

Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2012/09/education_reformer_michelle_rhee_says_gop_shouldnt_kowtow_to_tea_party.html#ixzz264OkplkQ

UPDATE: How Good Were the Good Old Days? LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 9-10-12 Diane Ravitch's blog

Diane Ravitch's blog:

How Good Were the Good Old Days?

by dianerav

Jamie Vollmer is the author of the famous Blueberry Story. He was working for an ice cream company that won recognition for making the best ice cream in America. Buoyed by success, he would go to conferences and decry the sorry state of American education, based on what he knew of business.
One day, when speaking to a group of teachers, someone asked him what his company would do if he got a shipment of damaged blueberries. He promptly replied that the shipment would be thrown away. The teacher 

An Open Letter to the White House

by dianerav

Jessie B. Ramey attended a meeting at the White House with a delegation of Pennsylvania educators.
Ramey wrote an open letter to Roberto Rodriguez, President Obama’s education advisor, asking the White House to stop berating educators and public education.
Based on the story in The Atlantic claiming that Michelle Rhee is “taking over the Democratic Party,” it becomes imperative for President Obama to distance himself from Rhee’s anti-teacher ideas.
Does President Obama support charter schools, like Rhee? Yes.
Does President Obama support for-profit schools, like Rhee? He hasn’t said.
Does President Obama worry about a dual school system in American cities, with charters for the haves and public schools for the have-nots? We need to know.
Does President Obama want entire school staffs to be fired because of low test scores? He said no at the Convention but he supported the firing of the staff at Central Falls High School in Rhode Island and his Race to the Top turnaround strategy supports mass firings. Does he approve or disapprove?
Does President Obama truly want to stop the odious practice of teaching to the test? Will he explain how teachers can avoid teaching to the test if their pay and their job depends on student test scores?
President Obama must let the nation’s teachers know that he is with them. He can do so by disassociating himself from Rhee’s anti-teacher agenda, as well as from policies pushed by his own Race to the Top.
And he could go to Chicago and tell Rahm Emanuel to settle with the teachers and do what is right for the children of Chicago.

A Hero of Public Education in Washington State

by dianerav

State Representative Marci Maxwell is a hero who joins our honor roll for bravely standing up for public education.
She  wrote an article in which she urged voters to reject an initiative to authorize charter schools in Washington State.
She pointed out that the state’s voters have turned down charters three times

A Hero for Public Education in Los Angeles

by dianerav

Steve Zimmer, a board member of the Los Angeles Unified School District, is a hero for public education. He joins the honor roll.
He has stood up to the powerful privatization lobby, which wants to hand more and more public schools over to private management.
Zimmer has the temerity to ask where the charter movement is going in Los Angeles. What is the end game? 

A Teacher Without a Classroom

by dianerav

In New York City, when large schools close, many teachers are left without assignments.
Through no fault of their own, with no poor job evaluation, they join the Absent Teacher Reserve.
They float through the system, from school to school, hoping someone will hire them.
They are paid, but they are treated to

How the Best and Brightest See Themselves and Others

by dianerav

You know the old saying that if you are a hammer, everything looks like a nail.
Many of the reform leaders went to elite colleges where admission was determined by test scores; they are really good at testing, and that is the perspective through which they view education. As they emphasize the importance of testing, they validate their own life story. Testing worked for them, it should work for everyone.
The problem, of course, is that norm-referenced tests are built on normal curves. Only a limited number can be on the top. Which is okay if you are among the best and brightest.
A reader comments:
The key to understanding the best and brightest mentality is to understand what it means to be a technocrat. 

Chicago Teacher: Why I Am Striking

by dianerav

Superintendent J.C. Brizard says a strike will only hurt the kids.
This teacher tells Superintendent Brizard what really hurts the kids in Chicago public schools.

Why the CPS Strike Matters

by dianerav

A reader says:

My heart is sad for the kids and teachers in Chicago. Still, I’m hoping that something good comes of the strike – not just for teachers and kids but in our national conversation about education (or lack thereof). We need people, lots of them, to start talking about, voting for, and demanding that, as a nation, we commit ourselves (in word and deed) to a system of free, just, and forward minded public education – not testing, privatization schemes, or crazy accountability schemes that take the focus off of what really matters. We need real education – context specific, developmentally appropriate, child focused, forward thinking teaching and learning in every corner of this country that is full of professional educators, rich curriculum, and even richer experiences, community engagement, and family participation. If anyone thinks this strike is just another union “ploy” for higher pay or less “working time” they are sorely mistaken. And while workers should be entitled to protect their rights, the CPS strike is about the heart and soul of public schooling, the deprofessionalization of teachers, and the ways that the education “crisis” nation wide has been co-opted as a means of pushing privatization as the be-all-and-end-all solution to the “achievement gap”. Schools are not businesses, children are not widgets, and teachers are not robots or machines. Let’s start there.

Correction: Chicago Strike is On

by dianerav

My last post Said a strike is likely.
That was wrong.
From Ms. Katie:
Not likely. It’s happening. “In the morning, no CTU members will be inside our schools. We will walk the picket line.”-Lewis #CTU #FairContractNow

Chicago Talks Break Down, Strike Likely

by dianerav

Latest report from Chicago.
Settlement talks break off.
Strike appears imminent.
First in 25 years.
Rahm quiet.
Wear red for Ed.
Chicago is first district in nation Where teachers have stood up to DFER, Stand for Children, other anti-union, pro-privatization, anti-teacher groups.

Are People Poor Because They Make Bad Choices?

by dianerav

A good discussion of how the rightwing frames discussions of poverty.
The strategy is to personalize issues rather than seeing them in context of poverty or other frames. That way, writes Bill Boyle,
Need I say that whole corporate ed reform movement follows the same logic? Schools “under-perform” not because of the context of poverty, but because of their people issues. The need for reform is personalized, and we can blame the people involved. The solution? Rid the schools of “under-performing” teachers, rid the schools 

Words of Wisdom from Paul Tough

by dianerav

Opting Out of the ‘Rug Rat Race’

For success in the long run, brain power helps, but what our kids really need to learn is grit

By PAUL TOUGH

We are living through a particularly anxious moment in the history of American parenting. In the nation’s big cities these days, the 

Advice for Molly Ball, The Atlantic

by dianerav

Sharon Higgins, Oakland parent activist, suggests some reading for Molly Ball, who wrote about Michelle Rhee “taking over the Democratic Party.”

Ball must not be aware of the conversation between Bill Moyers and Bernie Sanders of a few days ago about what’s happened to the Democratic Party.
http://billmoyers.com/segment/bernie-sanders-on-the-independent-in-politics/

Sanders explains: “So what you are looking at is a nation with a grotesquely unequal distribution of wealth and income, tremendous economic power on Wall Street, and now added to all of that is you have the big money interests, the billionaires and corporations now buying elections. This scares me very much. And I fear very much that if we don’t turn this around, Bill, we’re heading toward an oligarchic form of society.”

What Sanders did not touch on is how the billionaires and multimillionaires of both parties not only buy elections but use their foundations to control 

FairTest: Give Arne a Warm Welcome

by dianerav

The nation’s leading anti-testing organization has issued a call to its supporters to turn out and welcome Secretary Duncan if he visits their communities on his cross-country bus tour.
Tell him why his teach-to-the-test policies are failing. Tell him why high-stakes testing is bad for the quality of education. Tell him that children need time to play and dance and sing, not just take test prep. Tell him that it is wrong to ditch physical education and the arts and recess for more testing.
Greet him warmly. Of course, the tour starts in Silicon Valley, where the edu-entrepreneurs are heavily 

Why are Chicago teachers on strike? - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

Why are Chicago teachers on strike? - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post:

Why are Chicago teachers on strike?

By Valerie Strauss

They couldn’t make a deal in Chicago so more than 350,000 public school kids won’t have class on Monday.

Why are teachers in the third largest school district in the country going on strike for the first time since 1987, when a walkout lasted 19 days?

(Sitthixay Ditthavong/AP)Because Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel gave up some, but not enough, of his questionable plans to reform schools with initiatives that haven’t been shown to be effective (but are popular anyway, such as teacher evaluation systems that are linked to standardized test scores).

Because Chicago Teachers Union leader Karen Lewis refused to extend the strike deadline to see if they could get more from Emanuel while 

The achievement gap: By the numbers

by Valerie Strauss

There are few things education researchers say they know with certainty. But virtually nobody disputes that socioeconomic status and the educational level of parents, especially mothers, are linked to the stubborn achievement gap between students of different races and ethnicities.
Read full article >>

Post-AB 5: Focus on substantial areas of agreement on evaluations | EdSource Today

Post-AB 5: Focus on substantial areas of agreement on evaluations | EdSource Today:

Post-AB 5: Focus on substantial areas of agreement on evaluations - by David B. Cohen

by David B. Cohen

David B. Cohen

Last month’s legislative drama involving Assembly Bill 5 provided a snapshot of the dysfunctional politics of education policy, with distrust and division inflaming what should be worked out in a calm and straightforward manner.

All stakeholders would welcome teacher evaluation improvements, but disagreements about the nature of the reform unfortunately dominated discussion, pushing aside areas of likely consensus. If the debate could be grounded in evidence, research on best practices, and areas of agreement, California could pass a bill that would actually be useful to educators and address the accountability concerns of the broader community.

First, let’s all take a deep breath. The urgency of teacher evaluation reform has been overstated; high-achieving students in California are not differentiated so much by teacher evaluations, but rather by the powerful influences of family wealth and educational attainment, and by access to schools with 

Study finds little uniformity in CA school discipline - by Kathryn Baron

by Kathryn Baron

There’s little consistency in the way California schools deal with expelling and suspending students, according to a new survey of 315 of the state’s largest school districts. Most districts agree on one thing, however: They need more counselors, support staff, and professional development to provide alternatives to kicking kids out of school. During a time of increasing concern by advocacy...

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Chicago Teachers Go On Strike...On behalf of all Public Education! - Wait, What?

Chicago Teachers Go On Strike...On behalf of all Public Education! - Wait, What?:

Chicago Teachers Go On Strike…On behalf of all Public Education!

by jonpelto

For the first time in twenty-five years, school teachers in Chicago are going on strike.

President Obama’s confidant and former chief of staff, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, set up this strike over two key issues – merit pay and evaluation.

700,000 students out of school, 30,000 teachers and support staff on the picket-line because Emanual, a Democrat, wants to introduce even more “education reform,” and this after Paul Vallas and Arne Duncan spent years privatizing and undermining Chicago’s public school system.

The spin from Mayor Emanual, like the spin from ConnCAN and the Connecticut “education reformers” is “we’re just trying to help the children.”

Chicago Teachers Strike: Union, Emanuel Disagree On Bottom Line

Chicago Teachers Strike: Union, Emanuel Disagree On Bottom Line:

Chicago Teachers Strike: Union, Emanuel Disagree On Bottom Line

by Joy Resmovits

On Monday, Chicago's public school students won't have any classes to go to.

After weeks of negotiations, Mayor Rahm Emanuel's team and the Chicago Teacher's Union failed to agree on a contract. On Sunday night, CTU officially announced it was going to strike for the first time in a quarter century. So on Monday, instead of teaching, the union's 26,000 educators will protest.

"In the morning, no CTU members will be inside our schools," CTU President Karen Lewis said Sunday at a late-night press conference outdoors, surrounded by throngs of reporters and teachers. She appeared in a bright red jacket with crimson lipstick, the intensity of her wardrobe illustrating the defiance in her words. "We will walk the picket lines, we will talk to parents, we ... will demand a fair contract today, we demand a fair contract now," she 

High School Students Get Swag on Count Day - High School Notes (usnews.com)

High School Students Get Swag on Count Day - High School Notes (usnews.com):

High School Students Get Swag on Count Day

By KELSEY SHEEHY

September 10, 2012 RSS Feed Print

Ten states use attendance counts from a single day to determine district funding for the school year.

Once a year, Detroit Public Schools pulls out all the stops to get students in their seats.

In 2010, the district enticed students with a total of $20,000 in Target gift cards. The prize for attendance in 2009: a shot to win a laptop, iPod, or 42-inch flat screen TV.

This year, every Detroit public high school student who shows up to school on Oct. 3 will be rewarded with a free pair of Nikes, courtesy of a local shoe store.

The reason for all the swag: Count Day. The number of students in attendance for the entirety of count day in the falldetermines 90 percent of per-pupil state funding for Michigan

Chicago Teachers Strike as Education Reform Tensions Boil Over - Teacher Beat - Education Week

Chicago Teachers Strike as Education Reform Tensions Boil Over - Teacher Beat - Education Week:

Chicago Teachers Strike as Education Reform Tensions Boil Over

by Stephen Sawchuk

Chicago teachers are scheduled to take to the picket lines today, following the failure of marathon negotiations this weekend with the school district over issues of pay, job security, and evaluations.
The strike, which will involve some 25,000 teachers and support staff, is the first in the city in 25 years, and it will be the largest teachers' strike since Detroit teachers marched in 2006. More than 400,000 Chicago students will be affected.
The clash comes amid a highly volatile education policy environment. Labor unions, including those representing teachers, have seen their numbers decline and their power wane under attacks from Republicans. Deeply divisive 

NYC Educator: Wear Red Today

NYC Educator: Wear Red Today:

Wear Red Today

by NYC Educator

In solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Chicago, who are on strike. If you want to help, please contribute to their solidarity fund. I have.

Remember that Mayor Rahm Emanuel reneged on a negotiated 4% raise. He then offered a 2% raise, with undetermined merit pay to follow as he saw fit and demanded, for this, that teachers work a 20% longer school day.

Rahm's corporate pals changed the law so that CTU needed a 75% vote of union members to authorize a strike, thinking that would never happen. Some "reformer" whose name I don't recall boasted of this at a meeting. When the vote came, 98% voted to authorize a strike, which came to 90% of union members.

Rahm criticized them for not waiting to hear what the arbitrator would say. But when the arbitrator came back, he recommended a 15-20% raise for teachers. Rahm was not pleased. Chicago teachers rejected it too, because it did not address school conditions.

A sticking point in current negotiations is teacher evaluations. Rahm is insisting on VAM junk science, while CTU insists they stick to reality. Personally, I'm pro-reality.

Let's see whether Rahm's mentor, President Barack Obama, finds his comfortable shoes and stands with labor today.

ATR! Makin' Copies!

by NYC Educator

by special guest blogger Suddenly ATR 


I once took a personality test and was grouped as "INFP" -- basically, an introverted dreamer. It couldn't be more accurate. People often think I'm rude for ignoring them -- truth is, I genuinely didn't notice them because I was lost in thought. I'll often absentmindedly bump right into people at the shopping mall. Small talk with strangers is tortuous. The list of people I'm comfortable talking to must fit on the fingers of both hands. It's been this way since I was a little kid, and I don't see it changing anytime soon.

It's not a surprise that I never really mastered some of the more "practical" sides of life. I learned how to drive (just barely), but changing a flat tire? Checking my oil? Fixing anything that's broken? Forget it. Even pulling 

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: CTU PRESS RELEASE

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: CTU PRESS RELEASE:

CTU PRESS RELEASE

by Mike Klonsky

Press Release: CPS Fails To Negotiate Fair Contract To Prevent First Strike In 25 Years

09/09/2012

More than 29,000 teachers and education professionals will not report to work today 9/10

CHICAGO— After hours of intense negotiations, the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) and the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) have failed to reach an agreement that will prevent the first teachers strike in 25 years. Pickets are expected to begin Monday at 675 schools and the Board of Education as early as 6:30 a.m. Teachers, paraprofessionals and school clinicians have been without a labor agreement since June of this year.

Union leaders expressed disappointment in the District’s refusal to concede on issues involving compensation, job security and resources for their students. CTU President Karen Lewis said, “Negotiations have been intense 

Chicago teachers strike for first time in 25 years; contingency sites ready, charters remain open - Chicago Sun-Times

Chicago teachers strike for first time in 25 years; contingency sites ready, charters remain open - Chicago Sun-Times:

Chicago teachers strike for first time in 25 years; contingency sites ready, charters remain open

BY ROSALIND ROSSI  and LAUREN FITZPATRICK Staff Reporters September 9, 2012 5:36PM

Karen Lewis, president of the Chicago Teachers Union and Vice president Jesse Sharkey talk to the media as Chicago Public Schools will be on Strike this Monday. Sunday Sept 9, 2012 | Scott Stewart~Sun-Times

For the first time in 25 years, Chicago’s teachers are on strike.

“Negotiations have been intense but productive, however we have failed to reach an agreement that will prevent a labor strike,” Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis said at a dramatic 10 p.m. Sunday press conference. “Real school will not be open [Monday]. ... No CTU member will be inside our schools.

“Please seek alternative care for your children.”

The announcement was quickly blasted by Mayor Rahm Emanuel as “a strike of choice” that didn’t have to happen if talks continued. He repeatedly declared: “My team is

Where parents can take children during strike

Reflections on Teaching » Blog Archive » Week One 2012

Reflections on Teaching » Blog Archive » Week One 2012:

Week One 2012

by alicemercer

And so it begins…

It was a pretty good week. Feedback from one of the kids about day one was that he liked me, but I wasn’t warm and friendly. I wasn’t trying to do the “don’t smile until Christmas” routine, but I did make an effort to be friendlier as the week went on. There is not a lot of reason to crab on this group of kids, who are very sweet for sixth graders. Normally kids in this grade-level are feeling out their adolescent attitudes. This group on initial impression does not seem prone to eye-rolling and talking back, so I’m counting my blessings.
Things were going so well that we did a side trip on Wednesday to the native plant garden we have at the school. Up next week…hand print stencils (we are studying early humans), and journaling while visit the garden again. We’ll also start reading our first novel, Hatchet. I’m looking forward to it, and I think the kids are too. The only 

LAUSD vs. LEONARD ISENBERG - WRITTED TO SUPERIOR COURT - Perdaily.com

LAUSD vs. LEONARD ISENBERG - WRITTED TO SUPERIOR COURT - Perdaily.com:

LAUSD vs. LEONARD ISENBERG - WRITTED TO SUPERIOR COURT

by Leonard Isenberg

(Mensaje se repite en Español)

(For a national view of public education reform see the end of this blog post)
After two years and seven months waiting for my hearing before the Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH), without pay or benefits, tomorrow was to be my day in this administrative law court, where no teacher ever gets their job back.

Even thought Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) Superintendent John Deasy outright lied to KNBC Conan Nolan about "half the teachers appearing before the OAH getting their