UPDATE: Even the Trib calls it “fraud.” + North suburban retiree hell raisers. | Fred Klonsky

North suburban retiree hell raisers. | Fred Klonsky:

Even the Trib calls it “fraud.”

by Fred Klonsky

Chicago Tribune editorial:

Monday’s humiliating accusation that state officials intentionally misled investors about a ruinous pension debacle easily justified the Tribune’s front-page headline: “Illinois is guilty of fraud, SEC says.” But that narrow accusation by the federal Securities and Exchange Commission underplays the far more damning tale that unfolds on page after page of the agency’s cease-and-desist order.
The order documents how Illinois politicians systematically have cheated public workers who trust in their pension system, investors buying bonds under false pretenses — and taxpayers left holding the bag for untold billions of dollars in unfunded pension obligations.
The SEC order details how, beginning 19 years ago, Illinois pols laid the foundation for today’s 

North suburban retiree hell raisers.

by Fred Klonsky

Following our planning meeting last week:

Skokie Area IEA-Retired Member: Great News!!
The kick-off meeting of our new Skokie IEA-Retired Hell Raisers Chapter will be:
• Wednesday, April 24th 10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
• Skokie IEA Office – 8833 Gross Point Rd, Ste 300, Skokie
Large Conference Room
We can and will make a difference, and we need your help!
Come to the meeting for a TRS and legislative update and to reconnect with some of your retired colleagues.
We are making plans to pack a bus from Skokie headed for Springfield on May 15th for Lobby Day, and hope you can join us.
P.S. It doesn’t matter what region you were in as a teacher. If the Skokie office is close, if you are retired and want to be very active politically, we want you to join us, and we welcome your involvement.
We hope to see you on April 24th!
RSVP: kim.riley@ieanea.org by April 15th

Time running out on the million visits contest.

by Fred Klonsky

To celebrate one million site visits I am sponsoring a contest.
As of today, you have less than 25,000 site visits to go.
Submit a tweet, haiku or limerick on a topic covered by this blog.
The deadline is March 31 or the millionth visit.
The winner gets the orange t-shirt.
The decision of the judges (that’s me) is final.
Jean sent this haiku:
Biss, Nekritz, Gabel,
Cross, Quinn, Cullerton, Fahner,
 Madigan. All nuts.

New entry.

by Fred Klonsky

To celebrate one million site visits I am sponsoring a contest.
As of today, you have less than 24,000 site visits to go.
Submit a tweet, haiku or limerick on a topic covered by this blog.
The deadline is March 31 or the millionth visit.
The winner gets the orange t-shirt.
The decision of the judges (that’s me) is final.

From Jon Bauman:
There once was a fellow named Fred
Who wrote off the top of his head
But when he turned to pensions
He caused many tensions
Now some pols wish he was dead*
*all in jest of course.
Keep up the good work sir.
Congratulations on One Million!

Privatization. Naked. |

Privatization. Naked. |:

Privatization. Naked.

by Angus Johnston

I’m running out to teach, but you really do need to read this NY Times piece on a bill that’s going to be introduced in the California state legislature today … and is expected to pass. The bill would require the state’s public colleges and universities to grant academic credit to online courses not provided by those institutions, including those offered by for-profite private companies.
For-profit higher education in the United States has long depended on public money — providers make most of their revenue from government grants and guaranteed loans. But the industry has been on the ropes recently as policymakers and students have woken up to the shoddy education and poor outcomes they provide.
They’re back.
Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of this story is the endlessly repeated claim that the bill will give students the ability to register for crucial classes. “No college student in California will be denied the right to move through their education because they couldn’t get a seat in the course they needed,” says one politician. “It’s almost 

Ed Notes Online: PEP Videos: Support for Moratorium on School Closings

Ed Notes Online: PEP Videos: Support for Moratorium on School Closings:

PEP Videos: Support for Moratorium on School Closings

by ed notes online

I have a lot to say about the Panel for Educational Policy "close every school you can" March 11 meeting other than to say that many MOREs spoke, some UFT/Unity honchos were present. Other than the fact that the UFT charter helped cause the closing of one school - my alma mater - and is joining its elementary charter by taking 21 rooms from JHS 292, whose parents and students and teachers protested vociferously. I interviewed the PTA president and will do a separate piece on that issue.

But let's focus on the love boat between MORE and the few Unity people who were there.

Below are the first batch of videos.

UFT Secretary Michael Mendel, who is retiring, made a rousing speech that will do credit to his legacy. I found out earlier in the day when we drew lots for ballot position in the UFT election that he wasn't running for UFT Secretary, the 2nd highest position in the UFT. And he confirmed it. He said he was supposed to be chairing the UFT Exec Bd meeting but asked to attend so he could support the closing schools.

He went out of his way to talk about James Eterno's Jamaica HS. The entire MORE section rose to cheer him as he finished.

Michael and I have always had an excellent relationship -- even when we disagree and I get passionate and crazy, he defuses things by bringing up sports. I used to sit behind him at Ranger games where some Unity people had a bunch of tickets. We all will miss him.

http://youtu.be/IVNl-BlDfKo

Popout

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In this video, former Lehman HS CL Anne Looser joins Elana Eisen Markowitz, Dana Levy, Karla Tobar, Sean 

Missouri Education Watchdog: Database in Common Core Explained. Segregation Revisited?

Missouri Education Watchdog: Database in Common Core Explained. Segregation Revisited?:

Database in Common Core Explained. Segregation Revisited?

by stlgretchen

We shared Mark Garrison's written testimony yesterday supporting MO SB 210 and HB 616 which calls for the halting of Common Core implementation.  

Garrison writes in An Irrational $170 Million Database We Most Certainly Don’t Need about the data to be gathered on students via databases and Common Core standards:

********************************************

While some folks have been warning the public about this for over a year, a recent Reuters article has renewed popular outrage over a privately controlled centralized database that will house an unprecedented amount of individual level data without the consent or even the knowledge of parents, and apparently, state or federal legislatures. My comments are throughout, as I can’t resist. The article reads, in part:

An education technology conference this week in Austin, Texas, will clang with bells and 

Louisiana Educator: What is Section LRS 17:416 and Why is it Important to Teachers?

Louisiana Educator: What is Section LRS 17:416 and Why is it Important to Teachers?:

What is Section LRS 17:416 and Why is it Important to Teachers?

by Michael Deshotels

Last week Lafayette Parish teacher, Abby Breaux, went before her school board and read a letter describing the conditions in many of our schools that are driving good teachers out of the profession. That letter was printed in the Washington Post and got rave reviews from teachers all over the country who are confronted each day by the same demoralizing conditions.

Breaux's letter focused on two major issues. One was the disrespect of the teaching profession by our public officials when they make sweeping changes to public education without so much as consulting the experts in the classrooms. That concern was echoed all over the state in the forums hosted recently by LAE to hear teacher concerns about the current “Jindal reforms”.

The other big issue raised by Abby's letter was the growing concern by teachers about a growing breakdown in 

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 3-13-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all:

What You Need to Know About Your Child’s Privacy Rights

by dianerav

Sheila Kaplan is one of the leading authorities on privacy rights of children. She was invited to testify on the issue in Missouri, but was unable to appear due to the weather. She shares here her testimony with readers of this blog.
Here is a key point that she makes: “Given this new landscape of an information and data free-for-all, and the proliferation of data-driven education reform initiatives like Common Core and huge databases of student information, we’ve arrived at a time when once a child enters a public school, their parents will never again know who knows what about their children and about their families. It is now up to individual states to find ways to grant students additional privacy protections.”

The Failed Charter Schools of Florida

by dianerav

This morning,I posted about a bogus claim (“study”) released by the Florida Department of Education, asserting that the state’s 518 charter schools “outperform” public schools. This was intended presumably to support former Governor Jeb Bush’s claims about a “Florida miracle.”
Except that no study conducted by independent researchers has reached the same conclusion.
Many of the state’s charters operate for profit. Their owners make generous contributions to political campaigns.
Here is a comment by a reader, offering the list of Florida’s failed charter schools. These are schools that were 

The Corporate Reform Smear Machine Attacks Gene Glass

by dianerav

Dr. Gene Glass is a distinguished scholar with a long career in educational research and statistics.
He recently co-authored a critical review of virtual charter schools, published by the National Education Policy Center.
In response, an operative from Jeb Bush’s so-called “Foundation for educational Excellence” created a website with Dr. Glass’s name, ridiculing him and impugning his integrity by implying he was bought by teacher union 

R.I. Students Give the Test to Adults: Can They Pass?

by dianerav

I just received this press release. This is a great action by the Providence Student Union.
Governor Chafee, take the test!
State Superintendent Deborah Gist, take the test!
MEDIA ADVISORY
March 13, 2013
CONTACT: Aaron Regunberg | Aaron@ProvidenceStudentUnion.org | 847-809-6039 (cell)
STUDENTS INVITE LEADERS, POLICY MAKERS TO “TAKE THE TEST” –
WOULD THEY GRADUATE UNDER NEW NECAP POLICY?
WHAT: To lend a deeper perspective to the debate over Rhode Island’s new high-stakes testing diploma system, members of the Providence Student Union (PSU) have invited community leaders and policy makers to put themselves in students’ shoes and take a shortened version of the NECAP exam that is now being used as a make-or-break graduation requirement for the state’s young people. Currently 40 state senators, state representatives, city council members, school board members, non-profit directors, lawyers, reporters, and education officials are planning to participate in this student-administered, student-proctored event.
DATE: Saturday, March 16th
WHERE: Knight Memorial Library, 275 Elmwood Avenue, Providence
WHEN: 12:15 p.m. event begins, test-takers start their exams; 1:25 p.m. suggested time for press to arrive to catch the last minutes of test-taking, see a short PSU presentation to the media, and interview test-takers.
The event will have strong visuals. Students and adult participants will be available for interviews.
###
The Providence Student Union is a youth-led student advocacy organization bringing high school students together to ensure youth have a real voice in decisions affecting their education. Learn

Charter Hype and Spin from Florida DOE

by dianerav

One of the saddest consequences of the merger of education with partisan politics is that we now no longer can trust pronouncements from many of our state and local departments of education. Instead of accurate data, we are apt to get spin, hype, distortion, and outright lies, all in the service of someone’s political agenda.
One of the worst offenders is the Florida Department of Education. For years, under Jeb Bush and now Rick Scott, the department has been incapable of impartial analysis or self-criticism. Instead, its goal is to parrot the party line of testing, accountability, charters, vouchers, and online learning.
The latest embarrassing public relations stunt from the state DOE is a “study” claiming that charter schools in 

The Day the Teachers Said No

by dianerav

If you want to understand why the entire teaching staff of Garfield High School is boycotting the MAP test, watch this excellent video.
The only way to stop the destruction now descending on American education is to stand together–like the Garfield teachers–and say no.
No to pointless testing.
No to the misuse of testing.
No to the collection of students’ personal data for 

Diane in the Evening 3-12-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 4 hours ago

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: Why California Tightened Oversight of New Teachers by dianerav In a post yesterday, I referred to a decision by the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing to set higher standards for those who teach the state’s neediest students, especiallybEnglish-language learners.. Some readers thought this decision was unfair to Teach for America recruits, who get only five weeks of training before assignment to difficult jobs. However, a reader who closely follows the work of the Commission described the decision, ... more »

Brown’s school funding formula lauded, then picked apart at hearing | EdSource Today

Brown’s school funding formula lauded, then picked apart at hearing | EdSource Today:

Brown’s school funding formula lauded, then picked apart at hearing - by John Fensterwald

by John Fensterwald

To a person, every Assemblymember at a committee hearing Tuesday and the six superintendents who testified at it praised the principles behind Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposed school finance reforms: simplicity, clarity and equity ­­– more money for the state’s neediest children.

But there were also sharp disagreements over the components of Brown’s Local Control Funding Formula that would determine how much money districts would get were the new finance system phased in over the next seven years, as Brown hopes. At its core, the division was between those favoring the formula as proposed and those arguing that it would give too many extra dollars for English learners and low-income children relative to a base funding amount for all children.

Long Beach Unified Superintendent Chris Steinhauser encouraged approval of Brown’s funding formula as “the right thing to do.”

Christopher Steinhauser, superintendent of Long Beach Unified, an urban district with mostly high-needs students favored by the formula, and John Nickerson, superintendent of Acalanes Union High School District, a 6,000-student district in Contra Costa County with few disadvantaged students, epitomized the different outlooks.

“The governor’s proposal is a great, bold step to bring 

No pay to play or learn at public schools - by Kathryn Baron

by Kathryn Baron

Public schools must provide the clay used in art class, but they can charge a student for taking home his or her finished sculpture. Playing sports is considered part of the educational mission, so schools have to cover all the costs – including uniforms – but attending a game is just for fun so students can pay admission. And schools can ask – even plead – for donations, but can’t require them...

Try a different tack: Hold teachers responsible for education quality - by Charles Taylor Kerchner / commentary

by Charles Taylor Kerchner / commentary

The Los Angeles Times ran an op-ed piece I wrote about last week’s school board election, where a coalition of deep-pockets givers spurred by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa spent over $63 per vote. It was not only big money but also money badly spent.  One point I raised was the crafting of a Democratic alternative to the Republican position on teachers unions, which is largely that they should be...

All Education Matters: Moral Fables: Free Will Vs. Destiny

All Education Matters: Moral Fables: Free Will Vs. Destiny:

Moral Fables: Free Will Vs. Destiny

by Cryn Johannsen

These pieces are not related to student loan debt, but I still wanted to share them with my readers here. While I am working on my book, Higher Ed, Great Debt, which I just sold to Seven Stories Press, I have begun to explore, in writing, bigger philosophical and religious topics that I've discussed and contemplated for years.

Here is the first of a new series on important, life themes, such as lies and truth, love and hate, forgiveness and revenge, etc.

Below is a snippet. The piece can be read in its entirety here.

The following series of essays have been written while teaching ESL (English as a second Language) classes to adult students from all corners of the world (this writing exercise began last month, and continues to be a part of my classes). Each morning, the first class – that began this project – was required to answer one of two questions. At first, I was the one to ask the questions, but I quickly turned it over to the students. Their questions ranged from simple, everyday life things, like, “Why are you studying English?,” to complex, philosophical questions, such as, “What are the limits to freedom?” The class would write for an hour, and I would join them. We would 

NYC Educator: Should Retirees Vote?

NYC Educator: Should Retirees Vote?:

Should Retirees Vote?

by NYC Educator

There's a very thoughtful piece at Gotham Schools discussing the power of retired UFT teachers. It notes that most unions do not allow their retirees to vote. Now I hope to be a retiree one of these days, and I personally vote every chance I get.

But I wonder whether or not this is a good idea. For one thing, as crazy as I am now, by the time I retire I might be crazier still. Of course, given American politics, being crazy is no obstacle to anyone's vote anyway.

I remember vividly the 2005 contract, the thing that got me to be active in union matters. I had just started the blog, and I was excited that the UFT was starting one. I thought we'd finally have a big voice standing against the nonsense perpetrated by Mayor Bloomberg and his minions. I thought we'd finally have a platform to address the nonsense appearing on the editorial pages.

What I got, though, was strong and steadfast support for the ATR brigade, passionate interest in curtailing 

Daily Kos: Above the law

Daily Kos: Above the law:

Above the law

by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken)

The laws, Cicero wrote in the days of the Roman Republic, “are silent in time of war.” But what if the war has no end, no defined enemy, no defined territory? How can markets work if the financial behemoths are too big to fail and too big to jail?If the national security state has the power of life or death above the law, and Wall Street has the power to plunder beyond the law, in what way does this remain a nation of laws?

Those are the final two paragraphs of Above the law, an op ed in today's Washington POst by Katrina vanden Heuvel, editor and publisher of The Nation.For those who are movie buffs, that title might seem familiar, as it is also the title of a Steven Seagal movie where what is above the law is the CIA.
At one point this nation had decided that the intelligence apparatus should not be above the law - we had hearings in both the U. S. Senate led by Frank Church and the U. S. House led by Otis Pike which exposed the abuses of agencies like the CIA and FBI among others, and led to the establishment of ongoing committees in both chambers of Congress to oversee intelligence operations by the US Government.

NYC Public School Parents: Ignoring the Voices of a Community, a Mayor Seeks to Destroy an Iconic Public School

NYC Public School Parents: Ignoring the Voices of a Community, a Mayor Seeks to Destroy an Iconic Public School:

Ignoring the Voices of a Community, a Mayor Seeks to Destroy an Iconic Public School

by Leonie Haimson

 The following is by Tony Kelso, a parent and a member of Community Education Council in District 6, Upper Manhattan.

                                 So this is the way education works under mayoral control.

            At what was billed as a public hearing to determine the fate of P.S. 132, an elementary school in New York City’s Washington Heights, speaker after speaker rose up and passionately voiced opposition to the Department of Education (DOE)’s plan to force the school to share its building with another school that would be created from scratch and opened in the fall. Not a single teacher, community leader, or parent who took the microphone was in favor of the proposal. But it won’t matter. Indeed, there was nobody even there to listen to and address the crowd’s concerns because the DOE had not bothered to send a representative to stand before the assembly and run the meeting. Instead, seated in the first row of the auditorium with their backs to the audience, two young women—one wearing a shiny silver skirt, as though 

UPDATE: The day some Seattle teachers said ‘no’ to standardized tests + Lawsuit charges Ed Department with violating student privacy rights

Lawsuit charges Ed Department with violating student privacy rights:

The day some Seattle teachers said ‘no’ to standardized tests

by Valerie Strauss

It all started with one teacher who got fed up. Teachers at Garfield High School in Seattle recently banded together to boycott mandated standardized district tests called the Measures of Academic Progress because, they say, the exams are bad measures … Continue reading →

Lawsuit charges Ed Department with violating student privacy rights

Posted by Valerie Strauss on March 13, 2013 at 4:00 am

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(shutterstock)

The U.S. Education Department is being sued by a nonprofit organization for promoting regulations that are alleged to undercut student privacy and parental consent. The rules allow third parties, including private companies and foundations promoting school reform, to get access to private student information.

The Electronic Privacy Information Center has been fighting for the department over 2011 regulations involving the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, also known as FERPA,  a law that is supposed to protect the privacy of student education records at all schools that receive federal education funds. FERPA was passed to give parents specific rights in regard to their children’s education records, rights which transfer to the student he/she becomes 18 or goes to a school beyond the high school level.

But in 2011, regulations issued by the department changed FERPA to allow the release to third parties of student information for non-academic purposes. The rules also broaden the exceptions under which  schools can release student records to non-governmental 

The problem with high-tech ‘personalized’ learning tools

by Valerie Strauss

SWSXedu was a big hit in Texas last week, where technology companies (such as Rupert Murdoch’s Amplify Education) hawked their new education gadgets that they promised would help kids learning by providing “individualized” instruction. Really? Here’s a skeptical view on … Continue reading →

Court Ruling Puts Part of Parent Trigger at Risk | Scathing Purple Musings

Court Ruling Puts Part of Parent Trigger at Risk | Scathing Purple Musings:

Court Ruling Puts Part of Parent Trigger at Risk

by Bob Sikes

Within current parent trigger legislation is a provision which requires parents be notified if their child’s teacher has been rated as “ineffective” for two straight years. But a Tallahassee circuit court judge’s ruling yesterday raised doubts about using the value-added data which would make such determinations. Florida Times-Unionreporter Topher Sanders has this:

A circuit judge in Tallahassee has ruled that Florida’s value-added teacher data is not a public record, but the Times-Union plans to appeal his decision in its lawsuit against the state.
Judge John Cooper on Monday signed the order presented by the Department of Education and the Florida Education Association, which had successfully argued that all materials that make up an evaluation are exempt for a year.
“We’re disappointed in the judge’s ruling, but not surprised,” Times-Union Editor Frank Denton said 

UPDATE: Schools Matter: Third Graders Face Retention in 13 States for Failing a Test

Schools Matter: Time for Weingarten to Go:

Third Graders Face Retention in 13 States for Failing a Test

by Jim Horn

In 2000, Louisiana became the first state in the Nation to require elementary school children (4th graders), to pass a test to move on to 5th grade.  Since then hundreds of thousands of poor children have learned failure at an early age, with many of them now entering the "correctional" system of Louisiana, which is a major employer in the state.

Research shows that failing a grade is as traumatic to 3rd graders as losing a parent, but with the help of Jeb Bush's team and the lawyers from ALEC, we now have this bare-knuckled legislation to mandate 3rd grade retention in 13 states, as reported in this story at WaPo by Lyndsey Layton.

Where are the pediatricians, the child psychologists, the educational researchers who publish their important 

Time for Weingarten to Go

by Judy Rabin

Too bad it took Randi Weingarten 10 years to "get arrested" when the writing was on the blackboard with the obviously insane, destructive and impossible goals of NCLB  calling for 100% proficiency by 2014. The noose around the teachers' necks has been getting tighter and tighter and now the ones in the most vulnerable communities are gasping for air and about to expire. The stories form Philadelphia, Chicago, Seattle and New York about what's happening to these communities barely made news at all. Does anyone even care that the head of the AFT was arrested?

 The public schools, the unions and the freedom to teach and to learn have been under attack for three decades and today the results are playing out all across the 

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Advanced Learning - It's Time for Change

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Advanced Learning - It's Time for Change:

Advanced Learning - It's Time for Change

by Melissa Westbrook

Do you hear that Superintendent Banda and members of the School Board?

Enough well-meaning talk.  I myself have been through this now, with two children, and I truly despair (and that's the right word) that this district will ever get it right.  What's most distressing is that there has been a lot of talk and hand-wringing and paper shuffling and yet, the program is confusing, uneven and frankly, something of a joke.

First, the director of the program, Bob Vaughan, has got to go.  

I rarely advocate for anyone to go but honestly, this has gotten to the point of being ridiculous.   He is not sustaining this program in any real way and consistently passes the buck or obfuscates over the stagnation of the program.  The program has made some progress but overall, does not well-serve the majority of students in it.


Let's start with the Curriculum & Instruction meeting yesterday where, ostensibly, they were discussing