MORNING UPDATE LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 5-22-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

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

Just Heard from Monica

by dianerav

Monica Ratliff just emailed to thank all of us for our help. She was rushing off to teach her fifth grade class. She never stopped teaching while running for office.
Dear friends, your contributions made a difference. Together we will turn the tide and restore American education to focus on children and learning and collaboration, not data and profits and budget cuts.
Thank you, Monica, for the lessons you taught us all: people matter more than money. Experience and knowledge count. Courage in the face of overwhelming odds is essential. Teaching is an honorable profession, and teachers must be heard and involved in decisions about schooling.
For your courage and I regroup, I add you to our honor roll as a champion of American education. And a Giant Slayer.

Join Discussion of Parent Trigger Hoax

by dianerav

Please join this important discussion about the corporate attempt to trick parents into handing their public schools over to private corporations:
The Parent Trigger from California to Florida
Sunday, May 26, 2013 from 12:30 PM to 1:30 PM Pacific Time
We will be hearing from Lori Yuan, a parent in Adelanto who fought the Parent Trigger at her school, and Parents Across America Founding Member Rita Solnet who, along with other organizations, defeated the Parent Trigger 

UTLA Leaders Spotted at Sanchez Headquarters, But Ratliff Wins

by dianerav

Monica Ratliff won by the same margin of victory as Steve Zimmer, 52-48.
Zimmer had the full support of the UTLA.
Ratliff did not.
UTLA gave her a contribution of $1,000, but endorsed both candidates.

The Connecticut Corporate Reform Gravy Train

by dianerav

Now that Commissioner Pryor has the go-ahead from Governor Malloy to apply the principles of corporate education reform, he has loaded up the payroll of the state education department with his fellow reformers. Here comes the privatization movement, prepared to bust unions, demoralize teachers, and generate profits for friends 

What You Need to Know About inBloom

by dianerav

Anthony Cody has an excellent post that explains what you need to know about the massive data-collection program called inBloom.
The database will contain detailed personal information about students and teachers. The corporation cannot guarantee the security of this data.
Arne Duncan made inBloom possible by loosening the regulations of FERPA, the federal law that is supposed to 

Monica Ratliff Wins, Beats Billionaires!

by dianerav

Monica Ratliff won a historic upset in Los Angeles!
She won with 52% of the vote!
She had less than $50,000 in small contributions.
Her opponent Antonio Sanchez had the support of billionaire Eli Broad, billionaire Michael Bloomberg, and organized labor groups.
People power beat money power!!!

Too Close to Call: Monica Leads in Early Returns: Update

by dianerav

I am holding my breath. In the early returns in the Los Angeles school board race, underdog Monica Ratliff is slightly ahead of Antonio Sanchez.
With only one-quarter of the precincts reporting, Monica had about 51% of the vote to Sanchez’ 49%. This could 

More Charter Operators Coming to Néw Orleans

by dianerav

New Orleans has a higher proportion of students in privately-managed charters than any other district in the nation. Most get poor ratings. Research on Reforms says that 79% of the charters in the Recovery School 

Mercedes Schneider Deconstructs the Hype about New Orleans

by dianerav

The Laura and John Arnold Foundation in Houston made a gift of $25 million to a group called New Schools for New Orleans to create and expand more high performing charter schools in that much touted city.
John Arnold made a fortune as a trader at Enron.
The hype surrounding New Orleans is so commonplace that many struggling urban districts are told that they 

Diane in the Evening 5-21-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 5 hours ago

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: Rightwing Superintendents Oppose Randi Moratorium by dianerav http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/common-core-clash-aft-president-fires-back-at-state-ed-officials/2013/05/21/a93321e8-c245-11e2-8c3b-0b5e9247e8ca_story.html Common Core clash: AFT president fires back at state ed officials By Lyndsey Layton, The Washington Post Tuesday, May 21, 3:45 PM The head of a major teachers union fired back Tuesday at state education officials who had dismissed her call for a moratorium on stakes associated with new... more »

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Divide and rule is a dangerous game

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Divide and rule is a dangerous game:

Divide and rule is a dangerous game

by Mike Klonsky

"Not without a fight..." -- 9-year-old Asean Johnson

t's a desperate, dangerous games that Rahm and Byrd-Bennett are playing. As today's vote approaches the Mayor's people and CPS "insiders" are having a ball, leaking inside information to from "unnamed sources" about which schools will be closed and which will stay open in the fall.

Last night it was Elizabeth Brackett on Chicago Tonight telling us that, "my sources" say that about 10 schools will be dropped from Byrd-Bennett's death list.

This morning's Sun-Times repeats last minute droppings from "a source familiar with the deliberations" (read liar-in-chief Becky Carroll) that BBB will spare only four -- Marcus Garvey Elementary School and Mahalia Jackson Elementary School on the South Side; Leif Ericson Elementary Scholastic Academy on the West Side, and George Manierre Elementary School on the Near North Side.

The rest of the schools will have their lives and possibly the lives of their endangered students decided by a 

UPDATE: Nekritz and Senger discuss SB1 + People are corporations too + CTU election results | Fred Klonsky

CTU election results. Details released. Rahm’s team got a old-style shellacking. | Fred Klonsky:

Ten minute drawing. Ya just gotta look at kids like they’re parking meters.

by Fred Klonsky

Click on drawing to enlarge.

On this we agree. Call for no cost shift.

by Fred Klonsky

While the IEA and the We Are One coalition of state public employee unions are wrong on their support for SB2404, we do agree on the harm that will be caused by Speaker Madigan’s proposal for a cost shift to local communities of pension costs.
It will cause great harm to those communities who are already cash strapped. It will contribute to an even greater gap between rich and poor communities in their ability to afford quality education.
It is a further attack on teacher and other educational employees’ compensation.
From the IEA:

Rumors at the Statehouse indicate Speaker Madigan’s proposal to shift the state’s costs 

Watch as Representative Nekritz and Senger discuss how SB1 compares to SB2404 when it comes to robbing pensioners. VIDEO

by Fred Klonsky

Representatives Nekritz and Senger meet with reporters in this video.
They are talking to reporters about the relative savings to the pension debt of Madigan’s SB1 and We Are One/Cullerton’s SB2404.
In the absence of any plan to address state revenues, when they say the word savings, replace it with the wordsconstitutionally protected pension benefits.
Their savings are taken – stolen – in both bills from our benefits.
The thieves are only arguing over how much to steal.
Popout

The in box. “We must rid ourselves of the plague that reeks within.”

by Fred Klonsky

Curtis is a retired teacher and member of our new Skokie IEA-Retired chapter.

Fred,
This whole school closing plan is a part of a political ploy. In typical fashion the mayor and CPS leaders announce initially that there will be 54 school closings. Knowing there will be an outcry from Chicago residents in opposition and knowing that there will be a fight.
This news terrorizes the parent’s teachers and children as fear of the unknown and nightmares of the danger zone (s) set in. But the real goal here is to threaten to close 54 schools in order to get what they really want. And that is to make it appear that they (CPS) have heard the public cries and considered the needs and wishes of students and parents. The best way to close 40 schools 

The in box. People are corporations too, my friend.

by Fred Klonsky

The Chicago Tribune:

So Illinois is in such dire financial shape that it must violate the contractual retirement agreements with teachers and other state workers. I’ve taught at the University of Illinois since 1979 and am one of those who would be cheated by the bills under discussion in the legislature.
Why stop there? The crisis should require every company with a state contract get paid 20 percent less, and every company with a state concession should pay 20 percent more. I’m looking at you, casinos. This is an emergency!
We all know such actions are unrealistic and near impossible. Companies make business 

Today the CPS board will vote to enact the largest mass public school closing in American history.

by Fred Klonsky

In typical Rahm fashion, four more schools have been removed from the closing list.

CPS CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett is expected to withdraw her recommendations to shutter Marcus Garvey Elementary School and Mahalia Jackson Elementary School on the South Side; Leif Ericson Elementary Scholastic Academy on the West Side, and George Manierre Elementary School on the Near North Side, according to a source familiar with her deliberations.

These were always among the more controversial targets of the closing plan.
But later today the board will go ahead and vote to shut down the others on the Mayor’s list

CTU election results. Details released. Rahm’s team got a old-style shellacking.

by Fred Klonsky

As the Chicago Teachers Union was gearing up for its election I was hearing that friends of Rahm offered to fund a challenge to the Caucus of Rank and File Educators (CORE).
And when the coalition of anti-CORE people announced their candidacies, it became pretty clear that they were stand-ins for the Mayor.
The results of the election demonstrates pretty clearly that the members of the CTU saw right through the scam.
The anti-COREs got shellacked.
A spanking.
Bad.
In many schools they 

Senate votes to reduce testing for top students | Education Blog

Senate votes to reduce testing for top students | Education Blog:

Senate votes to reduce testing for top students

By Terrence Stutz
tstutz@dallasnews.com
7:00 am on May 22, 2013 | Permalink

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Continuing a move toward reduced testing in Texas schools, the Senate on Tuesday night approved a bill that would exempt high-performing students from reading and math tests in the fourth, sixth and eighth grades. The measure by Sen. Kel Seliger, R-Amarillo, would affect thousands of students in elementary and middle schools, but the precise number would be left up to the commissioner of education.

Seliger said a waiver would have to be approved by the U.S. Department of Education because the federal No Child Left Behind Law requires that all students in grades 3 to 8 be tested annually in reading and math. “This is only for high-performing students, so it shouldn’t be a big number,” the senator said. “For example, if you do very well in third grade math, you won’t take it in the fourth grade. These are kids who don’t have to be tested every year because we know they will perform at a high level.”

The same would be true for fifth graders and seventh graders. If they do well in reading and math, they won’t have to take STAAR exams in those subjects in the sixth and eighth grades. “There is a 97 percent probability that these students will perform at the same level two years in a row,” Seliger said. Students will still be tested in writing, science and social studies in certain grade levels.

ESPN announces layoffs as part of Malloy’s “Jive Five” Economic Development Program - Wait, What?

ESPN announces layoffs as part of Malloy’s “Jive Five” Economic Development Program - Wait, What?:

ESPN announces layoffs as part of Malloy’s “Jive Five” Economic Development Program

by jonpelto

The Urban Dictionary defines “jive” as a “colorful form of speaking” that is “sometimes hard to follow.”

In the real world here is how it works;

On August 2, 2011 Governor Dannel P. Malloy announced that, in return for creating 200 new jobs over the next five years, the taxpayers of Connecticut would give ESPN $17.5 million toward the construction of a new building and at least $300,000 to train the new workers.  Malloy explained, “ESPN’s needs are not going to be ignored.”

That corporate welfare package brought the total Connecticut taxpayer support for ESPN to over $100 million in state tax breaks and grants over the past twelve years.

Then yesterday, May 20, 2013, The Wall Street Journal reported that ESPN, “was in the process of laying off a few hundred workers… a sign that the hugely profitable sports cable-TV powerhouse is responding to the rising fees it pays to air games as well as other changes in the media industry…ESPN said some of the job cuts are coming through 

Child mental health experts raise serious concerns about the impact of proposed mass school closings on Chicago students

Chicagoland Researchers and Advocates for Transformative Education (CReATE): Child mental health experts raise serious concerns about the impact of proposed mass school closings on Chicago students:

Child mental health experts raise serious concerns about the impact of proposed mass school closings on Chicago students

by CReATE Chicago

Today, several notable social workers, counselors, and academic researchers from prominent Illinois and Chicago organizations and universities submitted a set of statements to the members of the Chicago Board of Education detailing their serious concerns about the potential negative impact of school closings on Chicago Public Schools (CPS) students’ social-emotional health.  Tomorrow, the Board of Education is scheduled to consider approving up to 54 school closings and consolidations.

The experts shared their statements at a press conference held at Roosevelt University and sponsored by Parents United for Responsible Education, a Chicago public school parent advocacy organization, along with  CReATE education professors Ann Aviles de Bradley and Diane Horwitz.

Significant concerns raised by these experts include grief and loss, issues of transition, schools as community cornerstones, inclusion of student voice, and lack of adequate mental health services.

Full Press Release Available Here