UPDATE: No on SB1, SB2404, the cost shift and yes to changing the landscape. | Fred Klonsky

No on SB1, SB2404, the cost shift and yes to changing the landscape. | Fred Klonsky:

Ten minute drawing. Underutilized.

by Fred Klonsky

Click on drawing to enlarge.

No on SB1, SB2404, the cost shift and yes to changing the landscape.

by Fred Klonsky

Popout.
The regular session of the Illinois General Assembly ends Friday.
Reuter’s reports:

The Illinois legislature, which over decades has built up a $100 billion unfunded pension liability, now is a study in gridlock. Speaker of the House Michael Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton each are pushing competing versions of a fix and each refuses to take action on the other lawmaker’s bill.
There is no clear path toward resolution. A Madigan-backed bill is hung up in the Senate, where Cullerton controls the legislative calendar, and Madigan has Cullerton’s plan bottled up in the House, which he controls.
House Republican Leader Tom Cross said the Democratic leaders have the power to take action and need to exercise it. “When the two of them want to accomplish something regardless of its magnitude they get it done,” Cross said. “There is no upside to inaction.”

Of course there is an upside to inaction. The Republican House leader only says that because his pension won’t be cut and his pals in the Commercial Club will continue to make out like bandits.
The upside is that public employees will continue to have their promised constitutionally protected pensions.
That is why we call for no votes of SB1, SB2404 and no votes on a pension cost shift.
There is a downside. The unfunded pension liability will continue to grow. That would happen anyway, since

CPS board member’s schedule: Close 50 public schools. Go to the gym. Dinner at Vinci. Play at Steppenwolf. Tend the vegetable garden.

by Fred Klonsky

CPS board member Andrea Zopp.
Shia Kapos in Crain’s:

Andrea Zopp, CEO of Chicago Urban League, is moving into the long weekend the way we all should—with a long work-out and massage.
Saturday
8 a.m. Start with Zumba class in Beverly and then a workout with trainer Kathy Dalby at HiFi Fitness on Orleans Street.
11 a.m. Get a massage at XSPort Fitness on State Street with Gary Smith.
1 p.m. Hair appointment at Ulta on State Street. “I’ve been going to Heidi White for a long time.”
6 p.m. Dinner at Vinci Restaurant on Halsted Street.
7:30 p.m. Attend Steppenwolf’s

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Reflections on Teaching » Blog Archive » The most sensitive cargo…

Reflections on Teaching » Blog Archive » The most sensitive cargo…:

The most sensitive cargo…

by alicemercer

The minister at the church service I attended today share this poem by Naomi Shihab Nye, and it really resonated with me. Here’s a stanza, the poem in it’s entirety can be found at the link below:

This man carries the world's most sensitive cargo
but he's not marked.
Nowhere does his jacket say FRAGILE,
HANDLE WITH CARE.

- From “Shoulders” by Naomi Shihab Nye http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/23314#sthash.i0Eaf0sF.dpuf
Let’s count the many ways that the so-called education “reform” movement does not treat poor kids subjected to their “reform” agenda as the world’s most sensitive cargo:

1. School “choice” means choosing to site your school on toxic waste;
2. And while “reformers” love schools like KIPP, the students call it “Kids in Prison”;
3. The school “reformers” send their own kids to are more humane for the students, and they have union contracts (that they honor) with their teachers;
4. But, maybe this was never about the “kids” and more about power and privilege…;
5. Because surely they wouldn’t let something like this happen to “their” children;
6. Or, this;
7. Which eventually leads to decisions like this.

The way they treat teachers is like someone speeding down a residential street in an Audi A2 and running into 

UPDATE: Can a teacher be disciplined/fired for teaching students their rights Daily Kos: you do not have right to vote in Presidential election

Daily Kos: Even if you vote, you do not have right to vote in Presidential election:

Even if you vote, you do not have right to vote in Presidential election

by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken)

I wrote this as a comment to marktheshark's diary on the Ellison-Pocan proposed constitutional amendment on voting.  I thought I would also put it up separately
Even if you have the right to vote you do not under the US Constitution have the right to vote for electors of the President and Vice-President.  The state legislature gets to decide how those electors are awarded -  remember the bill in the works in Florida to award all of that state's electors to Bush in 2000?
Now, there is a provision of the 14th Amendment that has never been enforced, which reads

Representatives shall be apportioned among the several states according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each state, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the executive and judicial officers of a state, or the members of the legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such state, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male 

Can a teacher be disciplined/fired for teaching students their rights?

by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken)

I was a social studies teacher.
I taught government.
That meant teaching students about the Bill of Rights.
That includes the 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination.
So when I read High School Teacher Faces Discipline for Informing Students About Their Rights, you can probably imagine my reaction.
High school students were given a survey that had their names on them.
They were asked questions about drinking and drug use, both of which represent a violation of the law.
The teacher, John Dryden, pick up the survey ten minutes before his first class, had no time to consult with administrators and since he had just completed a unit of the Bill of Rights

he decided to tell his students that they did not have to complete the forms if doing so involved admitting illegal behavior. Tomorrow the school board will consider whether and how to punish Dryden for taking advantage of this teachable moment.

Now he faces discipline ranging from a letter of remedy being place in his file which could prevent his being hired by another district, and even the possibility of dismissal.There is one difference between Dryden and myself -  I would have told students they could not be required to answer the questionnaire even without checking with an administrator.  If you are going to entrust me with

I believe this is my 3000th diary

by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken)

I did in 2006 delete two diaries.   I do not know if they are including in the count, and if so, I am premature.
If not, my taking a moment to recognize this event is not to brag, although I am proud of my participation here.
Rather it is to affirm what this site has given me and so many others -  a site at which we can share our thoughts and insights with others, build community, support others and accept support for ourselves.
3000th or 2998th -  in a sense it does not matter.
I am grateful.
I am honored to be a part of this community.
Thanks for welcoming me as part of this community over the past 9+ years.
Peace.

Sequester Cuts Gut Schools Serving Neediest Students - High School Notes (usnews.com)

Sequester Cuts Gut Schools Serving Neediest Students - High School Notes (usnews.com):

Sequester Cuts Gut Schools Serving Neediest Students

By KELSEY SHEEHY

May 28, 2013 RSS Feed Print

Schools near military bases and Indian reservations lost millions in federal funding when the sequester took effect on March 1.

Long lines and frustrated passengers helped the Federal Aviation Administration skirt major cuts from the so-called fiscal cliff, but public schools have not been so lucky.

Districts across the country are trying desperately to plug the holes in their budgets left by sequestration – a package of mandatory spending cuts that kicked in March 1.

While cuts were billed as across-the-board, some high schools are being pinched harder – and sooner – than others. Schools near military bases and Indian reservations, and those serving large numbers of low-income students, have been hit hardest.

"We're at bare bones now," says Roy Nelson, a school board member in 

 

Missouri Education Watchdog: Can Teachers Really Be Creative and Innovative when Teaching to the Test? Do They Really Have that Much Magic?

Missouri Education Watchdog: Can Teachers Really Be Creative and Innovative when Teaching to the Test? Do They Really Have that Much Magic?:

Can Teachers Really Be Creative and Innovative when Teaching to the Test? Do They Really Have that Much Magic?

by stlgretchen

The video of Ellie Rubenstein, a Highland Park School District (Lincoln Elementary School)  teacher who resigned because of the increased time taken on standardized testing, has created new debate on the role of teachers.  Rubenstein offers her statement on what it's like to teach today in the classroom.  From theDaily Mail:

The former teacher says: 'Raising students' test scores on standardized tests is now the only goal, and in order to achieve it the creativity, flexibility and spontaneity that create authentic learning environments have been eliminated.

'Everything I love about teaching is extinct,' she continued.

'...over the past 15 years, I've experienced the depressing, gradual downfall and misdirection of communication that has slowly eaten away at my love of teaching.

MORNING UPDATE LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 5-28-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

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

Pelto: It Is Never Too Soon to Prepare Little Children for College

by dianerav

Jonathan Pelto here follows up on his report about the high rate of suspensions of children in kindergarten.
The clincher is the closing lines, where the regional superintendent of Achievement First explains why so many children are suspended:
“The most telling remark came from Marc Michaelson, who works as the regional superintendent for 

Yertle the Turtle and the Common Core

by dianerav

This post reminds us that literature speaks to us about life in ways that informational text can never do. That is why a story like Yertle the Turtle resonates with us long after we first read it and long after the informational text has been forgotten.
The post is about a kindergarten teacher. He is worried about how the Common Core will affect the children with the greatest needs.

Teaching in a World of Noise, Disruption, and Distraction

by dianerav

High school teacher Frank Breslin explains how the constant distractions of our society undermine students’ ability to concentrate or even pay attention to what happens in school.
Breslin reminds me of Diana Senechal’s wonderful book “The Republic of Noise.” If you haven’t read it, you should.
Breslin writes:
“A factor over which teachers have no control and that plays an enormous role in making it hard for children to learn is the restlessness of American society itself, its lack of self-discipline, its inability to sit still, its constant 

Please Attend the Skinny Awards in NYC

by dianerav

If you are within driving distance of New York City, please come to the Skinny Awards.
I will be there, along with many other friends of public education.
The Skinny Awards are the opposite of the Broad Awards, which are given to urban districts and charter schools that raise test scores. The Skinny Awards recognize character, courage, valor, and integrity in support of sound education ideas.
Leonie Haimson is the genius behind the Skinny Awards.
Benefits go to Class Size Matters, which advocates for reduced class size, opposes invasion of student privacy, and supports teachers and public schools. Leonie runs Class Size Matters on something less than a shoestring.
Here is the announcement:
Please attend our Fifth annual “Skinny Awards” Class Size Matters fundraiser
And enjoy a four-course dinner with wine
When: Tuesday June 18 at 6 PM
Where: FAGIOLINI ON 40TH, 120 E. 40th St. (betw. Lexington and 3rd Ave.)
Purchase your tickets here.
Each year we give an award to the individuals who provide the real “Skinny” on NYC schools. Past recipients of the award include Diane Ravitch and Juan Gonzalez. This year, our “Skinny” award will go to two brilliant teacher/bloggers:
Arthur Goldstein, who writes the NYC Educator blog and is an ESL teacher
at Francis Lewis High School in Queens
Gary Rubinstein, who blogs at Teach for Us and is a math teacher
at Stuyvesant HS in lower Manhattan
This dinner is always a highlight of the year, with delicious food, good wine, and great company.
This year, it is especially important to attend and/or contribute to our work. As always, Class Size Matters relies on your donations to keep our organization going. We have continued to advocate for smaller classes and an end to school overcrowding, as class sizes swell throughout the country. We also have become leaders in the fight against high-stakes testing, privatization, and the violation of student privacy.
Nationally, we spearheaded the battle against the sharing of confidential student data with a corporation called inBloom Inc. inBloom Inc. plans to put children’s personal information on a vulnerable data cloud, and share it with private vendors without parental notification or consent.
For the last few months, the tabloids and corporate reform blogs have featured attacks against me personally, evidence of the prominent role that Class Size Matters plays in the debate over education policy. One of the best ways to show your support for our work is to contribute whatever you can to keep our organization alive.
If you believe that class size matters, and that it is important to keep our public schools and children’s personal information out of the hands of private corporations, please make tax-deductible contribution now to Class Size Matters and/or purchase a seat at our fundraiser dinner June 18 by clicking here or here:http://www.nycharities.org/events/EventLevels.aspx?ETID=6292 .
Please forward to others who care and hope to see you there, Leonie
Leonie Haimson
Executive Director
Class Size Matters
124 Waverly Pl.
New York, NY 10011
212-674-7320
leonie@classsizematters.org
http://www.classsizematters.org
http://nycpublicschoolparents.blogspot.com
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/leonie-haimson
Follow me on twitter @leoniehaimson
Make a tax-deductible contribution to Class Size Matters now!
Subscribe to Class Size Matters news by emailing classsizematters-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Subscribe to NYC education news by emailing nyceducationnews-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Lightning Struck Twice in L.A.

by dianerav

The Red Queen in LA offers a brief tutorial on the meaning of the astonishing electoral victory of Monica Ratliff—and before that, the remarkable upset win of Steve Zimmer.
Both ran against a barrage of out-of-state millions. Zimmer had the support of UTLA, Ratliff did not.
No one thought that either had a chance. Ratliff raised about $50,000 in small donations. Her opponent had millions.
Both won by the same 52-48 margin.
What does it mean?
It means the board has 

How to Lower Standards for Teacher Preparation

by dianerav

Anthony Cody reports on legislation prepared by Colorado Senator Michael Bennett that would decimate teacher professionalism. He wants federal funding for new teacher and principal academies that would lower standards for entry into education.
There is the usual blather about “excellence,” “great teachers,” standards and accountability, but the heart of the legislation is what it does not require:
“(B) shall not have unnecessary restrictions on the methods or inputs the teacher preparation academy will use 

Diane in the Evening 5-27-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 3 hours ago

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: Katie Lapham’s Data Analysis: 26% of Her Time Not Teaching by dianerav In a guest post for Anthony Cody, Katie Lapham calculated that 26% of her school year is spent NOT teaching. Data inquiry, data analysis, professional development, etc. took time away from teaching. If you teach, what proportion of your time is spent not teaching? How much time is devoted to test prep, testing, and data analysis? *LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 5-27-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all* mike simpson ... more »

Getting Our Youth Back to Work: Policy Lessons From Around the World | toteachornototeach

Getting Our Youth Back to Work: Policy Lessons From Around the World | toteachornototeach:

Getting Our Youth Back to Work: Policy Lessons From Around the World

by aristotlethewise

Getting Our Youth Back to Work:
Policy Lessons From Around the World 

by Andreas Schleicher
If there’s one lesson we’ve learned over the past few years, it’s that we cannot simply bail ourselves out of a crisis, we cannot solely stimulate ourselves out of a crisis and we cannot just print money our way out of a crisis. But we can become much better in equipping more people with better skills to collaborate, compete and connect in ways that drive our economies forward.
There is no group for whom this is more important than today’s young people. Between 2008 and 2011, the gap in unemployment rates between higher- and less-educated youth widened dramatically. While young people with advanced skills have weathered the crisis reasonably well, those without foundation skills have suffered. Unemployment among young people without a high school education soared 20 percent in Estonia and Ireland 

UPDATE: Michigan House Strips Common Core Funding + Action Alert for Kansas + Indiana Legislature Playing Monday Morning Quarterback? | Truth in American Education

Indiana Legislature Playing Monday Morning Quarterback? | Truth in American Education:

Final Michigan House Budget Strips Common Core Funding

by Shane Vander Hart

The conference committee dealing with the Michigan Department of Education funding released a conference report that left in language written by State Representative Tom McMillin (R-Rochester Hills) that blocks funding for the implementation of the Common Core State Standards.  The House shortly after took up the bill and passed the language again.

M-Live reports:

State Superintendent Mike Flanagan accused lawmakers of “playing politics” with education after the conference committee’s vote Tuesday morning.

Additionally, an email purportedly sent to principals and superintendents by Martin Ackley, director of the MDE’s office of public and government affairs, stated that without full implementation of the Common Core standards, the state’s waiver from federal No Child Left Behind standards was at risk and all Michigan schools were in danger of failing to make 

Action Alert for Kansas

by Shane Vander Hart

From Dr. Walt Chappell:

There is a Plan B taking shape to defund the CCS by the Kansas Legislature before they adjourn for the year.  Their legislative session is due to  end this Friday.

If you and your networks can assist with emails sent to the personal accounts of both House and Senate members, they will be greatly appreciated.  (See the email lists attached.)

A group of grassroots supporters of stopping the CCS are making the trip to Topeka tomorrow.  So, emails sent tonight, tomorrow and Thursday will be most effective in getting the votes we need.  Below are some talking points which are making the most impact.

Thanks again for your assistance.  Who knows, Kansas may be the first state to actually stop the 

Indiana Legislature Playing Monday Morning Quarterback?

by Shane Vander Hart

The Times of Northwest Indiana wrote an editorial yesterday opining that the Common Core State Standards not be set aside even though the implementation was paused.

Indiana has reset the clock on joining the Common Core Standards initiative, with the Legislature overruling the State Board of Education and delaying implementation by at least one year while lawmakers play Monday morning quarterbacks this summer.

The Common Core standards would replace the current Indiana Academic Standards, and for good reason.

The Common Core national standards were developed not by the federal government but by a national group of educators. The standards have been adopted in 45 states.

There are some valid concerns about the new standards, but there are concerns about the existing 

Ed school dean: Urban school reform is really about land development (not kids):

Ed school dean: Urban school reform is really about land development (not kids)

By Valerie Strauss, Published: May 28, 2013 at 6:00 amE-mail the writer

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Dean Leslie Fenwick (howard.edu

Here is a provocative piece from Leslie T. Fenwick, dean of the Howard University School of Education and a professor of education policy, about what is really behind urban school reform. It’s not about fixing schools, she argues, but, rather, about urban land development. Fenwick has devoted her career to improving educational opportunity and outcomes for African American and other under-served students.

By Leslie T. Fenwick

The truth can be used to tell a lie. The truth is that black parents’ frustration with the quality of public schools is at an all time righteous high. Though black and white parents’ commitment to their child’s schooling is comparable, more black parents report dissatisfaction with the school their child attends. Approximately 90 percent of black and white parents report attending parent teacher association meetings and nearly 80 percent of black and white parents report attending teacher conferences. Despite these similarities, fewer black parents (47 percent) than white parents (64 percent) report being very satisfied with the school their child attends. This dissatisfaction among black parents is so whether these parents are college-educated, high income, or poor.

The lie is that schemes like Teach For America, charter schools backed by venture capitalists, education management organizations (EMOs), and Broad Foundation-

Why schools should stop using exit exams

by Valerie Strauss

Here’s a piece on exit exams from P.L. Thomas, an associate professor of education at Furman University in South Carolina. He edited the 2013 book “Becoming and Being a Teacher,” and wrote the 2012 book, “Ignoring Poverty in the U.S.: … Continue reading →

'Boy or Girl?' Gender identity become a new challenge for schools | OregonLive.com

'Boy or Girl?' Gender identity become a new challenge for schools | OregonLive.com:

'Boy or Girl?' Gender identity become a new challenge for schools

The Associated Press By The Associated Press 
Follow on Twitter 
on May 28, 2013 at 12:05 AM, updated May 28, 2013 at 12:06 AM

CHICAGO — From the time they are born, we put our boys in blue beanies and our girls in pink ones. It's a societal norm, an expectation even, that you just are what you are born — a boy or a girl.

From early on, we divide toys and activities by very distinct gender lines, with superheroes and trucks and muck on one side and princesses and dolls and all things frilly on the other.

Many children land, enthusiastically, on the expected side. Others dabble in both "girl" and "boy" things. But what if your kid, even from an early age, mostly showed interest in doing opposite-gender things? More importantly, what if they wanted to BE the opposite gender — or a less-defined mix of both? And what if they wanted to test those limits in public places, like school?

Would you let them?

It's not, of course, that pat of a process. Parents don't just decide to let their kids switch genders. But, whether parents are dragged through the process, or if they decide to work it through more