LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 7-24-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

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

Pa Supt: State Funding Is Criminal Negligence

At a discussion of equity and excellence in education in Pennsylvania, John Sarandrea, the superintendent of the Néw Castle district, said: “I don’t have any problems saying this, because it’s true: Poor kids are getting the shaft right now,” he said to loud applause from the audience. “How can you possibly not invest in these children early, knowing what will be the outcome if you don’t?” Sarand

by dianerav / 4min 

Major DFER Leader Supports Spitzer

This is a twist. Boykin Curry, a major hedge fund manager and Wall Street power broker, sent out an email endorsing Eliot Spitzer, the disgraced ex-governor who is running for City Comptroller. Curry was happy with Spitzer when he was governor because he was very supportive of charter schools. Spitzer resigned the governorship after it was revealed that he paid prostitutes on numerous occasions. N

by dianerav / 8min mark as read  //  save

Gary Rubinstein: Who Supports the Status Quo?

This is one of Gary Rubinstein’s best posts, wherein he challenges the new co-leader of Teach for America to give more thought to his facile reference to “the status quo.” The post follows some tweets between Gary and Matt Kramer. Gary explains that those who disagree with TFA are not defending the status quo. Gary writes: “I could easily make a list of things that I’d like to change. I could bo

by dianerav / 10min 

How Choice Schools “Hitchhike” in Ohio

Ohio has a thriving choice sector, but neither vouchers nor charters have ever been approved by voters. Legislators know that the public–nearly 90% in public schools–would not support funding vouchers or charters and never has. So they find clever ways to establish choice programs and fund them without asking the voters’ opinions. Currently, as the post below shows, legislators have figured out h

by dianerav / 7min 

Why Did the U.S. Department of Education Abandon Student Privacy Rights?

In 2009 and again in 2011, the U.S. Department of Education changed the regulations in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), making it easier for third parties to gain access to private information about students. The DOE is being sued by the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) on behalf of student privacy. Arguments will be presented on July 24 in federal district court.

by dianerav / 12min 

Newark’s Teachers’ Village: Your Tax Dollars at Work for TFA

Jersey Jazzman reports in excruciating detail about Teach for America’s bold plan to expand in New Jersey, which seems to happen most often in states with rightwing governors and/or legislatures. Their expansion is linked with a $150 million development in Newark that will build three new charter schools and provide low-rent housing for their teachers. One of the major backers is Goldman Sachs, wh

by dianerav / 11min 

A New Film That Celebrates the Success of Public Schools

In this essay, Peter Dreier contrasts the films of the corporate reformers with a new film that shows the struggles, challenges, and successes of an American public school. Dreier usefully follows the money behind the corporate-funded films “Waiting for Superman” and “Won’t Back Down.” The common link between them is Walden Media, owned by arch-reactionary Philip Anschutz. Dreier writes: “It is

by dianerav / 18min mark as read  //  save

Louisiana Will Test 3- and 4-Year Olds

Louisiana will begin testing large numbers of preschool children this fall to determine their academic readiness. If they are found to be not ready, it is not clear who will be held accountable: their teachers? Their families? “The goal, they say, is to create a grading system like the current School Performance Score reports for public elementary and secondary schools, which are ranked for stud

by dianerav / 1h 

Diane in the Evening 7-23-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: Before Detroit’s Fire Sale Begins, Call the ExpertsWith bankruptcy looming, buzzards are flying by to pick meat off the Motor City’s bones. Before they do, someone should talk to experts on the dangers of privatization: Contact: Richard Allen Smith July 23, 2013 rasmith@inthepublicinterest.org **** MEDIA AVAILABILITY**** As Detroit

by mike simpson / 3h

Irritation or two aside, charter leaders pleased with new funding system | EdSource Today

Irritation or two aside, charter leaders pleased with new funding system | EdSource Today:

Irritation or two aside, charter leaders pleased with new funding system

July 24th, 2013 | Add a Comment | 
By John Fensterwald

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Students at Rocketship Mosaic charter in San Jose discuss a book they’ve been reading. Credit: John Fensterwald, EdSource Today

California Charter Schools Associationchief executive Jed Wallace turned rhapsodic in a message last month to charter school operators summarizing the impact of the new school funding system on their campuses. The Local Control Funding Formula represents a landmark victory, he said, a sort of Brown v. Board of Education moment for the charter school movement.

Jed Wallace, CEO of the California Charter Schools Association

“Instead of being seen and treated as second-class citizens with separate funding streams constantly at risk of reduction or elimination, charter schools will now be funded in the same way that traditional public schools are funded,” he wrote. “As such, we think it legitimate to claim that, for the first time since the inception of our movement more than 20 years ago, charter schools have become fully vested members of the public education community.”

Some charter school leaders won’t go that far. They are irked by one restriction in the formula in 

California moving away from Washington’s corporate education reform - by John Affeldt / commentary

California’s shift to a new weighted student funding model represents just the most recent example of how Democratic state policymakers here are charting a different course in education policy than the Obama Administration and Congress. As I noted in a post last week, California and Washington have taken distinctly different approaches to achievement gaps that increasingly are most closely... [[

by John Affeldt / co... / 6h 

Born to think and learn | Deborah Meier on Education

Born to think and learn | Deborah Meier on Education:

Born to think and learn

Posted on July 24, 2013 by nicholasmeier

Dear readers,

The NY Times followed up its piece on STEM jobs and the causes of unemployment (see below) with one on testing: “The Trouble With Testing Mania.” (Sunday, July 14, p. 10) The editorial headline is the best thing about it, but it opens a few more doors for us among potential allies. A second hurrah.

But can we shift the conversation from the “accountability/testing” mania to a real meaty discussion about how learning takes place. Maybe we have to dig deeper into what purposes we expect schooling to serve, or each step forward or back may represent just a new no-nothing fad. Until then we are avoiding the BIG question, “accountable for what?”

Example: It always amazes me how often intelligent people cannot imagine how one can learn if no one is “teaching,” “telling” or at least “showing.” My old City College guru, the marvelous Lillian Weber who taught so many of us how to observe children well, started off by asking us to list all the things that virtually every kindergarten child knows before he/she starts school. And then, we brainstormed how we thought they had learned all these hundreds of skills, concepts, words, and on and on. It was a tough task.

This is why I hate the expression used too often to promote pre-schooling—”learning to think” or “ready to learn.” We are born thinkers and learners–and quite 

7-24-13 teacherken at Daily Kos

teacherken at Daily Kos:

The Man Who Made Gov. Bob McDonnell ‘Deeply Sorry’

is the title of this piece at Talking Points Memo that went up a few hours ago. It will give a pretty thorough background on Jonnie Williams, the man whose gifts and relationships with both Gov. Bob McDonnell and Attorney General and Republican gubernatorial nominee Ken Cuccinelli have totally roiled Virginia politics, and become a focus of the likes of Rachel Maddow. Here's how the piece states:

by rss@dailykos.com ... / 26min mark as read  //  save

20 book people pretend to have read

as listed in this post at Book Riot.  These were nominated by readers, ranging from 85 for the first listed to 21 for the last. 1.  Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen 2.  Ulysses by James Joyce 3.  Moby-Dick by Herman Melville 4.  War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy 5.  The Bible 6.  1984 by George Orwell 7.  The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien 8.  The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald 9.  Anna Kar

by rss@dailykos.com ... / 26min 

Thoughts from a Conservative on issues relevant to today

When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle. - Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents, from 1770 All government — indeed, every human benefit and enjoyment, every virtue and every prudent act — is founded on compromise and barter. - from Second speech on Conciliation with America, 1775. The true danger is

by rss@dailykos.com ... / 38min 

7-23-13 teacherken at Daily Kos

teacherken at Daily Kos: TUE JUL 23, 2013 AT 04:05 AM PDTAsking you to listen for 3:40 or sobyteacherken    1 Comments / 0 NewTo this:Some words of explanation from Jasiri X, whose work this is:I chose to remix Kanye’s song “Blood on the Leaves” because I felt like the sample he used from Billie Holiday’s “Strange Fruit” is even more relevant today. Whether it’s the over 500 murders last year in C

by mike simpson / 11h 

Editorial: Forget the lawyers, focus on the students - Editorials - The Sacramento Bee

Editorial: Forget the lawyers, focus on the students - Editorials - The Sacramento Bee:

Editorial: Forget the lawyers, focus on the students

By the Editorial Board

Published: Wednesday, Jul. 24, 2013 - 12:00 am | Page 14A

Sacramento attorney Mark Merin alleged in closing remarks to a lawsuit, filed on behalf of a dozen students and their parents, that in the transition caused by seven elementary school closures in Sacramento City Unified, such students become "interlopers" at their new schools.

This is an insult to the staff at these schools, which has a duty to provide education for all students, including the newest students.

And the resort to the courts first – before trying to work with the schools to assure a successful transition or before considering that students might actually have access to more opportunities and more learning supports at their newly assigned schools – is counterproductive. These students deserve better.

Fortunately, a federal judge dismissed the case on Monday.

This should be a time for educating the larger public about difficult choices that the Sacramento City Unified School District has faced. Its elementary schools lost 4,000 K-6 students in the last

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2013/07/24/5590346/forget-the-lawyers-focus-on-the.html#storylink=cpy

Schooling in the Ownership Society: Rahm's Civic Committee pals pushed Moody's & S&P to lower IL bond rating

Schooling in the Ownership Society: Rahm's Civic Committee pals pushed Moody's & S&P to lower IL bond rating:

Rahm's Civic Committee pals pushed Moody's & S&P to lower IL bond rating

Rahm Emanuel claims that he's been forced to close schools, demolish school budgets and fire thousands of teachers because the city is broke. Why is the city broke? Rahm says it's because of a pension crisis with retired teachers and public employees unwilling to take cuts in their pensions and health care benefits. All this, says the mayor, has led to rating companies lowering Chicago's bond rating, making it even more expensive for the city to borrow money to keep public schools 

NYC Educator: Only City Teachers Should Be Fired for Nothing, Implies Daily News

NYC Educator: Only City Teachers Should Be Fired for Nothing, Implies Daily News:

Only City Teachers Should Be Fired for Nothing, Implies Daily News

I was pretty surprised to find this story in the Daily News today. Apparently a teacher in Merrick, Long Island appeared shirtless in some stupid reality show, and resigned under pressure from administration. The News appears sympathetic to his cause, as am I. Sometimes people take off their shirts, and I don't personally see anything awfully wrong with that. It's certainly not grounds for dismissal.

Yet the Daily News, aided and abetted by their resident legal expert, Campbell Brown, prints story after story about how city teachers should be fired based on unsubstantiated or dismissed charges. They print features about idiotic publicity-seeking politicians who sympathize with this ridiculous point of view. And for two years now, they endlessly condemn city teachers who have been convicted of nothing.

As I've repeatedly written, I know only one of these teachers, but I also know this teacher is no more a "perv" or "sex creep" 

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: "Progressive" Ald. Moore, one of Rahm's toadies, now under FBI investigation

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: "Progressive" Ald. Moore, one of Rahm's toadies, now under FBI investigation:

"Progressive" Ald. Moore, one of Rahm's toadies, now under FBI investigation

Moore (left) has become one of the mayor's boys. 

Ald. Joe Moore was once considered to be a "progressive" who stood up once in a while, to the Daley machine and owed his allegiance to the people in his community. But now, Moore has become little more than a toady for the mayor, especially when it comes to closing schools and bashing the teachers union. He was one of the founders of the so-called Paul Douglass Alliance in the City Council, a rump group set up to counter the Progressive Caucus which has been critical of Rahm. Moore has even joined Rahm in his effort to weaken the investigative powers of  the city's Inspector General.

Maybe now we know why. He didn't want to get thrown under the bus by party bosses.

July 23, 2013 (CHICAGO) (WLS) -- ABC7 has learned Chicago's 49th Ward 

Louisiana Educator: School Reform Based on Bad Comparisons

Louisiana Educator: School Reform Based on Bad Comparisons:

School Reform Based on Bad Comparisons

Last Sunday CNN aired a one hour show featuring reporter Morgan Spurlock as part of  the Inside Man series where he attempted to compare the U S public education system to the public system in Finland. Spurlock in this report also attempted to investigate why Finnish students have been judged to be the the top academic performers in the western world as measured by the PISA assessment. His report also attempted to get some ideas that the U S could borrow to improve American student performance in the basic skills.

In Spurock's  initial discussions with education leaders in Finland, the show described the huge difference in the emphasis on standardized testing in Finland compared to our country. The Finns have been able to produce superior academic performance of their K-12 students while using almost no standardized testing.Instead they insist emphatically that they trust their school principals to run the schools and the principals trust the teachers to properly instruct the students without the use of 

K-12 News Network | CCSS Tests: KIds Need a Three Year Moratorium From Penalties For Many Good Reasons #TEACH13

K-12 News Network | CCSS Tests: KIds Need a Three Year Moratorium From Penalties For Many Good Reasons #TEACH13:

CCSS Tests: KIds Need a Three Year Moratorium From Penalties For Many Good Reasons #TEACH13

admin July 24, 2013 Common Core, Curriculum, Ed Tech, Parents, State Education Law, The Testing Industry 0

On Monday, July 22, I appeared as a guest of AFT TEACH 2013′s town hall on Common Core State Standards. To give you an idea of the ambivalence with which CCSS is met by both teacher and parents, the title of the town hall was “Common Core: The Good, The Bad, The Promise, and the Politics.”

I mostly discussed the politics, jumping off from the points I made in my San Jose Mercury News op-ed.

I’m genuinely interested in reeling back the school day from incessant test prep and and narrow, stunted material. I love project-based learning and the opportunities for students to design and direct inquiry. But those things are found in California’s two-headed Curriculum Support and Reform Act of 2011, and could be equally attributed to the P21 aspects as the CCSS aspects of the law.

I made sure to point out that though the CCSS are supposed to be national in scope, there is considerable variation in how they’re being implemented in all 50 states. One example: California’s Governor Brown has signaled that he is explicitly against “testing mania” and has in the past turned down a bill calculating Academic Performance Index using an increased number of standardized tests, likening the process as 

UPDATE: New Common Core tests: Worth the price? + A teacher gets depressed: a real story in comics

A teacher gets depressed: a real story in comics:

New Common Core tests: Worth the price?

By Valerie Strauss, Published: July 24 at 9:51 amE-mail the writer

Now that both of the federally-funded consortia of states designing standardized tests aligned to the Common Core State Standards have released pricing data for each exam, states are assessing whether they can afford to pay. Already some aren’t liking what they see.

On Monday, the 21-state Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, or PARCC, announced how much it would cost for the Core-aligned test: $29.50 a student for summative math and reading tests. More than half of the states in the consortium now pay less for their current assessment tests. When officials in Georgia heard the numbers, they pulled out of the consortium, given that they now spend a total of $12 a student for math and reading tests. (They also cited concerns about having the technology to give all the tests to all students on computer.) Oklahoma left PARCC too.

The other consortium, Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium, had released funding information this past spring, offering two options: $22.50 per student for summative 

A teacher gets depressed: a real story in comics

By Valerie Strauss, Published: July 24 at 4:00 amE-mail the writer

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The following is a highly unusual post — not only in form but in subject matter. David Lee Finkle, a middle-school teacher in Florida who draws the comic strip “Mr. Fitz” for the Daytona Beach News-Journal, writes and illustrates the story of his own depression, caused by changes that reform has brought to his classroom and his profession. Many teachers, undoubtedly, can relate to his story.

Finkle is the author of books for teachers on student writing and of three young adult novels: “Making My Escape” as well as “Portents” and “Portals” (co-authored with his son, Christopher). The comic strip can be found online at www.mrfitz.com and at the Facebook page Mr. Fitz Comic Strips, and you can follow him on Twitter @DLFinkle. He blogs at The Real Mr. Fitz, where this appeared.

By David Lee Finkle

There is an epidemic of teacher depression, demoralization and stress in this country, and for a while I was part of it.

The series of comic strips I have assembled below, is, at least for me, the most important series I have ever done. Drawing it meant I was past the events that i

Kansas BOE Member: Next Generation Science Standards Development Non-Transparent | Truth in American Education

Kansas BOE Member: Next Generation Science Standards Development Non-Transparent | Truth in American Education:

Kansas BOE Member: Next Generation Science Standards Development Non-Transparent

Filed in Education at State Level, Next Generation Science Standards by Shane Vander Hart on July 23, 2013

 The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that Ken Willard, a member of the Kansas State Board of Education, said that the development of the Next Generation Science Standards was not transparent enough due to a confidentiality agreement board members were required to sign.

Ken Willard, one of two members on the state board to vote against the Next Generation Science Standards, says the agreement not to divulge details of the standards during much of the development process was problematic.

“I’m opposed to that whole idea,” said Willard, of Hutchinson. “We need to be as transparent as we can.”

Kansas adopted new science standards last month. Called the Next Generation Science Standards, they were written by a consortium of states in collaboration with the nonprofit education organization Achieve Inc.

Kansas was one of 26 states that played a leading role in the process, which took about two years and involved teams of educators, academics and businesspeople from each state 

 Standards & Testing Won’t Help South Carolina’s Education Problem

Dr. Paul Thomas of Furman University in South Carolina wrote an op/ed for The State.  He said the the Kids Count report by the Annie E. Casey Foundation which examines child well-being shows that perhaps South Carolina needs to focus its resources on something other than standards and testing mandates.More children are attending preschool, more students are proficient in reading and math, fewer ch

by Shane Vander Hart / 1h 

State rushes first of Local Control money out to schools SI&A Cabinet Report – News & Resources

SI&A Cabinet Report – News & Resources:

State rushes first of Local Control money out to schools
By Tom Chorneau
Wednesday, July 24, 2013

A total of $26.7 billion is going out from the controller’s office by July 31, which represents the first regular installment for the fiscal year as well as about $2.1 billion for LCFF activities.

But with the money, districts are also being warned that adjustments in entitlements are likely. Officials at the California Department of Education said they didn’t have enough time to perform all the necessary recalculations needed to fully implement the system – so the money is going out based on last year’s allotments.

Elizabeth Dearstyne, an administrator at CDE’s fiscal division who helps oversee apportionments, said the process for updating LEA entitlements is not scheduled to be completed until the end of the 2013-14 fiscal year. Thus, administrators may find that after the final calibrations are made – state payments may go up or they may go down.

“We are basically just flowing money based on the prior year,” she explained. “We are just flowing cash based on last year’s P-2 funding (the Second Principal Apportionment made in June). The new LCFF formula – in terms of base grants, targets and economic recovery as well as the unduplicated pupil funding – those components won’t occur until we do the P-2 certification for 2013-14, which is required to be done by July 2.”

The landmark restructuring of state support for K-12 education gives local school boards vast new authority over 

Seattle Schools Community Forum: TFA in Washington State: No Surprise to Us

Seattle Schools Community Forum: TFA in Washington State: No Surprise to Us:

TFA in Washington State: No Surprise to Us

Via Mirmac 1, there is this public disclosure e-mail that is quite telling but of no surprise to anyone who reads this blog.  We asked these questions from the start.  From the e-mail (italics Dr. Ginsberg's, bold mine):

1) Whose interests are we serving and, related to this questions, how are we serving the interests of our most historically under-served K-12 students?
2) How are we serving the interests of TFA teachers? of our students and graduates who are working as instructors in the program?
3) How are we serving the effectiveness and morale of state-funded and fee-based funded full time CoE faculty when TFA instructors teach a class with as few as 2 students, while other CoE faculty are currently teaching unprecedented numbers of students.  (Some of our EDLPS colleagues areteaching 60 students in very complex disciplines.)
4) How are we serving the interests of the CoE when faculty have not had a chance to actively and collectively probe the implications and consequences of decisions that are being made? 
5) Assuming that corporate donors who are interested in funding importan

Mothers of Dead Children « MomsRising Blog

Mothers of Dead Children « MomsRising Blog:

Mothers of Dead Children

Posted July 23rd, 2013 by Valerie Young

Mothers are driven to protect their children. It’s innate. When the very laws we live by allow our children to die, with bullets buried in the bodies we birthed and love, our  hearts explode in rage and pain that transforms us and makes of us something distinctly other than that which we were before. This is a story of the parents of the children murdered at Sandy Hook Elementary and how it propelled them into the world of gun control legislation  and political action. It could be the story of anyone who tries to make sense of a child’s death by publicly advocating for changes to the legal culture in which  gun violence occurred. It is becoming the story of Sybrina Fulton, the mother of Trayvon Martin.

The story is told by Matt Bennett in The Promise: The Families of Sandy Hook and the Long Road to Gun Safety.  He is a gun policy expert and Washington DC-based advisor to Sandy Hook Promise (SHP), a group of victims’ family members, friends and neighbors. Advocating for common sense gun laws, and aiming to improve the intersection of school safety, mental health and gun control, SHP quickly succ

Read more: http://www.momsrising.org/blog/mothers-of-dead-children/#ixzz2Zvh0BgSM