LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 8-7-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

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

Detroit Emergency Manager: Union Workers Were “Dumb, Lazy, Happy, and Rich”

Electablog comments on an interview that Detroit’s emergency manager Kevyn Orr gave to the Wall Street Journal. Orr said that the union workers who built the city’s great manufacturing base were “dumb, lazy, happy, and rich.” This, apparently, is what he thinks caused the ruination of Detroit: All those dumb, rich working stiffs in unions. Nothing about those dumb, rich executives who sat on their

by dianerav / 22min 

Please Support Sue Peters for School Board in Seattle

Sue Peters is a parent activist in Seattle who ran for school board in District 4. The election was yesterday. She had almost no money at all, but she had the endorsement of the Network for Public Education as a true supporter of public education. Some committee in Seattle ran attack ads against her–imagine that! wonder who?–yet she managed to make it into the run off with 41% of the vote. The oth

2 by dianerav / 22min 

Arne Duncan: We Lied to Our Children and Now We Tell the Truth: “You Failed!”

The scores are out for New York, and they are devastating. The story in the New York Times reports: Across the city, 26 percent of students in third through eighth grade passed the state exams in English, and 30 percent passed in math, according to the New York State Education Department. The exams were some of the first in the nation to be aligned with a more rigorous set of standards known as Co

by dianerav / 1min mark as read  //  save

Conservative Activists File Lawsuit to Cripple Public Sector Unions

Last November, anti-union groups put a measure on the ballot in California called Prop 32, whose purpose was to reduce the political influence of unions by reducing their funding. Prop 32 was soundly defeated, but its proponents are back with a lawsuit to achieve the same purpose. If they win, they could cripple public sector unions across the nation. This is a major story in the movement to priva

2 by dianerav / 11min 

That Fraud in Indiana

Mark GiaQuinta, a member of the Fort Wayne school board, responded to a local columnist with a searing critique of the state’s A-F grading system. I think you will enjoy Mark’s insightful comments: http://www.indystar.com/article/20130730/NEWS08/307300036/Matthew-Tully-Tony-Bennett-blows-his-bluster-emails Matt: Thanks for the article posted above. I appreciate your statement in the article that

by dianerav / 5min mark as read  //  save

Paul Horton: Stop the Devastation of the Common Core Tests!

Paul Horton teaches history at the University of Chicago Lab School, where President Obama, Rahm Emanuel, and Arne Duncan sent (or in the case of the mayor, send) their children. He is a passionate defender of common sense in education and an articulate critic of the current corporate reform movement. As a historian, he understands the nation’s historic commitment to support public education. He a

2 by dianerav / 21min 

L.A. Times Listens and Hears Critics of TFA

This may be a first. Teach for America carefully manages its image as the Peace Corps of education, a high-minded organization that attracts “the best and brightest” from the nation’s top colleges and universities. But Howard Blume in the Los Angeles Times explains that TFA has a dark side and that it has critics, some of whom are alumni. Even the headline is carefully and timidly written, referri

by dianerav / 1min mark as read  //  save

Who Is Destroying Public Education in New York State?

Carol Burris, principal of the year in New York state, has written a devastating critique of the leadership of New York state. Let’s name names. State Commissioner of Education John King (who taught for 2 or 3 years and founded a “no-excuses” charter chain that has a high suspension rate) chose to set the passing mark on the new tests so high that the failure rate was certain to soar. Merryl Tisch

by dianerav / 5min 

Hugh Bailey: Is the School Reform Movement Falling Apart?

Hugh Bailey, columnist for the Connecticut Post, takes a clear-eyed look at what is called “school reform” and finds that it is full of holes. The essential element of “reform” is that schools should be run by a non-educator. Paul Vallas is a poster boy for that theory. He didn’t think it was necessary to be an educator; he boasted that he was not an educator. But Connecticut law says that superin

by dianerav / 10min 

Fred Klonsky: ALEC Meets Today in Chicago

Fred Klonsky writes to say that ALEC is holding its 40th annual conference today in Chicago at the Palmer House: The Palmer House is a hotel located in Chicago’s Loop where ALEC is holding their meeting. It is located at 17 East Monroe. A large protest is scheduled for Thursday at noon. Their phone number is (312) 726-7500.

by dianerav / 36min 

Joel Klein Admits His Failure, Says It is a Good Thing

In this article, Joel Klein acknowledges that scores across New York state, obviously including New York City, will be devastatingly low. He was in charge of the New York City public schools from 2002, when he was selected by Mayor Bloomberg, until January 2011, when he was succeeded by the ill-fated publisher Cathie Black. During his tenure, Klein boasted every year of “historic gains.” The mayor

by dianerav / 39min 

George Clooney Slams Hedge Fund Guys Who Don’t Know His Business

In this article, George Clooney lets hedge fund manager Dan Loeb have it. Loeb has bought a piece of Sony Films and is now telling Sony what to do, and Clooney will have none of it. His words will sound eerily familiar to all those who are fed up with the hedge fund managers who are pouring millions into charter schools and who think they know how to reform the nation’s public schools (testing, co

by dianerav / 1h   

Diane in the Evening 8-6-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all #Cheats4Change

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: Jeff Bezos: Worse Than We ThoughtLee Fang, brilliant investigative journalist for The Nation, has looked closely at Jeff Bezos’ interest in education, and the news is bad. (Fang wrote this classic article about influence-peddling and corruption in the reform movement.) Bezos is throughly smitten with the idea that the way to improv

by mike simpson / 10h

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: People get ready. There's a boycott coming.

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: People get ready. There's a boycott coming.:

People get ready. There's a boycott coming.

I think Dr. Suess would be turning in his grave if he knew this sign was hanging over his books at Barnes & Noble

Last night, I broke my vow not to go to any more meetings so as to enjoy what's left of our beautiful summer evenings in Logan Square. But with the opening day of school approaching, there's just too much going on to sit out on the porch sipping lemonade. Instead we walked up the block to a community meeting -- one of many going on around the city -- and got another taste of the anger people are feeling over the latest round of budget cuts and teacher firings. I was glad to see Progressive Caucus Ald. Scott Waguespack (32nd) there, bringing us up to date on the struggle to redirect some of that $1.7 billion in TIF funds away from Rahm's corporate friends and towards public schools.

Parents and community groups are fighting to have the TIF money used as a short-term measure, and to have cuts restored and teachers and staff called back. More and more, it's looking like there will be a citywide boycott of schools to shine a light on Rahm's devastation of public education in Chicago.

This all coincides with the nationwide 

Dale Estey, Blanford ahead in Seattle School Board races | Education | The Seattle Times

Dale Estey, Blanford ahead in Seattle School Board races | Education | The Seattle Times:

Dale Estey, Blanford ahead in Seattle School Board races

In Seattle School Board races, Suzanne Dale Estey and Sue Peters will advance in the District 4 race, and Stephan Blanford and LaCrese Green are ahead in District 5.

By Linda Shaw

Seattle Times education reporter

In this year’s closest race for Seattle School Board, Suzanne Dale Estey and Sue Peters were the leaders in Tuesday’s returns, setting up what likely will continue to be a hard-fought campaign between the two candidates.

Dale Estey, a government-relations and public-affairs consultant, had nearly 48 percent of the votes counted to date. Peters, a freelance writer and education activist, was second with 41 percent.

About 900 votes separated the two candidates in District 4, which covers Queen Anne, Magnolia and part of Ballard.

Dean McColgan, was third with about 11 percent, and won’t advance to the general election.

Dale Estey said she had hoped to be the leader, and credited the hard work of her campaign staff and volunteers, who doorbelled about 4,000 households and called another 2,000.

Peters was thrilled with her strong showing, saying that her involvement in school issues over the past nine years puts her in a good position to win in November.

In District 5, which covers much of central Seattle and Capitol Hill, education consultant Stephan Blanford had a commanding lead with 78 percent of the vote, and will advance to the general. The question is, who will be second. LaCrese Green, a private tutor, was leading Tuesday with 13 percent, and Olu Thomas, an unemployed paren

The Educated Reporter: Guest Post: Ten Tips From Gordon Commission on the Future of Testing

The Educated Reporter: Guest Post: Ten Tips From Gordon Commission on the Future of Testing:

Guest Post: Ten Tips From Gordon Commission on the Future of Testing

The American Educational Research Association (AERA) held its annual meeting in San Francisco in May, and we asked some of the journalists in attendance to cover a few of the sessions for us. Given that the testing pushback is making headlines again this month (Maryland is just one example) , it seemed like a good time to share this post from Laura Isensee of KUHF Houston Public Radio.

Amid the growing backlash by parents and educators against high-stakes testing, a group of education experts and researchers recently gathered together to envision the future of measuring student learning.

The 30-member group is called the Gordon Commission, led by Edmund Gordon, professor emeritus of Yale University and Teachers College, Columbia University. 

They were brought together by the Educational Testing Service, and for two years explored the future of testing. Earlier this year, they issued their report and 

8-7-13 Seattle Schools Community Forum

Seattle Schools Community Forum:

Charter Schools and Money

The question gets asked, all the time, and especially now that we all know that under 1240, a private school can open/change to become a charter school. The question is - can a private school operate on the same funds as a public school?They can certainly try; they don't have to.  They can go after private money or grants, just like the school districts they sit in.But here's a great example of a

by Melissa Westbrook / 27min 

Times School Board Primary Wrap-Up

In a phrase, not good.The Times is not consistent in what they say about what they want in a School Board.  First, they want continuity.  Then they don't like that and want new people.  At the last election, according to them, the sky fell because two incumbents (rightly) got ousted and two new members were elected.  These were not people they wanted and they proceeded - from day one - to lambast

by Melissa Westbrook / 31min 

 SPS May Lose Federal Special Ed Funding

Oh for Pete's sake.  No good news here. From the Seattle Times:The school district submitted a proposal to state officials by the June 30 deadline, but they have rejected it, saying it falls far short of what is required.The school district submitted a proposal to state officials by the June 30 deadline, but they have rejected it, saying it falls far short of what is required.The school district s

by Melissa Westbrook / 5h mark as read  //  save

Blanford Wins Big; Estey and Peters Advance

In the School Board primary races, here are the results:District IVEstey                6,433 - 47.55%Peters               5,560 - 41.09%McColgan        1,461 -  10.8%                       13,454District VBlanford            8,574 - 78.34%Green                 1,415 - 12.93%Thomas                 827 -   7.56%                         10,816A really respectable showing for Peters and shows that Di

by Melissa Westbrook / 6h 

Paula Dockery Blasts Florida’s Twisted Education Leadership Structure | Scathing Purple Musings

Paula Dockery Blasts Florida’s Twisted Education Leadership Structure | Scathing Purple Musings:

Paula Dockery Blasts Florida’s Twisted Education Leadership Structure

Posted on August 7, 2013by Bob Sikes

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Former republican state senator Paula Dockery is now an influential syndicated columnist. In this morning’s Lakeland Ledger, she weighs in on the Bennett Scandal and points out  that Florida’s educational leadership structure is problematic:

Bennett resigned four days after the AP story broke. During those four days: Patricia Levesque, the executive director of Jeb’s Foundation for Florida’s Future, circulated a letter defending him; Democratic lawmakers called for his resignation; and the governor remained silent.

Isn’t it time for an honest conversation on doing away with a school-grading system that is costly, divisive and unreliable?

Systemically, just how much autonomy does the education commissioner have to run the department, and to whom is he directly accountable? In all fairness, it would be difficult for anyone to succeed in a toxic environment of distrust while having to report to so many chiefs.

Among the education chiefs are the commissioner, the state board that 

Common Core Standards Already Being Taught Despite Political Controversy, Survey Shows:

Common Core Standards Already Being Taught Despite Political Controversy, Survey Shows

Posted: 08/07/2013 12:01 am EDT

As politicians bicker over the controversial Common Core education standards, some states are already well into the process of teaching them, according to a report released Wednesday.

The latest spat over Common Core, developed by states and encouraged by the federal government, came last week, with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) calling Republican pushback a "knee-jerk" reaction, according to The Wall Street Journal. “If the president likes something, the Republicans in Congress don’t, and if the Republicans in Congress like something, the president doesn’t,” Christie told an audience of charter school supporters.

Forty-six states and Washington, D.C., have adopted some form of Common Core, designed to prepare students for a global economy by equipping them with critical thinking skills. Wednesday's reports, released by George Washington University's Center on Education Policy, show that the majority of these states are putting resources toward training teachers to teach Common Core, a key tenet of the standards revamp. Teachers in some states are already using Common Core and 

What big drop in new standardized test scores really means:

What big drop in new standardized test scores really means

By Valerie Strauss, Published: August 7 at 5:00 amE-mail the writer

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New standardized test scores are  out today in New York, and here’s a post that tells you what to make of the results. This was written by award-winning Principal Carol Burris of South Side High School in New York, who has for more than a year chronicled on the test-driven reform in her state (here, and here and here and here, for example). Burris was named New York’s 2013 High School Principal of the Year by the School Administrators Association of New York and the National Association of Secondary School Principals, and in 2010,  tapped as the 2010 New York State Outstanding Educator by the School Administrators Association of New York State. She is the co-author of the New York Principals letter of concern regarding the evaluation of teachers by student test scores. It has been signed by more than 1,535 New York principals and more than 6,500 teachers, parents, professors, administrators and citizens. You can read the letter by clicking here. 

By Carol Burris

The release of New York Common Core tests scores brings to mind the opening of 

A compelling or distracting NCLB waiver? | EdSource Today

A compelling or distracting NCLB waiver? | EdSource Today:

A compelling or distracting NCLB waiver?

August 6th, 2013 | Add a Comment | 
By John Fensterwald

ore Sharing Services

Education Secretary Arne Duncan’s approval of the CORE districts’ waiver from unattainable provisions of the No Child Left Behind law, exposed some old and some new internecine disputes in California education.

Duncan called it the “right thing to do” for the 1 million students enrolled in the eight districts. Others used different words.

Among policymakers and advocates who commented on the decision, EdSource Today found common themes among differences of opinion.

U.S. Rep. George Miller:  The senior Democrat on the House Education and the Workforce Committee, was an architect of No Child Left Behind, but has since acknowledged its flaws and reproached Congress for not fixing through reauthorization.

“The approval of the CORE waiver application will provide the opportunity for more than a million students in California to break away from the most rigid requirements of NCLB that do little to ensure that all children are learning… and I believe this action will provide the whole state an exciting opportunity to pilot new reforms and learn from some of the leading districts in California and the nation.”

U.S. Rep. John Kline: The Minnesota Republican chairs the House Education and the Workforce Committee.

“As if state waivers weren’t convoluted enough, the administration has now decided to move forward with district-level waivers. One can only imagine the confusion this creates for families, teachers 

Kira Orange-Jones’ TFA Promotion and LDOE-TFA Contracts | deutsch29

Kira Orange-Jones’ TFA Promotion and LDOE-TFA Contracts | deutsch29:

Kira Orange-Jones’ TFA Promotion and LDOE-TFA Contracts

August 7, 2013

Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) member Kira Orange-Jones is once again in the news, this time for her promotion as state ”liaison” for Teach for America (TFA). In August 2012, the ethics board declared no conflict of interest for Jones since her salary “is not in any way dependent on the contracts that TFA gets.”

Jones’ most vocal supporter on the ethics board, Scott Schneider, resigned last month– a coincidence that just happened to immediately follow the publicizing of his own apparent conflict of interest involving TFA’s partnering with Tulane’s Cowen Institute, with which Schneider was affiliated when he argued for Jones to retain her BESE post.

Jones’ salary not being directly affected by TFA contracts is a narrow view of the potential, unethical benefits Jones might enjoy as she sits on a state board that approves TFA contracts.

Why, if former-TFAer John White and Jeb-Bush-positioned BESE were to approve a $1.2 million contract for TFA, that might be cause to promote Jones (indirect salary connection) into a position where she might solicit even more business for TFA.

That is exactly what I believe has happened.

Here is how Jones describes her promotion:

“My role in New Orleans isn’t changing at all,” Orange Jones said Monday, “but I will 

UGA researcher: Our choices are not only retention or social... | Get Schooled | www.ajc.com

UGA researcher: Our choices are not only retention or social... | Get Schooled | www.ajc.com:

UGA researcher: Our choices are not only retention or social promotion 

By Maureen Downey

Amy Reschly is an associate professor of educational psychology and director of the School Psychology Program at the University of Georgia.

I asked her to write a piece based on her recent academic paper with Sandra Christenson, "Grade Retention: Historical Perspectives and New Research," published in the Journal of School Psychology. Additional information about grade retention and social promotion, including a summary of research, may be found at the National Association of School Psychologists website:

 By Amy Reschly

Many students will begin the new academic year in the same grade they did last year. This practice, known as grade retention, remains stubbornly and paradoxically common, despite clear results regarding the ineffectiveness of this approach to remediate students’ academic deficiencies and the high costs associated with it.

The enduring popularity of grade retention is an interesting example of how poorly research, politics, and policy can 

New ESEA Must Curb Federal Overreach | LFA: Join The Conversation - Public School Insights

New ESEA Must Curb Federal Overreach | LFA: Join The Conversation - Public School Insights:

New ESEA Must Curb Federal Overreach

By National School Boards Association on August 7, 2013

By Michael A. Resnick, Associate Executive Director for Federal Advocacy and Public Policy,National School Boards Association (NSBA)
In the 12 years since the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) was enacted, we’ve seen firsthand how the federal role in education has expanded substantially, particularly by unilateral decisions made by the U.S. Department of Education to transform the educational delivery system through initiatives such as its waiver program.
Now, we have an opportunity to change this course through the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). The National School Boards Association (NSBA) applauds Congress’ overall goal to ensure through legislation that all students are ready for college and careers. NSBA also is pleased to see that Congress is turning its attention to the growth of the federal role, including where it may adversely impact states and local schools.
Within the U.S. House of Representatives, the majority view supports a more bottom-up approach to the federal role. The Senate committee bill supports strong direction from the federal level. The divide between the two approaches is wide and presents Congress with major decisions about how federal education policy will be made for years to come under ESEA and other initiatives.
The House recently passed its bill, H.R.5, which basically says the time has come to lift the