‘I Was a Bad Teacher’: Five Months In a Corporate School Reform Nightmare | NEA Today

‘I Was a Bad Teacher’: Five Months In a Corporate School Reform Nightmare | NEA Today:

‘I Was a Bad Teacher’: Five Months In a Corporate School Reform Nightmare

By Tim Walker “Run away! Really, run away now.” This is not the kind of encouragement anyone wants to hear right before a job interview. But this is exactly what was whispered to teacher candidate John Owens at the South Bronx high school where he was applying. Owens brushed off the warning from the veteran teacher and the negative comments about the school he read online. Owens, who was leaving a

by twalker / 22min mark as read  //  save

Education Solutions from Abroad

Study after study in recent years suggests that American children fall well behind kids from Seoul to Helsinki, putting them at a great disadvantage in an increasingly knowledge-driven and global economy. The Christian Science Monitor looked at five lauded programs around the globe that hold lessons in areas in which the US struggles: educational equity, testing, vocational options, summer learnin

by twalker / 22min 

Attacks on School Lunch Program Got it Wrong

A widely disseminated AP article misleadingly implied that new healthier lunches were causing a mad rush by school districts to withdraw from the federally funded National School Lunch Program (NSLP). Nothing could be further from the truth, but apparently the ‘Kids hate healthy food’ story line is now the default for lazy media. Source: BeyondChron Related posts: Why Some Schools Are Saying ‘No T

by twalker / 22min 

9-4-13 Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher who is just looking at the data.

Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher who is just looking at the data.:

Will Guzzardi running for the Illinois 39th state representative seat. “Our state needs to meet its end of the bargain with a long-term sustainable plan for new revenues.”

Logan Square activist Will Guzzardi is running against Representative Toni Berrios. Toni Berrios is the daughter of Machine Boss Joe Berrios, County Assessor and Democrat Party Chairman. Nobody believes his daughter would be the local state rep if her last name wasn’t Berrios. Recently I had to a chance to ask Will Guzzardi about the issue of state public employee pensions, Mike Madigan’s Senate

2 by Fred Klonsky / 58min 

Colbert: If America cared about shooting people, we’d be invading Chicago.

3 by Fred Klonsky / 11min mark as read  //  save

Interview with myself.

Q: You’re running as a retired delegate to the IEA Representative Assembly? A: I’ve been elected as a delegate for over twenty years. Except last year when the Springfield office of the IEA lost my paperwork moving my active membership to retired membership.  But, yes. I sent my nomination form to President Klickna by certified mail yesterday. Q: What’s the process? A: It’s easy, really. Retired

3 by Fred Klonsky / 47min 

9-3-13 Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher who is just looking at the data.

Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher who is just looking at the data.: This morning Philadelphia teachers are working without a contract.  Philly teachers rally in 2011. This morning Philadelphia teachers are working even though their contract expired this weekend. That’s not what I said yesterday. There was a flurry of Facebook reports that the Philly teachers had voted

by mike simpson / 8h 

Revenues and Expenditures for Public Elementary and Secondary School Districts: School Year 2010-11 (Fiscal Year 2011)

Revenues and Expenditures for Public Elementary and Secondary School Districts: School Year 2010-11 (Fiscal Year 2011):

Title:	Revenues and Expenditures for Public Elementary and Secondary School Districts: School Year 2010-11 (Fiscal Year 2011)
Description:	The report provides finance data for all local education agencies (LEAs) that provide free public elementary and secondary (PK-12) education in the United States. This report contains data on revenues and expenditures per pupil by school districts. Median per pupil revenue and expenditure data are reported by state. There are also discussions on the different types of school districts, and other resources that may be helpful in analyzing school district level data.
Online Availability:	Download, view and print the report as a pdf file.  (1652KB) Need Help Viewing PDF files?
Cover Date:	September 2013
Web Release:	September 4, 2013
Publication #:	NCES 2013344
Center/Program:	NCES
Authors:	Stephen Q. Cornman, Patrick, Keaton, Mark Glander, National Center for Education Statistics
Type of Product:	First Look / ED TAB
Survey/Program Areas:	Common Core of Data (CCD)
Keywords:	Expenditures • elementary and secondary schools Finance • elementary and secondary schools Revenues • elementary/secondary schools
Questions:	For questions about the content of this First Look / ED TAB, please contact: Stephen Cornman.

9-4-13 SCHOOLS MATTER @ THE CHALK FACE

SCHOOLS MATTER @ THE CHALK FACE:

Don’t Delay Retention Policy, Reject Retention

South Carolina is a dysfunctional poster child for the hot mess that is political leadership, the media, and their combined influence on educational policy. Superintendent of Education Mick Zais, The Post and Courier (Charleston, SC), and even the SC League of Women Voters all cannot stop themselves from promoting the worst possible education reform policy […]

6 by plthomasedd / 18min 

9-3-13 Schools Matter @ The Chalk Face

SCHOOLS MATTER @ THE CHALK FACE: Diane Ravitch’s Message to Boston Voters via The Indignant TeacherDear Indignant Teacher: Friends in Boston have told me that my message to you has been widely read, which is good, but  also widely misinterpreted. I am writing now to be clear what it means to support public education. It means that public schools should be subject to democratic control. Mayoral con

by mike simpson / 7h 

Louisiana Educator: LDOE Report on Educator Evaluations

Louisiana Educator: LDOE Report on Educator Evaluations:

LDOE Report on Educator Evaluations

The Louisiana Department of Education issued a press release yesterday basically claiming that the new Act 54 evaluation system has greatly improved the teacher evaluation system in Louisiana. You can view the press release here. The full report ishere.

The report claims that the new system is much better than the old system which gave too many teachers a satisfactory evaluation. The new system has spread teacher evaluation results over a wide range using 4 levels of ratings from "ineffective" to "highly effective". The report claims that now teachers will get much more guidance from their evaluators about how to improve their teaching.

The DOE report on the 2012-13 teacher and administrator evaluation results also compares the evaluation results of each local school system to data that shows the progress school systems have made in reducing the number of non-proficient students as measured by state tests. The Department claims that such data shows that the new evaluation system generally aligns with actual results in the classrooms of the state. That is, teachers in parishes where student performance has not improved will more likely get low evaluations and teachers where student performance has improved most get the higher ratings on the evaluation. However when studying the tables we find all sorts of strange results that are difficult to explain. This will be covered 

» The One Video (And Three Charts) That Explains Why Unions Matter:

The One Video (And Three Charts) That Explains Why Unions Matter

BY ANNIE-ROSE STRASSER ON SEPTEMBER 2, 2013 AT 9:30 AM

 The sad reality this Labor Day is that many American workers aren’t enjoying the basic tenets of the American dream: a livable wage and benefits to match. Income inequality is skyrocketing, while worker wages stagnate and more and more people leave unemployment for low-wage, part time jobs.

There’s no coincidence here. As this video from the Economic Policy Institute outlines, the trend of declining unionization and rising income inequality mimic each other :

Another chart from the Center for American Progress backs up that point, showing how the income of the richest one percent has risen, as middle class incomes drop:

Across the country in the last few weeks, strikes by fast food workers have illustrated that fair workplace treatment is still out of reach for some Americans. The strikes have become a massive rallying cry for a union and a wage raise in a time when labor disputes and walk-outs are at an all-time low.

This chart illustrates just how rare it is to see a strike like the fast food workers’:

But, like many workers, fast food employees could greatly benefit from the ability to collectively bargain. After all, their minimum wage jobs have actually become worth even less as time goes on. While those one percent of top 

9-4-13 Wait What?

Wait What?:

Malloy wants to lose in 2014…

The Connecticut State Board of Education will meet this morning (agenda posted yesterday) to extend the contract allowing Steven Adamowski to serve as “Special Master” of the Windham and New London School systems. Having watched Adamowski and his dictatorial style over the past two years, one can only conclude that Governor Malloy isn’t running for […]The post Malloy wants to lose in 2014… appeare

6 by jonpelto / 3min  

9-3-13 Wait What?

Wait What?: 3,400+ visit Wait, What? on busy holiday weekendDespite the fact that many people were away or busy with Labor Day activities, more than 3,400 visitors stopped by Wait, What? to read or weigh in on the latest posts. In case you missed it, weekend posts included; Special Master Adamowski’s Failing Grade in Windham  (Saturday) As if the term “Special Master” wasn’t bad […]The post 3,400+

by mike simpson / 10h 

Plain Talk: Wisconsin's school vouchers are a scam : Ct

Plain Talk: Wisconsin's school vouchers are a scam : Ct:

Plain Talk: Wisconsin's school vouchers are a scam

The recent news release from the State Department of Public Instruction revealing that 67 percent of the applicants to the Walker administration's expanded school voucher program are already attending private schools elicited cries of "scam" from many quarters.

And well it should have.

That two-thirds of the voucher applicants had their children already enrolled in private schools lays waste the argument by Wisconsin legislative Republicans and the governor that vouchers are needed so poor families can rescue their children from poorly performing public schools.

That has always been a spurious argument, even back in the days when Gov. Tommy Thompson shepherded the nation's first school choice program through the Legislature for low-income Milwaukee families. It was sold based on the argument that poor families, said to be ill-served by Milwaukee's public school system, ought to be able to send their children to private schools just as do rich people. So, in order to do that with taxpayers' money, vouchers were devised to technically make tuition grants to the families, which in turn would use them to pay the private schools. 

Not only was it a scheme to avoid the messy constitutional issue of sending tax dollars to private schools often run by churches, but in reality it was a foot in the door for a well-funded extreme conservative movement to weaken public education.  

The Koch brothers, the Heritage Foundation, the DeVos (Amway) family, the Walton family

Read more: http://host.madison.com/news/opinion/column/dave_zweifel/plain-talk-wisconsin-s-school-vouchers-are-a-scam/article_63516c51-eefc-5fbe-a9c4-1948dfdc1195.html#ixzz2dvXPVVvg

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 9-4-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

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

A Hero Superintendent in Illinois

Scott Kuffel is the superintendent of the Geneseo schools, District 228, in Illinois. He has been superintendent of schools there for five years. When he learned that the State Education Department had decided to raise the passing marks (cut scores) so that more students would be rated as failing, he was not at all pleased. The state claimed it was lowering scores to get students and teachers read

by dianerav / 2min 

How Did Massachusetts Become Number 1?

Massachusetts has consistently scored at the top of the National Assessment of Educational Progress in recent years in fourth and eighth grades, in reading and mathematics. Massachusetts and a few other states participated in the TIMSS, an international test of math and science, and Massachusetts did very well, so well that its 8th graders placed second in the world, behind only Singapore, in scie

3 by dianerav / 17min 

Koch Brother Pours $$ into NYC Mayoral Race

The New York Times reports today that David Koch, one of the rightwing billionaire Koch brothers, is buying broadcast ads to support the candidacy of Joseph Lhota, who is running for mayor as a Republican. The Koch brothers can be counted on to subsidize almost any effort that privatizes the public sector and guts government programs that help people. After all, they don’t need government programs

by dianerav / 4min 

Sara Mosle: Being a Parent Made Me a Better Teacher

In a continuing fall-out from Motoko Rich’s article in the New York Times about charter teachers who plan on a two-or three-year career, Sara Mosle reflects how her own views about teaching have evolved. When she joined Teach for America some 20-plus years ago, she was part of a cohort that thought that youthful enthusiasm was superior to experience. It was not uncommon for her and her colleagues

1 by dianerav / 10min 

New Book Analyzes Roots of Testing Movement

This is a book you should read if you want to understand how assessments are now being misused. It sets a valuable political and historical context for understanding the mess that is now federal education policy. The Mismeasure of Education by Jim Horn and Denise Wilburn should be on your shelf. The publisher just dropped the price to $27.50.     With new student assessments and teacher evaluation

3 by dianerav / 14min 

Cuomo’s Teacher Evaluation

New York won $700 million in Race to the Top funding, which involved a commitment to measure teacher effective meant in significant part by test scores of their students. This theory, which Arne Duncan has imposed on the nation’s schools by using federal funds as a lure, has not worked anywhere. It has failed everywhere. Its main consequence is to demoralize teachers, like the one who wrote this c

by dianerav / 12min 

My Fall Schedule

My new book will be officially published on September 17. It is titled Reign of Error: The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to America’s Public Schools. The publisher is Alfred A. Knopf, the nation’s most distinguished publishing house. It will dispel many of the myths and half-truths that have been repeated again and again in recent years in an effort to discredit public educatio

5 by dianerav / 1h 

Diane in the Evening 9-3-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: Words to Remember and Believe InOur frequent commenter who signs in as “KrazyTA” gave us this inspirational gem: “Always take things with a grain of salt, but Mahatma Gandhi was not far off when he said: “When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murde

by mike simpson / 3h 

My new book will be officially published on September 17.
It is titled Reign of Error: The Hoax of the
Privatization Movement and the Danger to America’s Public
Schools. The publisher is Alfred A. Knopf, the nation’s
most distinguished publishing house. It will dispel many of the
myths and half-truths that have been repeated again and again in
recent years in an effort to discredit public education.

I will travel and lecture across the country. I won’t travel as much as I
would like to, as I must preserve my health and energy. I will
donate most of my speaking fees to the Network for Public
Education.  

The schedule below is subject to change and I
will add more details later, but this is a heads-up about where I
will be speaking:  

September 10:
Elmhurst, IL Elmhurst
College 7:00 pm

September 11
New York City Judson Memorial Church,
Washington Square 6 pm

September 16:
Pittsburgh:
Temple Sinai
5505 Forbes Avenue in Squirrel Hill neighborhood. 6 pm

September 17:
Philadelphia Free Library.
Montgomery Auditorium 6 pm.

September 23
New York City
The Century Foundation
1 Whitehall St., NYC
(Call for
reservation) 6 pm

September 25
Denver
North HIgh School
2960 N. Speer Blvd. 7 pm

September 26
Seattle
University of Washington
Kane Hall 130 7 pm

September 27
Sacramento
Memorial Auditorium
6:30 pm

September 28
Berkeley
Martin Luther King Middle School
1781 Rose Street.
7 pm

September 30
Stanford University
Cubberley Auditorium
6 pm

October 1
Los Angeles
Occidental College
Thorne Hall 7 pm

October 2
California State University
18111 Nordhoff St
Northridge,CA. 7 pm

October 5
Washington, DC
National Superintendents
Roundtable
Limited to registered superintendents

October 8
Congregation Beth Elohim,
274 Garfield Place
Park Slope, Brooklyn 7:30 pm

October 10
Northern Michigan University
Marquette, Michigan 7:30 pm

October 15
Kingston, RI.
University of Rhode Island,
School of Education 6:30 pm

October 17
Long Branch, New Jersey
New Jersey Principals and Supervisors Association (Limited to members)
9:30-10:30am

October 18
Washington, DC
Lunch event at Economic Policy Institute
Book signing at Politics and Prose bookstore

October 23:
Dartmouth College
Vermont School Boards Association
Alumni Hall 7:30 pm

November 1: Atlanta
United Way.
Georgia Tech
Hotel and Conference Center. 8 am.

November 4
Princeton, NJ
Community Forum, 4 pm
Princeton University Public Lecture 8 pm

November 13:
Chicago
First Free Church
5255 N. Ashland Avenue
7:30 pm

November 22
Richmond, VA.
Virginia Education Association

I intend to keep the schedule and details updated
on my website at dianeravitch.com.

9-4-13 Jersey Jazzman

Jersey Jazzman:

What the Newark Merit Pay Experiment Is Telling Us

Right now, in the Newark, NJ school district, a grand merit pay experiment is underway. Understand that merit pay has never worked in schools and most likely won't work again in the Brick City. Still, the contract was negotiated and everyone signed off on it; merit pay is a reality in Newark for two more years, like it or not. We may as well use this time to thoroughly vet the Newark merit pay pr

6 by Duke / 54min 

  

9-2-13 Jersey Jazzman

Jersey Jazzman: Back To School '13Mrs. Jazzman says that when you have kids, January 1 isn't New Year's Day. No, the real start of the year comes on the first day back to school, which, for this teacher, is this week. We just had our Labor Day tradition: Mrs. Jazzman's ribs, my baked beans, Jazzboys heating up the sauce, the Dutch neighbors and their very good wine... We may have the looming confl

by mike simpson / 19h