GoPublicSchool.com « An open discussion of public school issues. GoPublicSchool.com

GoPublicSchool.com « An open discussion of public school issues. GoPublicSchool.com:

GPS Viewpoint – Mike Weston…

CC – The wrong focus now… I am greatly troubled by the rushed implementation of the common-core standards. With common-core comes an entire new student testing, school grading and teacher evaluation paradigm; things Florida already does poorly. There are many arguments against common-core, but the one I find most compelling is the most simple: “Standards are not a major problem in education”. As

by GPS / 1h 

TX – Teachers fearful to come to school; blame administrators for chaos…

Drew Karedes at Houston’s KHOU 11 News… “Teachers at a local high school say it’s become dangerous for them and students, and some are blaming administrators. Houston Federation of Teachers believes administrators are causing an out of control atmosphere at James Madison High School. The school is located at 13719 Whiteheather in southwest Houston. Teacher’s union grievance director Joanna Paster

by GPS / 1h 

Pay cuts, end of tenure put North Carolina teachers on edge…

Dave Dewitt at NPR… “No state has in teacher salary rankings in the past 10 years, and some of the other changes in public education are unprecedented. The state is being watched closely by education policymakers across the country, and teachers …” Read and listen. What do you think? Read and share comments here… The post Pay cuts, end of tenure put North Carolina teachers on edge… appeared first

by GPS / 1h 

How public schools can fight back against inequality…

 Greg J. Duncan and Richard J. Murnane in The Atlantic… “Rising income inequality over the past 40 years has imposed a double burden on schools serving low-income children. First, the technological changes and globalization that have fueled inequality have also increased the skills required for good jobs—which means that schools need to teach higher-level skills if their graduates are to secure jo

2 by GPS / 4h 

N.J. education chief moving to private sector…

Leslie Brody at NorthJersey.com… “New Jersey Education Commissioner Chris Cerf, who helped broker a landmark tenure law with the state’s large and powerful teachers union, is stepping down to rejoin the private sector. He said Monday he will leave his $141,000-a-year job on Feb. 28 to become chief executive of Amplify Insight, a division of Amplify, an education technology firm run by his former b

by GPS / 4h 

NY – Education bloat exists in middle…

Gregg Weinlein in The Times-Union… “Once again the controversial issue of high-salaried district superintendents has made its way to the forefront of discussion regarding school budgets. Television news reports, chatter among community members, Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s criticisms and newspaper articles intensified the argument that the salaries of school superintendents are much too high. The problem i

by GPS / 4h 

NY – Cuomo says education board’s plan dilutes teacher reviews

Al Baker in The New York Times… “Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo attacked state education officials on Monday for what he saw as an attempt to water down a new teacher evaluation system that was one of his earliest legislative triumphs. The governor’s message was delivered to the State Board of Regents, which sets education policy and appears likely on Tuesday to give teachers more leeway to contest poor eva

by GPS / 4h 

Maine should say ‘no’ to virtual charter schools…

An editorial from the Portland Press Herald… “Public schools exist for one reason and one reason only. People can argue about the best ways to teach, the right subjects in the curriculum or the menu of extracurricular offerings, but in the end, the point of a school is to educate students.  Corporations also exist for one reason, but it’s not the same one: They exist to create value for shareholde

by GPS / 4h 

Oregon – Medford schools to re-open without striking teachers…

Liam Moriarty at Jefferson Public Radio… “The Medford public schools are re-opening this morning. But most of the district’s teachers will be out on the sidewalks picketing rather than in the classrooms. After nearly a year of stalemated negotiations – and five days after teachers first walked off the job – Medford schools are open again, despite the ongoing strike by the Medford Education Associa

by GPS / 4h hide  //  save

NYT profile – Philadelphia school chief William R. Hite Jr.

Jon Hurdle in The New York Times… “William R. Hite Jr., superintendent of schools here in one of the nation’s poorest cities, is known as a man who prefers collaboration to confrontation, but he has spent the academic year taking no prisoners. He laid off almost 4,000 workers to close a $304 million budget gap and threatened to keep school doors locked until officials found stopgap money to ensure

1 by GPS / 4h 

GoPublicSchool.com « An open discussion of public school issues. GoPublicSchool.com

GoPublicSchool.com « An open discussion of public school issues. GoPublicSchool.com: Must watch – Portrait of Inequality…From the Children’s Defense Fund… “Black children in America are being pushed deeper and deeper into an abyss of poverty and despair.” Read it. Spend some time here… What do you think? Read and share comments here… The post Must watch – Portrait of Inequality… appeared first on

by mike simpson / 

2-12-14 Perdido Street School: Cuomo Full Of Crap

Perdido Street School: The Cost Of Common Core And The Race To Top Reforms:

Chancellor Farina Announces NYC Schools Are Open For Thursday February 13

I can't believe they're calling a school day beofre the snow even starts:NEW YORK (WABC) -- The Department of Education announced that New York City Schools will be open Thursday. With the storm expecting to hit overnight, crews are already preparing roads in Manhattan. Mayor de Blasio also declared a hazardous travel advisory for Thursday. He will keep schools open like he did during the last big

by reality-based edu... / 1h hide  //  save

Sid Caesar

His death was announced today - he was 91.His influence was long-lasting:Albert Einstein was a Caesar fan. Alfred Hitchcock called Mr. Caesar the funniest performer since Charlie Chaplin. Television comedy in its early days was dominated by boisterous veterans of vaudeville and radio who specialized in broad slapstick and snappy one-liners. Mr. Caesar introduced a different kind of humor to the sm

by reality-based edu... / 2h 

Cuomo: No Raises For Human Services Workers For Sixth Straight Year So That Rich People Can Get A Tax Cut

There's a special level in hell for a governor who operates this way:ALBANY, N.Y. — The Cuomo administration has proposed keeping pay flat for the sixth straight year for caretakers of the disabled and others at state-funded nonprofits. Most Assembly members, in response, have signed a letter calling for the 2 percent cost-of-living increase in the final negotiated budget for the next fiscal year.

by reality-based edu... / 3h 

To Go Or Not To Go?

The National Weather Service raised the forecast of snow totals to 8-12 inches for the city late this afternoon, but those totals are supposed to come in two waves - heavy overnight snow that leaves 4-8 inches in the city, then turning over to rain (or even a dry slot for a while), then back to snow again in the evening for another 4 inches or so.When I heard the 8-12 inches forecast, I figured ev

by reality-based edu... / 4h 

Cuomo Full Of Crap Over Super Bowl Jobs

Dan Goldberg at Capital NY:The day before the Super Bowl, Governor Andrew Cuomo sent out a press release touting the economic impacts of the big game.It said that an estimated 1.5 million people visited Super Bowl Boulevard during four days and that spending by visitors will generate an estimated $280-300 million in economic activity in New York State. Those numbers came from Empire State Developm

by reality-based edu... / 9min 

Cuomo Says "It Ain't About The Money" When It Comes To Education

Cuomo in the WSJ:New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday said the theory behind a new lawsuit seeking more money for New York schools was flawed because he said more money didn’t equal better academic results.“We spend more than any other state in the country,” he said. “It ain’t about the money. It’s about how you spend it – and the results.”Newsday reports on one set of results that sound pretty g

by reality-based edu... / 1h 

What Are The Chances Of A Snow Day?

It is sounding like it is going to be a mess tomorrow - 6-10 inches of snow, starting around midnight and continuing heavily through the rush hour, then transitioning into sleet for the afternoon before turning back to snow in the evening.The timing of this leads me to believe that there is a chance even NYC schools will be closed tomorrow.Of course every other school in the region other than Eva

by reality-based edu... / 43min 

The Cost Of Common Core And The Race To Top Reforms

From State of Politics:New Yorkers for Students’ Educational Rights, an education advocacy group, is suing Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the Board of Regents and state Education Commissioner John King, claiming the state has systematically shortgaged the public school system by failing failing to comply with an agreement that followed the landmark Campaign for Fiscal Equity Ruling of 2006. The suit, filed in

8 by reality-based edu... / 5h 

2-11-14 Perdido Street School

Perdido Street School: Chris Cerf Leaving As New Jersey Education CommissionerProbably got nothing to do with BridgeGate, but another member of the Christie crew is slinking out:New Jersey Education Commissioner Christopher Cerf, who pushed for charter schools to give parents more choices and helped draft a landmark tenure law with the state’s powerful teachers union, is stepping down at the end o

by mike simpson / 

Queens Parents Say Their Kids’ Reports On Malcolm X Were Rejected Coalition for Public Education/Coalición por la Educación Pública

Coalition for Public Education/Coalición por la Educación Pública:

Queens Parents Say Their Kids’ Reports On Malcolm X Were Rejected

NOTE: This is why we need a structured curriculum and teacher training that centers on Black/Latino Culture and History. Demand that the new Chancellor implement this progressive education policy by the Fall of 2014!!

 

Added by daphne R on February 11, 2014.

By David Bloodsaw

The New York Daily News reports that fourth grade teachers at Public School 201 in Flushing Queens forbade their students to write about Malcolm X for Black History Month. The educators termed that Malcolm X was “violent” and “bad.”

The unofficial mandate came from fourth grade teachers at the Flushing, Queens’ elementary school. A parent complained to the principal at the school that her son was unable to write about the assassinated civil rights icon upon his teacher’s behest. The parent Cleatress Brown, informed the principal Rebecca Lozada of the details of the incident. Brown said that the teachers are imposing their own opinions on the students. Ms. Brown instructed her son to write about Malcolm X anyway and submit the report. She said, “That’s called learning.”

Another student from a different class was given the same aforementioned mandate. He was very upset that he couldn’t pen a report about Malcolm X.  Angel Minor, the student’s mom said that this was disrespectful to our history. This particular student is in a Technology Class and the teacher looked up some information on Malcolm and deemed he was too violent and not age appropriate. The educator has since apologized to the parents.

The children were given a list of individuals pertinent to black history they could write about for Black History 

Two Important Articles Describe Widespread Attack on Core Value of Public Education | janresseger

Two Important Articles Describe Widespread Attack on Core Value of Public Education | janresseger:

Two Important Articles Describe Widespread Attack on Core Value of Public Education

Posted on February 12, 2014 by janresseger

Here is a particularly strong critique of what the North Carolina legislature is doing to undermine that state’s public schools.  Helen Ladd,  one of the chairs of the Broader, BOLDER Approach to Education campaign and a professor of public policy at Duke University and Edward Fiske,  former education editor of the NY Times, describe their experience two years ago working with North Carolina’s state board of education to craft what was known as a “Vision of Public Education in North Carolina.”  They continue by describing how in 2013, that commitment was dismantled when the North Carolina “General Assembly, with the assent of Gov. Pat McCrory, enacted a sweeping set of new laws that represent a frontal assault on public education…”

Ladd and Fiske write:  “If one were to devise a strategy for destroying public education in North Carolina, it might look like this: Repeat over and over again that schools are failing and that the system needs to be replaced.  Then make this a self-fulfilling prophecy by starving schools of funds, undermining teachers and badmouthing their profession, balkanizing the system to make coherent planning impossible, putting public funds in the hands of unaccountable private interests and abandoning any pretense that the goal is to prepare every child in our state to succeed in life.”

Writing for the Education Opportunity Network and the Campaign for America’s Future, Jeff Bryant devotes this week’s commentary to the same theme.  He examines the situation in North Carolina and also tracks a much broader attack on public schools across the states.  “For quite some time, there has been a well-orchestrated, well funded, and extremely 

Terry Grier Has to Go! HISD is Choking the Life Out of Our Community

Terry Grier Has to Go! HISD is Choking the Life Out of Our Community:

11 FEBRUARY 2014 WRITTEN BY  JEFFREY L. BONEY

Terry Grier Has to Go! HISD is Choking the Life Out of Our Community

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The Houston Forward Times (HFT) has been covering a myriad of complaints and issues involving the Houston Independent School District (HISD) and HISD Superintendent Terry B. Grier over the years.  

 These complaints, which have now seemingly escalated to a point of no return, have been brought forth by concerned parents, business and community leaders, community activists and taxpaying citizens, who have called for Grier’s removal from office for what they have deemed an assault on Black communities across Houston.

MORE BLACK SCHOOL CLOSURES

The tipping point of the community’s anger came on last week when it was announced that Grier and his HISD administration submitted a proposal to close five HISD school campuses due to “low enrollment,” at the end of this school year.

The campuses slated for closure are Dodson Elementary; Nathaniel Q. Henderson Elementary; Port Houston Elementary; Fleming Middle School; and Jones High School, according to HISD.

The school board is expected to vote on the plan in March, but HISD held community meetings at 6:30 p.m. this past Tuesday at three of the schools; Dodson, Henderson and Jones. Community meetings are slated to be held at the same time on Feb. 17 at Port Houston and Fleming.

GRIER NATIONALLY KNOWN

Grier became HISD’s superintendent of schools after a unanimous vote of approval by the district’s Board of Education in September 2009.

Before coming to Houston, Dr. Grier served as the superintendent of the San Diego Unified School District for 18 months 

What Superintendents Do Daily (Part 1) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

What Superintendents Do Daily (Part 1) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice:

What Superintendents Do Daily (Part 1)

In this blog over the past few years, I have posted accounts of a day in the life of a principal and what some teachers do daily. But I have not looked at what district superintendents do at work.

In this three-part post, I will present what I have found over the years of what superintendents did daily on the job over a century ago, 85 years ago, 40 years ago, and the work schedule of contemporary superintendents.

Getting a picture of what superintendents do every day, then and now, is useful in understanding the multiple roles that superintendents perform with the school board who hire and fire them, interactions with teachers and principals, parents, local politicians, and the unpredictability of their work. The high expectations that educators and non-educators have about superintendents arise from these many daily tasks they have performed for over a century. In the last post, I will also offer one superintendent’s views of the impact of a superintendent’s job on one family.

1904: A SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENTS DAY IN A SMALL CITY

William Chancellor, a former superintendent who served in large and small cities wrote what a typical day looked like for the school chief in a district at the beginning of the 20th century.

1. Inspected school building. Sent messenger for painter to repair window glass. 

False Compromises In The Education Debate

False Compromises In The Education Debate:

False Compromises In The Education Debate

 Legend has, political disputes are supposed to be resolvable only when parties “meet in the middle” and shake hands on points of agreement that are possible.

But in the much-contested issue of “education reform,” only one of the disputing parties in the debate tends to be implored to seek compromise.

The latest example of this came from conservative commentator Juan Williams. Writing for The Hill, Williams claimed differing opinions of how to improve the nation’s schools are “stuck in partisan paralysis.” He beseeched “two of the nation’s most politically powerful black men,” President Obama and Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) to make a “deal” on “hotly debated education reforms” and embrace the cause of charter schools.

Such a “grand bargain,” Williams assured, would “deliver on the promise of equal opportunity and solve this generation’s top civil rights problem.”

Similarly, in the same week, liberal columnist Jonathan Chait wrote for New York magazine that 

Louisiana Educator: The Truth About Stand for Children and Common Core

Louisiana Educator: The Truth About Stand for Children and Common Core:

The Truth About Stand for Children and Common Core

Just Like Michelle Rhee's Students first only BETTER

Astroturf lobbying refers to political organizations or campaigns that appear to be made up of grassroots activists but are actually organized and run by corporate interests seeking to further their own agendas. Such groups are often typified by innocent-sounding names that have been chosen specifically to disguise the group's true backers

Just Like Michelle Rhee's
 Students first Astroturf lobbying (only Better) 

This article in the Lafayette Advertiser tells us that a group (Stand for Children) has set up a website to tell the public the 'truth' about the Common Core. Make no mistake about it, Stand for Children is just a highly paid “front” group that was put in place and funded lavishly by the Gates Foundation and several other corporate reformer groups to promote Common Core without regard to the truth. Stand for Children exists simply to do the bidding of John White, Jindal and the privatizers of public education. Be sure to read the comments by readers at the end of the article giving the funding sources and contributions to forStand for Children.

In the news story John White is quoted as saying that “What's in place are Louisiana standards, and the state ranks at or near the bottom when compared to the rest of the country.” In this statement White ignores the fact that those same Louisiana standards were rated second from the top of the 50 states in 2012 by a survey called “Quality Counts” which was published inEducation Week magazine. At that time our LDOE hailed the Quality Counts rating as an indication that Louisiana education was on the right track. How is it that all of a sudden our standards are no good?

You see White is purposely feeding the myth that Louisiana has low standards for our students and that if we would just adopt the “rigorous” Common Core standards, our students would magically start performing much better. As I pointed out in a previous post,