3-20-14 With A Brooklyn Accent Go BATs All Week

With A Brooklyn Accent:

How Hip Hop Crosses Cultural Boundaries: An Afternoon and Evening with the Bronx Berlin Connection

What an afternoon and evening yesterday with the young people from the Bronx-Berlin Connection and the great program organizers Olad Aden andFabian Farbeon Saucedo! It reminded me of the power of hip hop culture- and the arts, generally- to cross boundaries of language and national origin and unite young people across the globe. The day began with me giving a talk on the role of the Bronx as an in

by Mark Naison / 3h

3-18-14 With A Brooklyn Accent Go BATs All Week

With A Brooklyn Accent: The Other Wave of School Closings: How the Shutting of Catholic Schools in the Inner City Paved the Way for ChartersMany people have praised charter schools as providing a safe alternative for inner city families to public schools, implying they are creating something that never existed before. However, that is not exactly true. During the 1960's, 1970's, and 1980's, when i

by mike simpson / 8h 

 

FROM THE BAT CAVE Schoolhouse Live

Schoolhouse Live:  FROM THE BAT CAVEThe BATS (Baddass Teachers) are mad as hell and not going to take it anymore!  Formed last year, these feisty teachers are tired of district bureaucrats calling the shots. Mark Naison moderates.LIVE STREAM TUESDAY! 4:30 PST TEACHERS AND PARENTS WANT SAFE SCHOOLS, NOT iPADS!FOR MORE NPE PANEL DISCUSSIONS CLICKHERE!FROM OUR ARCHIVES: NOAM CHOMSKY ON THE PUBLIC GOO

by mike simpson / 20h 

3-20-14 the becoming radical | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness by P. L. Thomas, EdD

the becoming radical | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness (the public and scholarly writing by P. L. Thomas, Furman University):

What’s Wrong with Teacher Education?

I belong to two communities that are central to my life—educators and cyclists. So when a cyclist and friend sent me an article on the importance of how cyclists conduct themselves as groups on the roads, I was struck by the opening quote included by the writer, Richard Fries: “We have met the enemy and he is us.”  –Walt Kelly, Pogo Immediately, the spirit of the article—many times motorist antag

5 by plthomasedd / 49min 

From Baldwin to Coates: Denying Racism, Ignoring Evidence

I have offered two posts confronting a pattern in the U.S. of denying racism (usually arguing class instead) despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary: Denying Racism Has an Evidence Problem The Mistrial of Jordan Davis: More Evidence Problems for Denying Racism As a third post, I invite you to read and view James Baldwin and Ta-Nehisi Coates*: Is James Baldwin America’s Greatest Essayist?,

8 by plthomasedd / 2h hide  //  save

James Baldwin: Challenging Authors (final cover)

James Baldwin: Challenging Authors A. Scott Henderson and P. L. Thomas, editors Furman University Sense Publishers Critical Literacy Teaching Series: Challenging Authors and Genres Original Art by Roy Thinnes

1 by plthomasedd / 3h

3-19-14 the becoming radical | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness by P. L. Thomas, EdD

the becoming radical | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness (the public and scholarly writing by P. L. Thomas, Furman University): Reading Out of Context: “But there was something missing,” Walter Dean Myersac·a·dem·ic: adjective \a-kə-ˈde-mik\ having no practical importance; not involving or relating to anything real or practical. ### Currently, I have three seniors on track to certify as secondary

by mike simpson / 7h 

3-20-14 Perdido Street School Week

Perdido Street School:

Here's One Critic De Blasio Should Appreciate Having

They say you can know the mark of a man by the enemies he has - here's one enemy that Mayor de Blasio should be happy to have: It’s a tale of the 1% city for Bernie Madoff. The convicted swindler, cooling his heels in a North Carolina federal prison camp, is no fan of the progressive financial policies and vision touted by Mayor de Blasio. “I’m not a great fan of redistribution of wealth,” the 75-

by reality-based edu... / 13min 

Will Media Call Eva Moskowitz, Charter Allies On Their $3.6 Million Ad Buy In Last Three Weeks?

@perdidostschool can someone spent $3.6 million on restorative programs within public schools, infrastructure and classrooms— Mutale Nkonde (@yppe06) March 20, 2014Eva claims she has no money to pay rent but she and her allies drop $3.6 million on a three week pro-charter/anti-de Blasio ad blitz.The ads are still running, so that tally on the ad campaign will go higher.Can you imagine if de Blasio

by reality-based edu... / 15min 

Eva Moskowitz And Her Allies Spent $3.6 Million On Pro-Charter Ads In Last Three Weeks

How come they can't pay rent but they can spend $3.6 million dollars on pro-charter ads?A pro-charter school group has spent $3.6 million over the past three weeks on TV ads attacking Mayor de Blasio, an insider revealed Wednesday.Families for Excellent Schools — founded by a deep-pocketed group of financiers — has run a series of ads, including a spot blaming de Blasio for taking away the “hopes

1 by reality-based edu... / 53min hide  //  save

Don't Buy The Poll Showing NYer's Roundly Despise De Blasio's Education Policies

Quinnipiac released a poll yesterday that claimed to find widespread disapproval of de Blasio's education policies: Voters are giving Mayor de Blasio a bad report card for his education policies. A Quinnipiac poll released Wednesday found that just 38% support de Blasio’s handling of the public schools and 49% disapprove. 40% want de Blasio to increase the number of charter schools while 39% want

by reality-based edu... / 2h 

Cuomo Underfunds NYC Public Schools

Cuomo bragged during a phone "town hall" that he is keeping state spending lower than the last 10 governors.Dunno where he got that stat - might have found it in the mashed potatoes Sandra Lee made for St. Patrick's Day - but given this story from Daily Politics, I can believe it:City funding of the Education Department in 2015 will outstrip the state's contribution for the fourth year i

1 by reality-based edu... / 5h 

3-19-14 Perdido Street School Week

Perdido Street School: Cuomo Will Try To Steal Money For His Charter School Donors From Traditional Public SchoolsFrom Jessica Bakeman's Capital NY article about the complex budget negotiations around education issues:Cuomo came out strong for charters, in response to pleas from Success Academy head Eva Moskowitz, pledging to “save” them, and the Senate was the first to quantify what that will tak

by mike simpson / 8h 

In NYC, Charters May or May Not “Backfill” Students; Public Schools Take Everybody | janresseger

In NYC, Charters May or May Not “Backfill” Students; Public Schools Take Everybody | janresseger:

In NYC, Charters May or May Not “Backfill” Students; Public Schools Take Everybody

Posted on March 20, 2014 by janresseger

Who knew that New York City has a name for what lots of charter schools do or fail to do: accept new students when students drop out.  Backfilling students.  In NYC,  “backfilling students” is a practice that is chosen or rejected by particular charter school operators.

Right now it is also the subject of policy discussions in NYC about what should be expected of charter schools and charter school networks as a condition of their charters.  According to an excellent article that explains all this from Chalkbeat New York: “Charter schools (in NYC) must spell out their enrollment policies when they ask for permission to operate.  But authorizers have been loath to require charters to adopt one backfill policy or another, seeing it as one way in which the schools exercise their autonomy that defines them as a charter school, and so schools frequently include vague language in their charters.”

Chalkbeat New York continues:  “Now, the issue is growing in prominence as school leaders try to anticipate how the mayor will deal with charter schools in the years ahead, and especially how the city might charge charter schools rent to operate in public space.”   There are important considerations of equity as the new mayor, Bill de Blasio and his education chancellor Carmen Farina try to address the privilege and favored status some charter school operators received under Mayor Michael Bloomberg. “One charter leader described the potential trade-off this way: The city provides space rent-free if the schools commit to more inclusive enrollment tactics.  Then the choice becomes the operator’s: do we want to go along or stick to our model and pay a penalty for it?”

Some charter school operators in NYC and elsewhere refuse to fill places vacated by children who drop out, because they claim that it is more difficult to bring newcomers fully into the 

Newark, New Jersey school official threatens to fire one third of district’s teachers - World Socialist Web Site

Newark, New Jersey school official threatens to fire one third of district’s teachers - World Socialist Web Site:

Newark, New Jersey school official threatens to fire one third of district’s teachers

By Rory Dean and Sandy English 
20 March 2014

Newark, New Jersey Public Schools Superintendent Cami Anderson, citing falling student enrollment as well as budget shortfalls, announced her intention to lay off 1,000 of the city’s 3,200 teachers over the next three years.

Anderson has made a formal request to the New Jersey Department of Education to allow her to “make performance a key factor,” as she explained in a recent letter to teachers, in determining which teachers she will fire. Under Anderson’s plan, layoffs would first affect teachers who have been classified “ineffective,” one of four performance ratings that were established when teacher tenure laws were effectively dismantled last year, with the approval of the teachers union. As a result, seniority protection would have a minor role in determining which teachers would lose their jobs.

The public school system in Newark, the state’s largest city, has been in state receivership since 1995. Newark, like other impoverished cities in New Jersey—Camden, Jersey City and Paterson—has had its schools placed under state control based on the pretext that this would boost abysmal graduation rates and improve educational quality.

The population of Newark is just under 300,000, and approximately one-third of the city’s residents live at or below the federal poverty line. Even by the generous standards set by the federal authorities, more than half of the city’s people live in or close to poverty.

The proposed layoffs are part of Anderson’s One Newark plan, which calls for the closing of public schools and the granting of school property for the use of privately owned, publicly funded charter schools. By some estimates the plan hopes to enroll 40 percent of Newark’s 40,000 students in charter 

Karma Smacks Los Angeles Times Reporter Jason Felch southbronxschool.com

http://www.southbronxschool.com:

Karma Smacks Los Angeles Times Reporter Jason Felch

Karma usually has a way of coming back and kicking you in the butt. This week Los Angeles Times reporter Jason Felch felt Karma's full wrath.

For those that do not recall, Jason spearheaded a Los Angeles Times report in August of 2010 using data of that funky science of value added measurements to determine who is and isn't an effective teacher. Jason took great pride in doing his part reporting what he saw out of context, but to destroy careers as well.

We here at SBSB soon took great pride in exposing, as well as mocking, Jason Felch and his sidekick, economist Richard Buddin in their use of the funky science as well as the smug glee shown by Jason.

But there was a dark side to all this gloating from Jason. A teacher in Los Angeles, Rigoberto Ruelas was determined by Jason Felch and Richard Buddin to be ineffective. A teacher that was loved and respected by his students, their parents, the community he taught in as well as colleagues, friends, and his family.

Due to the reporting of Jason Felch and the funky science provided by Richard Buddin, Rigoberto took his own life shortly after he was outed as determined by the Times and Felch. To this day, Felch has always refused any culpability in Rigoberto's death.

In fact as a source shared with The Crack Team here at SBSB, at a conference about VAM, Anthony 

The Network For Public Education | PRESS RELEASE: Member of Congress joins with NPE and calls for public hearings on the misuse and abuse of standardized tests

The Network For Public Education | PRESS RELEASE: Member of Congress joins with NPE and calls for public hearings on the misuse and abuse of standardized tests:

PRESS RELEASE: Member of Congress joins with NPE and calls for public hearings on the misuse and abuse of standardized tests

March 19, 2014 NPE Call for Hearings, Press Release

March 19, 2014

Contact:

Robin Hiller phone: 520-668-4634 email: robin@networkforpubliceducation.org

Anthony Cody  phone: 510-917-9231 email: anthony_cody@hotmail.com

Member of Congress joins with  The Network for Public Education and calls for public hearings on the misuse and abuse of standardized tests. Massive social networking campaign to be waged in coming days.

On March 2, 2014, following their highly successful National Conference, The Network for Public Education (NPE) sent out a call for members of Congress to hold public hearings on standardized testing. This call came in response to the onerous testing regime that has enveloped schools across the country and threatens to create a generation of students who possess less creativity and problem solving skills than previous generations.

Answering NPE’s call, Arizona Representative Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ-3), a member of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, responded with a sentiment that has been echoed by parents and educators throughout the United States. The six-term Representative said, “The need for an impartial and transparent hearing on mandatory testing and privatization efforts directed at public education, is critical.  We need to have an open discussion about the dismantling of public education. I hope the leadership of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives will hold hearings that allow our public schools and the families they serve the opportunity to have an open and honest hearing.”

Bolstered by Congressional support and a network of thousands of grassroots activists, NPE has taken to social media to apply additional pressure on lawmakers to hold hearings. NPE’s executive director Robin Hiller explained the goal of the Wednesday, March 19 Twitterstorm.

“We are taking our message to Twitter because while we lack access to paid media, we have thousands of passionate educators, students, parents and citizens across the country who care deeply about our schools, and are truly concerned about the colossal waste of resources now being directed to standardized tests. We hope to raise awareness among the public, media and elected representatives around our call for Congressional hearings into the abuse of standardized tests,” Hiller said.

The Network for Public Education, which is led by education scholar and former Assistant Secretary of Education, Diane Ravitch, is asking for support for these hearings and hopes that other members of Congress will step up for America’s children as did Congressman Grijalva. The organization will follow up Wednesday’s social media blitz with a Day of Action on Monday, March 24, and is asking members of the public to join in contacting their elected representatives and media outlets.

About The Network for Public Education:

The Network for Public Education is an advocacy group whose goal is to fight to protect, preserve and strengthen our public school system, an essential institution in a democratic society. Our mission is to protect, preserve, promote, and strengthen public schools and the education of current and future generations of students. We will accomplish this by networking groups and organizations focused on similar goals in states and districts throughout the nation and share information about what works and what doesn’t work in public education.

Contact:

Robin Hiller phone: 520-668-4634 email: robin@networkforpubliceducation.org

Anthony Cody  phone:  510-917-9231 email: anthony_cody@hotmail.com

3-19-14 The Whole Child Blog — Town Hall Discussion: Bringing the Questions Together — Whole Child Education

Town Hall Discussion: Bringing the Questions Together — Whole Child Education:

THE WHOLE CHILD BLOG

Town Hall Discussion: Bringing the Questions Together

March 19, 2014 by Whole Child Symposium

Download the Town Hall Discussion Now [Right-Click to Save]

The decisions we make today—for our systems, our schools, and our classrooms—will affect what all of our tomorrows will look like tomorrow. This month ASCD launches its inaugural Whole Child Symposium—a conversation about the future of education comprising three events over eight weeks that includes not only some of the leading educators and thinkers, but also you and your voice.

On March 16 at ASCD's 69th Annual Conference & Exhibit Show in Los Angeles, Calif., ASCD's Sean Slade and a panel of education experts discussed our driving questions:

• Choosing Your Tomorrow Today: What does this phrase mean to you? What do you think is most important? What word has the greatest impact, the greatest potential, and the greatest need?
• The Future of Schooling: Where are we? Each idea sounds plausible and is probably in the midst of coming true somewhere in the world. Has it or is it coming true? Is the writing on the wall? What can or should we do?

MEET THE PANELISTS

3-18-14 The Whole Child Blog — ED Pulse Poll Results: What Will Be the "Next Big Thing" in Education Tech? — Whole Child Education

ED Pulse Poll Results: What Will Be the "Next Big Thing" in Education Tech? — Whole Child Education: THE WHOLE CHILD BLOGED Pulse Poll Results: What Will Be the “Next Big Thing” in Education Tech?March 18, 2014 by Kit Harris, ASCD ResearchASCD continually seeks to provide solutions to the challenges that face educators of all levels. A recentASCD SmartBrief ED Pulse poll asked readers wh

by mike simpson / 4h 

The Washington Teacher: DCPS IS Violating the Law!

The Washington Teacher: DCPS IS Violating the Law!:

DCPS IS Violating the Law!

March 19, 2014

 

Dear Members of the WTU Bargaining Unit:

 It has come to our attention that DCPS has disseminated a survey to members of our bargaining unit asking among other things, whether you approve or disapprove of extending the school day by one hour next year.

 WTU is the sole and exclusive bargaining representative for the purpose of negotiating all matters related to rates of pay, wages, benefits, hours of employment and working conditions for all employees in the WTU bargaining unit.  It is an unfair labor practice for DCPS, any employee in a management position in DCPS or any member of the WTU bargaining unit to violate the bargaining rights granted by law under collective bargaining. (View Article 1 on PAGE 8 of the WTU Collective Bargaining Agreement).

 

If you are asked to complete a survey, it is necessary that you do the following immediately:

 1.  If the question pertains to any of the above, write in "subject to collective   bargaining".

2.  Record who asked you to complete the survey and the date and approximate time.

3.  Keep careful records of any acts of intimidation, coercion, or threats to solicit a particular response to items in the survey.

4.   Notify your WTU Field Specialist immediately with your information by calling:  202-293-8600 and forward all surveys to our attention.

 Educators in the WTU bargaining unit are law abiding members.  Demonstrate this to others.

 

In Solidarity,

 

Candi Peterson
WTU General Vice President

Schooling in the Ownership Society: DFER brags: Our money beat Travis

Schooling in the Ownership Society: DFER brags: Our money beat Travis:

DFER brags: Our money beat Travis

Mitchell on the make and on the take.

School privatizers and charter hustlers from DFER are all over Twitter, taking credit forChristian Mitchell's  questionable narrow victory over progressive candidate Jay Travis. The IL branch of the N.Y.-based hedge-fund-started group dropped more than $50,000 into the Mitchell campaign through its newly-activated Chicago school reform PAC.

Instead of boasting, they should be headed back to the drawing board wondering why, with all their money and lots more from the likes of the likes of JPMorgan Chase & Co.PAC, Illinois Energy Association, Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce PAC, and California billionaire Eli Broad, an incumbent like Mitchell was is this close to losing his seat to underdog Travis. 

Mitchell, backed by House Speaker Michael Madigan was leading Travis by only a few 

Cami’s bad week | Bob Braun's Ledger

Cami’s bad week | Bob Braun's Ledger:

Cami’s bad week

Arne Duncan

US Education Secretary Arne Duncan met last Saturday with Cami Anderson, the state-appointed superintendent of Newark schools, and suggested she might be moving too fast to privatize the city’s schools with her “One Newark” plan. To which, according to sources at the meeting, Cami told Duncan he was wrong. A  few days later, just hours after anti-Cami demonstrators twice closed down the city’s central business district during rush hour, she was hosted at a dinner where she was told by a number of old friends, including former state Education Commissioner Chris Cerf and former Mayor Cory Booker,  that she was moving too fast.

A bad week?

Now, some of this might be wishful thinking on the part of many of Cami’s critics, but the sources for the Duncan meeting are strong and knowledgeable. They tell me Duncan, generally a fan of charter schools and a critic of teacher unions, expressed concern how quickly Anderson was moving with such a complicated plan that