4-23-14 Open Congress : Major Bill Actions Education This Week - U.S. Congress - OpenCongress

Education - U.S. Congress - OpenCongress:

Bill Introduced: H.R. 4481: Head Start Improvement Act of 2014

To amend the Head Start Act to authorize block grants to States for prekindergarten education.

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YESTERDAY

Bill Introduced: H.R. 4366: Strengthening Education through Research Act

To strengthen the Federal education research system to make research and evaluations more timely and relevant to State and local needs in order to increase student achievement.

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Bill Introduced: H.R. 4481: Head Start Improvement Act of 2014

To amend the Head Start Act to authorize block grants to States for prekindergarten education.

6h hide  //  save

Bill Introduced: H.R. 4366: Strengthening Education through Research Act

To strengthen the Federal education research system to make research and evaluations more timely and relevant to State and local needs in order to increase student achievement.

8h 

Bill Introduced: H.R. 4369: Using our Energy to Build Better Communities Act

To amend the Mineral Leasing Act to require payment to each county of a portion of mining royalties received for mining operations in such county, and for other purposes.

8h 

4-19-14 Open Congress : Major Bill Actions Education This Week - U.S. Congress - OpenCongress

Education - U.S. Congress - OpenCongress:Bill Introduced: S. 2210: School Food Modernization ActA bill to amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to require the Secretary of Agriculture to make loan guarantees and grants to finance certain improvements to school lunch facilities, to train school food service personnel, and for other purposes.7h YESTERDAYBill Introduced: H.R. 4391: P

by mike simpson / 10h 

The American Middle Class Is No Longer the World’s Richest

The American Middle Class Is No Longer the World’s Richest:

The American Middle Class Is No Longer the World’s Richest

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While the wealthiest Americans are outpacing many of their global peers, a New York Times analysis shows that across the lower- and middle-income tiers, citizens of other advanced countries have received considerably larger raises over the last three decades.

That is the 2nd paragraph of this important article in today's New York Times whose title I have borrowed for this post.

And as the very next paragraph tells us

After-tax middle-class incomes in Canada — substantially behind in 2000 — now appear to be higher than in the United States. The poor in much of Europe earn more than poor Americans.

The analysis is based on studies of 35 years worth of data.

We tend to look at median income data or mean data.  The gaps in median are closing with other nations, and our mean data is distorted badly by the skewing of increased income towards those at the top of the income pyramid, while many Americans are actually seeing their income shrink.

As one key paragraph notes:

The struggles of the poor in the United States are even starker than those of the middle class. A family at the 20th percentile of the income distribution in this country makes significantly less money than a similar family in Canada, Sweden, Norway, Finland or the Netherlands. Thirty-five years ago, the reverse was true.

The study on which the article is based

counts after-tax cash income from salaries, interest and stock dividends, among other sources, as well as direct government benefits such as tax credits.

 We should of course remember that those at the top of our income pyramid often have a The American Middle Class Is No Longer the World’s Richest:

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit 4-23-14

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit:

THE COMMON CORE MAKES MATH MORE COMPLICATED. HERE’S WHY. + Stephen Colbert explains it all for you

by Libby Nelson | Vox.com |  http://bit.ly/1f5FY1O A teacher goes over fractions in a fourth grade math class in Takoma Park, Maryland. Fourth and fifth grade math teachers in the state are training themselves to teach to Common Core standards.Linda Davidson / The Washington Post via Getty Images April 20, 2014, 8:30 a.m. ET  ::  You might not know what a number sentence is. Neither does

by smf / 18min hide  //  save

Lawmakers Reject Brown’S Online Learning Proposal

by Kimberly Beltran, SI&A Cabinet Report :: The Essential Resource for Superintendents and the Cabinet |  http://bit.ly/1lEB2PQ APRIL 23, 2014   (Calif.)  ::  A key budget panel on Tuesday rejected Gov. Jerry Brown’s latest plan to revamped the K-12 independent study program and create more opportunities for students to use modern technology as part of their academic day. The Assembly Budget

by smf / 37min 

Republican Governor Hopeful Neel Kashkari Proposes Major Education Overhaul

The GOP candidate for governor would throw out much of the education code, send funds directly to schools rather than to districts and let most public schools run like charters. By Seema Mehta, LA Times | http://lat.ms/1ifabpE April 22, 2014  ::  Saying that better schools are critical for California's prosperity, GOP gubernatorial candidate Neel Kashkari proposes changing the way education

by smf / 46min 

L.A. ETHICS COMMISSION SUSPENDS AGGREGATE CONTRIBUTION LIMITS IN CITY+LAUSD ELECTIONS IN THE WAKE OF McCUTCHEON v. FEC

by email from the Ethics Commission What this means is that individuals can now give up to $1,100 to each and every candidate in an election, rather than a limit of  a total of $1,100 to all candidates in an election. Billionaires, PAC’s, Special Interest Groups  and Scrooge McDuck will still figure out a way to give kazillion$ of dollar$ to whomever they want!   AGGREGATE

by smf / 1h  

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit 4-21-14

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: DISTRICT ATTORNEY REVIEWS LAUSD INSPECTOR GENERAL REPORT ON iPAD CONTRACT; ELECTS NOT TO PROSECUTEBy Howard Blume, LA Times | http://lat.ms/1lyzF9T Students try out iPads provided by L.A. Unified early in the school year. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times) April 21, 2014, 2:27 p.m.  ::  The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office has reviewed an

1 by mike simpson / 20h 

4-23-14 the becoming radical | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness (the public and scholarly writing by P. L. Thomas, Furman University)

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

Standards May Achieve Equality, But Not Equity

Michelle Morrissey makes a case for Common Core in By ‘Common,’ We Mean Equity: When the Common Core State Standards emerged, it was both a shock and a revelation — for the first time, the dominant model said that my students, who live in low-income neighborhoods and are predominately Hispanic or African American, would have some guarantee of the same kinds of educational experiences that students

13 by plthomasedd / 2h 

4-22-14 the becoming radical | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness (the public and scholarly writing by P. L. Thomas, Furman University)

the becoming radical | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness (the public and scholarly writing by P. L. Thomas, Furman University): Is There an Alternative to Accountability-Based, Corporate Education Reform? | AlternetIs There an Alternative to Accountability-Based, Corporate Education Reform? | Alternet1 by plthomasedd / 21min hide  //  saveREVIEW: Jimmy’s Blues and Other Poems, James BaldwinFor ma

by mike simpson / 8h 

4-23-13 Curmudgucation

CURMUDGUCATION:

Duncan Breaks Up With WA

In a move that just underlines how deeply bizarre the relationship has become between Arne Duncan, King of All Schools, and the previously-sovereign states, Arne today pulled the rug out from under Washington state, sending them tumbling toward a bureaucratic limbo that...well, at the very least, will be interesting.The Dear John letter is trim and bureaucratic. I'll offer a translation into Plain

by Peter Greene / 32min 

PARCC Is Certifiably Ready

When the folks at PARCC say that their tests will help determine if your child is college and career ready, that's not just rhetoric. As of October 2012 (revised February, 2013), PARCC is ready to officially certify your student, and I've been looking at the document that shows how this will work. If you're wondering what "college ready" means to the PARCC folks, here's the explanation.T

by Peter Greene / 0min 

PARCC Discovers Unicorn Farm!

Over at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, PARCC CEO Laura McGiffert Slover has breathlessly announced the discovery of a special farm where unicorns dance and sing and give rides to little winged cherubs while singing sonnets in Latin.Okay, not really, but I would have found that more credible than Slover's actual announcement, which is that PARCC heralds the end of test prep.PARCC states are creat

1 by Peter Greene / 27min 

4-22-13 Curmudgucation

CURMUDGUCATION: Trials of the Traveling StudentWhat about the students who move?It's a question often raised in support of the CCSS, or just national standards in general. Don't we need national standards so that students who move won't be thrown for a loop when they change schools, even across state lines? I'm unconvinced by this argument.I'll admit up front that, as both my regular readers know,

by mike simpson / 6h 

4-23-14 Perdido Street School

Perdido Street School:

Cuomo Says You Can't Get More Left Than Him

I checked the calendar, but it's not April Fool's Day.Still, have to assume this is some kind of joke:Gov. Andrew Cuomo gave a defense of his progressive credentials on Wednesday after he was asked about a potential challenge from a liberal gubernatorial candidate this fall. “I don’t know if there’s a lot of space to my left,” Cuomo said. He cited the legalization of same-sex marriage, along with

by reality-based edu... / 18min 

Cuomo Seeks To Pit Unions And Working Familes Party Activists Against Each Other

Blake Zeff at Capital NY with another illuminating column - this one on how Cuomo is working to undercut a WFP challenge from the left by pitting unions and activists in the party against each other.That's why he's gotten a little friendly to the unions lately, including TWU 100 with last week's contract, as well as CWA (killing some deregulation that was in the Senate and his budget bill), 1199 (

1 by reality-based edu... / 2h hide  //  save

Howie Hawkins Says Working Families Party Should Nominate Him To Take On Cuomo In General Election

State of Politics has Howie Hawkins' reaction to the Siena College poll released yesterday showing a third party lefty candidate nominated on the Working Families Party ballot line could do some real damage to Andrew Cuomo in November:“The poll confirms what I heard from voters as I went around the state last week announcing my campaign. Voters are upset with Cuomo’s rich man’s budget that pays fo

by reality-based edu... / 5h

4-22-14 Perdido Street School

Perdido Street School: Siena Poll: Third Party Candidate Cuts 15Poijts Out From Cuomo's TotalsJust like we've been saying all along, a decent third party candidate from the left could throw serioius frights Sheriff Andy Cuomo's way:While the latest poll from the Siena Research Institute shows Gov. Andrew Cuomo maintaining his 2-to-1 lead (58-28 percent) lead over Republican Westchester County Exec

by mike simpson / 8h 

College for Free!? (Mark Cuban is Paying…) | Cloaking Inequity

College for Free!? (Mark Cuban is Paying…) | Cloaking Inequity:

College for Free!? (Mark Cuban is Paying…)

College is expensive nowadays. There are various arguments out there why that is the case, as I previously discussed in the post Dear college student with exorbitant tuition bill: Blame your legislator.

However, there is a new plan on the table by the Sara Goldrick-Rab, University of Wisconsin-Madison professor and 2014 AERA Early Career Awardee (a big deal). There is lots to like in Professor Goldrick-Rab’s proposal. I like the plan as long it doesn’t come with an NCLB-style outcomes based accountability system for higher education. Sara hasn’t suggested this, but you know policymakers… these are the same folks that are currently thinking high-stakes testing for Pre-K is a brilliant idea.

Anyways, Sara sent me the following blog. It is a clever approach that leverages existing resources with some new additional resources as a national strategy. Yes, sorry, Mark Cuban is not actually paying (unless he wants to pick up the tab, he has the resources to do so I believe— I digress). Without further ado.

MAKE THE FIRST TWO YEARS OF COLLEGE FREE

Sara Goldrick-Rab, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Twitter: Saragoldrickrab

Almost half a century ago, the federal government expanded financial aid to college students to make college more affordable – but today the odds of getting a degree are more tightly linked to family income than ever before. Inequality is growing: between 1992 and 2004, the odds that a high school graduate who took at least Algebra II would decide not to go to college went up among all income-groups except the very wealthiest. Students from families of modest means have also become more likely to drop out from public colleges and universities – leaving with debts, not degrees.

This situation is antithetical to the American Dream. That’s why last week my colleague Nancy Kendall and I issued a policy proposal to make the first two years free for all qualified students at community colleges and public universities. This would control rising costs and improve access to higher education for the majority of Americans.

The current financial aid system is messed up. Aid goes to students who choose to pursue degrees at institutions of all kinds, public, private, and for-profit. Over time, costs of attendance in all sectors have 

College for Free!? (Mark Cuban is Paying…) | Cloaking Inequity:

The Law: “What Difference Does it Make”? Are the Elites Wanting to Restructure Public Education? | Missouri Education Watchdog

The Law: “What Difference Does it Make”? Are the Elites Wanting to Restructure Public Education? | Missouri Education Watchdog:

The Law: “What Difference Does it Make”? Are the Elites Wanting to Restructure Public Education?

inShare

Just who decides the role of SEAs? Elites or state legislatures?

Many of  you know Fordham Institute’s stance on Common Core.  It loves it.  Loves it, loves it, loves it.  Michael Petrilli and Michael Brickman of Fordham have flown all the way from Washington DC to appear in legislative hearings to tell us how desperately Missouri needs the Common Core standards because they are so much better than what we had previously and they are extremely worried about Missouri student achievement.

Fordham has supported common standards for quite some time.  It was involved with Achieve (on which Governor Jay Nixon is a Board member) and the American Diploma Project since the early 2000′s working on common standards:

Achieve, Education Trust and Fordham launched ADP to help states restore the diploma’s value by anchoring high school graduation standards to those of jobs and colleges. Toward that end, ADP has moved beyond the kinds of standards that reflect experts’ consensus view of what is desirable for students to learn, to expectations linked directly to the essential demands faced by students preparing for college, work and citizenship.

The project found an unprecedented convergence between the knowledge and skills employers seek in new workers and those that college faculty expect of entering students. Both groups expect that high school graduates can complete a significant research report and apply the higher-level math concepts historically taught in Algebra II, for example.

The ADP benchmarks are ambitious. In math, they reflect content from Algebra I and II, Geometry, Data Analysis and Statistics. In English, they demand strong communication skills, as well as the analytic and reasoning skills typically associated with today’s advanced and The Law: “What Difference Does it Make”? Are the Elites Wanting to Restructure Public Education? | Missouri Education Watchdog: