4-29-14 Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher

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

Ten minute drawing. A riddle.

by Fred Klonsky / 4min 

Good luck students. Your professors are heading for the exits.

Under provisions of the State University Retirement System’s money purchase option, 10,000 state university employees are eligible to retire by July 1. As a result of the Senate Bill 1 pension theft passed last December 3rd and signed immediately by Squeezy, thousands are heading for the exits to avoid loosing thousands of dollars in post retirement compensation. Senator Dan Biss was a member of

by Fred Klonsky / 51min hide  //  save

You can’t fix stupid and at CPS the term “professional staff” doesn’t mean teachers. No bare chests.

  It turns out that the memo posted here yesterday from CPS Barbara Byrd Bennett that some principals distributed to building teachers and staff wasn’t for them. The memo was a directive that demanded adherence to a dress code. For men it demanded suits, slacks, shirts (!) and, when appropriate, ties. For women it included suits, tailored separates, skirts and dresses. “As we attempt to change ou

1 by Fred Klonsky / 1h 

Fair Tax and charter schools. Call today.

by Fred Klonsky / 1h 

4-28-14 Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher

Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher who is just looking at the data.: Journalism.I admit that I am flexible about this journalism thing. I’m not a journalist. I’m a retired K-5 art teacher who writes a blog. And I am an activist around a bunch of issues. That doesn’t mean I don’t try to be honest and accurate. But unlike most of who make questionable claims to being jou

by mike simpson / 9h

4-29-14 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):

Where Is Outrage for Systemic Racism?

Where is the outrage for this? The New Jim Crow Where is the outrage for this? Incarceration is not an equal opportunity punishment Incarceration Rates by Race and Ethnicity, 2010 Where is the outrage for this? Revealing New Truths About Our Nation’s Schools Where is the outrage for this? A Generation Later: What We’ve Learned about Zero Tolerance in Schools And thus …

5 by plthomasedd / 5min   

4-28-14 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): Teacher Quality: On Hyperbole and AnecdotesIn 2011, 3,764,698,318 retail prescriptions were filled in the U.S. If 0.01% of those prescriptions were filled incorrectly (and thus jeopardizing the health or even lives of patients, including children), 376,469 events could h

by mike simpson / 7h 

4-29-14 Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL

Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL:

Discovery Channel Cancels “Bad Teacher” Immediately In Response To Complaints

Thanks to the efforts of educators around the United States, and because of the work done by Steve Dembo from Discovery Education, the Discovery Channel has immediately canceled its insulting program “Bad Teachers” (see Discovery Network Launches Absolutely Awful Show On “Bad Teachers”). See that earlier post to learn how truly awful the show was. If that doesn’t give you enough info, you can rea

by Larry Ferlazzo / 4min hide  //  save

“What Are The Best Types Of Grading Practices?”

What Are The Best Types Of Grading Practices? is the latest “question-of-the-week” at my Education Week Teacher column. Feel free to leave a response there or in the comments here….

by Larry Ferlazzo / 4min 

Want To Know Why Our School’s Drop-Out Rate Plummeted By 50%?

Here’s an excerpt from a Sacramento Bee story this morning: High school dropout rates fell significantly last year across the Sacramento region, according to figures released Monday by the California Department of Education… In Sacramento City Unified, Rosemont, Hiram Johnson and Burbank high schools saw dropout rates fall around 50 percent last year. Burbank is the school where I teach. I asked

by Larry Ferlazzo / 1min 

App Puts You In The Shoes Of A Person Suffering From Dementia

A British non-profit has created a Facebook app that puts you in the shoes of a person suffering from dementia. Here’s how the BBC describes it: The FaceDementia app, by Alzheimer’s Research UK, “takes over” personal Facebook pages, and temporarily erases important memories, mimicking how dementia affects the brain. Users can watch their personal photos, important details and status updates disap

by Larry Ferlazzo / 2min 

4-28-14 Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL

Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL: Using Dance To Teach English Is Topic Of My Latest NY Times PostMy latest New York Times post for English Language Learners is focused on dance as a language-learning activity. It includes a new type of student interactive, as well as teaching ideas. You can access all my many NY Times posts here.by Larry Ferlazzo / 2h 4-27

by mike simpson / 10h 

4-29-14 Jersey Jazzman Jammin' All Week

Jersey Jazzman:

Derrell Bradford Takes Manhattan!

Hey, New York! Yeah, I'm talking to you! You and me, we got a beef:See, you guys are always shipping your reformy types across the Hudson to us here in New Jersey and, frankly, we're all sick of it. We're up to our necks in these corporate education reformers, with their "no excuses" and "think-tanky research" and Joel Klein-enhanced resumes.Chris. Cami. Paymon. Janine. They've

17 by Duke / 3h 

4-26-14 Jersey Jazzman Jammin' All Week

Jersey Jazzman:Jersey Jazzman Jammin' All WeekCami Anderson's Rusty KnifeNewark's state-appointed superintendent, Cami Anderson, is so hard at work fighting against "adult interests" that she doesn't have time to attend public meetings of her elected school board. She doesn't even have time to explain herself to the NJ Legislature.But she apparently does have time to hobnob with a bunch

by mike simpson / 7h 

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit 4-29-14

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

L.A. Schools’ Maintenance Budget Trails Other Large Districts

  Annie Gilbertson |   Pass / Fail | 89.3 KPCC http://bit.ly/S6kXtI Facebook/Repairs not iPads April 29th, 2014, 5:02am  ::  The Los Angeles Unified school district has a backlog of 50,000 repairs. A look at next year's budget shows its likely to continue to trail the state in maintenance and operations funding. The Los Angeles Unified spends the least on maintenance and operations of

by smf / 7min 

SUPREME COURT MAY BOOST FREE-SPEECH PROTECTIONS FOR PUBLIC WORKERS …but be Very Careful!

Justices seem likely to rule that a government employee who testifies about corruption cannot be fired. First they'd have to revisit a 2006 ruling limiting those rights. The operative words in the above headline are “MAY” and “SEEM LIKELY” - ‘May’ has a meaning in the law, it is optional [a choice to act or not, or a promise of a possibility, as distinguished

by smf / 5min 

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit 4-28-14

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit:  PPIC Survey: CALIFORNIANS SUPPORT HISTORIC CHANGES IN SCHOOL FUNDING, CURRICULUMBy Teresa Watanabe, LA Times | http://lat.ms/PLgzhU Californians support new national learning standards known as Common Core, a new survey found. In Santiago Elementary School in Santa Ana, teachers are already using the new standards to emphasize critical thinking and pre

by mike simpson / 8h 

4-29-14 Wait What?

Wait What?:

Malloy administration considered “restraining order” to stop FOI requests?

In what may be the single most bizarre development yet in the Malloy administration’s war on teachers and public education and their ongoing commitment to secrecy, a recent Freedom of Information request has produced an email between Governor Malloy’s Director of Communications and a senior official from ConnCAN, the charter school advocacy group, in which […] The post Malloy administration consid

9 by jonpelto / 1h 

 

4-28-14 Wait What?

Wait What?: Budget Gimmicks and Declining Revenue catch up to MalloyAs the CT Mirror is reporting, Governor Malloy’s extraordinary budget gimmicks and Connecticut’s lagging economy has caught up with the politician’s wild re-election promises. The CT Mirror’s Keith Phaneuf reports, “Citing declining state revenue projections, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy gave up Monday on two of his biggest re-election y

by mike simpson / 7h 

4-29-14 The Answer Sheet

The Answer Sheet:

Do school ‘reformers’ really believe in accountability? Let’s look at Florida.

Education policymakers today insist that teachers, principals and schools must be “held accountable.” You would assume, then, that they would take every opportunity to ensure that all students who are educated with public money take the all-important standardized  tests that are used as the chief accountability metric and that can determine how much educators are […]

by Valerie Strauss / 1h 

The scary way Common Core test ‘cut scores’ are selected

You may have given no thought to the “cut scores” that are set for various tests, but they make all the difference in who passes and who fails. What exactly are cut scores?  The Educational Testing Service describes them this way: Cut scores are selected points on the score scale of a test. The points […]

7 by Valerie Strauss / 50min 

4-28-14 The Answer Sheet

The Answer Sheet: Louis C.K.: Common Core makes my kids cryI don’t think Louis C.K. means this tweet as a joke. My kids used to love math. Now it makes them cry. Thanks standardized testing and common core! — Louis C.K. (@louisck) April 28, 2014 (If you don’t know who Louis C.K. is, I can’t help you. Google him.)1 by Valerie Strauss / 4minAll Week @ The Answer Sheet 4-26-14The Answer Sheet:All Wee

by mike simpson / 6h

4-29-14 Scathing Purple Musings | Color me purple in Florida

Scathing Purple Musings | Color me purple in Florida, red in Washington, dark sky-blue in Israel and public school in Education:

Bush Ally Condemns High-Stakes Testing to Justify Different Tests for Florida Vouchers

The James Madison Institute, long a reliable parrot for any Jeb Bush education initiative, has trotted out one of its scholars to defend Florida’s voucher program. And resident fellow, William Mattox, comes up with the most convoluted arguments to date. Combined with another tortured “tax credits are private money” argument that doesn’t sway anyone, Mattox provides the a bizzare reason  to justify

by Bob Sikes / 3h 

4-28-14 Scathing Purple Musings | Color me purple in Florida ALL Week

Scathing Purple Musings | Color me purple in Florida, red in Washington, dark sky-blue in Israel and public school in Education: Influential National Hispanic Civil Rights Organization Opposed to Voucher ExpansionThe League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) are emphasizing their opposition to school vouchers in their education platform: LULAC strongly opposes vouchers and any other funding

by mike simpson / 10h 

Walmart Has Ruined our Towns: Will We Let the Walton Foundation Destroy our Schools? | janresseger

Walmart Has Ruined our Towns: Will We Let the Walton Foundation Destroy our Schools? | janresseger:

Walmart Has Ruined our Towns: Will We Let the Walton Foundation Destroy our Schools?

Posted on April 29, 2014 by janresseger

Motoko Rich’s recent blockbuster article in the NY Times explores the vast reach of the Walton Foundation to promote and support the privatization of public education.  What has happened in Washington, D.C., writes Rich, is a microcosm of Walton’s investments in the promotion of an education revolution across the country: “In effect, Walton has subsidized an entire charter school system in the nation’s capital, helping to fuel enrollment growth so that close to half of all public school students in the city now attend charters, which receive taxpayer dollars but are privately operated… The foundation has awarded more than $1 billion in grants nationally to educational efforts since 2000, making it one of the largest private contributors to education in the country.”

Rich describes grants of over $1.2 million from the Walton Foundation to DC Prep, a Washington, D.C. network of four charter schools.  Walton also supports Teach for America, the alternative, five-week, Peace Corps-like certification program that has become a primary supplier of teachers for charter schools not only in the nation’s capital but across the country.  Not only does the Walton Foundation support particular privatized charter networks and programs to certify teachers outside the colleges of education, but it also funds the think tanks that have created and promoted the theoretical basis for today’s wave of school privatization including the American Enterprise Institute and the Thomas B. Fordham Institute.  It even “bankrolls an academic department at the University of Arkansas in which faculty, several of whom were recruited from conservative think tanks, conduct research on charter schools, voucher programs and other policies the foundation supports.”

Recently, according to Rich, Walton hired a staff person from the American Legislative Exchange Council as an education program officer. Rich lists Walton’s largest education grant recipients: the Charter School Growth Fund, Teach for America, KIPP charter schools, the Walmart Has Ruined our Towns: Will We Let the Walton Foundation Destroy our Schools? | janresseger:

An Assault on Public Schools - Bridging Differences - Education Week

An Assault on Public Schools - Bridging Differences - Education Week:

An Assault on Public Schools

By Guest Blogger on April 29, 2014 9:06 AM

Author and advocate Mike Klonsky again writes to Deborah Meier today. The two are currently co-blogging on Bridging Differences.

Deb,

What a week it's been!

I'm feeling a little shocked-and-awed by the Supreme Court's Schuette decision. It's another nail in the coffin of affirmative action (but not white affirmative action, of course, nor affirmative action for the children of the wealthy donors or alums). Schuette is rightly being called this court's Plessy v. Ferguson. 

It follows on the heels of the Court's rollback of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and continues to make the possibility of higher education more a pipe dream than a reality for all but the wealthy.

I hope you've read Justice Sotomayor's brilliant and powerful dissent. 

"Race matters ... The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to speak openly and candidly on the subject of race, and to apply the Constitution with eyes open to the unfortunate effects of centuries of racial discrimination."

I'm still hoping President Obama as well as leading voices in the field of education will say something about this horrendous decision. It deserves our condemnation.

Teachers and schools will never be left alone to decide how best to educate children. No matter how badly some wish for an end to "politics" in schools, it's like wishing that winter won't show itself next January. Better to bundle up and get ready.

Back in the early '90s, the main problem facing small-school-ers seemed to be how to carve out An Assault on Public Schools - Bridging Differences - Education Week: