5-15-14 The Answer Sheet

The Answer Sheet:

In Newark, a shot across the school reform bow

Ras Baraka, a former high school principal, current councilman and son of the late poet Amiri Baraka, is the new mayor-elect of Newark and, much to the chagrin of school reformers, he can thank them for his victory. No, they didn’t support him. And they spent gobs of money to defeat him, especially in the […]

by Valerie Strauss / 1h 

Charter schools ‘must’ comply with U.S. civil rights laws, Education Dept. says (finally)

The Obama administration has just released through the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights what it says is “new guidance confirming that the same federal civil rights laws that apply to other public schools apply equally to public charter schools.” For years, the administration has pushed states to allow the growth of charter schools through […]

by Valerie Strauss / 4min 

Pushback on standardized testing around the country getting stronger

To get an idea of what is going on around the country in regards to the growing anti-standardized testing movement, look at the following collection of stories that have come out in the last week or about the growing resistance around the country to high-stakes standardized testing. This list was issued by the National Center for […]

66 by Valerie Strauss / 5h

5-14-14 The Answer Sheet

The Answer Sheet: Holder, Duncan asked to investigate ‘racially discriminatory’ school closings in New OrleansThis week marks the 60th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, the 1954 Supreme Court ruling that was intended to strike down the “separate but equal” doctrine that codified racism in America’s public schools. You can read a report here about what it has and has not accomplished. Fol

1 by mike simpson / 8h 

5-15-14 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:

Florida Teachers Union Urges Scott to Veto Voucher Expansion Bill

Governor Rick Scott saw what happened to Charlie Crist when he vetoed SB6, republicans first attempt at imposing a test-based teacher evaluation bill. There’s no chance Scott will veto voucher expansion. But the FEA is doing the right thing by emphasizing in letter to Scott what’s so tragically wrong with the bill, and getting themselves on record as opposing Scott and state republicans. Writes Le

by Bob Sikes / 3h 

5-14-14 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: Testing Screw-Ups, Fines and We’re Working on ItWTSP reporter Grayson Kamm went looking for more answers about last months FCAT snafu and spoke with education commissioner Pam Stewart. He writes: “Where is the state in figuring out how much money this screw-up cost us?”

by mike simpson / 8h

5-15-14 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.:

Glen Brown.

Rahm escalates the war with the City’s public school principals.

Clarice Berry, President of the Chicago Principals Association. A shill for the union? A few days ago the principal at Blaine elementary school on the City’s north side blasted Rahm Emanuel as a bully. First with a piece on the op-ed page of the Sun-Times. Then with a blistering appearance on WTTW’s Chicago Tonight. In the Sun-Times’ piece Troy A. LaRaviere wrote, “I did not travel across an ocea

by Fred Klonsky / 2min 

Glen Brown. What is at stake right now.

Dear Fred, you know I have said this many times: What is at stake right now is an adjudication of claims that public employees have against policymakers who have coerced changes to public employees’ benefits and rights and who are breaking public employees’ contractual and constitutional promises. These are legitimate rights and moral concerns not only for public employees, but for every citizen

by Fred Klonsky / 1h hide  //  save

Judge Belz and the injunction.

It is hard for a public employee to take good news in Illinois without checking on Snopes to see if isn’t a hoax. District Judge John Belz issued a temporary restraining order and and an injunction, preventing the implementation of pension theft as scheduled on July 1. My good friend John Dillon is not so ready to celebrate. And his arguments are – as they always are – sound. They can be summed u

by Fred Klonsky / 1h 

5-14-14 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.: The power of Ras Baraka’s win in Newark yesterday.The new Mayor of Newark, New Jersey, Ras Baraka and daughters. To get a feeling for the importance of Ras Baraka’s victory in the Newark Mayor’s race yesterday, don’t read my words. Read from the front page story of the election in this morning’s NY Ti

by mike simpson / 8h 

5-15-14 Ed Notes Online

Ed Notes Online:

MORE In the Media: Lupkin, Wainer and Cavanagh in The Chief

“While there were clear efforts made in this contract about improving communication and collaboration, too much has been left on the table,” Ms. Cavanagh said. “I stand up with my chapter as we continue to urge the UFT and the city to go back to that table.” By DAN ROSENBLUM A couple of days before about 2,000 delegates voted May 7 to recommend for ratification the United Federation of Teachers’s

by ed notes online / 2h 

UFT Contract: When the Unity Spin Doesn't Play

My District Rep spun her shit at a school with surrounding schools attending – big crowd – listened to her avoid health issues and baited retro pay – lots of very mad people leaving the building bewildered – all voting NO – DR was like watching FOX News.... An Ed Notes ReaderMaybe the UFT is rushing to get the vote done before their hordes of people racing to the schools turn off even more people.

by ed notes online / 26min 

NYC Educator: When Will Unity See Its Berlin Wall Fall?

I say without any reservations that there is an illness in Unity.  Presently, its members sense only the "stillness in the wind" and they think it will always be so.  They think they can stand without the support of the rank and file.  The rank and file of today will become the retirees of tomorrow and many are intensely unhappy.  I say Unity is living in a house of cards. They may laugh

by ed notes online / 25min 

UFT Contract: Factor in de Blasio Sellout on Charters - With UFT Support

That brings the total amount his administration plans to spend on charters in FY2015 to nearly $1.3 billion, up from $1.06 billion this year.... Capital NY If you don't think the ATR stuff in the contract has nothing to do with the "Big Plan" to chop down a third of union teachers, you must be "smoking something" - to use a phrase our former union chief Sandra Feldman used when

by ed notes online / 46min hide  //  save

Petition the UFT for a mass meeting to explain the contract's impact on ATRs

we wish to have a full enumeration of all actions that would constitute "problematic behavior". .. ATR  Stuff is coming in fast and furious. This popped up. UFT claims it is having mass borough meetings and sending its people into schools to explain the contract. Jeff and I wrote about the "problematic behavior" issue. If the UFT/Unity leadership had a good history of really fi

by ed notes online / 1h 

Newark Ed Update: Round One: Baraka v. Jeffries, Round Two: Baraka v. Christie

I urge my NYC pals who will be voting on the contract to look closely at the Cami Anderson "Newark One" charter giveaway plan and the consequences for NY Teachers over the next 5 years. Randi sold the teachers of Newark a contract a few years ago. I'm betting the UFT contract contains a hidden mine field - why? Because they always do. Our correspondent in Newark has recovered from the wi

by ed notes online / 2h  

5-14-14 Ed Notes Online: Tonight: Laurel Sturt's "Dante's Inferno" - Reading and Discussion

Ed Notes Online: Tonight: Laurel Sturt's "Dante's Inferno" - Reading and Discussion: Tonight: Laurel Sturt's "Dante's Inferno" - Reading and DiscussionReads like a Steven King horror story.I started reading Laurel Sturt's "Dante's Inferno," her story of 10 years in hell in the NYC school system under  the Bloomberg years, on a beach in Florida in February.  There were

1 by mike simpson / 8h 

5-15-14 @ The Chalk Face

@ THE CHALK FACE:

More on the USDOE Principal Ambassador Fellowship Program

On May 14, 2014, I wrote this post on the US Department of Education’s (USDOE) Principal Ambassador Fellowship Program (PAF). I note that via PAF, it is possible for US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan to monitor and control local districts of education. My concern is that districts employing Duncan’s PAFs unwittingly open the door to site-level […]

1 by deutsch29 / 2h 

My Speech to the Graduates: Don’t Listen to Graduation Speakers

My Speech to the Graduates: Don’t Listen to Graduation Speakers. via My Speech to the Graduates: Don’t Listen to Graduation Speakers.

1 by plthomasedd / 3min 

Congratulations Mayor Baraka and Newark!

Congratulations Mayor Ras Baraka! Thank you Newark! Congratulations to all of you who help assume mayoral responsibilities! Ras Baraka and the students, teachers, and families of Newark have risen up and handed a pivotal defeat to corporate reformers. Your grassroots efforts repelled the last minute infusion of cash from the Billionaires’ Boys Club. You took […]

1 by John Thompson / 1h 

5-14-14 @ The Chalk Face

@ THE CHALK FACE: My Interview with CounterpunchSacramento jounralist Seth Sandronsky learned of the release of my book, A Chronicle of Echoes, and requested an interview on the book and other issues, including questions about my personal history and varied education reform topics. His interview is posted in the online publication, Counterpunch May 14, 2014  An Interview With Mercedes K. Schneider

by mike simpson / 6h 

5-15-13 Curmudgucation

CURMUDGUCATION:

What is "Failing"?

(This started out as part of this previous column, but it got away from me) We've been hearing a ton of verbage spewed out over the past umpteen years about failing schools. We need Common Core because our schools are failing. We can't go back to the failing schools of yesteryear. Failing failing failing. Well, the next time somebody tells you that schools are failing, please ask them this for me-

by Peter Greene / 40min hide  //  save

What Is "Working"?

At first this post started with a long embedded twitter conversation between @TeacherSabrina and @MichaelPetrilli, spinning off from a discussion of how charters and closings lead to re-segregation, but I've narrowed it down to a most revealing exchange:@TeacherSabrina "Who should get to decide what works and what doesn't?"@Michael Petrilli "What works and what doesn't work is a mat

7 by Peter Greene / 2h 

US DOE Ambassadors!

US Department of Edumacation press releaseThere has been much discussion lately of our Principal Ambassador program, a program in which US DOE-indoctrinated principals are inserted into school settings where they can sort of work for the school district while spreading the good word of Common Core Etc. This was spun off of our successful Teacher Ambassador program which replaced classroom teachers

2 by Peter Greene / 2h 

5-14-13 Curmudgucation

CURMUDGUCATION: Why Isn't the 21st Century Here Yet?Technology is awesome and transformative, and will completely change the way we do business in schools and in the classroom. So why hasn't that really happened yet? Why aren't we all working in high-tech, super-duper computer driven schools yet? I think I know, and it has nothing to do with philosophies of education or resistance to change.I'm st

by mike simpson / 8h 

5-15-14 Perdido Street School

Perdido Street School:

Is Cuomo Allying With Bloomberg To Bring Olympics To New York?

Because the dreams of the Little Billionaire are never really crushed, no matter how many times Shelly Silver sticks a shiv in them:One of the biggest disappointments of Michael Bloomberg’s tenure as mayor was his failure to lure the Olympic flame to New York. Now, one of his closest lieutenants and the architect of the 2012 bid is pitching a fresh case for bringing the 2024 summer games to the ci

by reality-based edu... / 8min 

Chris Christie's Former Campaign Manager Goes After Christie

Getting closer and closer to Chris Christie: Gov. Chris Christie’s former campaign manager says he told the governor about plans to close lanes on the George Washington Bridge in December, contradicting Christie’s claims he had no prior knowledge. Bill Stepien, who lost his job in the scandal, contends he told Christie about the GWB traffic plans on Dec. 12, a day before the governor told reporter

by reality-based edu... / 0min 

NYSED Commissioner John King Says APPR Teacher Evaluations And Common Core Will Bring About Greater Economic Equality

I called this yesterday before NYSED Commissioner King gave his Brown vs Board of Education speech:Anybody want to bet an APPR artifact that King recycles some of the same boilerplate from the last speech about how the fight for education reform/Common Core is much like the fight for civil rights for this speech today?Here's Jessica Bakeman on yesterday's speech:ALBANY—On the 60th anniversary of t

by reality-based edu... / 2h 

5-14-14 Perdido Street School

Perdido Street School: Get Ready For Another Common Core/Civil Rights Speech From NYSED Commissioner John KingNYSED Commissioner King has already compared himself to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and said the education reform/Common Core fight is much like the fight for civil rights:Paraphrasing Martin Luther King, Jr., the commissioner said: “In a real sense, this afternoon, we can say that our feet

by mike simpson / 8h 

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Good News! Judge Belz's Injunction and Rahm is all ears.

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Good News! Judge Belz's Injunction and Rahm is all ears.:

Good News! Judge Belz's Injunction and Rahm is all ears.

GOOD NEWS...Circuit Judge John Belz has issued a temporary restraining order blocking the implementation of the new state pension-robbing law, SB-1.

“I do think it has led to great confusion … almost across-the-board confusion,” Belz said in a Sangamon County courtroom as he issued a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction blocking implementation of the law until further action of the court or resolution of the case. “There’s just too much uncertainty.”

Cullerton (left) knew SB-1 was unconstitutional, calling his bill, SB2404, "less unconstitutional."

No surprise here. Everyone who cynically pushed the bill, including Madigan & Cullerton --not to mention Quinn who signed it into law -- knew it was unconstitutional from the get-go. Judge Belz's injunction just means that the final court decision won't be as costly and destructive as it might have been.

The decision takes the pension issue off the table, at least until after the elections. But it also allows pols to dodge the revenue issue -- taxing the state's free-loading mega-corporations, Mercantile Exchange transactions, and/or implementing a fair and reasonable state income tax to support public works and pay the state's pension bills.

LOOK, IT'S THE NEW RAHM...Blaine Principal Troy LaRaviere and all the Rahm-dissing principals who've Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Good News! Judge Belz's Injunction and Rahm is all ears.:

Don't Write Off Everyone in the Tea Party - Bridging Differences - Education Week

Don't Write Off Everyone in the Tea Party - Bridging Differences - Education Week:

Don't Write Off Everyone in the Tea Party

By Deborah Meier on May 15, 2014 9:45 AM

Deborah Meier continues her conversation with Mike Klonsky today.

Dear Mike,

You make a good argument, Mike.   You mostly persuade me.  But ...

Your argument is weakened by citing the situation in Chicago where, you claim, we don't need the Right and allying with Tea Party types might actually weaken us. 

It's often, as you know, a local-by-local situation. I'm not mostly talking about formal alliances, but whether one "welcomes" individuals who do not share our agenda.  No one stops them from joining with us under our banners, you might reply. 

But how one words one's banner—chants and slogans—makes it easier or harder to widen one's net.  I've been involved with causes that, in retrospect, carefully crafted their banner to be sure only the pure of mind would join us. 

I still hold out hope that many of those who have been attracted to the Tea Party (et al) hold fears that are legitimate, and that I share.  It means not writing them all off.  I, too, fear the government AND the corporate elites.  They are often one and the same.

I like localism because it provides a break on central power and because it's where ordinary people can practice democracy.  Modern technology makes this even more imperative.  It has become easier to imagine—ala science fiction—real dystopias. Ditto for privacy, which is as essential to democracy as institutional transparency is.  Can there be a more dystopian idea than claiming corporations are people or that the state must know all?

I suspect that you and I, case by case, might reach the same conclusions.  But having spent a good part of my life in small sectarian milieus (in which I learned a lot of value), I know how easy it is to Don't Write Off Everyone in the Tea Party - Bridging Differences - Education Week: