Latest News and Comment from Education

Thursday, June 5, 2014

Nite Cap 6-5-14 #BATsACT #RealEdTalk #EDCHAT #P2



James Baldwin said it best: 

"For these are all our children, and we will profit by or pay for whatever they become."


A BIG EDUCATION APE NITE CAP




6-4-14 Wait What? - A call to arms (I mean pens) – A big day as I announce a running mate and petitions now available - Wait What?
A call to arms (I mean pens) – A big day as I announce a running mate and petitions now available - Wait What?: Wait What? A call to arms (I mean pens) – A big day as I announce a running mate and petitions now availableAfter dropping off the appropriate paperwork, the Connecticut Secretary of the State’s office tweeted:   Denise Merrill @SOTS Merrill   @Jonathanpelto today was authorized by my of
6-5-14 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): Insurance and the Common GoodA few weeks ago, a hail storm battered my neighborhood: Within the hour after the storm, signs appeared around my neighborhood for miles advertising hail damage repair for cars and homes. And while I have two badly damaged cars, my home suffe
City charters get $100M more for special ed than they spend; debate rages in Harrisburg | Philadelphia Public School Notebook
City charters get $100M more for special ed than they spend; debate rages in Harrisburg | Philadelphia Public School Notebook: City charters get $100M more for special ed than they spend; debate rages in Harrisburgby thenotebook on Jun 05 2014 Posted in Latest newsShare on emailMore Sharing ServicesCOMMENTS (1)PRINTPhiladelphia charter schools received more than $175 million last year to educate s
Chicago’s George Schmidt on Martin Koldyke, “Golden Apples,” and School “Turnaround” | deutsch29
Chicago’s George Schmidt on Martin Koldyke, “Golden Apples,” and School “Turnaround” | deutsch29: Chicago’s George Schmidt on Martin Koldyke, “Golden Apples,” and School “Turnaround”June 5, 2014On June 4, 2014, I posted this piece by a guest writer, a Chicago area teacher, who has concerns about Martin Koldyke’s “Golden Apples” teacher recognition program. Her concern is that the “Golden Apples” p
4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit 6-5-14
4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: Education OverturnedWritten by Red Queen in L.A., from her blog |  http://bit.ly/1kyridf Thursday 5 Jun 2014  ::  “Teaching To The Test” is a pedagogical revolution. Far from benign, it amounts to a coup d’état of not only the minds of our children, but their hearts as well. Informally, in my personal experience, I became vaguely aware by rumor during t
6-5-14 @ The Chalk Face
@ THE CHALK FACE: Chicago’s George Schmidt on Martin Koldyke, “Golden Apples,” and School “Turnaround”On June 4, 2014, I posted this piece by a guest writer, a Chicago area teacher, who has concerns about Martin Koldyke’s “Golden Apples” teacher recognition program. Her concern is that the “Golden Apples” program is a benevolently-disguised, self-serving effort for Koldyke to use teachers to staff
6-5-14 Seattle Schools Community Forum
Seattle Schools Community Forum: Math Adoption: Thoughts and AnalysisGood morning.   That was quite an evening (and I even got to leave as the Board continue to slog through the lengthy agenda).   I'll try to have another thread about other items I heard about at last night's meeting.As I go thru this thread, some of these thoughts will sound familiar as I quickly went thru the 11(?) threads I wro
The Quarter Century Con of Vouchers | Larry Miller's Blog: Educate All Students!
The Quarter Century Con of Vouchers | Larry Miller's Blog: Educate All Students!: The Quarter Century Con of VouchersFiled under: Vouchers — millerlf @ 12:17 pm By Joel McNally Wednesday, June 4, 2014 Express MilwaukeeIt’s taken a quarter of a century, but Republican taxpayers around the state and some of their representatives are finally starting to realize they’ve been hoodwinked by their own pa
Waking Up to Education Activism
Education Activism: Waking Up to Education ActivismBy Mark NaisonShare on facebookShare on twitterShare on emailShare on pinterest_shareMore Sharing Services0My journey into education activism began in the Spring of 2003 when I was asked to start an oral history project documenting the African American presence in Bronx Neighborhoods, which had been neglected by scholars of Bronx History as well a
EDUCATION REFORM Beneath the Surface Part II: Marketizing School Reform - The Brooklyn Rail
EDUCATION REFORM Beneath the Surface Part II: Marketizing School Reform - The Brooklyn Rail: EDUCATION REFORM Beneath the SurfacePart II: Marketizing School Reformby John GarveyI ended the first article in this series by discussing the Department of Education’s focus on closing old and opening new schools. I’ll begin this second article by discussing the complementary focus on the marketization of
School District's Use of Worker Visa Program Draws Scrutiny - WSJ
School District's Use of Worker Visa Program Draws Scrutiny - WSJ: School District's Use of Worker Visa Program Draws ScrutinyTexas District Allegedly Exploited H-1B Program in Recruiting Teachers From Overseas.From left, Alfonso Casares Tafur, Elizabeth Niño de Rivera and Francisco Javier Marcano were hired with H-1B visas. They are now advocating for the Garland, Texas, school district to help t
WHY ARE SO MANY MORE TEACHERS “RETIRING”? | DCGEducator: Doing The Right Thing
WHY ARE SO MANY MORE TEACHERS “RETIRING”? | DCGEducator: Doing The Right Thing: WHY ARE SO MANY MORE TEACHERS “RETIRING”?No, that is not me!When I began teaching in 1970, and throughout almost all of my 38 year career in NYC and suburbs, teaching was a lifelong calling. Many, like me, started right out of college, grabbed a Master’s degree on the way to get permanent certification, and taught unti
6-5-14 LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD
LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District): Morning Read: Money race begins for McKenna, JohnsonMcKenna, Johnson seek funds, backers in L.A. Unified race The top two finishers in this week’s election for the Los Angeles Board of Education will meet in an August runoff, but first they face another crucial contest: the race for money and powerful end
Announcing the President's First-Ever Tumblr Q&A | The White House
Announcing the President's First-Ever Tumblr Q&A | The White House: Announcing the President's First-Ever Tumblr Q&AWe’re excited to announce that on Tuesday, June 10, President Obama will take toTumblr to answer your questions about education, college affordability, and reducing student loan debt.Getting a higher education is the single-most important investment students can make in their
NAfME – Music Education – CORE ARTS STANDARDS
NAfME – Music Education – CORE ARTS STANDARDS: CORE ARTS STANDARDSNAfME, as a part of the National Coalition for Core Arts Standards, has re-imagined the 1994 National Standards. Released June 4, 2014, these new Core Arts Standards can be found at www.nationalartsstandards.org in a searchable, web-based format that allows users to look across all art forms. The following are key documents for musi
Vigor not Rigorrr Part 2 Oregon Save Our Schools:
Oregon Save Our Schools: Vigor not Rigorrr Part 2: Vigor not Rigorrr Part 2Another local commentary by a parent on the overuse of the word 'rigor' in the constant push for corporate education reform in Oregon.  Enjoy! Oregon Save Our Schools: Schools Need Vigor, Not RigorOregon Save Our Schools: Schools Need Vigor, Not Rigor: Schools Need Vigor, Not Rigorby Joanne YatvinThough my years in the clas
6-5-14 The Whole Child Blog — Daniel Pink: Perfecting Your Power to Move Others — Whole Child Education
Daniel Pink: Perfecting Your Power to Move Others — Whole Child Education: THE WHOLE CHILD BLOGDaniel Pink: Perfecting Your Power to Move OthersJune 5, 2014 by Laura VarlasEducators teach, lead, and are learners, themselves. But there's a big piece of every profession that often gets overlooked. In his 2014 ASCD Annual Conference opening general session, author Daniel Pink argued that, in a signif
Yesterday’s News | EduShyster
Yesterday’s News | EduShyster: Yesterday’s News What do you call it when the arrival of charter chains forces the closure of other charters? Choice.By Sue AltmanBe warned, starters of small charters!You may have enjoyed a red-carpet spotlight in the past, but don’t expect much loyalty from reformy fashionistas these days. It’s a school-eat-school world out there, and on the path to global competit
The Fordham Institute’s Common Core Dark Comedy Continues: Plane Trips & What “Is the Meaning of ‘Is’ “? | Missouri Education Watchdog
The Fordham Institute’s Common Core Dark Comedy Continues: Plane Trips & What “Is the Meaning of ‘Is’ “? | Missouri Education Watchdog: The Fordham Institute’s Common Core Dark Comedy Continues: Plane Trips & What “Is the Meaning of ‘Is’ “?inShareNote to The Fordham Institute:  No offense, but you aren’t residents of our state.  Save your money, stay out of our states and our educational d
Morning Wink 6-5-14 AM Posts #BATsACT #RealEdTalk #EDCHAT #P2
BIG EDUCATION APE - MORNING WINK  AM POSTSLISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 6-5-14 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for allDiane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: Michigan: A Very Curious Story of Charter Management TechniquesThis is an astonishing story from Michigan. There, a persistent blogger named “Miss Fortune” discovered that a charter manager was i
LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 6-5-14 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: Michigan: A Very Curious Story of Charter Management TechniquesThis is an astonishing story from Michigan. There, a persistent blogger named “Miss Fortune” discovered that a charter manager was indicted on multiple charges, including tax evasion and bank fraud. His wife and brother plus a local contractor and his wife diverted near
6-5-14 Ed Notes Online Week
Ed Notes Online: Exposing the Charter School BS About DemographicsI saw this a few weeks ago and it reinforces the case that hook or crook, charters skim the cream despite claims all the kids in public and charters come from the same demographic and socio-economic status. Any teacher who works(ed) in public schools in certain neighborhoods, like I did in East Williamsburg (old-style) for 35 years
6-5-14 Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL
Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL: New World Cup Resources: Fun Commercial & Very Useful Google Street View ExpansionGoogle has just announced a big expansion of Street View images from Brazil, and you can see all their highlights here. I’m adding it to The Best Sites For Learning About Brazil. And here’s a fun World Cup commercial I’m adding to The Best
6-5-14 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.: George Schmidt. SEIU members were told by their union they had to cross CTU picket lines.- George Schmidt publishes Substance News. It’s actually worse about the 2012 strike. SEIU members were told by their union they had to cross CTU picket lines. As you remember, CPS opened more than 100 schools, cl
6-5-14 Answer Sheet
Answer Sheet: The education question we should be askingOne area of education that doesn’t get enough attention in the loud education reform debate is exactly what is worth learning. In the following post Alfie Kohn explores this problem. Kohn (www.alfiekohn.org) is the author of 13 books about education, parenting, and human behavior, including “The Myth of the Spoiled Child: Challenging the Conv
6-5-14 Schools Matter
Schools Matter: Marshall Tuck's white male friend Dax Shepard 'splains that cultural sterilization isn't "real racism"When I taught in the Los Angeles Unified Schools, I openly opposed the Vietnam War and was critical of the system’s race policies.  Fortunately, I was never threatened with dismissal, I belonged to a union. — Professor Rodolfo F. Acuña Students Protesting Marshall Tuck's
6-5-14 With A Brooklyn Accent: My Personal Journey into Eduction Activism
With A Brooklyn Accent: Why The Charter School Industry Has Become as Big a Threat to Public Education as Common CoreIn many parts of the country, unregulated, Corporate controlled charters are as big a threat to public education as Common Core. They represent crony capitalism at its worst, building on insider deals with politicians to legitimize high CEO salaries, private real estate deals, exemp
6-5-14 Curmudgucation Week
CURMUDGUCATION: FEE: A Floridian Trip through the Reformster SwampIn twenty-one short paragraphs, Patricia Levesque of FEE (Foundation for Excellence in Education)  manages to set a new record for sheer Density of Wrong. This seems to be FEE's specialty; in the vast coal mine of Common Core Carbonized Crap, FEE demonstrates the Supermaniacal ability to squeeze the raw materials of wrong into a shi
6-5-14 Perdido Street School
Perdido Street School: The Information The Education Department Wants Collected On StudentsStephanie Simon at Politico:The Education Department’s list of recommended data points, developed with state officials, is exhaustive. It includes what type of dental insurance a student carries, whether she’s allergic to dog dander and whether she belongs to a sorority in college. Each disciplinary incident
Why Can't Politicians Get Out of Schooling? :: Frederick M. Hess
Why Can't Politicians Get Out of Schooling? :: Frederick M. Hess: Why Can't Politicians Get Out of Schooling?by Frederick M. Hess  •  Jun 5, 2014 at 8:25 amCross-posted from Education Week Print Send RSS ShareWell, I'm starting to enter the back stretch on my next book, The Cage-Busting Teacher. It's due off to Harvard Ed Press in September, and should be out in early March. I thought I'd start sh
Stage set for budget fight over more K-12 money :: SI&A Cabinet Report :: The Essential Resource for Superintendents and the Cabinet
Stage set for budget fight over more K-12 money :: SI&A Cabinet Report :: The Essential Resource for Superintendents and the Cabinet: JUNE 05, 2014Stage set for budget fight over more K-12 moneyby Kimberly Beltran(Calif.) It’s not yet official, but school districts could be the beneficiaries of several billion more than what was proposed in Gov. Jerry Brown’s revised 2014-15 budget, released l
Education Overturned – redqueeninla
Education Overturned – redqueeninla: Education OverturnedWritten by redqueeninla in Education “Teaching To The Test” is a pegagogical revolution. Far from benign, it amounts to a coup d’état of not only the minds of our children, but their hearts as well.Informally, in my personal experience, I became vaguely aware by rumor during the 70′s that some students broke the rules and gamed standardized
Choosing to Remain Silent About the Dismantling of Urban Public Education | janresseger
Choosing to Remain Silent About the Dismantling of Urban Public Education | janresseger: Choosing to Remain Silent About the Dismantling of Urban Public EducationPosted on June 5, 2014 by janressegerIn his blog last week, the Rev. John H. Thomas, formerly General Minister and President of the United Church of Christ and now a professor and administrator at Chicago Theological Seminary, sharply cha
Groups behind civil rights complaint call for resignation of state’s school superintendent | The Lens
Groups behind civil rights complaint call for resignation of state’s school superintendent | The Lens: Groups behind civil rights complaint call for resignation of state’s school superintendentBy Jessica Williams, Staff writer    9 HOURS AGO      PRINTTwo community groups that recently charged the state’s Recovery School District with discrimination against African-American students called Thursda
What's Good for Rich Kids Is Good for Poor Ones, Too - Bridging Differences - Education Week
What's Good for Rich Kids Is Good for Poor Ones, Too - Bridging Differences - Education Week: What's Good for Rich Kids Is Good for Poor Ones, TooBy Deborah Meier on June 5, 2014 9:07 AMDeborah Meier writes again to Mike Klonsky today. She will post again next week on her summer reading recommendations before starting the blog's summer break.Dear Mike,It is galling when rich people in the ed polic
NYC Educator: Where Are the Brooklyn Queens Days of Yesteryear?
NYC Educator: Where Are the Brooklyn Queens Days of Yesteryear?: Where Are the Brooklyn Queens Days of Yesteryear?This is the day when teachers in Brooklyn and Queens hold fond memories of Brooklyn Queens Days past. It was the best holiday in the whole world. No one knew what it was about. Sure there were stories, but they were contradictory and incomprehensible, and no one cared what they were an
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Rahm's new kind of patronage with a new 'partner'
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Rahm's new kind of patronage with a new 'partner': Rahm's new kind of patronage with a new 'partner'Rahm's new "partner", IG Joe FergusonRAHM ON CHICAGO TONIGHT was like a broken record, last night, letting us know, no less than 6 times, that he and I.G. Joe Ferguson were now working as  "partners" to get the city out from under the burdensome and

YESTERDAY

Legislators want districts to be explicit about how they’re targeting dollars | EdSource Today
Legislators want districts to be explicit about how they’re targeting dollars | EdSource Today: Legislators want districts to be explicit about how they’re targeting dollarsJune 4th, 2014 | Add a Comment | By John FensterwaldShare on facebookShare on twitterShare on emailShare on pinterest_shareMore Sharing Services0Behind closed doors in coming days, legislative leaders and Gov. Jerry Brown will
Promoting kids who aren't ready. Keeping disruptive students... | Get Schooled | www.ajc.com
Promoting kids who aren't ready. Keeping disruptive students... | Get Schooled | www.ajc.com: Promoting kids who aren't ready. Keeping disruptive students in class. Any solutions?  COMMENT(4) 0 0 0 NewView Larger School disciplinePrevious PostsGeorgia announces Milestones. But will tests replacing the CRCT and EOCT become Millstones?June 4, 2014School to work: Is it working?June 3, 2014New study:
Oregon Save Our Schools: Schools Need Vigor, Not Rigor
Oregon Save Our Schools: Schools Need Vigor, Not Rigor: Schools Need Vigor, Not Rigorby Joanne YatvinThough my years in the classroom are long past, at heart I am still a cranky old English teacher who bristles at some of the neologisms that have crept into public language.  I never tack “ly” onto ordinal number words, or say “myself” when I mean “I” or “me.” I won’t use “access” or “impact” as ve
A Chicago Teacher Questions Martin Koldyke’s “Golden Apples” Program | deutsch29
A Chicago Teacher Questions Martin Koldyke’s “Golden Apples” Program | deutsch29: A Chicago Teacher Questions Martin Koldyke’s “Golden Apples” ProgramJune 4, 2014A few days ago, a Chicago teacher contacted me to make me aware of a program in Chicago, the “Golden Apple” program, one that supposedly rewards good teachers yet seems more like a front to supply a temporary teaching staff in schools tha
Public Education in an Econocracy | educarenow
Public Education in an Econocracy | educarenow: Public Education in an EconocracyPosted on June 4, 2014 | Leave a commentIs there hope in fighting in the neoliberal agenda for education?  Is there a chance of pushing back against a one-dimensional, market driven approach toeverything, one that most certainly includes education?An answer lies in Paul Carr and Brad Porfilio’s,  The Obama Education F
Gene V Glass: Education in Two Worlds
Gene V Glass: Education in Two Worlds: A Basis Schools Horror StoryStaci Almager is Executive Director of "Transplants for Children: Keeping Children Alive, Keeping Families Together" in San Antonio, Texas. Basis Schools Inc. is a company that has opened a dozen charter schools nationwide, most recently in San Antonio. US News and World Report consistently ranks Basis charter schools amo
Nite Cap 6-4-14 #BATsACT #RealEdTalk #EDCHAT #P2
James Baldwin said it best: "For these are all our children, and we will profit by or pay for whatever they become."A BIG EDUCATION APE NITE CAP6-4-14 Wait What?Wait What?: Wait What? Statement from Jonathan Pelto on the Connecticut American Federation of Teachers’s LPAC endorsement of MalloyStatement from Jonathan Pelto, exploring gubernatorial candidate on American Federation of Teache





6-4-14 Wait What? - A call to arms (I mean pens) – A big day as I announce a running mate and petitions now available - Wait What?

A call to arms (I mean pens) – A big day as I announce a running mate and petitions now available - Wait What?:



Wait What? 







A call to arms (I mean pens) – A big day as I announce a running mate and petitions now available

After dropping off the appropriate paperwork, the Connecticut Secretary of the State’s office tweeted:   Denise Merrill @SOTS Merrill   @Jonathanpelto today was authorized by my office to collect signatures to be a petitioning candidate for governor.   And Jonathan Pelto is petitioning under the Education and Democracy Party and must collect 7,500 signatures by […] The post A call to arms (I mean


6-4-14 Wait What?
Wait What?: Wait What? Statement from Jonathan Pelto on the Connecticut American Federation of Teachers’s LPAC endorsement of MalloyStatement from Jonathan Pelto, exploring gubernatorial candidate on American Federation of Teacher’s Connecticut Legislative and Political Action Committee (LPAC) endorsement of Dannel Malloy  Without providing gubernatorial candidates with any opportunity to fill out




6-5-14 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):







Insurance and the Common Good
A few weeks ago, a hail storm battered my neighborhood: Within the hour after the storm, signs appeared around my neighborhood for miles advertising hail damage repair for cars and homes. And while I have two badly damaged cars, my home suffered only a few dings to the siding and some ripped window screens (none of which will result in my filing insurance claims). But the insurance vultures cont






6-4-14 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): Orwellian Educational Change under Obama: Crisis Discourse, Utopian Expectations, and Accountability Failures by Paul ThomasOrwellian Educational Change under Obama: Crisis Discourse, Utopian Expectations, and Accountability Failures by Paul Thomas.1 by plthomasedd / 1h 


City charters get $100M more for special ed than they spend; debate rages in Harrisburg | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

City charters get $100M more for special ed than they spend; debate rages in Harrisburg | Philadelphia Public School Notebook:



City charters get $100M more for special ed than they spend; debate rages in Harrisburg

by thenotebook on Jun 05 2014 Posted in Latest news



Philadelphia charter schools received more than $175 million last year to educate special education students, but spent only about $77 million for that purpose, according to a Notebook analysis of state documents.
That is a nearly $100 million gap at a time when city education leaders are considering raising some class sizes to 41 students and laying off 800 more teachers in District-run schools due to severe funding shortfalls. Payments to charters, which are fixed under law, make up nearly a third of its $2.4 billion budget.
The issue goes beyond Philadelphia. Statewide, charters, including cybers, collect about $350 million for special education students, but spend just $156 million on them, according to calculations from the Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officers (PASBO). The Notebook used the PASBO analysis of state data to calculate the numbers for Philadelphia, which has half the state’s 170 charter schools.
Although most parties agree that this situation is the result of a faulty state charter funding system, there is fierce disagreement over how to fix it. While legislators and the Corbett administration finalize a 2014-15 budget, school districts and charter school proponents are engaged in virtual war as they all scramble for their piece of what most agree is an insufficient pot of money.
“The charters are benefiting from an unfair system, although they didn’t create the system,” said Susan Gobreski of Education Voters PA. “But the basic issue is inadequate resources. People are trying to hold on to anything they’ve got, and they choose not to be concerned about what happens to others."
Charter proponents say that losing this money – now often used to pay for other educational services, but also sometimes plowed into the coffers of for-profit school management companies – will compromise their ability to provide for student needs and even endanger the future of some schools that have become dependent on the funds.
“Politicians that I’ve talked to just don’t understand what this will do to charter schools,” John Swoyer, CEO of MaST Community Charter in Northeast City charters get $100M more for special ed than they spend; debate rages in Harrisburg | Philadelphia Public School Notebook:

Chicago’s George Schmidt on Martin Koldyke, “Golden Apples,” and School “Turnaround” | deutsch29

Chicago’s George Schmidt on Martin Koldyke, “Golden Apples,” and School “Turnaround” | deutsch29:



Chicago’s George Schmidt on Martin Koldyke, “Golden Apples,” and School “Turnaround”

June 5, 2014


On June 4, 2014, I posted this piece by a guest writer, a Chicago area teacher, who has concerns about Martin Koldyke’s “Golden Apples” teacher recognition program. Her concern is that the “Golden Apples” program is a benevolently-disguised, self-serving effort for Koldyke to use teachers to staff his Academy for Urban Leadership “turnaround” schools (AULS).
The guest writer read my book, A Chronicle of Echoes, which includes three chapters detailing the history of mayoral control of Chicago public schools, and wished to add to the details in my book.
In response to the guest post, George Schmidt of Chicago-based Substance News offered the following details. Schmidt originally posted the information below in the comments section of the guest post. However, his experience with the topic warrants its own post.
I give you George Schmidt:

As I’ve posted before at various points and on substancenews.net, Koldyke is one of the main leaders of corporate school reform in Chicago. His original smokescreen was the Golden Apple Foundation. The Foundation began awarding the “Golden Apple” academy awards for “excellence in teaching” in the 1980s, by the way. Chicago’s public television station, WTTW, was part of the Golden Apple hype by 1990. Every year, they aired a ceremony which was basically like the Academy Awards. Some teachers ate it up. It turned out there was a lot of phony stuff about the program.
(Disclosure: I was a semi-finalist one year; I was told by one of the judges that I didn’t make the final cut because they were afraid I would “pull a Jane Fonda” at the TV show. At that time, I had pioneered the “Macintosh Computer Classroom” at Amundsen High School and among other things was featured in a four-page Apple promotional on using the Macs in classrooms…).
Within a few years, the Golden Apples had evolved into as much hype as anything else. One friend of mine who won one told me she did everything but audition for the “show,” changing her wardrobe, practicing a certain kind of telegenic lesson, and even losing some weight while her kids (at one of Chicago’s “better” high schools) worked overtime on their nominating letters.
By the early 1990s, Koldyke, in partnership with then mayor Richard M. Daley, had become the Chicago “School Reform Authority” chairman. As such, he was overseeing the mandated “reform” programs in Chicago, using powers that still lingered from the old “Chicago School Finance Authority.” Koldyke was a right wing ideologue the entire time. The “Reform” authority paid a quarter 
Chicago’s George Schmidt on Martin Koldyke, “Golden Apples,” and School “Turnaround” | deutsch29:

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit 6-5-14

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







Education Overturned

Written by Red Queen in L.A., from her blog |  http://bit.ly/1kyridf Thursday 5 Jun 2014  ::  “Teaching To The Test” is a pedagogical revolution. Far from benign, it amounts to a coup d’état of not only the minds of our children, but their hearts as well. Informally, in my personal experience, I became vaguely aware by rumor during the 70′s that some students broke the rules and gamed


4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit 6-4-14
4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: TEACHING THHOUGH TRAUMA: LAUSD says budget’s to tight to treat stressed out kidsAnnie Gilbertson | KPCC 89.3 FM | Pass/Fail |  http://bit.ly/1kKPymI Benjamin Brayfield/KPCC Like many students at Highland Park's Franklin High, ninth-grader Noemi Potenciano lost a brother to a drive by. Across L.A. Unified services for students affected by trauma are extr


6-5-14 @ The Chalk Face

@ THE CHALK FACE:







Chicago’s George Schmidt on Martin Koldyke, “Golden Apples,” and School “Turnaround”
On June 4, 2014, I posted this piece by a guest writer, a Chicago area teacher, who has concerns about Martin Koldyke’s “Golden Apples” teacher recognition program. Her concern is that the “Golden Apples” program is a benevolently-disguised, self-serving effort for Koldyke to use teachers to staff his Academy for Urban Leadership “turnaround” schools (AULS). The […]
Why Are So Many More Teachers “Retiring”?
WHY ARE SO MANY MORE TEACHERS “RETIRING”?.


6-4-14 @ The Chalk Face
@ THE CHALK FACE: The Damage Done by the “Texas Meteor”The 2013 NBER paper, “School Accountability, Postsecondary and Attainment,” by Jennifer Jennings, David Deming, Sarah Cohodes, and Christopher Jencks, was initially welcomed as evidence in support of test-driven accountability. Jennings et. al concluded that the Texas test-driven accountability of the 1990s increased student performance of mat


6-5-14 Seattle Schools Community Forum

Seattle Schools Community Forum:







Math Adoption: Thoughts and Analysis

Good morning.   That was quite an evening (and I even got to leave as the Board continue to slog through the lengthy agenda).   I'll try to have another thread about other items I heard about at last night's meeting.As I go thru this thread, some of these thoughts will sound familiar as I quickly went thru the 11(?) threads I wrote for the comments.  Some of these thoughts are your thoughts and I


6-4-14 Seattle Schools Community Forum
Seattle Schools Community Forum: Math Adoption - The Staff Strikes BackReviewing the updated agenda for tomorrow night's Board meeting, it looks like staff have been burning the midnight oil.First, the speakers list is full with nine people on the waitlist.  The overwhelming number of comments are to be about the math adoption.Next, on the K-5 Math Instructional Materials Adoption, there are many


The Quarter Century Con of Vouchers | Larry Miller's Blog: Educate All Students!

The Quarter Century Con of Vouchers | Larry Miller's Blog: Educate All Students!:



The Quarter Century Con of Vouchers

Filed under: Vouchers — millerlf @ 12:17 pm 
By Joel McNally Wednesday, June 4, 2014 Express Milwaukee


It’s taken a quarter of a century, but Republican taxpayers around the state and some of their representatives are finally starting to realize they’ve been hoodwinked by their own party’s flimflam advocacy of private school vouchers.

You have to hand it to the voucher movement, though. One of the biggest complaints about modern-day politics is that political leaders rarely look any further into the future than the next election.

The voucher movement has been one of the longest running cons in Wisconsin political history.

Private school vouchers began in 1990 with 300 Milwaukee students in seven schools at a cost of $700,000. Like that classic ’50s horror movie monster in The Blob, it has grown inexorably ever since into a statewide program with nearly 30,000 students and a cost approaching $230 million a year.
The shocking thing is that this wasn’t one of those big government programs by tax-and-spend Democrats. It was conservative Republicans gleefully feeding the beast. But anyone who looked closely at the Republicans’ rationale for their enormous spending increases knew from the start something was fishy.

Republicans claimed vouchers were a program to improve racial and economic equality by providing the same private school educational opportunities to poor, black children in Milwaukee’s inner city that were available to wealthy, white suburban children.
It’s not an overstatement to say the next Wisconsin Republican legislative proposal to improve the lives of poor African Americans in Milwaukee’s central city will be their first.

Many Republicans wouldn’t even deny it. Since they don’t want to think of themselves as nasty, mean-spirited people, they’ve created an entire political philosophy to justify cuttingThe Quarter Century Con of Vouchers | Larry Miller's Blog: Educate All Students!:

Board President Michael Bonds on MPS in Transition The ‘hidden miracle’ happening in Milwaukee’s public schools By Lisa Kaiser Wednesday, June 4, 2014   Gregory Thornton, who led the district during the tumult over Gov. Scott Walker’s Act 10 and his slashing of aid to K-12 public schools by $800 million in his first budget, is leaving June 30 for Baltimore. The board of directors hopes to name an

Waking Up to Education Activism

Education Activism:



Waking Up to Education Activism

Education ActivismMy journey into education activism began in the Spring of 2003 when I was asked to start an oral history project documenting the African American presence in Bronx Neighborhoods, which had been neglected by scholars of Bronx History as well as African American History in New York City. The project was embraced by scores of community residents, who wanted to tell stories that defied common stereotypes about Black neighborhoods in the Bronx being places of menace and danger.
I found myself conducting as many as three interviews a week during the first two years of the project and before I knew it a portrait was emerging of the Bronx as a place of hope and opportunity for African Americans, West Indians, and Puerto Ricans living in crowded Harlem neighborhoods in the 1930s and 1940s — a place where they could find safer streets, better housing and better educational opportunities for their children.
This was a story that had never been told in print or broadcast media and was completely absent from the few existing books on Bronx history. It was an inspiring and important story of community building, but there was one feature of it that seemed to capture everyone’s imagination, the creation of an incredible live music culture in two multiethnic Bronx neighborhoods, Morrisania and Hunt’s Point, which included jazz, Afro Cuban music, doo wop and rhythm and blues.
The mixture of three cultural traditions – the African American,the West Indian, and the Latin Carribbean – inspired extraordinary musical creativity, present in live form in clubs and theaters, schools and churches, and occasionally in apartments and on street corners. What we came across was truly incredible: Here were two neighborhoods in the Bronx, largely Black and Latino, with a few remaining Jewish and Italian residents, who contributed as much or more to American popular music as any places in the country.
When we started publishing our findings and having articles written about our research in New York’s major newspapers, our work was discovered and seized upon by teachers and administrators in Bronx schools as something that could be incorporated into their curriculum and inspire their students, many of whom had a Education Activism: