7-17-14 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.:

Throwback Thursday. The theft of public employee pensions.

This is a post from Glen Brown from November of 2012. The facts are still the same. The links provide good information. Many Illinois citizens are aware that state legislators have not fully funded the public pension systems throughout the years; that instead of paying into the pension systems, they have used that money to pay for other services. Thus, without having to pay for services, state le

by Fred Klonsky / 1h 

IEA turns thumbs down on Democrat pension thieves Gabel, Biss and Fine.

Illinois pension thieves Senator Dan Biss and Representatives Robyn Gabel and Laura Fine appeared before an IPACE recommendation hearing that included our S.O.R.E. Retired chapter of IEA. They were asking for an IPACE recommendation in the November election. IPACE is the political action committee of the IEA. No member dues are used for election contributions. Every member can make a voluntary co

by Fred Klonsky / 13min 

Stephanie Gadlin. Fear and loathing in Chicago. Run Karen. Run.

- Stephanie Gadlin is Communications Director for the Chicago Teachers Union A THOUGHT: I am growing uncomfortable with the direction of the tone of the media stories emerging in light of the Sun-Times poll that has CTU President Karen Lewis besting Mayor Rahm Emanuel by 9 percentage points. While much of the coverage centers on speculation about whether or not Karen will seek public office and i

by Fred Klonsky / 49min hide  //  save

When the courts rule pension theft unconstitutional, what will be plan B.

Since the Illinois Supreme Court ruled a few weeks ago that the pension protection clause of the Illinois Constitution meant what it said, it now appears likely they will rule that Senate Bill 1 is also constitutional. The question becomes, what next? Some friends are concerned that Madigan and Quinn would then try to amend the constitution. As Crain’s points out, this is not so easy. The pension

by Fred Klonsky / 2h 

7-16-14 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.: Red-baiting in Chicago.Campaign kick-off poster for Tim Meegan. - Tim Meegan is a Chicago Teacher and candidate for Chicago Alderman in the 33rd Ward. Fred, Here is the full text of my speech. Clearly I’m not calling for violent revolution: My name is Timothy Meegan, I am a father of a CPS student and

by mike simpson / 8h 

7-17-14 Wait What? - Jonathan Pelto: Gubernatorial Candidate and A Really Nice Guy

Wait What?:

Wait What? 

Capital Prep’s Steve Perry to headline Koch Brothers’ event

This coming week, the Charles Koch Institute is sponsoring a forum, “featuring a panel talk with representatives of charter schools and conservative think tanks” at the Renaissance Nashville Hotel. The panel includes none-other-than then Steve Perry, the principal of Capital Preparatory Magnet School in Hartford, Connecticut….which is ironically identified as a charter school in the […] The post C

6 by jonpelto / 3min 

Connecticut Labor Leader attacks Pelto/Murphy (including on education)

Yesterday, the Political Director of the Machinists Union posted a commentary piece at My Left Nutmeg (http://www.myleftnutmeg.com/) belittling Ebony Murphy and my effort to give voters an alternative to the Democratic and Republican candidates in this year’s election for governor. My Left Nutmeg then provided me with the opportunity to respond. If you don’t read […] The post Connecticut Labor Lea

by jonpelto / 36min  

7-16-14 Wait What? - Jonathan Pelto: Gubernatorial Candidate and A Really Nice Guy

Wait What?: Wait What? Connecticut’s Gubernatorial Race Will Be Influenced by Education, Teachers (CT Magazine)Connecticut Magazine has posted a new article entitled, “Connecticut’s Gubernatorial Race Will Be Influenced by Education, Teachers.” As Connecticut Magazine explains, For the Democratic party, the full-throttled support of teachers’ unions in Connecticut is a given rule—like “I before E,

by mike simpson / 8h 

7-17-14 Schools Matter

Schools Matter:

Attacking Diane Ravitch? Or Questions Too Uncomfortable for the Comfortable?

"When Horn read Carroll’s post and realized it provided an opening for him to attack Diane Ravitch, I wonder if he wet himself from glee." --Mercedes SchneiderNo, Ms. Schneider, I did not wet myself from glee when I read Kathleen Carroll's commentary, but I am pretty pissed right now after reading your uncharacteristically bitter attack on anyone who raises questions about what Diane Rav

2 by Jim Horn / 2h 

Broadie McIntyre Demotes Top Ranked Principal to Make Room for Corporate Leadership Trainees

With an anonymous gift (is that a Broad smell or Gates?) and RttT money, UTK and Knox County Schools have been churning out corporate-trained school administrators since 2011.  Jim McIntyre, KCS Broad-trained Superintendent, needs to place these new and inexperienced administrators in order to satisfy the oligarch who is funding the "leadership academy."  Here is pic of Tennessee's oil e

by Jim Horn / 7min 

Charter Cap in Massachusetts Will Not Be Lifted

It is gratifying to know that the legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, where public schools were born, took a significant step this week to support Horace Mann's notion of quality public schools for all children.  As Mann said some 160 years ago, "agitate, agitate, agitate, but always for a good cause." The good cause that MA citizens agitated for most recently was to keep t

2 by Jim Horn / 2h 

7-16-14 Schools Matter

Schools Matter: TURNcoat, Mary Ricker, to Serve as Exec VP for WeingartenWith Ricker's election, Weingarten, Gates, and Broad are building the next generation of misleaders.  Google "TURNcoats" and "AFT" and you will get the links to understand what I'm talking about.You might start here. Principal Members are the primary liaisons & spokespersons for each local in matters r

by mike simpson / 8h 

7-17-14 Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL

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

The Washington Post Joins The Party Of Data-Journalism With “Storyline”

I’ve previously posted about three new “data-journalism” sites that have opened-up shop this summer — Vox, Five-Thirty-Eight, and The New York Times “Upshot.” Today, The Washington Post announced that they,too, are joining the party with a site called Storyline. It doesn’t actually have a web address yet (it’s officially launching next week), but it can be found on Twitter and Facebook. The Post d

by Larry Ferlazzo / 7min hide  //  save

I Know Of Places Students Can Post Book Reviews, But What About Places To Post Video Book Trailers?

© 2011 Raymond Bryson, Flickr | CC-BY | via Wylio I know of plenty of places where students can post book reviews for “authentic audiences” and have listed them at The Best Places Where Students Can Post Book Reviews For Authentic Audiences. I also have students create simple video “book trailers” (see Creating Instagram Video “Book Trailers” With English Language Learners and My Best Posts On Boo

by Larry Ferlazzo / 7min 

Videos: More Fun & Corny Grammar Videos

Chana at GCFLearnFree shared their fun and corny videos that are probably more categorized as easily confused words than grammar-related, but I’m still adding the series to The Best Funny Videos To Help Teach Grammar – Help Me Find More. You can see them all here. Here’s one of them, and I have the video set as a playlist so you can automatically see them all, too…

by Larry Ferlazzo / 38min 

This Week’s “Round-Up” Of Useful Posts & Articles On Education Policy

© 2012 Richard Hurd, Flickr | CC-BY | via Wylio Here are some recent useful posts and articles on educational policy issues: Did Obama and Duncan really hear what four teachers told them? is the third in a series of posts at Valerie Strauss’ Washington Post blog about a recent meeting at the White House attended by four teachers and President Obama and Secretary Duncan. This post also contains lin

by Larry Ferlazzo / 7h hide  //  save

July’s Best Tweets — Part Three

Every month I make a few short lists highlighting my choices of the best resources I through (and learned from) Twitter, but didn’t necessarily include them in posts here on my blog. I’ve already shared in earlier posts several new resources I found on Twitter — and where I gave credit to those from whom I learned about them. Those are not included again in post. If you don’t use Twitter, you can

by Larry Ferlazzo / 8h 

7-16-14 Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL

Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL: Latest Resources On Child Refugees In The Southwest© 2006 Gail Williams, Flickr | CC-BY | via Wylio Here are the latest additions to The Best Resources For Learning About The Children Refugee Crisis At The U.S. Southern Border: Schools a haven for kids who crossed border alone is from The Associated Press. Beware John Corny

by mike simpson / 8h 

7-17-14 Perdido Street School

Perdido Street School:

Cuomo Administration Uses Surveillance Cameras To Monitor State Workers

I bet you're not surprised by this news:A state workers union has filed a grievance over the Cuomo administration's use of surveillance cameras to gather evidence in cases of employees allegedly taking time off from work improperly.The Public Employees Federation, in a grievance filed this month with the Department of Environmental Conservation, said that using cameras to track work habits violate

by reality-based edu... / 13min 

Andrew Cuomo - The Dirtiest Man In The Albany Cesspool Of Corruption

So many Cuomo stories today.First, the games he's playing with the Tappan Zee Bridge plan.Then the story of how Cuomo, along with Chris Christie, used Christie's Bridgegate cronies to play games when they wanted to hike the Port Authority bridge/tunnel tolls.And now this one, as has been all over the Internet today:In early 2007, when he was state attorney general, Andrew Cuomo brought on a longti

by reality-based edu... / 6min 

Governor Cuomo Used Christie's Bridgegate Cronies For Port Authority Toll Hike Games

Earlier I posted a Star-Ledger article from the March that revealed the games Governors Christie and Cuomo played with Port Authority bridge and tunnel increases as well as a PATH fare hike.The gist was this:Both governors wanted to raise the tolls and PATH fare but wanted political cover to do it.So they had their Port Authority appointees play games with the fare and toll increases, releasing ou

by reality-based edu... / 7min 

Governor Cuomo Plays Pre-Election Games With Bridge/Road Toll Hikes

It is important that Governor Cuomo be made to publicly defend what his administration is doing here:ALBANY—The state Public Authorities Control Board on Wednesday approved a controversial loan for the Tappan Zee replacement bridge, but not before the amount was cut in half without explanation and officials admitted for the first time there would be a toll hike to pay for the project. The board vo

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

Rupert Murdoch Looks To Buy More Stuff

It seems the hacking scandal mess has not deterred Rupert Murdoch from owning much more of the world than he already does:The New York Times today is reporting that News Corp NWSA -0.22%. head Rupert Murdoch recently made a friendly bid to buy fellow media giant Time Warner TWX +17.07% for $80 billion. Time Warner’s Jeff Bewkes reportedly rejected the deal. News Corp. confirmed that it made the of

1 by reality-based edu... / 5h

7-16-14 Perdido Street School

Perdido Street School: Cuomo Takes $60,000 From Charter School Backer On Same Day He Spoke At Charter School RallyVia State of the Politics, this shows up in the NY Times piece on how much Governor Cuomo has raised for his re-election campaign:He also got $60,800 from Stanley Druckenmiller, a charter school backer and former hedge manager, on March 4, the day the governor spoke at a pro-charter ra

by mike simpson / 8h 

Shanker Blog » Do Students Learn More When Their Teachers Work Together?

Shanker Blog » Do Students Learn More When Their Teachers Work Together?:

Do Students Learn More When Their Teachers Work Together?

Posted by Esther Quintero on July 17, 2014

This is the second post in a series on “The Social Side Of Reform”, exploring the idea that relationships, social capital, and social networks matter in lasting, systemic educational improvement. For more on this series, clickhere.

Debates about how to improve educational outcomes for students often involve two ‘camps’: Those who focus on the impact of “in-school factors” on student achievement; and those who focus on “out-of-school factors.” There are many in-school factors discussed but improving the quality of individual teachers (or teachers’ human capital) is almost always touted as the main strategy for school improvement. Out-of-school factors are also numerous but proponents of this view tend toward addressing broad systemic problems such as poverty and inequality.

Social capital — the idea that relationships have value, that social ties provide access to important resources like knowledge and support, and that a group’s performance can often exceed that of the sum of its members — is something that rarely makes it into the conversation. But why does social capital matter?

Research suggests that teachers’ social capital may be just as important to student learning as their human capital. In fact, some studies indicate that if school improvement policies addressed teachers’ human and social capital simultaneously, they would go a long way toward mitigating the effects of poverty on student outcomes. Sounds good, right? The problem is: Current policy does not resemble this approach. Researchers, commentators and practitioners have shown and lamented that many of the strategies leveraged to increase teachers’ human capital often do so at the expense of eroding social capital in our schools. In other words, these approaches are moving us one step forward and two steps back.

I would argue — as Daly and Finnigan did last week — that this somewhat broad and diffuse notion that relationships matter is not some warm and fuzzy idea, but rather that it could hold an important key to educational improvement. Social capital is malleable; policies can and do shape teachers’ professional networks and Shanker Blog » Do Students Learn More When Their Teachers Work Together?:

We’ll Have to Do Something About Poverty to Improve School Achievement | janresseger

We’ll Have to Do Something About Poverty to Improve School Achievement | janresseger:

We’ll Have to Do Something About Poverty to Improve School Achievement

Posted on July 17, 2014 by janresseger

In the New Yorker essay she just published on the Atlanta test-cheating scandal, Rachel Aviv quotes education researcher David Berliner: “The people who say poverty is no excuse for low performance are now using teacher accountability as an excuse for doing nothing about poverty.”  While research demonstrates a strong correlation between extreme family poverty and children’s struggles to achieve at school, many us living in middle and upper income communities struggle to discern how family poverty affects children and how the poverty of a neighborhood affects the public schools. We don’t spend much time in poor neighborhoods and we rarely go into a public school once our own children are grown. Today this blog will review some of the evidence, particularly about the impact of concentrated poverty, a phenomenon especially evident in places like Philadelphia, Detroit, Newark, Memphis, Cleveland, and Gary.

Paul Jargowsky, Director of the Center for Urban Research and Education at Rutgers, defines concentrated poverty as a neighborhood where 40 percent or more of the people are poor.  In such neighborhoods, he writes, fewer than half the men are likely to be employed and fewer than half the children are likely to be living in a two-parent family.  This kind of poverty doubled between 1970 and 1990, writes Jargowsky, then diminished in the strong economy of the 1990s, and has risen quickly since 2000.

In his recent book, Stuck in Place, New York University sociologist Patrick Sharkey explains whose lives are shaped by living in such circumstances: “Being raised in a high-poverty neighborhood is extremely rare for whites…  but is the norm for African Americans.  Among children born from 1955 through 1970, only 4 percent of whites were raised in neighborhoods with at least 20 percent poverty, compared to 62 percent of African Americans.  Three out of four white children were raised in neighborhoods with less than 10 percent poverty, compared to just 9 percent of African Americans.  Essentially no white children were raised in neighborhoods with at least 30 percent poverty, but three in ten African Americans were…  This degree of racial inequality is not a remnant of the past….  If there is any difference between children in the previous generation and in the current one, the degree of neighborhood disadvantage experienced by African American children has worsened in the current generation…  Even today, 31 percent of African American children live in We’ll Have to Do Something About Poverty to Improve School Achievement | janresseger: