9-1-14 Hemlock on the Rocks

Hemlock on the Rocks:

An Audit and Grand Jury are Next , Right?

http://www.citywatchla.com/8br-hidden/7451-lausd-super-finally-exposed-an-audit-and-grand-jury-should-be-next LAUSD Super Finally Exposed … An Audit and Grand Jury Should be Next Ellen LubicEDUCATION POLITICS-Finally the lack of transparency of the mismanaged leadership of LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy is seeing the light of day.  The excellent investigative journalism by the LA Times education

by Rene Diedrich / 8min 

iFail: Why John Deasy's Risky iPad Gambit Crashed and Burned at LAUSD | The Informer | Los Angeles | Los Angeles News and Events | LA Weekly

http://www.laweekly.com/informer/2014/08/26/ifail-why-john-deasys-risky-ipad-gambit-crashed-and-burned-at-lausd iFail: Why John Deasy's Risky iPad Gambit Crashed and Burned at LAUSDIn a surprising reversal, L.A. Unified Superintendent John Deasy has abruptly halted the district's billion-dollar technology program, which aimed to put an iPad into the hands of every student and teacher by the end o

by Rene Diedrich / 3h 

Law firm supporting New York Parents Union quits, parents blame bullying by Campbell Brown’s education reform group | Eclectablog

http://www.eclectablog.com/2014/08/law-firm-supporting-new-york-parents-union-quits-parents-blame-bullying-by-campbell-browns-education-reform-group.html Law firm supporting New York Parents Union quits, parents blame bullying by Campbell Brown's education reform group Campbell Brown In early June, a decision in the California court case Vergara v. California deemed the state's teacher tenure law

by Rene Diedrich / 3h 

Open Letter to President Obama — The One Book You Should Read on Public Education: Reign of Error, By Diane Ravitch

http://thewire.k12newsnetwork.com/2013/09/20/open-letter-to-president-obama-the-one-book-you-should-read-on-public-education-_reign-of-error_by-diane-ravitchs/ Open Letter to President Obama — The One Book You Should Read on Public Education: Reign of Error, By Diane Ravitchby Cynthia Liu Dear President Obama, You must read Professor Diane Ravitch's latest book, Reign of Error: The Hoax of the Pr

by Rene Diedrich / 4h 

DEASY 'S Ethics Meets UTLA Ambition at Drago's for Dinner...Provoking a Series of Pointed Questions from an Outraged Teacher

Dear Rene,I am a concerned UTLA member writing about what is happening between UTLA and LAUSD. I hope you will consider publishing this, for the sake of the survival of public education. I want my union to be successful, yet I'm also concerned by some of the behavior I've seen from UTLA.During the recent UTLA election, it came to light that a secret backroom meeting was held between then elected U

by Rene Diedrich / 1h 

Los Angeles Parents Need To Ask These Questions If They Have A Child In Public School

1)  How many teachers/staff left the year before and why?Schools all over L.A. are in chaos.  Intentional chaos.  The purge of veteran teachers and cuts to arts have been the cause of destruction and pain.  Get the information from teachers and staff at your child's school about how many teachers left and what's going on that so many are getting out or being out outl  Ask about the school climate,

by Rene Diedrich / 38min 

Carmen Farina Vows To Drain ATR Pool By Having Principals Target ATR's

Sunday, August 31, 2014 Carmen Farina Vows To Drain ATR Pool By Having Principals Target ATR's Buried at the bottom of this Daily News story on Chancellor Farina's goals for the new school year is this: Fariña pledged to announce in the next two weeks a big reduction in the number of teachers getting paid despite not having steady classroom jobs. Earlier this month 114 of the roughly 1,10

by Rene Diedrich / 3min hide  //  save

Back to School with a New Position -Ambassador Teacher on Rotation - Educator Fights Back

Back to School with a New Position -Ambassador Teacher on Rotation   SEPTEMBER 1, 2014 Back to School… I can't wait! No Sarcasm. I'm seriously eager to start teaching again. I took some time off from blogging and attempted to spend more quality time with family this summer. Aside from a short trip to Jamaica, for my sister's wedding, and a road trip to Maine, the backyard was our summer hot-sp

by Rene Diedrich / 8min 

STOP LAUSD From Throwing Good Money After Bad: Investigate/Audit Bad Ed Tech Deals

Dear Friends, Thank you for signing the petition "Reappoint Architect Stuart Magruder to the LAUSD Bond Oversight Committee" a while back. Together we restored a watchdog with integrity to his rightful role as member of the BOC. Now your powerful voice is needed again in LAUSD to help kids. Who throws good money after bad? Call for an independent external investigation and audit of LAUSD

by Rene Diedrich / 1h 

Fwd: Sales of Chromebooks Rising Rapidly, Fueled by Education Sector - Marketplace K-12 - Education Week

Sales of Chromebooks Rising Rapidly, Fueled by Education Sector By Sean Cavanagh on August 12, 2014 1:53 PM | No comments The worldwide market for Chromebooks, while relatively small, is surging, a growth fueled primarily by sales of the devices in the U.S. education market, according to newly published market research. Sales of the devices—defined as mobile devices that run on Google

by Rene Diedrich / 1h 

Tenure Appeal By Tom Torlakson

Friends, Earlier today I issued a statement regarding my decision to seek appellate review of the Vergara case, which has drawn considerable public attention in recent weeks. Here is the complete text of my public statement: "The people who dedicate their lives to the teaching profession deserve our admiration and support. Instead, this ruling lays the failings of our education sy

by Rene Diedrich / 2h 

From a Soap Box : About This Case - Vergara

http://www.vergaratrial.com/who About This Case Vergara v. California is the latest in a long line of attempts to rob teachers of the flexibility and support they need to be creative and innovative in the classroom and to advocate for their students. Having lost at the ballot box and in the Statehouse, Students Matter, a nonprofit created by wealthy Silicon Valley investors, has now brought its c

by Rene Diedrich / 2h 

Teaching Machines

http://teachingmachin.es/ Teaching Machines "Jujitsu? I'm going to learn Jujitsu?" Neo asks incredulously, as he's plugged in to a machine for the first time since his rescue by Morpheus and the members of the ship Nebuchadnezzar. The operator Tank loads a virtual training program, and Neo clamps his eyes shut, his body jolting in response as the data floods his visual cortex. Seconds

by Rene Diedrich / 3h 

PPRIVATIZATION PUNKS THE PUBLIC BY Commandeering Assets on Top of Taxes

Schooling should be a "free" public service that does not treat one individual or group differently because of their (family) financial resources. Privatization inherently leads to discrimination on that basis for reasons that should be obvious to any high school student. Any use of taxpayer funds should not be sidetracked in any way that can even potentially benefit private parties or b

by Rene Diedrich / 3h 

YESTERDAY

Embrace The Common Core – IQ2 Debates WEIGH IN ! TONIGHT 80% are Saying Hell No to theCommon Core

http://intelligencesquaredus.org/debates/upcoming-debates/item/1154-embrace-the-common-core&tab=2The reasons CCSS should not be implemented are numerous. Academic freedom is lost when teaching to tests and relying on scripted lessons. No higher intellectual processes are cultuvated. No creativity and despite lies to the contrary, no critical thinking either.Who likes canned dialogue that refra

by Rene Diedrich / 6h hide  //  save

Are Supt. John Deasy's days numbered? They should be after cozy iPad deal - LA Times

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/opinion-la/la-ol-rall-ipads-lausd-20140827-story.html Opinion It sounded like a great idea at the time: L.A. would give students a boost into the 21st century by putting tech directly into their hands. The Los Angeles Unified School District would buy an Apple iPad for every student,  more than 600,000,  each loaded with educational software supplied by Pe

by Rene Diedrich / 6h 

L.A. Unified exemplifies the forces that stifle public school reform - LA Times

http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-0830-banks-lausd-ipads-20140830-column.html By now, Los Angeles Unified was supposed to be the technological model for big-city school systems.All of its pupils would have iPads, teachers could access student data with the click of a mouse, and parents could check their children's attendance and grades daily online.But the student data and tracking syste

by Rene Diedrich / 6h 

r public school teacher.As such, I realize I am Public Enemy Number One to the fiscally-well-backed, non-teaching finger-pointers who call themselves “education reformers.”If only I could be fired without recourse, American educat

1 by mike simpson / 1h 

8-31-14 Hemlock on the Rocks

Hemlock on the Rocks: Do criticisms of U.S. schools rely on. False information, bad Data and distortionshttp://www.ajc.com/weblogs/get-schooled/2014/aug/30/education-mythbusters/ LIKE......DUH! University of Georgia professor and frequent AJC Get Schooled contributor Peter Smagorinsky discusses an interesting new book exposing the misperceptions and distortions about America's schools. By Peter Sm

1 by mike simpson / 4h 

9-1-14 Perdido Street School Week

Perdido Street School:

Cuomo Campaign Tries To Pre-Spin Teachout Primary Numbers

From Buffalo News:ALBANY – Poll after poll has shown Andrew Cuomo nearly invincible over the past four years.So imagine an unknown liberal law professor at a Jesuit college who has never run for office before capturing a quarter or perhaps close to a third of the votes in the Democratic primary next week.That is not a scenario Cuomo’s opponents are pitching. That’s what insiders on the governor’s

by reality-based edu... / 6min 

Politico: Obama's Teacher Evaluation Reform Agenda In "Disarray"

It's a mess out there:The idea seems simple enough: Identify the best teachers and reward them. Pinpoint the worst and fire them. That’s been a linchpin of the Obama administration’s education agenda from the start. But now the administration’s initiative is in disarray, with states scaling back, slowing down and, in some cases, putting off tough decisions until Obama is out of office. Teachers un

by reality-based edu... / 17min 

8-31-14 Perdido Street School Week

Perdido Street School: Carmen Farina Vows To Drain ATR Pool By Having Principals Target ATR'sBuried at the bottom of this Daily News story on Chancellor Farina's goals for the new school year is this:Fariña pledged to announce in the next two weeks a big reduction in the number of teachers getting paid despite not having steady classroom jobs. Earlier this month 114 of the roughly 1,100 teachers —

by mike simpson / 8h 

Beyond Labor | InterACT

Beyond Labor | InterACT:

Beyond Labor

AUGUST 31, 2014

tags: Labor Day, union

by David B. Cohen

At a San Francisco rally, Feb. 2011

As we enjoy the Labor Day holiday this year, it’s important to keep in mind the role of the labor movement in securing workers rights and better working conditions for nearly all Americans. The struggles of labor unions in recent decades have accompanied a continually widening gap between rich and poor, with frightening implications for our shrinking middle class and the working poor.

My social media streams are full of reminders about the importance of unions, in the past, present and future. And I agree completely. But it’s not enough to just say we support workers. Those of us in teachers unions need to step up our actions to match our words.

On this Labor Day, I encourage teachers to do what we can to help our unions advance in a three-pronged approach to unionism:

• labor issues – negotiating for compensation, benefits, working conditions, etc.
• professional issues – advocating for better student learning by supporting teacher leadership in areas of curriculum, pedagogy, and professional development.
• social justice – taking an active interest in the well being of everyone in our community, especially those who are currently underserved, struggling, and less empowered.

This approach is not something I came up with, nor do I know how far back it goes; the influences I’m aware of come from union leaders like Pat Dolan, Adam Urbanski, and Bob Peterson. The first of those areas of focus is sometimes referred to as the “bread and butter” of union work, and it probably isn’t necessary to take that up in detail here. As for the second area, this blog has frequently touched upon ways that teachers unions and their members are working to support stronger schools, better teaching, and improved learning. Simply do a search for any of the following terms: CTA, CalTURN, IFT, QEIA

But I think we can do more in every area, and invite teachers to make a new school year Beyond Labor | InterACT:

NYC Educator: Happy Labor Day, Back at You, Randi!

NYC Educator: Happy Labor Day, Back at You, Randi!:

Happy Labor Day, Back at You, Randi!

Randi Weingarten (with help from Lorretta Johnson and Mary Cathryn Ricker) sent along Labor Day thoughts and wishes to me and probably many thousands of others.  I read the e-mail just as I read Mulgrew's, to see how much I can agree with before the red flags are thrown up--or how much I can stomach before I throw up.  In this case, I made it a ways.

Then, I got to the part that said, "Together, by being member-mobilized, community-engaged, solution-driven and, yes, a little bad ass, we can reclaim the promise of America.  We can create a nation fueled by democracy, justice and opportunity for all, instead of for the very few."

These sentiments are all very nice, but as AFT president, Randi knows her UFT answers to her.  She knows it controls NYSUT and the AFT, among other things.  And, as she very well knows, as long as the UFT keeps the doors of lucrative union offices and advancement closed to any who refuse to take a solid (loyalty) oath to carry out leadership's marching orders with ne'er a second thought to conscience or constituency, there can be no democracy.

When we spend $2 million of our union dues to pay 800 delegates to parade around at the AFT Convention in Los Angeles under the charade of democracy to vote exactly as they're told by Randi's voice coming through Mulgrew's "megaphone," union democracy is a sham.  When Common Core is pushed forward under threats of punching and pushing in the dirt with an obviously thrilled Randi beaming from the podium, we are not listening to the voices of teachers, parents, students or reason.  

When 800 people all cast the same vote eight-hundred times because they're told to do so, the inanity of it all is beyond belief, more so, when you realize that these are teachers supposedly helping people develop their cognitive capacities.  The arguments used to support the Core at the AFT Convention were absurd.  Leroy Barr:  We all have to be on exactly the same page at the same time from New York to California so his NYC Educator: Happy Labor Day, Back at You, Randi!:

Librarians Are A Luxury Chicago Public Schools Can't Afford : NPR Ed : NPR

Librarians Are A Luxury Chicago Public Schools Can't Afford : NPR Ed : NPR:

Librarians Are A Luxury Chicago Public Schools Can't Afford

by BECKY VEVEA

September 01, 2014 4:22 AM ET

 Two years ago, the Chicago Public Schools budgeted for 454 librarians. Last year, the budget called for 313 librarians, and now that number is down to 254.

With educators facing tough financial choices, having a full-time librarian is becoming something of a luxury in Chicago's more than 600 public schools.

It's not that there's a shortage of librarians in Chicago, and it's not mass layoffs — it's that the librarians are being reassigned.

"The people are there, they're just not staffing the library, they're staffing another classroom," says Megan Cusick, a librarian at Nancy B. Jefferson Alternative School. She says all across the district, certified librarians are being reassigned to English classrooms, world languages or to particular grade levels in elementary schools.

"We got down to the point of saying well, we have a classroom and it doesn't have a teacher," says Scott Walter, a parent at Nettlehorst Elementary on the city's north side — a popular school in the upper-middle class Lakeview neighborhood on the city's North Side.

He says when the district stopped funding specific positions and let principals and school council's decide how to spend their money, the numbers weren't adding up.

"Here's the position and she can be in a library or we can have a teacher in front of 30 kids. And no matter how much you love libraries, and as much as I do, you can't have a classroom without a teacher in front of it," Walter says.

Ultimately, Nettlehorst had to move its librarian, who is also a certified teacher, into a fourth grade classroom.

In the state of Illinois, all librarians must also have teaching certifications, and most have endorsements to teach specific grades and subjects.

There's also no required amount of minutes for library instruction in the state of Illinois, so schools won't face any repercussions if they don't have a librarian or a school library.



Scott Walter says Nettlehorst students are still able to check out books, because the clerk and parent volunteers help staff it. Still, he says, it's a lose-lose.

"It feels again as a parent, it feels that CPS has set us up into a situation where we have to Librarians Are A Luxury Chicago Public Schools Can't Afford : NPR Ed : NPR:

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: WEEKEND QUOTABLES

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: WEEKEND QUOTABLES:

WEEKEND QUOTABLES

Bruce Rauner

 "I've worked with Rahm Emanuel and (former Mayor) Rich Daley because they control the schools," Rauner told the Tribune earlier this year. "And we've talked about school reform fairly extensively. We disagree on many things ... but on school reform we see things the same way. He believes in charter schools and competition and choice. He's starting to come around and be supportive of vouchers, which I am a definite believer in." -- Chicago Tribune

 Melissa Harris-Perry 

So, see, Ed? There’s no need for your teachers to change the subject. Because what we do as teachers is to offer guideposts, context, and space for disagreement. We can teach our students not to be afraid of the unknown and the complicated, by confronting the hard topics as well as the easy. Now is the time to teach, not to hide. -- Open Letter: How to teach students about Ferguson

 Chicago Tribune Editorial from Feb. 4, 2007

"Terrence Carter represents a new breed of principals who entered the profession from business through an excellent principal training Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: WEEKEND QUOTABLES:

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Young Poet Steals John Legend Show With Ferguson Tribute

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Young Poet Steals John Legend Show With Ferguson Tribute: Young Poet Steals John Legend Show With Ferguson Tributeby Mike Klonsky / 1h8-30-14 Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Schooling in the Ownership Society All WeekMike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog:Schooling in the Ownership SocietyMike Klonsky's SmallTalk Schooling in the Ownership SocietyNine years since Katrina. Maybe some

1 by mike simpson / 9h