Big Education Ape: Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 4/14/15

Special Nite Cap - Catch Up on Today's Post 4/14/15

Special Nite Cap 

CORPORATE ED REFORM

Diane Ravitch will debate testing & opt out with Chancellor Tisch -To test or not to test All In with Chris Hayes

All In with Chris Hayes on msnbc:To test or not to testOn the first day of Common Core assessments in New York state this year, thousands of students refused to take the exam - 70% in one district - amid a growing opt-out movement among parents. Chris Hayes hosts the great debate over the benefits and...Duration: 9:29

5 by mike simpson / 14min 

Rewind: In Case You didn't Know - The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation

Business-Managed Education - Business Campaigns - The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation:Eli and Edythe Broad FoundationThe Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation calls itself "a national venture philanthropy established by entrepreneur and philanthropist Eli Broad (pictured with Edythe) to advance entrepreneurship for the public good in education, science and the arts". Eli Broad made his billion

by mike simpson / 24min 

Teachers' union opposes potential Broadie BUSD supt. hire - Burbank Leader

Teachers' union opposes potential BUSD supt. hire - Burbank Leader: Teachers' union opposes potential BUSD supt. hireThe Burbank Teachers Assn. sent an email blast to its membership Monday evening urging public school employees and other community members to voice their opposition to Burbank Unified superintendent candidate Matthew Hill, who currently works in the Los Angeles public school system.

by mike simpson / 30min 

After-school programs could be cut at four Sacramento schools | The Sacramento Bee The Sacramento Bee

After-school programs could be cut at four Sacramento schools | The Sacramento Bee The Sacramento Bee:After-school programs could be cut at four Sacramento schools  The city of Sacramento is considering closing 4th “R” after-school programs at four Sacramento City Unified School district campuses and severing its ties to another after-school program at 18 schools.A City Council discussion on the p

1 by mike simpson / 53min 

Let’s hear it for failure, bullying, underage drinking–and, of course, PARCC testing | Bob Braun's Ledger

Let’s hear it for failure, bullying, underage drinking–and, of course, PARCC testing | Bob Braun's Ledger: Let’s hear it for failure, bullying, underage drinking–and, of course, PARCC testing Some might believe the relentless testing regime plaguing public schools—but not the most prestigious private schools—will improve learning. Others have endorsed testing as a way of attacking veteran teachers

1 by mike simpson / 1h 

Hillary Clinton Thinks Common Core “A Good Idea” | deutsch29

Hillary Clinton Thinks Common Core “A Good Idea” | deutsch29: Hillary Clinton Thinks Common Core “A Good Idea” Hillary Clinton was in Iowa today, campaigning.According to The Guardian’s live blog coverage by Tom McCarthy, Hillary Clinton is sympathetic towards “the plight of Common Core.” McCarthy reports::Clinton bemoaned the plight of Common Core educational standards, a good idea she said had b

by mike simpson / 1h 

AFT President Randi Weingarten was on Tavis Smiley yesterday! They discussed two dominant philosophies in education - American Federation of Teachers

AFT - American Federation of Teachers:  AFT - American Federation of TeachersAFT President Randi Weingarten was on Tavis Smiley yesterday! They discussed two dominant philosophies in education.Posted by AFT - American Federation of Teachers on Tuesday, April 14, 2015AFT President Randi Weingarten was on Tavis Smiley yesterday! They discussed two dominant philosophies in education.

1 by mike simpson / 4h 

Confidential Report: EduProfiteers See a Big Market in Education | Diane Ravitch's blog

Confidential Report: EduProfiteers See a Big Market in Education | Diane Ravitch's blog: Confidential Report: EduProfiteers See a Big Market in Education  This arrived in my email box today. The author, who owns a literacy company, asked to remain anonymous. He is describing an entrepreneurs’ conclave at Arizona State University, cosponsored byGSV Capital, whose leader, Michael Moe, has been bulli

1 by mike simpson / 4h 

Want to Make a Buck? Invest in Charter Schools by T.N. Box Chair of Teacher in the Box

1. Come up with a cool "Education" name:2. Partner with your local Astro Turf Corporate Education Reform non profit (sic)Beware of AstroTurf Ed Reformers Just Like Michelle Rhee's Students first only BETTERAstroturf lobbying refers to political organizations or campaigns that appear to be made up of grassroots activists but are actually organized and run by corporate interests seeking to

2 by mike simpson / 5h 

Pro PARCC post in Gist memo is propaganda piece

Pro PARCC post in Gist memo is propaganda piece: Pro PARCC post in Gist memo is propaganda piece In her recent field memo of April 3, 2015Commissioner Gist took the unusual step of quoting an entire blog post.“I’m a mom,” it begins. “And the happiness of my children, now and in the future as they go on to start careers and families of their own, is on my mind all the time.”The post was written by

1 by mike simpson / 8h 

THE STATE OF AMERICAN PUBLIC EDUCATION: DÉJÀ VU ALL OVER AGAIN - Badass Teachers Association

Badass Teachers Association: THE STATE OF AMERICAN PUBLIC EDUCATION: DÉJÀ VU ALL OVER AGAINBy Andrés Rodríguez Jr., father of BAT and DREAM admin Aixa Rodriguez How the current apostates of education reform distort the meaning of “public” in public education is breathtaking. More astonishing is the perversion of time-tested and proven elements of good public education with its concomitant, predict

by mike simpson / 8h 

Anti-Union Group StudentsFirst Launched Astroturf Campaign to Undermine Teachers | Alternet

Anti-Union Group StudentsFirst Launched Astroturf Campaign to Undermine Teachers | Alternet: Anti-Union Group StudentsFirst Launched Astroturf Campaign to Undermine TeachersMichelle Rhee's group is sneakily trying to rebrand itself to advance its anti-union agenda.StudentsFirst, the organization founded by Michelle Rhee to battle teachers unions over education policy, has seen better days – having

1 by mike simpson / 8h 

¡Si Se Puede Take the Test! | EduShyster

¡Si Se Puede Take the Test! | EduShyster: ¡Si Se Puede Take the Test! Test takers who are still learning English get a special treat this time of year...Pssst: did you know that there is a connection between how well one speaks English and how well one performs on a test conducted in English? If your answer was *no,* *I don’t understand the question,* or *charter schools,* an exciting leadership o

1 by mike simpson / 9h 

Thousands Likely To Sit Out New York English, Math Tests

Thousands Likely To Sit Out New York English, Math Tests: Thousands Likely To Sit Out New York English, Math Tests BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) -- Parent leaders of the movement to boycott New York's standardized tests say opting children out could do more for their education than the tests themselves.As English assessments are given Tuesday through Thursday to more than 1 million third- through eighth-grad

by mike simpson / 9h 

The Assault on Public Education Continues in North Carolina - The K-12 Contrarian - Education Week

The Assault on Public Education Continues in North Carolina - The K-12 Contrarian - Education Week: The Assault on Public Education Continues in North Carolina Down in North Carolina, a revolution is afoot. The revolution appears to have begun in 2008, when a little known senator from some northern state managed to get himself on the ballot as the nominee of one of the two major parties (the one t

by mike simpson / 9h 

Teachers Have Had Enough! | M. Shannon Hernandez

Teachers Have Had Enough! | M. Shannon Hernandez: Teachers Have Had Enough!BATs Demand Change of DirectionBadass Teacher (BAT) AssociationWELCOME TO THE BAT CAVEBadass Teacher Association Web Site I've been watching my social media feeds. Teachers are banding together like never before on Twitter and Facebook and using their voices to speak the truth about what is happening in our public schools.

by mike simpson / 9h 

‘Congratulations to me. I have been offered a position as a professional scorer by Pearson.’ - The Washington Post

‘Congratulations to me. I have been offered a position as a professional scorer by Pearson.’ - The Washington Post: ‘Congratulations to me. I have been offered a position as a professional scorer by Pearson.’ Jennifer White is a parent and former elementary school teacher who taught Grades 1-4 over the course of 15 years. She lives in Basking Ridge, N.J., and has four children — ages 8, 10, 12 and

by mike simpson / 9h 

Common Core consequences: “What currently passes for reform’ has caused considerable collateral damage to schools and teachers” - Salon.com

Common Core consequences: “What currently passes for reform’ has caused considerable collateral damage to schools and teachers” - Salon.com: Common Core consequences: “What currently passes for reform’ has caused considerable collateral damage to schools and teachers”California flipped education-reform script, knowing sanctions/test-driven accountability helps no one. Here's how Politicians from a

1 by mike simpson / 10h 

Charter Schools Failing on Their Promises | Al Jazeera America

Charter Schools Failing on Their Promises | Al Jazeera America: Time for a moratorium on charter schoolsCharters have failed to deliver, and their expansion should be put on hold Charter schools are everywhere. Not long ago, these publicly funded but privately run institutions were a relative rarity. Those that existed served mostly as experimental academies whose successful lessons could be appli

5 by mike simpson / 10h 

Large numbers of students refuse standardized tests | wivb.com

Large numbers of students refuse standardized tests | wivb.com: Large numbers of students refuse standardized testsBUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) – Indications are that more students in western New York are refusing to take New York State’s standardized tests for English.Testing begins Tuesday for grades three through eight.In West Seneca 56 percent of students have said they will opt-out of the state exams

1 by mike simpson / 10h 

The Future Of California's Education System Debated | Neon Tommy

The Future Of California's Education System Debated | Neon Tommy: The Future Of California's Education System Debated Vergara v. California found that unequal education is not just wrong; it’s unconstitutional. The case involves nine student plaintiffs who sued the state claiming that certain statutes regarding teacher retention rates violate the California Constitution and thus deny students of e

by mike simpson / 10h 

Is Neighborhood-Based Education Liberal? -- NYMag

Is Neighborhood-Based Education Liberal? -- NYMag: Is Neighborhood-Based Education Liberal? Hillary Clinton's official campaign announcement video is a charming pastiche of ordinary people describing changes in their lives. One woman featured in it says, “My daughter is starting kindergarten next year, and so we’re moving, just so she can belong to a better school.”This is a completely ordinary ac

1 by mike simpson / 10h 

Atlanta Public Schools educators sentenced - WTOC-TV: Savannah, Beaufort, SC, News, Weather & Sports

Atlanta Public Schools educators sentenced - WTOC-TV: Savannah, Beaufort, SC, News, Weather & Sports: Atlanta Public Schools educators sentenced ATLANTA (CBS46) -Ten Atlanta teachers and administrators who changed answers on students' standardized tests were sentenced Tuesday.Earlier this month, 11 of 12 educators were found guilty of racketeering, in addition to charges ranging from theft by

by mike simpson / 10h 

Test Mania: Preparing Students for Life Under Modern Capitalism | The Indypendent

Test Mania: Preparing Students for Life Under Modern Capitalism | The Indypendent: Test Mania: Preparing Students for Life Under Modern Capitalism BYBERTELL OLLMANAPRIL 9, 2015ISSUE #205The psychologist Bill Livant has remarked, “When a liberal sees a beggar, he says the system isn’t working. When a Marxist does, he says it is.” The same insight could be applied today to the entire area of educati

by mike simpson / 10h 

Susan Bonilla for Senate 2015

Susan Bonilla for Senate 2015: Assemblywoman Susan Bonilla is a former high school teacher, mayor and county supervisor, who has worked to strengthen neighborhood schools, protect public safety services, and support job growth and working families across the state.Prior to her election to the State Assembly in 2010, Bonilla served as a Contra Costa County Supervisor and as the Mayor of Concord – t

1 by mike simpson / 10h 

Charters are Cash Cows | Yinzercation

Charters are Cash Cows | Yinzercation: Charters are Cash Cows  Charter schools are cash cows feeding at the public trough. Oh, there are a few good ones here and there, to be sure. But if there was ever any doubt that charter schools have become Big Business, take a look at the list of the largest campaign contributors in Pennsylvania. Three of the top ten on a new “Power Players” report are throw

3 by mike simpson / 11h 

YESTERDAY

The Senate ESEA Reauthorization Draft, Part VI– My Final Post | deutsch29

The Senate ESEA Reauthorization Draft, Part VI– My Final Post | deutsch29: The Senate ESEA Reauthorization Draft, Part VI– My Final PostOn April 7, 2015, the Senate education committee announced the following as part of a press release:WASHINGTON, D.C., April 7 – Senate education committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-Wash.) today announced a bipartisan agr

1 by mike simpson / 22h hide  //  save

Full Circle Initiative Helps AAPI Students Close Gap - California State University, Sacramento, Pakou Her

Full Circle Initiative Helps AAPI Students Close Gap - Higher Education: Full Circle Initiative Helps AAPI Students Close Gap SAN FRANCISCO — Before enrolling at California State University, Sacramento, Pakou Her didn’t contemplate careers beyond what her family suggested. Furthermore, Her didn’t think of herself as Asian American, only Hmong American.But all that changed in college, where she beg

1 by mike simpson / 1d 

Big Education Ape: Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 4/13/15

Special Nite Cap - Catch Up on Today's Post 4/13/15Special Nite Cap CORPORATE ED REFORMA Nation's Shame: Trillions in New Wealth, Millions of Children in PovertyA Nation's Shame: Trillions in New Wealth, Millions of Children in Poverty: A Nation's Shame: Trillions in New Wealth, Millions of Children in Poverty(Photo: Ian Carroll)America's wealth grew by 60 percent in the past six years, by over $3

4 by mike simpson / 1d 

2015 National Conference – Chicago

The Countdown to Chicago Has Begun!

The Network For Public Education | 2015 National Conference – Chicago 

http://bit.ly/1FQFcQM

Diane Ravitch debates testing & opt out with Chancellor Tisch -To test or not to test All In with Chris Hayes

All In with Chris Hayes on msnbc:

To test or not to test

On the first day of Common Core assessments in New York state this year, thousands of students refused to take the exam - 70% in one district - amid a growing opt-out movement among parents. Chris Hayes hosts the great debate over the benefits and...
Duration: 9:29

Rewind: In Case You didn't Know - The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation

Business-Managed Education - Business Campaigns - The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation:

Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation

The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation calls itself "a national venture philanthropy established by entrepreneur and philanthropist Eli Broad (pictured with Edythe) to advance entrepreneurship for the public good in education, science and the arts". Eli Broad made his billions in business, including real estate and insurance.

Apart from its leadership programmes outlined below, the Broad Foundation provides funds to groups advocating charter schools such as Education Reform Now and also to groups training non-educators to be teachers and principals in schools (such as Teach for America and New Leaders for New Schools).

Broad and his foundation believe that public schools should be run like a business. One of the tenets of his philosophy is to produce system change by "investing in a disruptive force." Continual reorganizations, firings of staff, and experimentation to create chaos or "churn" is believed to be productive and beneficial, as it weakens the ability of communities to resist change...
A hallmark of the Broad-style leadership is closing existing schools rather than attempting to improve them, increasing class size, opening charter schools, imposing high-stakes test-based accountability systems on teachers and students, and implementing of pay for performance schemes.

The Broad Foundation and the Gates Foundation teamed up in 2007 for a $60 million “Strong American Schools” campaign to ensure that education was a strong election issue and to promote strong curriculum standards, standardised testing and merit-based pay for teachers.

After the election of the Obama administration in 2008 the Broad Foundation boasted:

With an agenda that echoes our decade of investments—charter schools, performance pay for teachers, accountability, expanded learning time, and national standards—the Obama administration is poised to cultivate and bring to fruition the seeds we and other reformers have planted.

Providing a Pipeline to Senior Positions

The Foundation funds the Broad Center which runs two "executive development" programmes aimed at getting its alumni into positions of power where they can promote and implement the Foundation's education agenda of choice, competition, deregulation, accountability, and data-based decision-making through charter schools, high-stakes standardized testing for students and merit pay for teachers.

As a result of these programmes, Broad-trained executives hold top leadership positions in many of the nation's education districts including the three largest; New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. Critics argue "Broad-trained superintendents use corporate-management techniques to consolidate power, weaken teachers' job protections, cut parents out of decisionmaking, and introduce unproven reform measures".

One programme is the Broad Superintendents Academy. Those attending the academy have their tuition and travel costs paid for the Foundation and, following the six-weekend course, find jobs as school district executives and superintendents. They come from business, the military, government as well as the education sector.

Academy graduates have filled 71 superintendent positions and 87 senior school district executive positions. Graduates of the program currently work as superintendents or school district executives in 53 cities across 28 states. In 2009, 43 percent of all large urban superintendent openings were filled by Broad Academy graduates.

Broad graduates are in this way able to gain 'an "alternative" certification process which has come to supplant or override the typical regulations in many states that require that individuals have years of experience as ateacher and principal before being installed as a school district superintendents'.

The other programme is the Broad Residency, has also successfully placed some 200 graduates into over 50 educational institutions. The residency involves working full-time in "paid positions at the top levels of urban school districts, state and federal departments of education and leading charter management organizations.. Participants have an average of 10 years of experience, typically from a Fortune 500 or other major company." The foundation provides them with "professional development" for the first 2 years and subsidizes their salaries (50 percent the first year, 25 percent the second year). This subsidy makes them attractive to poorer school districts.

Broad fellows currently hold leadership positions in districts such as Washington, D.C., New Orleans, Philadelphia, Detroit, Green Bay, Boston, Durham, Prince George's County (Maryland), Providence, Houston, Chicago, Dallas, and Oakland, to name but a few. The annual $2 million Broad Prize given to a chosen school district serves to sweeten the pot, which makes the selection of a Broad-connected CEO almost irresistable.

Perhaps one of the best known Broad fellow was Joel Klein, who became chancellor of New York City public schools. The schools were subsequently given over $100 million by the Broad and Gates Foundations.

The Broad Institute for School Boards provides three training programs for elected school board members and non-Broad-trained superintendents conducted in partnership with theCenter for Reform of School Systems (CRSS). The Institute trains new board members at a one-week summer residential setting. Its Alumni Institute is an advanced course for experienced school board members. The third program, Reform Governance in Action, is by invitation only and provides "a long-term, training/consulting partnership program to selected large, urban districts." The Broad Foundation underwrites 80 percent of all program costs through a grant to CRSS.

These programmes not only give the Broad Foundation influence through getting their own 'trainees' into key positions but this influence is increased because Broad graduates tend to hire other Broad graduates. For example, in Los Angeles, where the Foundation is based, the LA Unified School District (LA Unified), employed in 2010 the following Broad alumni:

• Matt Hill, who oversees the district's Public School Choice project that turns schools over to independent managers (Broad pays Hill's $160,000 salary);
• Parker Hudnut, executive director of the district's innovation and charter division
• Yumi Takahashi, the budget director;
• Marshall Tuck, chief executive of the nonprofit that manages schools for Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa;
• Mark Kieger-Heine, chief operating officer of the same nonprofit; and
• Angela Bass, its superintendent of instruction.
• John Deasy as deputy superintendent of LA Unified (he's a likely candidate for the superintendent's job).

In early 2011 "three prominent school district superintendents" trained by the Broad Superintendents Academy resigned "after allegations of mismanagement, autocratic leadership styles, and/or the pursuit of unpopular policies".

The Broad Residency also receives funding from the Gates Foundation($3.6 million in 2010).

Teachers' union opposes potential Broadie BUSD supt. hire - Burbank Leader

Teachers' union opposes potential BUSD supt. hire - Burbank Leader:

Teachers' union opposes potential BUSD supt. hire

The Burbank Teachers Assn. sent an email blast to its membership Monday evening urging public school employees and other community members to voice their opposition to Burbank Unified superintendent candidate Matthew Hill, who currently works in the Los Angeles public school system. 

The BUSD board of education scheduled a town hall-style meeting today from 3:30 to 6 p.m. at John Burroughs High School, with the stated purpose of giving people "an opportunity to ask questions of Matthew R. Hill, Superintendent of Schools candidate, and learn more about his background and qualifications."

The BTA release, however, asks people to show up during the regular board meeting on Thursday at 6 p.m. to urge the board to reject Hill and continue its search for a new leader. That meeting will be held at Burbank City Hall. 

Specifically, union officials expressed concern that Hill has never worked as a teacher or a principal, as well as his involvement in the much-maligned iPad roll-out at LAUSD.

The BTA also raised concerns about Hill’s involvement with the implementation of a $130-million student information system at LAUSD that became a technological debacle.

When the system went online last fall, it overloaded the district’s database servers, which required emergency re-engineering, according to the Los Angeles Times.

For days and weeks afterward, many teachers couldn’t enter grades or attendance or even figure out which students were enrolled in class, the Times reported.

In a letter written last October, then LAUSD Supt. John Deasy said the fixes required to repair the system may take up to a year.

Though the final open seat on the Burbank Unified school board will be determined following the general election tonight, none of the new members will be formally seated on the board for several weeks, meaning the selection of the new superintendent may occur without their input.  

Current Burbank Supt. Jan Britz is retiring at the end of the school year. Teachers' union opposes potential BUSD supt. hire - Burbank Leader:

Things have worked out so well at LAUSD Burbank should give it a whirl!

Once Broad alumni are working inside the education system, they naturally favor hiring other Broadies, which ups the leverage. A clear picture of this comes from Los Angeles. The foundation is based there and exerts formidable influence over the LA Unified School District (LA Unified), the second largest in the nation. At the start of 2010, Broad Residency alums working at LA Unified included Matt Hill, who oversees the district’s Public School Choice project that turns schools over to independent managers (Broad pays Hill’s $160,000 salary); Parker Hudnut, executive director of the district’s innovation and charter division (Kathi Littmann, his predecessor, was also a Broad resident); Yumi Takahashi, the budget director; Marshall Tuck, chief executive of the nonprofit that manages schools for Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa; Mark Kieger-Heine, chief operating officer of the same nonprofit; and Angela Bass, its superintendent of instruction. In June 2010, the Board of Education hired Broad Academy alumnus John Deasy as deputy superintendent of LA Unified (he’s a likely candidate for the superintendent’s job). At the time of hiring, Deasy was deputy director of education at the Gates Foundation.

Broad casts a long shadow over LA Unified, but other foundations also invest. A $4.4 million grant from the LA-based Wasserman Foundation, $1.2 million from Walton, and smaller grants from Ford and Hewlett are paying the salaries of more than a dozen key senior staffers in the district. They work on projects favored by the foundations.

After-school programs could be cut at four Sacramento schools | The Sacramento Bee The Sacramento Bee

After-school programs could be cut at four Sacramento schools | The Sacramento Bee The Sacramento Bee:

After-school programs could be cut at four Sacramento schools 

 The city of Sacramento is considering closing 4th “R” after-school programs at four Sacramento City Unified School district campuses and severing its ties to another after-school program at 18 schools.

A City Council discussion on the proposal had been scheduled for this evening, but has been postponed until April 28. Eric Guerra, who last week won a City Council seat representing one of the affected 4th “R” campuses, is scheduled to be sworn in that evening. City Manager John Shirey and council members said they wanted to allow Guerra to take part in the debate.

Under what the city said is a cost-saving plan, the 4th “R” programs would get slashed at Golden Empire Elementary in Rosemont, Caroline Wenzel Elementary School in Greenhaven, Hubert H. Bancroft Elementary in College Greens and O.W. Erlewine Elementary in Larchmont Riviera. Golden Empire, Bancroft and Erlewine are within one mile of one another.

According to a city of Sacramento staff report, the 4th “R” program is facing a budget deficit of $458,000 for the fiscal year that begins July 1. That gap is the result of increasing employee costs; many employees at 4th “R” sites recently joined a labor union, and the city now must pay those workers increased benefits, according to Alan Tomiyama, the city’s recreation manager.

Enrollment in the 4th “R” programs has steadily declined at the four campuses slated to be closed as more parents enroll their children in free after-school programs. There are 187 children combined in 4th “R” at the four schools, Tomiyama said.

Golden Empire, Bancroft and Erlewine all have free START after-school programs operated by the city. Wenzel has a free program offered by an outside vendor.

The START program is also hurting the city’s bottom line. Employee salaries and benefits are rising, and the program will carry a $1 million deficit in the upcoming fiscal year “without significant cost saving measures,” according to the city report. As a result, the city plans to cut its ties with START at 18 schools.

The START program began in 1996, fostered by then-City Councilman Darrell Steinberg. Within three years it grew to 42 schools serving 7,000 students, offering homework help, recreation and literacy education.

Steinberg, who served as state Senate President Pro Tem until last fall, said Tuesday that the after-school brand remained in Sacramento but became an inspiration for other after-school programs across the state.

“When I started it, it got a lot of attention in the capital city, and the Legislature picked it up, and (U.S.) Senator (Barbara) Boxer picked it up,” Steinberg said. “It was a significant catalyst to the statewide programs.”

Steinberg said he knew about the START deficit and hopes that a replacement is found.

“I love the brand,” he said. “It has done a lot of good over the years. But that’s less important to me than making sure the same number or more children get comprehensive after-school experience.”

The Sacramento City Unified School District does have plans to look for other vendors to continue the after-school program at the 18 schools. District Superintendent Jose Banda told parents in a letter last week that funding is available for START through state and federal grants, and the after-school programs will not be eliminated.

“I’m talking with (Banda) about the need to keep these sites open based on the letters I’ve received and the need I know these communities have,” said Councilman Rick Jennings.

The fate of 4th “R” is less clear.

Banda wrote parents last week that the district is working with the city to find a solution to the proposed elimination of 4th R at the four schools. Jennings, who represents Greenhaven, said the city is exploring whether the district or an outside vendor can assume responsibility for the programs.

A parent, Felise Dooley, pulled her car to the front of Wenzel Elementary Tuesday morning and said she hoped to learn about after-school options for a child who attends a charter campus nearby. Her third-grade son used to attend Wenzel and its 4th “R” program, she said. But the cost was between $400 and $500 a month. Now she hopes to enroll him in the free California After School Education & Safety Program operated at the campus – one of the multiple vendors that also provide a free after-school program.

“It keeps him busy, keeps his brain stimulated for summer and even after

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article18519929.html#storylink=cpy

After-school programs could be cut at four Sacramento schools | The Sacramento Bee The Sacramento Bee:

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article18519929.html#storylink=cpy

Let’s hear it for failure, bullying, underage drinking–and, of course, PARCC testing | Bob Braun's Ledger

Let’s hear it for failure, bullying, underage drinking–and, of course, PARCC testing | Bob Braun's Ledger:

Let’s hear it for failure, bullying, underage drinking–and, of course, PARCC testing





 Some might believe the relentless testing regime plaguing public schools—but not the most prestigious private schools—will improve learning. Others have endorsed testing as a way of attacking veteran teachers who, of course, are frequently  blamed for failure but far less often credited with success.  Then there is a group—who knows the size?—who view testing as a kind of philosophical sorting out process, all but divinely mandated, that separates the saved from the doomed.  One of these, the superintendent of a major New Jersey school district, wrote these bizarre words in a note to his staff:

“I desperately hope my children are bullied at least once a year through their K-12 experience.”

The writer is Gerard Jellig, the superintendent of the South Brunswick schools.

This site afforded Jellig repeated opportunities to explain, not just his wish that his own children be bullied, but also the entirety of a note that, while clearly odd, probably goes a long way to explain the bureaucratic machismo behind a testing regime that, among other things, allows for children to be bullied by administrators and spied upon by foreign corporations using Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and other social media.

Jellig, however, refused to respond—despite his proclivity to engage students in Twitter dialogues, a habit he forbids teachers to embrace.

His wish that his own children—and he has children—are bullied is simply the outer fringe of a manic educator’s belief in the inherent rightness of anything done in the name of education “reform,” a word stolen from plain language and now used to justify the strangest of policies. Bullying fits the context that standardized testing—which always implies failure—is part of a cosmic judgment on the lives of children and their teachers.

He begins his note by conceding the PARCC tests are difficult—“not for the faint of heart” he says, not terribly originally.  But, so what?

“What’s wrong with hard? What’s wrong with some failure? Is adversity to be scrubbed from the adolescent experience altogether?”

Jellig, a former Army ranger and private school headmaster, is clearly on a roll now as he writes his note to staff. One can imagine his keystrokes becoming more Let’s hear it for failure, bullying, underage drinking–and, of course, PARCC testing | Bob Braun's Ledger:

Hillary Clinton Thinks Common Core “A Good Idea” | deutsch29

Hillary Clinton Thinks Common Core “A Good Idea” | deutsch29:

Hillary Clinton Thinks Common Core “A Good Idea”

 Hillary Clinton was in Iowa today, campaigning.

According to The Guardian’s live blog coverage by Tom McCarthy, Hillary Clinton is sympathetic towards “the plight of Common Core.” McCarthy reports::

Clinton bemoaned the plight of Common Core educational standards, a good idea she said had been taken hostage by the political debate.

Implicit in Clinton’s message is that Common Core would have been just fine except that it became entangled in politics.

Get a clue, Hillary: Common Core was birthed in politics.

But I think you know that.

The National Governors Association (NGA) is one of two organizations that holds theCommon Core copyright. That right there is a problem for a so-called “state led” education initiative.

Then there is US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan using federal money to pay for two Common-Core-associated testing consortia– and announcing as much in 2009, before there even was a Common Core.

Never mind that the other Common Core copyright owner, the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), has a CEO, Gene Wilhoit, who thought it would be a good idea to ask billionaire Bill Gates in 2008 to bankroll Common Core.

Politically-connected edupreneur David Coleman– who did business with Arne Duncan during Duncan’s time as CEO in Chicago in 2002– was with Wilhoit when he asked Gates for his money.

Then, a few years later, Wilhoit moved on and was replaced by former Pearson associate, Chris Minnich.

Following his CCSSO retirement, Wilhoit conveniently joined Coleman’s Common-Core-centered for-profit-gone-nonprofit, Student Achievement Partners.

And Coleman moved on to become the president of an assessment company, College Board.

So, you see, Hillary, Common Core was never “not political.”

On June 12, 2015, my book on the history, development, and promotion of Common Core, Common Core Dilemma: Who Owns Our Schools?, will be released.

Clinton should read it.

But back to Iowa.

At least Hillary publicly admitted her sympathy for Common Core.

This puts her on the same side as another 2016 presidential hopeful:

Republican Jeb Bush.

However, according to McCarthy’s report of Clinton’s campaign kickoff in Iowa, Hillary Clinton Thinks Common Core “A Good Idea” | deutsch29:

AFT President Randi Weingarten was on Tavis Smiley yesterday! They discussed two dominant philosophies in education - American Federation of Teachers

AFT - American Federation of Teachers:
 AFT - American Federation of Teachers

AFT President Randi Weingarten was on Tavis Smiley yesterday! They discussed two dominant philosophies in education.
Posted by AFT - American Federation of Teachers on Tuesday, April 14, 2015