Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 4/30/15

Special Nite Cap - Catch Up on Today's Post 4/30/15

Special Nite Cap 

CORPORATE ED REFORM

Join PAA webinar: Holding charter schools accountable | Parents Across America

Join PAA webinar: Holding charter schools accountable | Parents Across America: Join PAA webinar: Holding charter schools accountable Join PAA’s Dora Taylor and Steve Norton with Kyle Serrette of the Center for Popular Democracy in our May 5 webinar on charter school accountabilityDid you know that President Obama has asked for an extra $120 million for charter schools in his FY16 budget? The incr

1 by mike simpson / 2h 

Megachurch helps California school board blur church-state divide | Reveal

Megachurch helps California school board blur church-state divide | Reveal: Megachurch helps California school board blur church-state divideBible verses, calls to accept Jesus and the promise of eternal life can be heard in two disparate places in a southeastern suburb of Los Angeles: the Calvary Chapel Chino Hills megachurch and the Chino Valley Unified School District Board of Education.Three o

1 by mike simpson / 3h 

As Florida Goes… | Taking Note

As Florida Goes… | Taking Note: As Florida Goes…Something’s significant seems to be happening in the complex world of public education. The Common Core testing has been the catalyst, but what’s now going on appears to be a much bigger deal.My quick take: The opting out surge will be followed by a decrease in the total number of standardized tests (and test prep) being administered across all grade

by mike simpson / 5h 

Justice in action: How we can address the school-to-prison pipeline | Cloaking Inequity

Justice in action: How we can address the school-to-prison pipeline | Cloaking Inequity:Justice in action: How we can address the school-to-prison pipelineWhy are we sending droves of young Black and Brown students into the school-to-prison pipeline via our harsh discipline policies when there are better alternatives?In this newly published chapter in the Handbook of Urban Educational Leadership,

1 by mike simpson / 7h 

Who Are The Officially Poor (1987-2013)? | Demos

Who Are The Officially Poor (1987-2013)? | Demos: Who Are The Officially Poor (1987-2013)? Previously I posted this graph about who the officially poor were in 2013.I've been wanting to break "Rest" down a little more and extend this back into time. So I went into IPUMS and did just that.Here is the resulting graph with explanation of the methodology below:The way I do this is to first d

1 by mike simpson / 8h 

Study: Far fewer new teachers are leaving the profession than previously thought - The Washington Post

Study: Far fewer new teachers are leaving the profession than previously thought - The Washington Post: Study: Far fewer new teachers are leaving the profession than previously thoughtNew teachers are far less likely to leave the profession than previously thought, according to federal data released Thursday.Ten percent of teachers who began their careers in 2007-2008 left teaching after their fir

1 by mike simpson / 8h 

BustED Pencils Trending News: Pearson/ADHD; Angry White Mom; No test Tulsa | BustED Pencils

BustED Pencils Trending News: Pearson/ADHD; Angry White Mom; No test Tulsa | BustED Pencils: BustED Pencils Trending News: Pearson/ADHD; Angry White Mom; No test TulsaDoes that mean Pearson is starting to head down another road and get out of our public schools or does it mean disaster ahead?Pearson Acquires ADHD Testing Company BioBehavioral Diagnosticshttp://www.pearsoned.com/news/pearson-acquir

1 by mike simpson / 8h 

A Sad Vision of Charter Schools for Illinois | Education Under Attack

A Sad Vision of Charter Schools for Illinois | Education Under Attack: A Sad Vision of Charter Schools for IllinoisApril 30, 2015 educationunderattack Education Under Attack, Pubic EducationAnthony "Tony" Smith, Bruce Rauner, Charter Schools, Delores Kohl, Diane Ravitch, Education Under Attack, Illinois State Board of Education, ISBE, Network for Public Education, NPE, Tony SmithTony Smi

1 by mike simpson / 8h 

Learn How Texas Funds Public Schools In 7 Easy Steps - Houston Public Media

Learn How Texas Funds Public Schools In 7 Easy Steps - 04-27-2015 : Houston Public Media news for... Houston Public Media: Learn How Texas Funds Public Schools In 7 Easy StepsScroll down to become an expert yourself.April 27th, 2015 07:00 AMSTEP 1: Pick a school district.It’s urban with hundreds of thousands of students. Most of them low-income and many are learning English.It has just a few thous

1 by mike simpson / 9h 

Detroit Board of Education Files Title 6 Complaint - Badass Teachers Association:

Badass Teachers Association: Detroit Board of Education Files Title 6 Complaint: Detroit Board of Education Files Title 6 Complaint Detroit, MI - Mr. Herman Davis, President of the Detroit Board of Education, and fellow Board members filed Title 6 complaints with Barbara McQuade of the Department of Justice. This decision came from the Board having been advised of serious complaints of abuse, misu

1 by mike simpson / 9h 

Learn to Teach With Scholarships for Educators - Yahoo News

Learn to Teach With Scholarships for Educators - Yahoo News: Learn to Teach With Scholarships for EducatorsThe legendary college basketball coach John Wooden reportedly once told an interviewer that "the teaching profession contributes more to the future of our society than any other single profession."Becoming a teacher gives you the chance to directly affect future generations, and it

1 by mike simpson / 9h 

Feed the buzz - To BEE or Not To Bee That IS the Question

Sacramento News & Review - Feed the buzz - News - Local Stories - April 30, 2015: Feed the buzzInsiders discuss major changes coming soon to The Sacramento Bee—and whether McClatchy can stay in the print businessMajor changes coming to The Sacramento Bee this next month, as soon as May 12 according to some workers, will emphasize digital and mobile news over traditional print.ILLUSTRATION BY S

1 by mike simpson / 10h 

Trying to Leave Behind 'No Child Left Behind' | Fast Forward | OZY

Trying to Leave Behind 'No Child Left Behind' | Fast Forward | OZY: Trying to Leave Behind 'No Child Left Behind'When it comes to public education in America, 2002 now seems light years in the past — a simpler time, where politicians like George W. Bush, John Boehner and Ted Kennedy could stand together on a stage and applaud the same law. President Bush declared at the time, with the naive confid

1 by mike simpson / 10h 

Holyoke teacher's union president responds to city schools being placed in receivership | masslive.com

Holyoke teacher's union president responds to city schools being placed in receivership | masslive.com: Holyoke teacher's union president responds to city schools being placed in receivershipGus Morales. (Michelle Williams / MassLive.com)HOLYOKE -- The head of the city teacher's union says he's outraged that Holyoke Public Schools have been placed in receivership.In an open letter, Holyoke Teacher

1 by mike simpson / 10h 

Standardized test backlash: More parents pull kids from exams as protest - CSMonitor.com

Standardized test backlash: More parents pull kids from exams as protest - CSMonitor.com: Standardized test backlash: More parents pull kids from exams as protestFor parents fed up with the growing numbers of tests and the increasingly high stakes, 'opting out' is now the popular form of protest. Critics say it aims at the wrong target and ignores importance of data gleaned.BOULDER, COLO. — It had

1 by mike simpson / 10h 

Did Anybody Ask Them? America's Expendables Have Their Say by Mark Naison | NewBlackMan (in Exile)

Did Anybody Ask Them? America's Expendables Have Their Say by Mark Naison | NewBlackMan (in Exile): Did Anybody Ask Them? America's Expendables Have Their Sayby Mark Naison | @McFiredogg | special to NewBlackMan (in Exile)Many people are upset with the unrest in Baltimore that followed the death of Freddie Gray in police custody. Fair enough. But if you spent time in the neighborhood he lived in,

1 by mike simpson / 10h 

LAUSD audit finds school board candidate's charter operated in the red | 89.3 KPCC

LAUSD audit finds school board candidate's charter operated in the red | 89.3 KPCC: LAUSD audit finds school board candidate's charter operated in the red A Los Angeles Unified school board member sought to withhold an inspector general audit finding Partnership to Uplift Communities' Lakeview Charter Academy was insolvent for nine years.A charter spokeswoman said Wednesday that the charter recove

3 by mike simpson / 10h 

Should We Hold Arne Duncan and Every Other Reformer Accountable for Every Child They Hurt? | John Thompson

Should We Hold Arne Duncan and Every Other Reformer Accountable for Every Child They Hurt? | John Thompson: Should We Hold Arne Duncan and Every Other Reformer Accountable for Every Child They Hurt? USDOE Secretary Arne Duncan has long refused to face reality. Duncan still ramps up his incredible spin for test, sort, and punish by claiming that it is a civil rights issue. He continues to support t

1 by mike simpson / 10h 

YESTERDAY

THE WATCHDOGS: Feud threatens UNO schools | Chicago

THE WATCHDOGS: Feud threatens UNO schools | Chicago: THE WATCHDOGS: Feud threatens UNO schoolsPosted: 04/29/2015, 09:00pm | Dan MihalopoulosThe Soccer Academy High School was built next to this elementary school that UNO also built with state money on the Southwest Side of Chicago. | Brian Jackson/Sun TimesA bitter split between the scandal-plagued United Neighborhood Organization and the charter

1 by mike simpson / 20h hide  //  save

PARCC Changes Info on Its “States” Page to Encourage Other “Assessment Solutions” | deutsch29

PARCC Changes Info on Its “States” Page to Encourage Other “Assessment Solutions” | deutsch29: PARCC Changes Info on Its “States” Page to Encourage Other “Assessment Solutions”It seems that the PARCC consortium website has undergone a subtle change at some point between April 6, 2015, and April 15, 2015.The change I noticed is to the PARCC consortium website page entitled, “PARCC States.”Here is h

1 by mike simpson / 21h 

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 4/29/15

Special Nite Cap - Catch Up on Today's Post 4/29/15Special Nite Cap CORPORATE ED REFORMCCSA's Ref Rodriguez's PUC Lakeview Charter Academy AuditCCSA's Ref Rodriguez's PUC Lakeview Charter Academy Audit: Big Education Ape: L.A. Unified delays release of audit on school with ties to candidate - LA Times http://bit.ly/1DKMhP2CCSA's Ref Rodriguez's PUC Lakeview Charter Academy Audit by Robert D. Skeel

3 by mike simpson / 1d 

Throw Back Thursday
Teachers Are People

Join PAA webinar: Holding charter schools accountable | Parents Across America

Join PAA webinar: Holding charter schools accountable | Parents Across America:

Join PAA webinar: Holding charter schools accountable

 Join PAA’s Dora Taylor and Steve Norton with Kyle Serrette of the Center for Popular Democracy in our May 5 webinar on charter school accountability

Did you know that President Obama has asked for an extra $120 million for charter schools in his FY16 budget? The increase would bring the total amount of federal funds for charter schools to $375 million, a 48 percent increase over last year.

Overall, Congress has spent $3,352,841,281 to create and expand charter schools.

Yet a new report by the Center for Popular Democracy and the Alliance to Reclaim our Schools just documented over $200 million in charter school waste and fraud: http://populardemocracy.org/sites/default/files/Charter-Schools-National-Report_rev2.pdf

Who is watching the charter schools???

PAA is pleased to join with the Center for Popular Democracy in a webinar, Holding Charter Schools Accountable, which will cover the many problems with poor charter school oversight which wastes millions of dollars every year. Lawmakers ignore this growing scandal as they continue to push for rapid charter school expansion.

Parents need to learn the facts about charter school waste, confront your representatives, and push for common-sense reforms.

Join PAA and CPD policy experts in a webinar to learn about the results and the policy implications of the findings.

When: Tuesday, May 5, 8 pm ET, 5 pm PT
Where: Sign up here.

- See more at: http://parentsacrossamerica.org/join-paa-webinar-holding-charter-schools-accountable/#sthash.fvUjRhz8.dpuf

Megachurch helps California school board blur church-state divide | Reveal

Megachurch helps California school board blur church-state divide | Reveal:

Megachurch helps California school board blur church-state divide

Bible verses, calls to accept Jesus and the promise of eternal life can be heard in two disparate places in a southeastern suburb of Los Angeles: the Calvary Chapel Chino Hills megachurch and the Chino Valley Unified School District Board of Education.

Three of the five school board members worship at the evangelical church on Sundays; two of them continue praying and preaching during the board meetings on Thursdays.

“Our lives begin in the hospital and end in the church,” then-board President James Na said during a meeting in January 2014, according to avideo of the meeting. He urged onlookers to surrender themselves to God and, to “everyone who does not know Jesus Christ, go find him.”

Some parents in the district say such proselytizing belongs at church, not at the school board. Parents first raised concerns about the prayers in September 2013 – a few months before Na encouraged people to find Jesus – contacting the Freedom From Religion Foundation, a Wisconsin nonprofit atheist group that opposes entanglements of church and state. The group sent board members a letter notifying them that they were violating federal laws.

That didn’t stop the public praying.

“For the past week, I’ve been hearing in my mind: ‘I can only imagine seeing the glory of God and dancing with Jesus,’ ” Andrew Cruz, currently the board’s vice president, said from the dais during an October 2013 meeting, a month after the atheist group’s letter landed. He drove that point home with a quote from 1 Corinthians: “Christ died for our sins, according to the Scripture, and he was buried and he was raised on the third day, according to the Scripture.”

From fights over how to legally teach the Bible in public schools to bills allowing prayers in the classroom, school boards in pockets of the country still are grappling with where to draw the line when it comes to religion in public education. The Chino Valley school board now is embroiled in a lawsuit that promises to be a flashpoint in the nation’s divide over religion.

The fight has set the group of parents against the school board and the celebrity pastor of Chino Hills’ 10,000-member Calvary Chapel, which is dedicated to breaking the church-state barrier.

“Whether people like it or not, religion is part of the fiber of America,” Pastor Jack Hibbs told Reveal. “And we encourage our congregation to speak the truth in the public square.”

The U.S. Supreme Court first ruled against school-sponsored prayer in the landmark 1962 case Engel v. Vitale. Since then, courts have consistently banned classroom prayers or Bible readings organized by public schools. But last year, the high court ruled that city councils are allowed to open their meetings with Christian prayer, and past Supreme Court rulings have allowed state legislatures and the U.S. Congress to pray before sessions.

To Calvary Chapel – as to other conservative religious organizations Megachurch helps California school board blur church-state divide | Reveal:

As Florida Goes… | Taking Note

As Florida Goes… | Taking Note:

As Florida Goes…

Something’s significant seems to be happening in the complex world of public education. The Common Core testing has been the catalyst, but what’s now going on appears to be a much bigger deal.

My quick take: The opting out surge will be followed by a decrease in the total number of standardized tests (and test prep) being administered across all grades. That’s already underway in Florida.

If this analysis is correct, then it’s time to answer the essential question: “If schools are not going to focus on test prep, what should they do instead?”

Opting Out now seems to be a genuine grassroots movement. Yes, it’s tangentially supported by teacher unions and the Tea Party, but it is primarily driven by well-organized parents (and individual teachers) who are concerned about excessive testing. Nearly 15% of New Jersey’s high school kids in the testing grades opted out, along with about 5% of elementary students who were supposed to take the tests. Students in California, Colorado, Washington State and elsewhere have voted with their feet in droves. Even states that are ‘prohibiting’ opting out are finding their rules to be difficult to enforce. FairTest has been keeping a scorecard of sorts, which you can find here.

The 5% threshold matters because federal law requires that districts which fail to test at least 95% of all students risk sanctions. With so many schools failing to meet that threshold, the U.S. Department of Education is in a bind. What can or should it do? At the recent Education Writers Association meeting in Chicago, Secretary Duncan was asked about the probable violations of federal law. His response: it’s up to the states, but he added that he would be watching.

Daniel Koretz, the Harvard professor who wrote “Measuring Up,” believes that the rapid growth of the Opt Out movement has gotten the Department of Education’s attention. “At first I thought it was mostly the right wing, but it’s clear that it goes well beyond that,” he said.

Yes, it does. Now testing–”excessive testing”–is squarely in the critics’ sights.

Superintendent Alberto Carvalho of Miami-Dade (FL) public schools has announced what he calls “the most aggressive decommissioning of testing in the state of Florida, if not in the country.” The politically astute leader has cut the number of district-developed, end-of-course exams from 300 to 10 — including all elementary school tests. He said his goals are to “restore teaching time” and to “respect the educational environment.”

At least a dozen other Florida school districts have announced plans to do the same thing, and reporters there say that number is likely to grow. Florida Governor Rick Scott just signed a law that’s meant to reduce the number of standardized tests given to students, and Superintendent Carvalho has seized the opportunity to act. And take note that this is happening in Florida, where former Governor Jeb Bush pioneered “test-based accountability” for schools and teachers.

Mr. Carvalho is no ordinary superintendent: he is the current National Superintendent of the Year, proclaimed and honored by the American Association of School Administrators. And so what he does matters.

In our conversation, Professor Koretz recalled previous protests about schools during the ‘age of reform’ that began in 1983 with the publication of “A Nation at Risk.” Generally, he said, the education establishment reacted by seeming to agree with the protests, saying “We got the details wrong, but we can fix it with a better curriculum, or fairer tests, or higher standards or more choice.” That line of defense defused much of the protests in theAs Florida Goes… | Taking Note:

Justice in action: How we can address the school-to-prison pipeline | Cloaking Inequity

Justice in action: How we can address the school-to-prison pipeline | Cloaking Inequity:

Justice in action: How we can address the school-to-prison pipeline

Why are we sending droves of young Black and Brown students into the school-to-prison pipeline via our harsh discipline policies when there are better alternatives?

In this newly published chapter in the Handbook of Urban Educational Leadership, we examine a unique peer run youth court at an urban middle school to contextualize social justice in action. The youth court was developed through a collaborative partnership with the local university’s law school and the administrators and teachers of a high poverty, high minority inner city middle school in Texas. Social justice leaders from both institutions identified a troubling trend: students from the middle school were being increasingly tracked into the juvenile justice system. Relying on the theoretical principles of social justice leadership, we explore the principal and school leaders’ implementation of the youth court and their decisions and challenges over three years of the program’s operation. In addition, we delved into the design of the program’s core curriculum based on a restorative justice model that is built upon the foundations of social justice: inclusion and respect. With the backdrop of punitive disciplinary policies, we highlight the courage and commitment of school leaders to go against the grain and fashion an alternative disciplinary program that is significantly changing the trajectories of at-risk youth.

What is a Youth Court?

The youth court model in many ways mirrors traditional adult courts. Teachers, school officials or police can offer juveniles the option of youth court following their arrest, or after referrals. To qualify for the youth court, juveniles must admit guilt. The youth court is responsible for determining the consequences of the action, taking into account any material put before it by the juvenile or other parties. The entire court, including judge, attorneys, jurors, bailiff and clerk are student peers. If a juvenile declines to go to youth court, he or she may be subject to a referral to juvenile court, a criminal record and the penalties that may be imposed including fines and possible confinement to a juvenile detention center (Poch, 2000).

According to the research, the main goal of youth court and what distinguishes it from traditional courts is its attempt to prevent the criminalization of students by directing them away from the formal intake of the juvenile justice system. With youth court, they will not have a criminal record nor be subjected to the more constraining conditions imposed by a real court of justice. Youth courts create a different pathway for addressing student misconduct. In a sense, they reject traditionally held views about the management of student behavior and more importantly, the superiority of the teacher and administrator to determine appropriate consequences for students.

The youth court model is based on a restorative justice underpinning (Godwin, 2001). Restorative justice in turn, is supported by core restoration values. These values reflect the underlying beliefs that: 1) children are rich resources that can benefit communities; 2) young people are educators’ social equals; 3) children can develop problem-Justice in action: How we can address the school-to-prison pipeline | Cloaking Inequity:

Who Are The Officially Poor (1987-2013)? | Demos

Who Are The Officially Poor (1987-2013)? | Demos:

Who Are The Officially Poor (1987-2013)?

 Previously I posted this graph about who the officially poor were in 2013.

I've been wanting to break "Rest" down a little more and extend this back into time. So I went into IPUMS and did just that.

Here is the resulting graph with explanation of the methodology below:

The way I do this is to first drop everyone who is not below the official poverty line. Then I count and clear out categories one by one starting with children, then going to elderly, disabled, students, working, unemployed, caring, and the rest (which is a residual category). This means that each person is only put into the first category that they qualify for. If you are both disabled and a student, you only show up as disabled. If you are both elderly and working, you only show up as elderly. I do this so that there is no double counting and I can get a perfect 100% total.

Children are defined as people below the age of 18. Elderly are defined as people above the age of 64. Disabled people are those who have a disability that limits or prevents work or who said they did not work in the year because of an illness or disability. Students are those who were in high school or college on the month that the survey was completed (March of the following year) or those who said they did not work at all in the year because of school. Working people are those who said they worked at least one week in the year.

After working people are taken out, that leaves only non-working people who don't fit any of the other categories. I broke them down into Unemployed people, Caring people, and Rest. Unemployed people are those who said they did not work in the year because they could not find any work. Caring people are those who said they did not work in the year because they were "taking care of home/family." And Rest is the residual.

There is more to come on this data dive tomorrow. For now note that the CED block (children, elderly, disabled) makes up the majority of the impoverished every year. Also note that carers make up the vast majority of the non-working, non-disabled, non-student, adult poor. These are your stay-at-home parents and homemakers and such.

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Who Are The Officially Poor (1987-2013)? | Demos:

Study: Far fewer new teachers are leaving the profession than previously thought - The Washington Post

Study: Far fewer new teachers are leaving the profession than previously thought - The Washington Post:

Study: Far fewer new teachers are leaving the profession than previously thought

New teachers are far less likely to leave the profession than previously thought, according to federal data released Thursday.

Ten percent of teachers who began their careers in 2007-2008 left teaching after their first year, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. But attrition then leveled off, and five years into their careers, 83 percent were still teaching.

That figure — indicating that just 17 percent of new teachers left their jobs in the first five years — stands in stark contrast to the attrition statistic that has been repeated (and lamented) for years: That between 40 percent and 50 percent of teachers leave the profession within their first five years.

The higher estimate, which has become a fixture in education debates, comes from the work of Richard Ingersoll, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania and a leading scholar on the nation’s teacher workforce.

But Ingersoll’s famous estimate was just that — an estimate. A “crude approximation,” he said in an interview Wednesday, made necessary by the fact that no one had tracked a cohort of new teachers over time to see how long they stayed in the classroom.

Source: “Is there really a teacher shortage?” 2003 paper by Richard M. Ingersoll

But now federal officials have done just that. They followed a representative sample of teachers who began their careers in the 2007-2008 school year in order to find out what happened to them. And the new findings present such a different picture that they have the potential to change the national conversation about new-teacher attrition, a problem that cascades across issues ranging from student achievement to school district budgets.

“I don’t think it’s that the earlier numbers that people like myself calculated were wrong,” Ingersoll said, explaining that his estimate eventually was buttressed by additional data that put new-teacher attrition in the same ballpark. “The hope is that there’s been an improvement and that teacher attrition has gone down.”

Ingersoll pointed out that comparing the new study to his estimate has an apples-to-oranges problem. His estimate included both public and private school teachers, for example, while the new data includes only public school teachers. His estimate looked at attrition that occurs after the fifth year of teaching, while the new data looks at attrition after the fourth year of teaching.

And he said that how you calculate attrition depends on how you define it. He believes 17 percent might be too low. As a member of the advisory panel for the database that gave rise to the new study, he has been doing his own calculations with the raw numbers, and he believes that a more accurate figure — which would include teachers who left the classroom and then returned within the first five years of their career — could be higher than 20 percent.

But even with those caveats, he said, the new figures are clearly lower than those that have been bandied about in education debates for years. And it’s too soon to know why, Ingersoll said, though there is likely to be no shortage of explanations.

Proponents of the Obama administration’s education policies might say that conditions for teachers have improved, Ingersoll said, while others might argue that his earlier estimates exaggerated the problem. And the recession also might have played a role: The new study began tracking teachers just as the economy went south, perhaps giving more teachers reason to stay put in their jobs.

“You can get different spins on this report,” Ingersoll said. “I certainly would hope that the reason the rates were lower is because so many of these reforms have hit pay dirt and we’re improving things. But the truth is, we do not know that.”

Among other key findings from the federal data released Thursday:

• New teachers who are assigned mentors are more likely to continue teaching than those who are not assigned mentors. In 2008-2009, 92 percent of those who had first-year mentors were still teaching, compared to 84 percent of those without mentors. By 2011-12, 86 percent of those who had first-year mentors were teaching, compared to 71 percent who did not have mentors.
• Teachers with higher starting salaries — above $40,000 — were more likely to continue teaching than those with lower salaries.
• The proportion of teachers who leave the classroom involuntarily — for either budgetary or performance reasons — is not insignificant. Of the teachers who left after their first year, for example, 27 percent left involuntarily.
• Older teachers who began their careers after age 30 were more likely to leave the profession within five years than younger teachers, and men were more likely to leave than women.
• Teachers who entered the profession via an alternative certification program (such as Teach for America) were more likely to leave the profession than those who went through traditional training programs. In 2011-2012, for example, about 21 percent of teachers with alternative certification were not teaching anymore, compared with 16 percent of teachers with Study: Far fewer new teachers are leaving the profession than previously thought - The Washington Post:

BustED Pencils Trending News: Pearson/ADHD; Angry White Mom; No test Tulsa | BustED Pencils

BustED Pencils Trending News: Pearson/ADHD; Angry White Mom; No test Tulsa | BustED Pencils:

BustED Pencils Trending News: Pearson/ADHD; Angry White Mom; No test Tulsa

Does that mean Pearson is starting to head down another road and get out of our public schools or does it mean disaster ahead?

Pearson Acquires ADHD Testing Company BioBehavioral Diagnostics

http://www.pearsoned.com/news/pearson-acquires-adhd-testing-company-biobehavioral-diagnostics/#.VCzJf_ldXWl

Our own “Mom Michelle” and “Activist of the Week” from BustED Pencils is deeply offended and insulted by Arne Duncan’s remarks about white suburban mom’s and opt out families. Her letter has over 1,000 likes on Facebook and almost 400 views on our BustED Pencils guest post. It was posted and shared like crazy as well as snail mailed by certified mail directly to Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and President Barack Obama! This Mom is ANGRY.

Letter to Arne Duncan, Guest post by Michelle Slekar

http://bustedpencils.com/2015/04/letter-to-arne-duncan-guest-post-by-michelle-slekar/

“Parents and other educators hailed them as heroes for speaking out”.  A teacher is standing up for her first-graders. A teacher? Wait what?   Awesome.

Tulsa teacher follows through on vow to not test first-graders, risks termination

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/education/tulsa-teacher-follows-through-on-vow-to-not-test-first/article_0fe6fb0d-6a50-5d8d-a049-cc8b38b2969a.html

Want BustED Pencils Trending News to go right to your in box?

Enter your email on the right under “SUBSCRIBE”

BustED Pencils Trending News: Pearson/ADHD; Angry White Mom; No test Tulsa | BustED Pencils:

A Sad Vision of Charter Schools for Illinois | Education Under Attack

A Sad Vision of Charter Schools for Illinois | Education Under Attack:

A Sad Vision of Charter Schools for Illinois

April 30, 2015 educationunderattack Education Under Attack, Pubic EducationAnthony "Tony" Smith, Bruce Rauner, Charter Schools, Delores Kohl, Diane Ravitch, Education Under Attack, Illinois State Board of Education, ISBE, Network for Public Education, NPE, Tony Smith

Tony Smith – charged with implementing the governor’s vision of charter schools in Illinois

During the closing keynote of the Network for Public Education’s conference, Diane Ravitch shared with the audience a story about an exchange she had in 2012 with Bruce Rauner when she was in Chicago to receive the Kohl Education Prize award. The exchange took place during dinner that evening. Below is a transcript of what Ravitch told us:

 “… I was seated across from Bruce Rauner and I had no idea he was going to run for governor. And we began to have a heated discussion about charter schools because the Noble Network, which he is a part of, names schools for individual rich people so there’s a Bruce Rauner Charter School, there’s a Penny Pritzer Charter School… I don’t know of other rich people in Chicago but they all have their own names on charter schools.

So I said ‘Do you think it’s right that your school doesn’t accept kids with disabilities? He said, ‘Why would we?’

I said, ‘What about the kids who are English Language Learners?’

He said, ‘Those kids are not my problem.’

He said, ‘I want the kids who are going to succeed. I want the kids who are motivated. I want the kids who are going to be successful. I don’t want those kids.’

I said, ‘What are we going to do with them?’

He said, ‘I don’t know, it’s not my problem.’

That’s the governor of Illinois.”

Ravitch is the pre-eminent historian of the American education system so I have no A Sad Vision of Charter Schools for Illinois | Education Under Attack:

Learn How Texas Funds Public Schools In 7 Easy Steps - Houston Public Media

Learn How Texas Funds Public Schools In 7 Easy Steps - 04-27-2015 : Houston Public Media news for... Houston Public Media:

Learn How Texas Funds Public Schools In 7 Easy Steps

Scroll down to become an expert yourself.

April 27th, 2015 07:00 AM

STEP 1: Pick a school district.

It’s urban with hundreds of thousands of students. Most of them low-income and many are learning English.

It has just a few thousand students. None of them are low-income or learning English.

It has a nuclear power plant, one mansion and servant quarters. It has just 100 students. All of them are low-income.

STEP 2: Set a basic budget for each student in Learn How Texas Funds Public Schools In 7 Easy Steps - 04-27-2015 : Houston Public Media news for... Houston Public Media:

Social Media campaign linked to Texas Public Radio series on Texas School Finance 4/27 - 5/1

Facebook, Linked In, etc., Notices

This week, Houston Public Media News 88.7 is airing a five-part series by education reporter Laura Isensee that takes a look into the past, present and future of public school funding in Texas.

Today’s story, “How One Man's Fight for Justice Continues After His Death,” is about Demetrio Rodríguez, with interviews of his children Alex Rodríguez and Patty Rodríguez, along with Dr. Albert Cortez, IDRA director of policy, and Al Kauffman, Professor of Law at St. Mary’s University.

http://budurl.com/KHUFsf1

The Houston Public Media News website has the audio of the story, a separate write up, a video feature and other web features.

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Along with its series of stories on school funding in Texas by Laura Isensee, the Houston Public Media News website has a quick tutorial “Learn How Texas Funds Public Schools In 7 Easy Steps.”

http://budurl.com/KHUFsf7stps

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See the online database “Explore School Funding by District,” created by the Houston Public Media News to supplement a series of stories on school funding in Texas by Laura Isensee.

http://budurl.com/KHUFsfDB

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In honor of Houston Public Media News’ five-part series this week on school funding in Texas and the first story on Demetrio Rodríguez, we have put together a list of the 50 Most Memorable Quotes in School Finance, compiled by IDRA’s founder, Dr. José A. Cárdenas, in 1994. The last four quotes are from Mr. Rodríguez himself.

http://budurl.com/IDRA50list

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Today’s KHUF story, “How Parents Search for Opportunities for their Kids with Mixed Results,” tells the stories of how families saw first-hand the difference between rich and poor school districts. David Hinojosa, IDRA national director of policy, is interviewed in this story. [03:58 min]

This week, Houston Public Media News 88.7 is airing a five-part series by education reporter Laura Isensee that takes a look into the past, present and future of public school funding in Texas.

http://budurl.com/KHUFsf2

http://houstonpublicmedia.com/news/how-parents-search-for-opportunities-for-their-children-find-different-results/

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“How One Superintendent Stretches Limited Resources” is today’s KHUF radio installment in a five-part series by Houston Public Media’s education reporter Laura Isensee that takes a look into the past, present and future of public school funding in Texas. [03:49 min]

Alief Superintendent Chambers talks about lack of funding for much-needed full-day prekindergarten and for educating English learners representing 90 different languages.

http://budurl.com/KHUFsf3

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“With Current Education System, Texas On Course To Be Poorer, Less Competitive In 2050” is today’s KHUF radio installment in a five-part series by Houston Public Media’s education reporter Laura Isensee.

http://budurl.com/KHUFsf4

The state’s former demographer Steve Murdock said education funding can be a drag on the state’s future economy, pulling down household income, consumer spending and state revenue.

Speaking about the underfunding of education for English language learners, Dr. Albert Cortez, IDRA director of policy, states in the story: “And so if the state not providing those special needs students the resources that are needed, districts are hurting and students are hurting. And again, it isn’t one particular sector of the state. It’s all of us that are going to be paying the price.

Twitter  Notices

KHUF radio story on Demetrio Rodríguez & his fight for equity in ed funding http://budurl.com/KHUFsf1 #txed #txlege @IDRAedu

Albert Cortez in KHUF radio story on Demetrio Rodríguez’s fight for equity in ed funding http://budurl.com/KHUFsf1 #txed #txlege @IDRAedu

Learn How Texas Funds Public Schools In 7 Easy Steps, by KHUF http://budurl.com/KHUFsf7stps #txed #txlege

Explore School Funding by District, by KHUF http://budurl.com/KHUFsfDB #txed #txlege

50 Most Memorable Quotes in School Finance http://budurl.com/IDRA50list #txed #txlege @IDRAedu

How Parents Search for Opportunities for their Kids with Mixed Results | KHUF radio story http://budurl.com/KHUFsf2 #txed #txlege @IDRAedu #EdBlogNet #SchoolFunding

How One Superintendent Stretches Limited Resources | KHUF radio story http://budurl.com/KHUFsf3

#ELL #preK #txed #txlege #EdBlogNet #SchoolFunding

With Current Ed System, TX on Course to Be Poorer, Less Competitive in 2050 | KHUF radio story http://budurl.com/KHUFsf4 #txlege @IDRAedu #EdBlogNet #SchoolFunding