Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 9/24/15

CORPORATE ED REFORM

School uniforms? | Parents Across America

School uniforms? | Parents Across America: School uniforms? Kimberly Brooks, leader of PAA chapter PAA-Atlanta Public Schools, wrote the following article challenging the district’s school uniform policy.Atlanta Public Schools Uniform Policies: What Can We Infer From Them?A few weeks ago I spent over a hundred dollars in attire for my two children to attend school – a public school.The school has

by mike simpson / 50min 

L.A. Unified highlights magnet school performance compared with charters - LA Times

L.A. Unified highlights magnet school performance compared with charters - LA Times: L.A. Unified highlights magnet school performance compared with chartersThe Los Angeles Unified School District this week released an analysis of test scores showing that its magnet schools are outperforming charter schools. This comes as private foundations are proposing a huge expansion of charters in the city.“

by mike simpson / 56min 

Purging U. S. Education History: Ignoring Past Mistakes and Successes

Purging U. S. Education History: Ignoring Past Mistakes and Successes: Purging U. S. Education History: Ignoring Past Mistakes and SuccessesHistory, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again.Maya AngelouThey are doing strange things to Colleges of Education in this country, and one of the weirdest is dropping education history courses from re

by mike simpson / 2h 

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Washington State Charter Law Updates

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Washington State Charter Law Updates: Washington State Charter Law UpdatesFrom my previous thread and now with some answers to questions arising from the reconsideration extension granted to the Washington State Charter School Association by the Washington State Supreme Court.To review, here's what I wrote in my first thread about the ruling: The Court just recentl

by mike simpson / 2h 

CMD Publishes Full List of 2,500 Closed Charter Schools (with Interactive Map) | PR Watch

CMD Publishes Full List of 2,500 Closed Charter Schools (with Interactive Map) | PR Watch: CMD Publishes Full List of 2,500 Closed Charter Schools (with Interactive Map) Today, the Center for Media and Democracy is releasing a complete state-by-state list of the failed charter schools since 2000. Among other things, this data reveals that millions and millions of federal tax dollars went to “ghost

by mike simpson / 2h 

Parents of PAA Boston affiliate QUEST challenge Mayor’s school plans | Parents Across America

Parents of PAA Boston affiliate QUEST challenge Mayor’s school plans | Parents Across America: BOSTON PARENT GROUP QUESTIONS RENEWING BOSTON COMPACT AND PURSUING A UNIFIED LOTTERY Quality Education for Every Student (QUEST), a grassroots organization of Boston Public School parents with children who have attended over 30 Boston Public Schools, voiced concern about the Mayor’s plan to expand the Bo

by mike simpson / 2h 

More than 1 in 5 U.S. children are (still) living in poverty - The Washington Post

More than 1 in 5 U.S. children are (still) living in poverty - The Washington Post: More than 1 in 5 U.S. children are (still) living in povertyThe proportion of American children who live in poverty began rising during the recession, and it continued rising after the recession officially ended. In 2013, the child poverty rate finally fell for the first time since 2006 — a dip that advocates hoped

by mike simpson / 4h 

Choosing Democracy: Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis

Choosing Democracy: Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis: Our Kids: The American Dream in CrisisOur Kids: The American Dream In Crisis.Robert D. Putnam.Review by Duane CampbellThis new book is an insightful and well researched analysis  of on the achievement gap, which Robert Putnam  correctly calls an opportunity gap for the current generation of young people.  I was drawn to the book by respec

by mike simpson / 4h 

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Gen. Tata led the efforts to re-segregate Wake County schools. But now...

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Gen. Tata led the efforts to re-segregate Wake County schools. But now...: Gen. Tata led the efforts to re-segregate Wake County schools. But now...Gen. Tata with his pal Palin. Remember Brigadier Gen.Tony Tata?He was fast friends with Sarah Palin and Michelle Rhee's second in command in D.C. who then became the superintendent who led the school re-segregation initia

by mike simpson / 6h 

Philanthropy in Education: The Gifts that Keep Taking - Living in Dialogue

Philanthropy in Education: The Gifts that Keep Taking - Living in Dialogue: Philanthropy in Education: The Gifts that Keep TakingBy Anthony Cody.This weekend a select group of philanthropists will gather at Stanford University for an “Innovation Summit,” where they will hear from Melinda Gates and Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen, and other experts in giving money away. The event is hosted by the Stanfo

by mike simpson / 6h 

Pope Gives Shout-Out to Dorothy Day, Founder of Catholic Worker Movement

Pope Gives Shout-Out to Dorothy Day, Founder of Catholic Worker Movement : Pope Gives Shout-Out to Dorothy Day, Founder of Catholic Worker Movement In his address to Congress Thursday, the Pope reminded them of all the people and things they’re busily trying to forget about or have spent their careers legislating against (the poor, the oppressed, people in prison, the environment). He also gave se

by mike simpson / 7h 

Educational Redlining | janresseger

Educational Redlining | janresseger: Educational RedliningHeights Community Congress (HCC), founded in 1972, is Greater Cleveland, Ohio’s oldest fair housing enforcement organization.  For over four decades HCC has been conducting audits of the real estate industry to expose and discourage racial steering and disparate treatment of African American and white home seekers.  Each September, HCC orga

by mike simpson / 8h 

How to Promote Democracy in Schools - Bridging Differences - Education Week

How to Promote Democracy in Schools - Bridging Differences - Education Week: How to Promote Democracy in SchoolsDear friends and Harry,I'm a product of private progressive education.  I learned a lot there, including about democracy.  But...We had an annual "founder's day" ceremony where each year someone told about our glorious history as a school to help working men's children grow up

by mike simpson / 8h 

The real story: Why Mark Zuckerberg’s $100 million gift to Newark schools was announced on Oprah’s show - The Washington Post

The real story: Why Mark Zuckerberg’s $100 million gift to Newark schools was announced on Oprah’s show - The Washington Post: The real story: Why Mark Zuckerberg’s $100 million gift to Newark schools was announced on Oprah’s showDale Russakoff is a former Washington Post reporter and the author of a new book called “The Prize: Who’s in Charge of America’s Schools?” It is an in-depth look at what

by mike simpson / 8h 

Panel Mapping Out Path to Local Control of Schools Draws Crowd in Newark - NJ Spotlight

Panel Mapping Out Path to Local Control of Schools Draws Crowd in Newark - NJ Spotlight: PANEL MAPPING OUT PATH TO LOCAL CONTROL OF SCHOOLS DRAWS CROWD IN NEWARKAbout 100 gathered for first public meeting warned that task ahead will be difficult – but are assured that it will get doneJose LeonardoAppointed amid much fanfare this summer, the nine-member panel forging a path for returning Newark pub

by mike simpson / 8h 

Why the Los Angeles Times Missed the Biggest Education News this Week

Why the Los Angeles Times Missed the Biggest Education News this Week: Why the Los Angeles Times Missed the Biggest Education News this WeekBy Karen Wolfe. She is an LAUSD parent activist and supporter of public schools with children who currently attend district schools.According to the Los Angeles Times, there was not much to report: “Protestors Add a Little Rain to Otherwise Sunny Broad Museum

by mike simpson / 8h 

Seattle stops suspensions for elementary students | Q13 FOX News

Seattle stops suspensions for elementary students | Q13 FOX News: Seattle stops suspensions for elementary studentsSEATTLE (AP) — The Seattle School Board has declared a one-year moratorium on out-of-school suspensions for elementary school students who commit nonviolent offenses.The Seattle Times reports that board passed a resolution Wednesday to start the moratorium this school year.The resolut

by mike simpson / 8h 

Arne Duncan Really F---ing Cares About Kids :: Frederick M. Hess

Arne Duncan Really F---ing Cares About Kids :: Frederick M. Hess: Arne Duncan Really F---ing Cares About KidsYesterday, in POLITICO's annual education issue, reporter Michael Grunwald penned anenthusiastic portraitof Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. My favorite quote was former Duncan aide Justin Hamilton saying that "everyone says" that they care about what's right for kids. But &quo

by mike simpson / 8h 

Connecticut Ed Reform Leader urges business leaders to say something when poor have too many children - Wait What?

Connecticut Ed Reform Leader urges business leaders to say something when poor have too many children - Wait What?: Connecticut Ed Reform Leader urges business leaders to say something when poor have too many children“Speak your mind, if you think that it is not okay for a parent to have a fifth child when they are struggling to support one through four – right –speak it …” – Paul Diego Holzer, Ex

by mike simpson / 8h 

No Longer in Washington State are Test Scores to be Tied to Teachers’ Evaluations | VAMboozled!

No Longer in Washington State are Test Scores to be Tied to Teachers’ Evaluations | VAMboozled!: No Longer in Washington State are Test Scores to be Tied to Teachers’ EvaluationsYou might recall from a prior post that U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan pulled the state of Washington’s No Child Left Behind (NCLB) waiver because the state did not met the U.S. Department of Education’s timeline

by mike simpson / 9h 

National Student Privacy Symposium Tries To Paint Rosy Picture About Student Data Collection » Missouri Education Watchdog

National Student Privacy Symposium Tries To Paint Rosy Picture About Student Data Collection » Missouri Education Watchdog: National Student Privacy Symposium Tries To Paint Rosy Picture About Student Data Collectionhttp://missourieducationwatchdog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/SDPS.pdfOn Monday, the Future of Privacy Forum, with money from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, held a Student Pr

by mike simpson / 9h 

Zuckerberg donation didn't go as planned - Business Insider

Zuckerberg donation didn't go as planned - Business Insider: 'Zuckerberg had no idea what he was getting himself into' with his $100 million donation to Newark public schoolsIn 2010, Mark Zuckerberg set into motion a bold plan to turn around Newark, New Jersey's failing public-school system.With a hyped-up announcement on "Oprah," he pledged to donate $100 million to Newark under the agr

by mike simpson / 9h 

NAEP - Achievement Gaps

NAEP - Achievement Gaps: Achievement GapsAchievement gaps occur when one group of students (such as, students grouped by race/ethnicity, gender) outperforms another group and the difference in average scores for the two groups is statistically significant (that is, larger than the margin of error). NCES explored the achievement gaps between Black and White, and Hispanic and White, students using N

by mike simpson / 9h 

Will Sacramento's Ethics Commission Fail Ethic Challenged Mayor KJ ?- Sacramento News & Review -

Sacramento News & Review - The city of Sacramento's ethics commission does no good if it doesn't have good rules to enforce - Essay - Opinions - September 24, 2015: The city of Sacramento's ethics commission does no good if it doesn't have good rules to enforceWhat's the use of a watchdog without any teeth?There was a fair bit of self-congratulation at Sacramento City Council last week, follow

by mike simpson / 9h 

YESTERDAY

State may delay quick return to local control of Newark’s schools | Bob Braun's Ledger

State may delay quick return to local control of Newark’s schools | Bob Braun's Ledger: State may delay quick return to local control of Newark’s schoolsNESB members (from left) Mary Bennett, Grace Sergio, Donald Katz, Rev. Perry Simmons, Ross Danis, Christopher Cerf and Jose Leonardo. Absent were Al Koeppe and Rochelle Hendricks.The head of a committee established to find a “road map” to return l

by mike simpson / 18h 

Hillsborough County Schools Loses Both Gates Money and Financial Reserves | deutsch29

Hillsborough County Schools Loses Both Gates Money and Financial Reserves | deutsch29: Hillsborough County Schools Loses Both Gates Money and Financial ReservesIn November 2009, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation awarded the Hillsborough County (Florida) Public Schools a $100 million grant as part of its “Empowering Effective Teachers” effort:Hillsborough County Public SchoolsDate: November 200

by mike simpson / 19h 

Friends, foes of Vergara ruling file briefs to appeals court | EdSource

Friends, foes of Vergara ruling file briefs to appeals court | EdSource: Friends, foes of Vergara ruling file briefs to appeals courtTwo former Republican governors joined an impressive array of law professors, education scholars, teachers of the year, civil rights advocates and state and civic leaders submitting briefs on both sides of the appeal of the Vergara lawsuit.Last week was the deadline

by mike simpson / 19h 

Why Integration In New York Won't Work | The Jose Vilson

Why Integration In New York Won't Work | The Jose Vilson:Why Integration In New York Won’t WorkThe New York Times has stepped up its race and class conversations in education, highlighted by this article from NYT’s Kate Taylor on the proposed rezoning of a school district in Brooklyn. While it makes sense to de-zone our schools in an effort to temper down the flurry of studies showing NYC as one o

by mike simpson / 20h 

Some of the struggles in public education in September 2015 | Dudley aka Origin

September 2015 | Dudley aka Origin: Some of the struggles in public education in September 2015September 2015 by Dudley aka Origin aboutThis track was made to document some of the struggles in public education in September 2015.lyricsKicking off the New year, standing up with no fear,reformers got It wrong and to us it's so clear,All types of battles for our schools across the nation,Communities o

by mike simpson / 20h 

CURMUDGUCATION: Gates Plan Crashes, Burns School District

CURMUDGUCATION: Gates Plan Crashes, Burns School District: Gates Plan Crashes, Burns School DistrictBack in 2012, "teacherpreneur" Ryan Kinser wrote on the Gates Foundation blog, Impatient Optimists, to sing the praises of the Gates partnership with Hillsborough County schools in a program called Empowering Effective Teachers.Back in 2009, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation awarded th

by mike simpson / 21h 

The Education Reform Oligarchy & Stiff Accountability - The Crucial VoiceThe Crucial Voice

The Education Reform Oligarchy & Stiff Accountability - The Crucial VoiceThe Crucial Voice: The Education Reform Oligarchy & Stiff AccountabilityWho convinced a nation that we should put “stiff accountability” in place without first ensuring that all schools and children had the necessary resources to achieve the excellence in education we demand of them? It was “them,” the rulers; not we,

by mike simpson / 22h 

Report: Economy improves, but not for California's poor kids | 89.3 KPCC

Report: Economy improves, but not for California's poor kids | 89.3 KPCC: Report: Economy improves, but not for California's poor kidsA new report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation found that despite better job numbers and consumer spending nationwide, the lot of poor children has not improved. The findings are based on data from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey, a comprehensive popu

by mike simpson / 22h 

4LAKids - Cortines says (+ the data proves): “OUR LAUSD MAGNET SCHOOLS OUT-PERFORMED CHARTER SCHOOLS AT ALL GRADE LEVELS”

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: Cortines says (+ the data proves): “OUR LAUSD MAGNET SCHOOLS OUT-PERFORMED CHARTER SCHOOLS AT ALL GRADE LEVELS”: Cortines says (+ the data proves): “OUR LAUSD MAGNET SCHOOLS OUT-PERFORMED CHARTER SCHOOLS AT ALL GRADE LEVELS”from the report:“Of the 192 LAUSD magnet schools and centers, 37 are for gifted or highly gifted students. However when overall sco

by mike simpson / 23h 

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 9/23/15

CORPORATE ED REFORMFactory Model Education “Reforms” Were Designed for Product Testing, Not Children | Creative by NatureFactory Model Education “Reforms” Were Designed for Product Testing, Not Children | Creative by Nature: Factory Model Education “Reforms” Were Designed for Product Testing, Not Children“The factory model was developed to ensure quality control and produce identical “consumer” pr

by mike simpson / 23h 

School uniforms? | Parents Across America

School uniforms? | Parents Across America:

School uniforms? 

Kimberly Brooks, leader of PAA chapter PAA-Atlanta Public Schools, wrote the following article challenging the district’s school uniform policy.

Atlanta Public Schools Uniform Policies: What Can We Infer From Them?

A few weeks ago I spent over a hundred dollars in attire for my two children to attend school – a public school.

The school has a mandatory uniform policy for all students. This is a good policy, correct? As a parent uniformity looks more eloquent and prestigious, right? Well, I support the ideology of that concept –until one day where there was an emergency and my daughter wasn’t in uniform. The principal was more concerned with her attire than her education.

To go a step further, though I agreed I would ensure that she wears the uniform, she refused to accommodate her and put into ISS (detention). This is common. After questioning several parents, they too understood this to be the policy. That’s okay. However, I realized I never received the policy. I then questioned it and received no response.

To make a long story longer (lol) I decided to dig a little deeper. Students in public schools should not be required unless the district agrees, and the parents would have to agree. I was unable to locate such an agreement. Furthermore, students are penalized and taken out of general instruction for their attire. At some schools, students miss class because they are sent to ISS and in some cases suspended. Is attire that important? Why do schools require uniforms?

In private and charter schools, uniforms make students distinguishable from other schools. In addition to that it’s a given requirement upon entry to the school and the uniforms are identical. This isn’t the case in Atlanta Public Schools. School districts choose their uniforms. But hey, it’s cheaper correct? The answer is no. Students are still economically identifiable by the quality and uniform type. Furthermore, students who are economically challenged are forced to wear the same clothing more, considering the cheap quality. It is visibly different.

As a frugal parent, jeans and a t-shirt or a sweater are easier to locate than khaki or black pants and oxford shirts. But once again, why should I complain right? Well, here is why. After research I found that most

- See more at: http://parentsacrossamerica.org/school-uniforms/#sthash.J7PBC7aF.dpuf

L.A. Unified highlights magnet school performance compared with charters - LA Times

L.A. Unified highlights magnet school performance compared with charters - LA Times:

L.A. Unified highlights magnet school performance compared with charters

The Los Angeles Unified School District this week released an analysis of test scores showing that its magnet schools are outperforming charter schools. This comes as private foundations are proposing a huge expansion of charters in the city.

“While overall results indicate that independent charter schools scored higher on these tests than traditional LAUSD schools, it also highlights the stellar performance of our magnet schools, which outperformed charter schools at all grade levels,” said L.A. schools Supt. Ramon C. Cortines in a statement.

On the English language arts portion of the test, 55% of LAUSD magnet students met or exceeded the state’s new learning standards, compared with 39% of students in local charters, the district report showed. In math, 44% of magnet students met those targets, compared with 28% of students in charters.

Overall, district students scored lower than those enrolled in charters, with 33% of L.A. Unified students meeting or surpassing learning goals in English; 25% in math.

The state charter association immediately pointed out these differences when test results became public.

Magnet schools, which offer specialized programs for students throughout the system, are voluntary and designed to promote integration.

The release of the district data has become the latest answer by the school system's defenders to supporters of independently operated charters.

The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation has circulated a plan to enroll half of L.A. Unified students in charters over the next eight years. Details of the $490-million project were laid out this week in a memo obtained by the Los Angeles Times.

According to the memo, increasing the number of charters would benefit Los Angeles students because those schools offer a better education.

Charters are publicly funded, but not subject to some rules that govern traditional schools. Most are non-union.

Twitter: @howardblumeL.A. Unified highlights magnet school performance compared with charters - LA Times:

Purging U. S. Education History: Ignoring Past Mistakes and Successes

Purging U. S. Education History: Ignoring Past Mistakes and Successes:

Purging U. S. Education History: Ignoring Past Mistakes and Successes

History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again.

Maya Angelou

They are doing strange things to Colleges of Education in this country, and one of the weirdest is dropping education history courses from required teacher preparation.  According to Education Week there is a decline in these classes for teachers.

Why is this troubling? I am not conspiratorial, but wiping out coursework about education’s past frightens me.

P.L. Thomas who is Professor of Education at Furman University, has a post titled“Dismantling an Unstable Discipline: Education without Foundation” which Purging U. S. Education History: Ignoring Past Mistakes and Successes:

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Washington State Charter Law Updates

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Washington State Charter Law Updates:

Washington State Charter Law Updates

From my previous thread and now with some answers to questions arising from the reconsideration extension granted to the Washington State Charter School Association by the Washington State Supreme Court.

To review, here's what I wrote in my first thread about the ruling: 

The Court just recently granted this extension and the due date is October 23rd.  To note, Attorney General Bob Ferguson is also asking for a reconsideration.  (Want to e-mail him to let him know there are better issues before his office? 

This would seem to mean that the Court would allow state funding for all charter schools thru much of October until that reconsideration motion is heard.  However, the Court had sent the ruling down to King County Superior County to explain the outcomes and nothing has come from that court yet.

However, from the Yakima Herald:

The attorney representing the plaintiffs, Paul Lawrence, said Tuesday afternoon that they are still considering options, which could include asking a judge to halt the payments. At minimum, he said, they would want assurances that the state has a plan to get the money back.

“It certainly seems appropriate that the state needs to take steps to make sure that it gets repaid assuming the decision stays in place and becomes final,” Lawrence said.

Here is a Q&A between this blog and OSPI:
 SSCF:  If neither Court - Supreme or King County Superior - send OSPI direction on funding charters, will OSPI go ahead and fund the charter schools?

OSPI:  Yes

SSCF: If the money is sent, that will likely be enough to see most charters thru Seattle Schools Community Forum: Washington State Charter Law Updates:

CMD Publishes Full List of 2,500 Closed Charter Schools (with Interactive Map) | PR Watch

CMD Publishes Full List of 2,500 Closed Charter Schools (with Interactive Map) | PR Watch:

CMD Publishes Full List of 2,500 Closed Charter Schools (with Interactive Map)

Today, the Center for Media and Democracy is releasing a complete state-by-state list of the failed charter schools since 2000. Among other things, this data reveals that millions and millions of federal tax dollars went to “ghost” schools that never even opened to students. The exact amount is unknown because the U.S. Department of Education is not required to report its failures, where money went to groups to help them start new charters that never even opened.

This data set also provides reporters and citizens of each state an opportunity to take a closer look at how much taxpayer money has been squandered on the failed charter school experiment in their states. The data set and the interactive map below are based on more than a decade’s worth of official but raw data from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).

This release comes as the U.S. Department of Education and industry insiders currently deciding which states to award half a billion dollar in grants designed to bolster the school privatization industry under the federal Charter Schools Program (CSP).

As CMD has calculated, nearly 2,500 charter schools have shuttered between 2001 and 2013, affecting 288,000 American children enrolled in primary and secondary schools, and the failure rate for charter schools is much higher than for traditional public schools.

For example, in the 2011-2012 school year, charter school students ran two and half times the risk of having their education disrupted by a school closing and suffering academic setbacks as a result of closure. Dislocated students are less likely to graduate. In 2014 study, Matthew F. Larsen with the Department of Economics at Tulane University looked at high school closures in Milwaukee, almost all of which were charter schools, and he concluded that closures decreased “high school graduation rates by nearly 10%." He found that the effects persist "even if the students attends a better quality school after closure.”

Hidden behind the statistics are the social consequences. According to 2013 paper by Robert Scott and Miguel Saucedo at the University of Illinois, school closures “have exacerbated inter-neighborhood tensions among Chicago youth in recent years” and have been a contributing factor to the high rate of youth incarceration.

Then there are the charter schools that never opened despite tax money from a federal program to help more entities apply to create even more charters. Drilling down into the data of just one state in just one school year, 25 charter

- See more at: http://www.prwatch.org/node/12936#sthash.BEcAEgwE.dpuf

Parents of PAA Boston affiliate QUEST challenge Mayor’s school plans | Parents Across America

Parents of PAA Boston affiliate QUEST challenge Mayor’s school plans | Parents Across America:

BOSTON PARENT GROUP QUESTIONS RENEWING BOSTON COMPACT AND PURSUING A UNIFIED LOTTERY

Quality Education for Every Student (QUEST), a grassroots organization of Boston Public School parents with children who have attended over 30 Boston Public Schools, voiced concern about the Mayor’s plan to expand the Boston Compact agreement between charter, parochial, and Boston Public schools. QUEST has particular concerns with a proposal to drastically alter enrollment policies.

QUEST parents say the plan’s expansion of enrollment to include non-district charter schools will have a negative impact on Boston’s students. “Unlike charters, BPS educates English Language Learners of all levels and children with a wide range of special needs, and takes students mid-year and in any grade. Where is the partnership here?” said Karen Oil, BPS parent and QUEST member. QUEST also pointed out that BPS has lost tens of millions of dollars to charter schools who receive 49% of Chapter 70 funds, though serving only 12% of Boston students, and criticized the lack of charter school accountability to the communities and families they serve, especially in regards to high suspension rates and low graduation rates of boys of color.

QUEST urges Mayor Walsh and other city leaders to take action in the following areas before expanding an agreement with non-district schools:

(1) Racial and economic impact assessment of recently adopted school assignment plan, which was arrived at through two years of community process, before any changes are made.

(2) Adequate and equitable funding for Boston Public Schools, including reimbursement for funds lost to charter schools.

(3) Transparent data collection from charter schools that go beyond test scores in order to evaluate the quality of schools.

(4) Compliance with progressive discipline strategies, as mandated by the State; diversity in hiring practices, and parental participation in governance of schools.

(5) Policy change that would require charters to fill empty seats at all times of year and for all grades like public districts are required to do.

QUEST points out that the Compact, adopted in 2011, has shown little benefit for the vast majority of Boston’s students and believes that expanding a multi-district education system with little transparency or accountability will increase inequitable options for the city’s students, especially those with the greatest needs.

- See more at: http://parentsacrossamerica.org/parents-paa-boston-affiliate-quest-challenge-mayors-school-plans/#sthash.NPLWO5rL.dpuf

More than 1 in 5 U.S. children are (still) living in poverty - The Washington Post

More than 1 in 5 U.S. children are (still) living in poverty - The Washington Post:

More than 1 in 5 U.S. children are (still) living in poverty

The proportion of American children who live in poverty began rising during the recession, and it continued rising after the recession officially ended. In 2013, the child poverty rate finally fell for the first time since 2006 — a dip that advocates hoped was the beginning of an enduring trend.

But the child poverty rate did not fall again. Twenty-two percent of U.S. children — or more than one in five — were still living in poverty in 2014, unchanged from 2013, according to new data from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey.

That’s 15.7 million children living under the poverty line, which in 2014 was $24,008 for a family of four.

Child poverty rate over time

New census data show that the nation's child poverty rate flat didn't change between 2013 and 2014, and is still far higher than before the recession. In 2014, the federal poverty line was $24,008 for a family of four.

0

10

20

2005

2012

2013

2014

19

23

22

22

Source: National KIDS Count/Annie E. Casey Foundation

THE WASHINGTON POST

Minority children were even more likely to be living in poverty, the Annie E. Casey Foundation pointed out. Nearly four in 10 black children and nearly one-third of Latino children live in poverty, compared with 13 percent of white and Asian children.More than 1 in 5 U.S. children are (still) living in poverty - The Washington Post:

Choosing Democracy: Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis

Choosing Democracy: Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis:

Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis

Our Kids: The American Dream In Crisis.

Robert D. Putnam.

Review by Duane Campbell

This new book is an insightful and well researched analysis  of on the achievement gap, which Robert Putnam  correctly calls an opportunity gap for the current generation of young people.  I was drawn to the book by respect for his prior writing,  Bowling Alone . This new work  is of equal value in synthesizing social science research.  Perhaps it is of more value since we have major institutions-schools- in positions , that could contribute to the rebirth of equal, democratic opportunity.

In Our Kids, Putnam   describes major developments in our schools and our communities - the growing inequality of opportunity for the working class and the poor.

Educational writers have long chronicled several of the key concepts, the role of tracking, of concentrations of poverty and of race. This work excels because it is a very well informed outsiders sociological viewpoint of these issues.  Putnam and research associate Jen Sliva bring together extensive social science data and research to support the  many interpretive suggestions.

This is not the over simplification of many general and popular books, nor the ideological tracts of education’s many critics and neoliberal "reform" advocates. Putnam provides vivid and useful examples combined with a well informed data bases  of social science research  of the most important issues. He builds his arguments upon both individual interviews and the synthesis of an enormous amount of social science research thus combining big and important  ideas with the research to support them.  

In my own career, and in my writing, I have long sought to describe several of these  issues in a manner that would guide school improvement.  We begin by educating both the public and teachers on these vital issues of building a democratic school system that can contribute to improved equality of opportunity necessary for the survival and rebirth of our democracy. Building a democracy requires this active interaction between the public, teachers, and the school systems.

Robert Putnam  extensively documents that  we are traveling toward a more divided, more unequal system- the precise opposite of the goals of democratic reform .  This serious and valuable work  is not the cant of the neocons, nor of the neo liberals of higher standards and higher expectations, although both of these have their place in overall school improvement.  But as Putnam meticulously records, it is the complex interactions of race, class, communities and the educational systems that creates the growing inequality.

Our Kids, describes the problems and issues with integrity and care. It does not offer many solutions for teachers  working in schools. The task of developing daily, practical solutions can mostly come from people working in Choosing Democracy: Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis:

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Gen. Tata led the efforts to re-segregate Wake County schools. But now...

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Gen. Tata led the efforts to re-segregate Wake County schools. But now...:

Gen. Tata led the efforts to re-segregate Wake County schools. But now...

Gen. Tata with his pal Palin. 

Remember Brigadier Gen.Tony Tata?

He was fast friends with Sarah Palin and Michelle Rhee's second in command in D.C. who then became the superintendent who led the school re-segregation initiative in Wake County, North Carolina.

For some reason, it became trendy a few years ago, to appoint former generals and colonels as school leaders. We did it here in Chicago when Rahm Emanuelappointed Marine Col. Tim Tyrrell and paid him $180,000/year to run his mass school-closing operation. Tyrrell also was charged with selling or finding new uses for closed school buildings, a project that so far has failed miserably.

BUT BACK TO TATA...After mass protests by the NAACP and court actions, the school board finally was forced to fire Tata. But he was then appointed by Tea Party fave, Gov. Pat McCrory to head of the State Dept. of Transportation.

Col. Tyrrell resigned in January.

It was Tata’s credentials as military man that helped him land the superintendent's job and Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Gen. Tata led the efforts to re-segregate Wake County schools. But now...:

Philanthropy in Education: The Gifts that Keep Taking - Living in Dialogue

Philanthropy in Education: The Gifts that Keep Taking - Living in Dialogue:

Philanthropy in Education: The Gifts that Keep Taking

By Anthony Cody.

This weekend a select group of philanthropists will gather at Stanford University for an “Innovation Summit,” where they will hear from Melinda Gates and Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen, and other experts in giving money away. The event is hosted by the Stanford Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society, but no civilians will be present — it is by invitation only. Only those wealthy enough to give away millions may attend.

Over the past decade, philanthropic organizations have played an increasing role in public schools. Now is a good time to take stock on the impact philanthropies are having. Will this weekend include time for some sober reflection? If so, I would offer some food for thought, with a focus on the Gates Foundation. (For an in-depth look at the Gates Foundation’s work in education, please see my book, The Educator and the Oligarch, a Teacher Challenges the Gates Foundation.)

Our public schools cannot take much more billionaire-sponsored “innovation.”

Just this week we learned that the Gates Foundation is cutting short its funding of the Hillsborough schools, where they pledged an investment of $100 million to support an aggressive program that rewarded teachers for higher test scores. After providing the district with $80 million for the project over the past six years, the Gates Foundation has announced the end to their funding, suspending the last $20 million of their grant. They have discovered what many educators and researchers knew all along. Pay for raising test scores Philanthropy in Education: The Gifts that Keep Taking - Living in Dialogue: