Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 12/1/15

CORPORATE ED REFORM

Help NPE STOP Damaging New Provisions in ESEA Reauthorization Bill - Action Network: 

 

CURMUDGUCATION: Campbell Brown's Friends

CURMUDGUCATION: Campbell Brown's Friends: Campbell Brown's Friends Weekly Standard writer Mark Hemingway is in the December issue sticking up for Campbell Brown with the kind of PR fluff that usually costs big bucks. It's clear that Campbell Brown doesn't need friends. But it appears she's looking for something else.In "Who's Afraid of Campbell Brown? (Teachers' unions, and for good reason)&q

by mike simpson / 3h 

Jersey Jazzman: Return To Teachers Village: Part I

Jersey Jazzman: Return To Teachers Village: Part I: Return To Teachers Village: Part IEarlier this month, Rachel Cohen of The American Prospect wrote an article about Teachers Village, a development project in Newark, NJ that houses three charter schools in addition to retail stores. Teachers Village is unusual in that it also has dozens of housing units that are specifically marketed to teachers.

by mike simpson / 3h 

ALERT:  Malloy’s Budget Cuts lead to another 23% Tuition Increase at UConn - Wait What?

ALERT:  Malloy’s Budget Cuts lead to another 23% Tuition Increase at UConn - Wait What?: ALERT:  Malloy’s Budget Cuts lead to another 23% Tuition Increase at UConnAs a result of Democratic Governor Dannel Malloy’s unrelenting attack on Connecticut’s public institutions of higher education, the University of Connecticut Board Of Trustees will be voting at their next meeting to raise tuition by as m

by mike simpson / 4h 

*Guinea Pigs in an Urban Laboratory* | EduShyster

*Guinea Pigs in an Urban Laboratory* | EduShyster: *Guinea Pigs in an Urban Laboratory*In her new book, Unequal City, Carla Shedd looks at race, schools and perceptions of injustice through the eyes of young people…EduShyster: I want to start by giving everyone a moment to order your amazing new book, Unequal City. Waiting…Waiting… OK. Here we go. You did something highly unusual in your book: you

by mike simpson / 5h 

With vote planned on No Child Left Behind replacement bill, revolt brewing on right and left - The Washington Post

With vote planned on No Child Left Behind replacement bill, revolt brewing on right and left - The Washington Post: With vote planned on No Child Left Behind replacement bill, revolt brewing on right and leftSpeaker of the House Paul Ryan answers questions during a news conference at the Capitol on Dec. 1 on a bill to replace No Child Left Behind. (Win Mcnamee/Getty Images)With Congress poised to

by mike simpson / 6h 

ESEA Reauthorization – Ramming Through a Bad Deal for America’s Children | Truth in American Education

ESEA Reauthorization – Ramming Through a Bad Deal for America’s Children | Truth in American Education: ESEA Reauthorization – Ramming Through a Bad Deal for America’s ChildrenThe following is an open letter to members of Congress:Dear Member:A secretive, “smoke-filled room” process that excluded parents of millions of public schoolchildren and the vast majority of their elected representatives ha

by mike simpson / 6h 

Where’s Recess in the ESEA Reauthorization?

Where’s Recess in the ESEA Reauthorization?: Where’s Recess in the ESEA Reauthorization?We are losing a lot in terms of kids’ innovativeness and creativity. Frankly, I am worried about the next generation. Olga Jarrett, professor and recess advocate, Georgia State UniversityWhile there has been some good news on the recess front, every single public school needs to offer several recess breaks each

by mike simpson / 6h 

Bill Gates and the erosion of student privacy | Parent Coalition for Student Privacy

Bill Gates and the erosion of student privacy | Parent Coalition for Student Privacy:BILL GATES AND THE EROSION OF STUDENT PRIVACYBill Gates has had an enduring fixation on the need to expand the collection and sharing of personal student data. In 2005, the Gates Foundation organized a “data summit” among its grantees, at which launched the Data Quality Campaign, “to Improve the collection, availa

by mike simpson / 6h 

Schools follow transgender law with few bumps

Schools follow transgender law with few bumps: Schools follow transgender law with few bumpsKAREN QUINCY LOBERG/THE STAR Julian Foley, 18, poses for his portrait last week at Century Academy in Thousand Oaks where he completes his high school studies. Foley attends the independent study school where he says it is not as hard for him to be a transgender student as it was in a traditional public hig

by mike simpson / 6h 

Uncomfortable convos for OKCPS: race, class, parenting - NonDoc - Linkis.com

Uncomfortable convos for OKCPS: race, class, parenting - NonDoc - Linkis.com: Uncomfortable convos for OKCPS: race, class, parentingThe most difficult and most emotional dispute in education is over the assessment of disciplinary consequences for student misconduct. The issue requires conversations about topics that our mothers used to tell us to avoid: race, class and other people’s parenting. Di

by mike simpson / 7h 

Notorious Ohio Online Charters Try to Evade Oversight, Tarnish Reputation of Charter Sector | janresseger

Notorious Ohio Online Charters Try to Evade Oversight, Tarnish Reputation of Charter Sector | janresseger:Notorious Ohio Online Charters Try to Evade Oversight, Tarnish Reputation of Charter SectorPatrick O’Donnell, of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, reports that, “Poor test results at online schools are creating divisions in the charter school community in Ohio and nationally, leading some national l

by mike simpson / 7h 

Brookings’ Critique of AERA Statement on VAMs, and Henry Braun’s Rebuttal | VAMboozled!

Brookings’ Critique of AERA Statement on VAMs, and Henry Braun’s Rebuttal | VAMboozled!: Brookings’ Critique of AERA Statement on VAMs, and Henry Braun’s RebuttalTwo weeks ago I published a post about the newly released “American Educational Research Association (AERA) Statement on Use of Value-Added Models (VAM) for the Evaluation of Educators and Educator Preparation Programs.”In this post I als

by mike simpson / 7h 

ESEA Federal Education Alert by a NGO and a Parent’s Organization. Whose Primary Concern is for the Students? » Missouri Education Watchdog

ESEA Federal Education Alert by a NGO and a Parent’s Organization. Whose Primary Concern is for the Students? » Missouri Education Watchdog: ESEA Federal Education Alert by a NGO and a Parent’s Organization. Whose Primary Concern is for the Students?The privately funded NGO Whiteboard Advisors sent out an email alert regarding the pending ESEA reauthorization.  It is a group that describes itself

by mike simpson / 7h 

Revamp of No Child Left Behind | Al Jazeera America

Revamp of No Child Left Behind | Al Jazeera America: Revamp of No Child Left Behind fails to satisfy some criticsCongress may soon pass major overhaul of controversial federal education law, but some say changes don't go far enoughCongress is expected within weeks to approve a rewrite of No Child Left Behind, the federal education law that has roiled public school districts across the country sinc

by mike simpson / 7h 

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: A Sinking ship

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: A Sinking ship: A Sinking shipI watched an old film, "The Shipping News" the other night. I liked it, mainly because it's set on the wild, stormym Newfoundland coast and starsKevin Spacey, one of my favorites. One scene that grabbed me, had newsman Quoyle, played by Spacey, an inexperienced sailor out in an unworthy boat in rough waters, bailing furiously w

by mike simpson / 7h 

Where teachers earn the most - Business Insider

Where teachers earn the most - Business Insider: Here's what teachers earn around the worldIf you're a teacher in Luxembourg, you're in luck.Using data from a recent OECD report, the World Economic Forum put together a chartshowing in which 10 countries teachers with 10 years of experience who work in public institutions at the lower secondary level earn the most.Luxembourg was No. 1 on the list.

by mike simpson / 8h 

Why many high-stakes testing foes see ‘modest’ progress in No Child Left Behind rewrite - The Washington Post

Why many high-stakes testing foes see ‘modest’ progress in No Child Left Behind rewrite - The Washington Post: Why many high-stakes testing foes see ‘modest’ progress in No Child Left Behind rewriteNow that U.S. lawmakers have unveiled final draft legislation rewriting the No Child Left Behind education law and are expected to vote on it soon, the question is how much will really change for public

by mike simpson / 8h 

5 Things To Know About the Revised No Child Left Behind

5 Things To Know About the Revised No Child Left Behind: 5 Things To Know About the Revised No Child Left BehindIn the com­ing weeks, the House and Sen­ate will vote on a ma­jor over­haul of the fed­er­al edu­ca­tion law.The fi­nal text of the Every Stu­dent Suc­ceeds Act, de­signed to re­place No Child Left Be­hind, was re­leased Monday. If a bi­par­tis­an co­ali­tion of law­makers has its way, i

by mike simpson / 8h 

State treasurer asks charter schools to put finances online mydaytondailynews

State treasurer asks charter schools to put finances online | www.mydaytondailynews.com: State treasurer asks charter schools to put finances onlineCOLUMBUS —State Treasurer Josh Mandel is cajoling thousands of local governments, public universities, the Ohio pension systems and others to post their expenditures on his government transparency website, OhioCheckbook.com, but until recently he had o

by mike simpson / 8h 

Segregation still increased in Wake County plan | Duke Today

Mixed Results for Income-based K-12 Assignment | Duke Today: Mixed Results for Income-based K-12 AssignmentSegregation still increased in Wake County plan, but not as much as in other countiesDURHAM, NC - When Wake County Public Schools switched from a school assignment policy based on race to one based on socioeconomic status, schools became slightly more segregated, according to new research fro

by mike simpson / 8h 

Nation’s Report Card Doesn’t Discount Optimism | Articles | Noodle

Nation’s Report Card Doesn’t Discount Optimism | Articles | Noodle: Nation’s Report Card Reveals Declining Math Scores, But Is There Room for Optimism?This October, the National Center for Education Statistics released the Nation’s Report Card — and educators, administrators, and parents found the results more troubling than they’d expected.For the first time since 1990, when the National Assessme

by mike simpson / 8h 

Ohio Teacher Plans To Sue Kasich Education Department For Bullying

Ohio Teacher Plans To Sue Kasich Education Department For Bullying:Ohio Teacher Plans To Sue Kasich Education Department For BullyingDuring a recent class training to recognize bullying, one teacher in Ohio realized that she fell into the bullied category. The bully, according to Dawn Neely-Randall, wasn’t from any individual but the State of Ohio.The story, including her plans to sue the state, w

by mike simpson / 8h 

An Interview with Henry Giroux, Professor of Public Education at McMasters University | The Politic

An Interview with Henry Giroux, Professor of Public Education at McMasters University | The Politic: An Interview with Henry Giroux, Professor of Public Education at McMasters UniversityHenry Giroux currently holds the Global TV Network Chair Professorship at McMaster University in the English and Cultural Studies Department. He has written and lectured extensively on the nature of public and high

by mike simpson / 9h 

YESTERDAY

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA): Some Eleventh-Hour Observations | deutsch29

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA): Some Eleventh-Hour Observations | deutsch29: The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA): Some Eleventh-Hour ObservationsThe Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) is the version of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) reauthorization that has flown through conference committee and continues on its speedy trek to the House for an expected vote on December 0

by mike simpson / 17h 

California leads drive to reverse focus on standardized tests | EdSource

California leads drive to reverse focus on standardized tests | EdSource:California leads drive to reverse focus on standardized testsWhen President Barack Obama declared that “unnecessary testing” is “consuming too much instructional time” and creating “undue stress for educators and students,” it was another sign that the dominant strategy over the past 15 years to use standardized tests to hold

by mike simpson / 19h hide  //  save

THE DEAL: Baraka and Cerf become school “reform” allies | Bob Braun's Ledger

THE DEAL: Baraka and Cerf become school “reform” allies | Bob Braun's Ledger: THE DEAL: Baraka and Cerf become school “reform” alliesThe deal last June was a stunner for many reasons–Newark Mayor Ras Baraka and Republican Gov. Chris Christie cut a bargain to bring in former state schools chief Christopher Cerf, a charter school champion, to be the city schools superintendent. It didn’t initially m

by mike simpson / 19h 

Report: Tougher admission to California universities bad for the state | 89.3 KPCC

Report: Tougher admission to California universities bad for the state | 89.3 KPCC: Report: Tougher admission to California universities bad for the stateCalifornia's public universities are becoming increasingly out of reach for all but the most elite students, a new report by the L.A.-based Campaign for College Opportunity argues. The group’s report, "Access Denied: Rising Selectivity at Ca

by mike simpson / 20h 

#STOPESEA | Save Maine Schools

#STOPESEA | Save Maine Schools: #STOPESEAFor several months, I have been blogging like a madman about my suspicions that we are being ushered into a new era of embedded, competency-based assessment that has been planned behind the scenes for years by the testing, ed-tech, and student loan industries.And now here we are.  The final bicameral version of the ESEA rewrite has been released for us to v

by mike simpson / 23h 

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 11/30/15

CORPORATE ED REFORMHelp NPE STOP Damaging New Provisions in ESEA Reauthorization Bill - Action Network:  Marie Corfield: NJ Legislature looks at full day K this weekMarie Corfield: NJ Legislature looks at full day K this week: NJ Legislature looks at full day K this weekCamden resident and public education activist, Sue Altman, is guest posting today to call attention to an important bill up for a

by mike simpson / 23h 

CURMUDGUCATION: Campbell Brown's Friends

CURMUDGUCATION: Campbell Brown's Friends:

Campbell Brown's Friends 

Weekly Standard writer Mark Hemingway is in the December issue sticking up for Campbell Brown with the kind of PR fluff that usually costs big bucks. It's clear that Campbell Brown doesn't need friends. But it appears she's looking for something else.

In "Who's Afraid of Campbell Brown? (Teachers' unions, and for good reason)" Hemingway provides a dispatch from an alternate universe where teacher unions rule and Brown is a unjustly victimized humanitarian. It's not nearly as interesting as it could have been had Hemingway also checked out some of the recordings from the corruption trial of disgraced NY Senate Leader Dean Skelos, because those recordings give us a bit more information about Brown's friends. But we'll get back to that-- first, a look at Hemingway's piece.

He opens with a look at Brown's modest office arrangements, and as will be the case throughout the piece, uses a bit of misdirection to avoid including some details. For instance, after describing Brown's low-rent office, he writes "But don't let this modest arrangement fool you" but the next part of that sentence is not "Brown has been given a $4 million budget to run her website." Nor (spoiler alert) is he ever going to mention that Brown's site requires a reportorial commitment to never run anti-charter stories. Instead, he wants us to know that Brown is parked on the moral high road.

Brown has promised that the site won’t shy away from advocacy and opinion—which it labels “opinion”—but at the same time she insists that her mission is not political. “My whole point about school reform is it’s not partisan. It’s not,” she says. “It’s a moral issue.”

And who is standing in the way of her righteous crusade? Three guesses

The trouble is, the last thing America’s teachers’ unions want is real reform, and they certainly CURMUDGUCATION: Campbell Brown's Friends:


Naughty Union Spending

Campbell Brown's pet PR project went after some union blood this weekend with revelations about AFT, NEA and UFT spending. 

The lead is that between 2011 and 2014, the unions spent $5.7 on travel and hotel expenses. That's a lot of money.

Now, when we start breaking it down, there are some line items that seem a bit of a stretch in the outrage department. For instance, the AFT spent $6,700 at Walt Disney World, which is one day's admission for about 65 adults (who don't plan to eat during that day).

But the list also includes cruise tickets, international air travel, and fancy shmancy hotels. The 74 admits that the spending amounts to a small sliver of the total disbursements by the union, and that some of the travel and expense is an outgrowth of international union connections and even some humanitarian work.

The narrative here is a predictable one for the74-- those dollars are dues dollars and union members don't want their money spent on all this foolishness. Writer Naomi Nix has a nifty quote from Jade Thompson, an anti-"mandatory"-dues activist about how much the $800 of dues would mean to a Naughty Union Spending

Jersey Jazzman: Return To Teachers Village: Part I

Jersey Jazzman: Return To Teachers Village: Part I:

Return To Teachers Village: Part I

Earlier this month, Rachel Cohen of The American Prospect wrote an article about Teachers Village, a development project in Newark, NJ that houses three charter schools in addition to retail stores. Teachers Village is unusual in that it also has dozens of housing units that are specifically marketed to teachers. Developments like this are actually starting to pop up across the country, fueled by a series of tax breaks, including the New Markets Tax Credit.

Cohen quotes yours truly several times in the piece on the basis of a series of posts I've written -- see here, here and here -- where I question the wisdom of using public monies to build facilities that are rented to both publicly-funded charter schools and the people who work in them. I especially wonder why Ron Beit, the developer of Teachers Village, and his investors should get all sorts of public largess when the project seems like it's designed to cater to renters who are likely not going to be career-long educators:

Beit's got himself one sweet deal, doesn't he? He uses $100 million in tax credits to finance a project in Newark, then lines up a group of charter schools as his business occupants, who will pay their rents with taxpayer funds.

Then, as if that isn't enough, he sets himself up to direct a steady flow of college-educated renters right into his residential units - through TFA [Teach For America]! In fact, TFA has a page where prospective "teachers" can figure out their expenses when they move to

- See more at: http://jerseyjazzman.blogspot.com/2015/12/return-to-teachers-village-part-i.html#sthash.98EMDzY7.dpuf

ALERT: Malloy’s Budget Cuts lead to another 23% Tuition Increase at UConn - Wait What?

ALERT:  Malloy’s Budget Cuts lead to another 23% Tuition Increase at UConn - Wait What?:

ALERT:  Malloy’s Budget Cuts lead to another 23% Tuition Increase at UConn

As a result of Democratic Governor Dannel Malloy’s unrelenting attack on Connecticut’s public institutions of higher education, the University of Connecticut Board Of Trustees will be voting at their next meeting to raise tuition by as much as 23 percent for Connecticut students.

Despite what will be another massive “tax” increase on Connecticut middle class families who are trying to ensure that their children get a college education, the additional tuition funds will not be enough to prevent equally appalling program cuts at UConn.

The new tuition increase comes in addition to the 25 percent jump in tuition and fees that UConn adopted four years ago.  The earlier tuition increase was required to balance UConn’s budget  in response to the record cuts Malloy proposed during his first year in office.

Connecticut’s failure to properly fund its public colleges and universities means that the cost of tuition at the University of Connecticut will have increased by more than $6,000 during Malloy’s tenure, an increase of nearly 50 percent.

As the Hartford Courant is reporting, faced with a $40 million deficit due to the decline in state support, UConn officials are submitting a proposal that would implement a series of tuition increases beginning with a 6.6 percent increase in 2016, and averaging about 7 percent for each of the next three years.

As the Courant explains;

“A key issue for the university has been the state’s shrinking share of the university’s costs. The state’s block grants have grown in recent years, but 

ALERT:  Malloy’s Budget Cuts lead to another 23% Tuition Increase at UConn - Wait What?:

*Guinea Pigs in an Urban Laboratory* | EduShyster

*Guinea Pigs in an Urban Laboratory* | EduShyster:

*Guinea Pigs in an Urban Laboratory*

In her new book, Unequal City, Carla Shedd looks at race, schools and perceptions of injustice through the eyes of young people…

EduShyster: I want to start by giving everyone a moment to order your amazing new book, Unequal City. Waiting…Waiting… OK. Here we go. You did something highly unusual in your book: you looked at how major policy changes in education and housing over the past two decades in Chicago have impacted kids. And you did that by actually interviewing kids. Where did you get such a crazy idea? 

Carla Shedd: That was a big goal of mine, to really place kids at the center and think about how they understand these larger transformations in their lives. So often we have the numbers or we have snapshots of particular parts of the process and how kids are faring. But we really don’t listen to young people, and we never put their voices at the center of the conversation. How often are the people who are most impacted by these policies able to truly have a voice? In the book I argue that these young people are the city’s guinea pigs. They’re a walking experiment in an urban laboratory.

EduShyster: Talk a little about that experiment. Everyone knows about the school closings in Chicago, but as you show, the education reform experiment in the city starts much earlier and overlaps in really significant ways with the transformation of public housing.

Shedd: You have the demolition of public housing and the issuance of housing vouchers, so that you have people moving to the south suburbs or the western suburbs. All of that’s happening as Renaissance 2010 was being implemented, starting in 2004 under Arne Duncan. So you have schools closing and being consolidated at the same time that populations across the city are being resettled. It’s amazing the way that these two policies collide and dovetail with one another, and yet no one is really putting the multiplicative effect together. It’s the way these policies interact that truly shapes and reshapes the lives of the most vulnerable people. 

EduShyster: Can I just acknowledge that this is the first time the word *multiplicative* has appeared on this page? Reading your book, one gets the strong sense that Arne Duncan et al probably didn’t think about the policies they were implementing from the point of view of kids navigating neighborhoods.

Shedd: That was probably the most enlightening part of my research: seeing the *Guinea Pigs in an Urban Laboratory* | EduShyster:

With vote planned on No Child Left Behind replacement bill, revolt brewing on right and left - The Washington Post

With vote planned on No Child Left Behind replacement bill, revolt brewing on right and left - The Washington Post:

With vote planned on No Child Left Behind replacement bill, revolt brewing on right and left

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan answers questions during a news conference at the Capitol on Dec. 1 on a bill to replace No Child Left Behind. (Win Mcnamee/Getty Images)

With Congress poised to vote on a long-overdue bill to replace No Child Left Behind, the country’s main K-12 education law, opponents on the far right and left are trying to scuttle the bipartisan measure.

Heritage Action for America, the political arm of the conservative Heritage Foundation, urged lawmakers Tuesday to vote against the measure, calling it “a step backwards for conservative education policy” because it maintains too much federal control over local schools and extends it with the creation of a new preschool initiative.

The group said it will include the vote in its legislative score card.

Meanwhile, a coalition of 100 civil rights groups, including the Southern Poverty Law Center and the New York chapter of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, also voiced opposition, saying the legislation goes too far to weaken federal oversight of the country’s 100,000 public schools. The coalition said it was particularly concerned that the bill does not address disparities in the ways public schools discipline disabled and minority students.

At the Capitol, House Speaker Paul D. Ryan confirmed plans to bring the compromise education bill for a final vote this week. A vote in the Senate is expected to follow the House vote, most likely next week.

“We expect to have very good majority support,” Ryan said. “These are great conservative education reforms. I think it was quoted in the paper yesterday that this is the greatest devolution of power back to the states in education in 25 years. That’s impressive, and that’s why I think a majority of Republicans will be supporting it.”

A raft of national groups, from the National Governors Association to School Superintendents Association to the two major teachers unions, have lined up in support of the bill.

No Child Left Behind was due for a rewrite eight years ago and is widely seen as broken, but Congress has struggled to find agreement on the proper role of the federal government in local schools.

[Alexander and Murray go old school to get the deal done]

House Republicans passed a measure in July that would dramatically weaken the federal role; the Senate passed a bipartisan measure that shifted a chunk With vote planned on No Child Left Behind replacement bill, revolt brewing on right and left - The Washington Post:

ESEA Reauthorization – Ramming Through a Bad Deal for America’s Children | Truth in American Education

ESEA Reauthorization – Ramming Through a Bad Deal for America’s Children | Truth in American Education:

ESEA Reauthorization – Ramming Through a Bad Deal for America’s Children

The following is an open letter to members of Congress:

Dear Member:

A secretive, “smoke-filled room” process that excluded parents of millions of public schoolchildren and the vast majority of their elected representatives has resulted in revisions to the Senate and House ESEA reauthorization bills. The final version of the compromise bill (dubbed the Every Student Succeeds Act, or ESSA), released at 9:30 AM on November 30, is 1,061 pages long and confirms that ESSA must be defeated.

More than 200 grassroots groups and experts across the nation have expressed their adamant opposition to any ESEA reauthorization based on the House and Senate bills. Nothing in the final bill lessens that opposition. Attached are comments about what the draft ESSA says on certain key issues: standards (including so-called restrictions on the Secretary’s power), assessments and, from Dr. Karen Effrem, preschool. These are only a few of the many deficiencies that make this bill absolutely unacceptable to millions of American parents.

A  House vote is tentatively scheduled to take place in the next two or three days.This is absolutely unacceptable. Congressional leadership appears to be replicating the Obamacare debacle in the realm of education. No bill that is over 1,000 pages long should be passed without, at a minimum, sufficient time to analyze and understand it.

Congressional leadership should allow the American people at least one week per every hundred pages to examine ESSA and make their views known to their senators and representatives. Anything less would show that leadership wants to ram this bill through quickly, before the people have time to read and understand it. We are confident that Speaker Ryan, having already expressed his intent to improve transparency in the House, will allow sufficient time for review of this reauthorization.

We are also confident that once you understand these provisions and realize ESSA ensnares even more children in a web of highly progressive, federally dictated education policy, you will oppose this bill.

This bill MUST be voted down.  While much of the Common Core system with its associated tentacles was implemented via regulatory fiat without congressional vote or oversight, a vote for this bill will be seen as your affirmation of all that is wrong with federal interference in education.  This system is harming students, teachers, school boards, local districts, and states.

Thank you for your concern for the children of America and for your consideration of this letter.

Sincerely,

Emmett McGroarty

Director, APP Education

Problems with ESEA Reauthorization Conference Report:

Editor’s note: The information in the next two sections was complied by McGroarty, Jane Robbins and Erin Tuttle.

Regardless of Supposed Limitations on the Secretary’s Power to Impose Standards, the Bill Requires the Federal Government to Evaluate and Approve Standards that Must Meet Alignment Requirements

Although the reauthorization appears to prohibit the Secretary from dictating state standards, that ESEA Reauthorization – Ramming Through a Bad Deal for America’s Children | Truth in American Education:

Where’s Recess in the ESEA Reauthorization?

Where’s Recess in the ESEA Reauthorization?:

Where’s Recess in the ESEA Reauthorization?

We are losing a lot in terms of kids’ innovativeness and creativity. Frankly, I am worried about the next generation. Olga Jarrett, professor and recess advocate, Georgia State University

While there has been some good news on the recess front, every single public school needs to offer several recess breaks each day to children. How many children are still denied recess?

I know of schools that removed playground equipment. The school near where I used to live was built without a playground. Have those schools suddenly added swing sets and slides? Does every public elementary school now include recess breaks during the school day? Middle schools should have recess too.

Isn’t this an issue that should be addressed in the Elementary and Secondary Achievement Act (ESEA) reauthorization?

Here is a state rundown. See where your state stands on recess. If it isn’t seen as important at the state level, the local school districts won’t be inclined to touch it. They will be too busy focusing on repetitive testing and practice testing and concerned they won’t measure up on the test.

Recess should be addressed in the ESEA reauthorization!

If you think testing and test prep and all the things tied to getting students to raise test Where’s Recess in the ESEA Reauthorization?:

Bill Gates and the erosion of student privacy | Parent Coalition for Student Privacy

Bill Gates and the erosion of student privacy | Parent Coalition for Student Privacy:
BILL GATES AND THE EROSION OF STUDENT PRIVACY

Bill Gates has had an enduring fixation on the need to expand the collection and sharing of personal student data. In 2005, the Gates Foundation organized a “data summit” among its grantees, at which launched the Data Quality Campaign, “to Improve the collection, availability and use of high-quality education data, and Implement state longitudinal data systems to improve student achievement.”

The Data Quality Campaign has received more than $13 millionsince 2013 from the Foundation, which they have used to advocate for the US Department of Education to weaken student privacy protections and to allow for the sharing of personal student information among state agencies, between states, and with researchers, test companies, and technology vendors.

In 2008 and 2011, The Data Quality Campaign, along with its “partners” among other Gates grantees, successfully lobbied the US Ed Dept. to relax FERPA, to allow for the creation of state longitudinal databases to link student data from preK through the workforce and beyond, and the disclosure and redisclosure of personal student data with a wide variety of third parties without parental knowledge or consent.

According to a participant in a webinar hosted by the Data Quality Campaign on April 14, 2011, Steve Winnick, a prominent DC attorney working for DQC emphasized the need to deny parents the right to consent or opt out of their children’s data being disclosed, saying, “we don’t want parents to get in the way.” You can see the 2011 fact sheet released by Steve Winnick and the Data Quality Campaign about the many ways the US Department of Education weakened this “outdated” privacy law in response to their advocacyhere.

Earlier in 2009, the Foundation granted $22 million to schools, districts, and states for them to expand their data collection and disclosure efforts, and in 2011, spent $87 million to form the Shared Learning Collaborative, which in 2014 would morph into a separate corporation called inBloom Inc.

inBloom Inc. which would receive more than $100M in Gates funds Bill Gates and the erosion of student privacy | Parent Coalition for Student Privacy:

Schools follow transgender law with few bumps

Schools follow transgender law with few bumps:

Schools follow transgender law with few bumps

KAREN QUINCY LOBERG/THE STAR Julian Foley, 18, poses for his portrait last week at Century Academy in Thousand Oaks where he completes his high school studies. Foley attends the independent study school where he says it is not as hard for him to be a transgender student as it was in a traditional public high school.

Schools have made a relatively smooth transition to a law that says transgender students can use restrooms and locker rooms designated for the sex they identify with, educators say.

In other words, if a student was born physically male but identifies as female, she can use the girls' restrooms and locker room at her school. Transgender students also can play on teams made up of the sex they identify with.

The law, which went into effect almost two years ago, reflects changes in society, said Michael Babb, superintendent of the Ventura Unified School District.

"It's the law catching up with the people," Babb said.

Still, the law was "absolutely" needed, said Julian Foley, 18, a transgender student at Century Academy, an independent study school in the Conejo Valley Unified School District.

"Transgender students are going to use the bathroom they identify with no matter what," Foley said. "To have the law behind us, to support us, is so important because we have protection, and we have the rights we need."

But the transition locally hasn't been entirely smooth. Two members of the Conejo board, John Andersen and Mike Dunn, recently opposed a change in board policy that put the district in compliance with the law.

Andersen said he believes that most parents oppose the law, which he said potentially makes an already difficult time of life even more stressful.

"If I had a chance to rework this law, I would have facilities that would allow privacy for whoever wanted it," Andersen said. "But there will always be the student who wants to make a statement by using a facility that does not fit his or her anatomy. I truly believe that the public believes that boys and girls should not be showering together or sharing group restrooms."

Dunn said he believes that the government is interfering with parents' ability to instill their values in their children. And, like Dunn, he sees it as a violation of privacy rights.

But Foley said that private facilities are not a solution.

"They just do not get it," Foley said. "They don't understand that when you walk Schools follow transgender law with few bumps: