No, Hillary Clinton Does Not Want to Close Half of the Country's Schools - US News

No, Hillary Clinton Does Not Want to Close Half of the Country's Schools - US News:

No, Hillary Clinton Does Not Want to Close Half of the Schools in the U.S.

The Democratic candidate's remarks about shuttering below average schools were taken out of context.

 You may have heard that Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton wants to close half of the country's public schools.

Speaking to students at Keota High School Tuesday in Keota, Iowa, the former Secretary of State said she "wouldn't keep any school open that wasn't doing a better than average job."

And since the majority of public schools in the country aren't doing a better than average job, media outlets pounced on her remarks, pushing out headlines like, " Hillary Clinton Favors Closing Half the Nation's Schools."

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Hillary Clinton Says Exactly What Teachers Unions Want to Hear

There's just one problem. Clinton's sound bite was taken entirely out of context.

Let's step back and consider why she was visiting the rural town – population 1,000 – two hours east of Des Moines. It was in part to recognize the efforts of three high school students who showed up to a series of her campaign rallies over several months and begged her to visit Keota to bring awareness to the plight of rural communities.

In Iowa, those communities face a very specific threat – that of school closure.

Under state law, it's illegal for public schools to operate in deficits, meaning a few years of shortfalls can force a district to close. According to the Des Moines Register, Iowa notified to 65 districts last year that they're in danger of deficit spending, including 12 that reported negative balances in the 2013 fiscal year. In the last decide, nearly 30 have been shuttered.

Those concerns were ratcheted up this summer when Gov. Terry Branstad vetoed an item in the state budget that would have provided one-time funding of $56 million to help school districts shore up any deficits.

Without those dollars, the future of schools in towns like Keota remains uncertain.

"You had a bipartisan agreement in your legislature for more one-time student funding to help deal with some of the financial challenges that districts like this one has, and Gov. Branstad vetoed it," said Clinton. "But at the same time you have these laws that [say] if you have a deficit, you may not be able to be a school districts. That doesn't make sense to me."

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She continued: "This school district and these schools throughout Iowa are doing a better than average job. Now I wouldn't keep any school open that wasn't doing a better than average job. If a school is not doing a good job then, you know, that may not be good for the kids, but when you have a district that is doing a good job it seems kind of counterproductive to impose financial burdens on it."

[You can watch Clinton's full remarks here.]

Clinton went on to specify that the issue at hand was not under the federal government's purview.

"The federal government doesn't have a whole lot to do with it," she said. "This is mostly local decision-No, Hillary Clinton Does Not Want to Close Half of the Country's Schools - US News:

Draft History–Social Science Framework - Year 2015 (CA Dept of Education)

Draft History–Social Science Framework - Year 2015 (CA Dept of Education):

State Schools Chief Tom Torlakson Invites Public Comment on Draft History–Social Science Framework

SACRAMENTO — State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson announced today that California is taking a step forward in updating its history—social science curriculum by inviting the public to comment on a new draft framework.

"This framework will help our teachers integrate our new standards in English language arts and English language development with our existing history–social science standards to better prepare them to be informed citizens and to get them ready for college and 21st century careers,” Torlakson said, “This is an important step in our efforts toward emphasizing critical thinking, problem solving, and communications skills."

The History–Social Science Framework for California Public Schools, Kindergarten Through Grade Twelve (Framework) will provide guidance for teachers, administrators, and parents on how a curriculum based on content standards is implemented in the classroom in the context of California’s diversity. This draft addresses events since the last framework was adopted in 2001, reflects changes in statute since then, and provides guidance on how to integrate the new California English Language Arts and Literacy Standards and the California English Language Development Standards in the history—social science classroom. The Framework will provide direction for the development of instructional materials, curriculum, instruction, assessment, and professional learning.

The current draft Framework includes major updates to the narrative course descriptions for kindergarten through grade twelve, as well as new chapters on assessment, access and equity, and supporting high-quality history—social science instruction.

The draft framework has been posted on the California Department of Education History–Social Science Curriculum Frameworks Web page. Members of the public may send comments on the draft Framework directly by email tohssframework@cde.ca.gov. The current comment period will remain open until February 29, 2016. All public comments received during the field review survey will be presented to the Instructional Quality Commission and the State Board of Education for review and possible inclusion into the final Framework. The Board is scheduled to take final action on theFramework by May 2016.

For more information on the development of the draft framework, visit the California Department of Education History—Social Science Curriculum Frameworks Web page.

# # # #

Tom Torlakson — State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Communications Division, Room 5206, 916-319-0818, Fax 916-319-0100

Last Reviewed: Friday, December 18, 2015
Draft History–Social Science Framework - Year 2015 (CA Dept of Education):

Seems to Me… | DCGEducator: Doing The Right Thing

Seems to Me… | DCGEducator: Doing The Right Thing:

Guest Essayist, Bernie Keller

Retired Bronx high school Master English teacher

In the interest of full disclosure, I have to say that I am not a big supporter of charter schools or the current reform efforts. While those who espouse and advocate the current “solutions” may be well meaning, I am reminded of a saying I used to hear growing up that asserted, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.”

For me, if we are talking about people’s lives, (and we are), we can’t just “mean well”. Whatever we propose has got to work, it can’t be some experiment-in-progress or theory. In theory, the reforms and the charter schools will change the landscape of education. That sounds great, but here’s the problem I have with the theory. I taught forty years. I, along with my colleagues during those years, and traditional schools and practices produced or helped to produce doctors, lawyers, civil servants, policemen, firemen, CEO’s, teachers, counselors, social workers, principals, parents and a whole bunch of contributing members of society. In fact, former chancellor of New York City schools millionaire Joel Klein and John King, formerly the commissioner of education for the state of New York and currently the replacement for the former head of the United States Department of Education, Arne Duncan are not only graduates or products of the traditional public school setting, but both men assert that public schools saved and changed their lives. Not charter schools, not reforms- traditional public schools!

Seeing as how these men, (and millions of others), are successful, contributing members of society, produced by these traditional schools, it strikes me that the reforms we need are those qualities that existed when these men, and those like them, attended school and school empowered them to enjoy success. Just think, there were no SmartBoards, the teachers were Seems to Me… | DCGEducator: Doing The Right Thing:

CURMUDGUCATION: Context Does Not Absolve Clinton

CURMUDGUCATION: Context Does Not Absolve Clinton:

Context Does Not Absolve Clinton

Well, that was quick.

After the interwebs blew up with Clinton's ill-considered comment about closing below-average schools, Lauren Camera leapt up at US News to say, "Oh, no. Y'all just misunderstood. It was taken out of context."

I had read the original context when I first responded to her comment. It doesn't help.

The context is that she was discussing how Iowa's governor was crushing rural schools by starving them of necessary resources. She was discussing Iowa's wacky laws about not allowing school district deficits. And then she said this:

This school district and these schools throughout Iowa are doing a better than average job. Now I wouldn't keep any school open that wasn't doing a better than average job. If a school is not doing a good job then, you know, that may not be good for the kids, but when you have a district that is doing a good job it seems kind of counterproductive to impose financial burdens on it.

It is true that she did not suggest, as some slightly hyperventilating reports might have implied, that if elected President, she would make it policy to close all below average schools (i.e. slightly more than half the schools in the country). I will give her that much.

However, that doesn't change what was boneheaded about her comment.

Yes, it was an off-the-cuff comment. But if that's the comment that comes off her cuff, I have serious doubts about how well she understands the situation.

Clinton did NOT say, "If there are schools that are performing poorly, then the state should look CURMUDGUCATION: Context Does Not Absolve Clinton:




AZ: Creationist Charterista Now Head of Senate Ed Committee

Arizona Senate President Andy Biggs has named Senator Sylvia Allen to lead the education committee. This is not good news for public education.

Allen has had a colorful career. She is a Senator because a man fell off a horse. Twice.


Before she arrived in the capitol, she held down a number of jobs, including county supervisor. It was in that job that she was slapped for interfering with an investigation into her son-in-law's misbehavior as a detention officer with female inmates. After becoming a senator, she filed a bill to make it harder to investigate detention officers.

But her legislative career has featured other highlights. In a hearing about some uranium legislation, Allen made the observation that the earth has only been here for 6,000 years (and has done great with environmental regulation, so why start now).  That was 2009. In 2013 she hit facebook with a post saying, "Never mind about global warming. What about those chem trails behind planes dropping mind control drugs on all of us."

More recently, Allen offered support for a concealed carry law because the country needs a moral rebirth. Wouldn't it be great, she mused, if we could make church attendance mandatory?  It's an interesting thought from a Mormon who has perhaps forgotten that once upon a time, the US sent soldiers to settle religious differences with Joseph Smith using the barrels of the many guns.

The new head of the education committee never went to college, but she did help found a charter 

AZ: Creationist Charterista Now Head of Senate Ed Committee

USDED: No Student Assessment Opt-Outs Allowed | Truth in American Education

USDED: No Student Assessment Opt-Outs Allowed | Truth in American Education:

USDED: No Student Assessment Opt-Outs Allowed

The U.S. Department of Education has spoken on student opt-outs for the 2016 statewide assessments.

Ann Whalen, the acting assistant secretary for elementary and secondary education, wrote a letterto state school chiefs reminding them of “key assessment requirements” for the statewide assessments to be taken in Spring 2016.  This school year the states are still under the requirements of No Child Left Behind.  Whalen notes however, “similar requirements are included in the recently signed reauthorization of the ESEA, known as the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).”

She gets very clear on a student’s ability to opt-out.

Section 1111(b)(3)1 of the ESEA requires each State educational agency (SEA) that receives funds under Title I, Part A of the ESEA to implement in each local educational agency (LEA) in the State a set of high-quality academic assessments that includes, at a minimum, assessments in mathematics and reading/language arts administered in each of grades 3 through 8 and not less than once during grades 10 through 12; and in science not less than once during grades 3 through 5, grades 6 through 9, and grades 10 through 12. Furthermore, ESEA sections 1111(b)(3)(C)(i) and (ix)(I) require State assessments to “be the same academic assessments used to measure the achievement of all children” and “provide for the participation in such assessments of all students” (emphasis added). These requirements do not allow students to be excluded from statewide assessments. Rather, they set out the legal rule that all students in the tested grades must be assessed. (Emphasis added)

So perhaps Congress should have kept opt-out language in ESSA after all.  A lot will be left up to interpretation by the U.S. Department of Education.

John King, who will replace Arne Duncan as U.S. Secretary of Education, told Politico that he will set up “guardrails” for the new flexibility states receive under ESSA.

Politico noted in today’s Morning Education that state school chiefs are starting to note a lack of USDED: No Student Assessment Opt-Outs Allowed | Truth in American Education:

NYC Public School Parents: How Class Size Matters helped the city save $727 million

NYC Public School Parents: How Class Size Matters helped the city save $727 million, and our plea to the Mayor how to use these funds to give an early Xmas present to NYC kids:

How Class Size Matters helped the city save $727 million, and our plea to the Mayor how to use these funds to give an early Xmas present to NYC kids

Last February, on a lazy Sunday afternoon, I was perusing the list of DOE contracts due to be voted on that week by the Panel for Educational Policy. Among the long list of contracts, I noticed a proposed contract for equipment and internet wiring worth $1.1 billion over five years, extendable to nine years at two billion dollars. I had never seen a DOE contract that large before. 

Though no other details were provided to the public in advance, (something Helen Rosenthal, head of the City Council Contract committee, and I had already publicly complained about) I looked up the name of the company that was to be awarded this huge contract.  After googling "Custom Computer Specialists",I found a link to City Council testimony that I had given in October 2011, about the many wasteful and corrupt DOE technology contracts.

I was astonished to discover that this very same company had been involved in a kickback scheme, robbing DOE of millions of dollars just a few years before, according to a report from the Special Investigator’s office.  This widely reported scandal subsequently sent Ross Lanham, a DOE consultant, to jail.

 I immediately blogged about my discovery, and promptly alerted Public Advocate Tish James and Council Member Helen Rosenthal, as well as members of the media.

On Monday, the very next day, DoE officials started getting lots of calls from reporters.  Later that day, the PEP Contract committee was due to meet at 5 pm at Tweed, the DOE headquarters.  I was sitting with a bunch of reporters in a room in Tweed, waiting for the meeting to begin when the reporters began getting emails from the DoE officials, announcing that that in the last 24 hours, the contract had somehow been "re-negotiated" and reduced by nearly half a billion dollars - with no change in the terms. 

It was still going to be a ridiculously high $635 million over five years, extendable for four more years at over $1 billion.  The fact that nearly $500 million could be cut out of the contract over night was even more evidence of how inflated the contract had been.  When the Contracts NYC Public School Parents: How Class Size Matters helped the city save $727 million, and our plea to the Mayor how to use these funds to give an early Xmas present to NYC kids:

Hillary Clinton may want to close every public school in America, according to math - The Washington Post

Hillary Clinton may want to close every public school in America, according to math - The Washington Post:
Hillary Clinton may want to close every public school in America, according to math

This post has been updated.

During an event in Iowa on Tuesday, Hillary Clinton offered a suggestion to improve the nation's schools. "I wouldn't keep any school open that wasn’t doing a better-than-average job," she said. "If a school's not doing a good job, then that may not be good for the kids."

Now this sounds great, except for one downside: It would, taken to its logical conclusion, mean shutting down every school in the country.

So let's say that there are 16 schools in the United States, which is probably a low estimate. We'll use this little school icon (made by Vectors Market) to represent each of those schools. Here:

Alright. Now let's assume that each school is evaluated on a scale from 1 to 100 each year. This isn't exactly how it works, but go with it for the sake of the example. Here are random scores for those 16 schools.

The average of those scores is 58.4. Per Clinton, any school that is not above that average has to get closed. So: Bye, schools!

Now, let's just assume that the schools get the same scores the next year. The new average is 73.9. And: Bye, more schools!

The key point here — the reason that it doesn't matter if we change the schools' scores or not, is this: About half of the schools in the United States will always be at or below average. That's how an average works! (If we used median scores,we’d get a cleaner half-and-half split.)

Continuing on. The new average is 88: Bye school!

The average is now 93. Bye school! Your 91 was sensational a few years ago; now it's in the bottom 50th percentile!

Clinton also stipulated thatHillary Clinton may want to close every public school in America, according to math - The Washington Post:

BustED Pencils Trending News: Over...; Hungry; Delusion | BustED Pencils

BustED Pencils Trending News: Over...; Hungry; Delusion | BustED Pencils:

BustED Pencils Trending News: Over…; Hungry; Delusion

Writing as a parent.

‘Beyond Measure: Rescuing an Overscheduled, Overtested, Underestimated Generation’

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/20/books/review/beyond-measure-rescuing-an-overscheduled-overtested-underestimated-generation.html?_r=0

 Fired for having a heart!  What??!!  We say “Higher the Hero” – Dalene Bowden is Busting Pencils!!!

This Idaho Middle School Lunch Lady Was Fired for Giving a Free Lunch to a Hungry Student

http://news.yahoo.com/idaho-middle-school-lunch-lady-233401253.html

Update: Cafeteria worker fired over free lunch

http://www.idahostatesman.com/news/state/idaho/article51028040.html

Ironic that ESSA backwards has the word “ASS” E in it??? Hmmmm  Our own BustED Pencils Tim Slekar chimes in on the topic.

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Enter your email under “SUBSCRIBE” on our Home or Trending News page at bustedpencils.com

BustED Pencils Trending News: Over...; Hungry; Delusion | BustED Pencils:

A holiday greeting from Diane Ravitch

A holiday greeting from Diane Ravitch:

A holiday greeting from Diane Ravitch

Dear Friend of Public Schools,

Holiday greetings from the Network for Public Education! We wish you and your family a joyous season and a healthy New Year.

We hope you will join with us in 2016 to continue the battle for better education for every American child and for policies that address the needs of children, instead of policies that label them, punish their teachers and principals, and close their schools.

With a new federal law in place, those of us who want better schools and better education have to organize and push hard to make sure that state officials act to help children and schools rather than to maintain the failed policies of the past 15 years.

Your voice is needed more than ever to protect the children of this nation. Join with us, join the organizations in your state and district that together are fighting for what is right for children.

Visit our new website and support us! We have great plans for 2016, but we can’t make them happen without your help. Ask a friend to join NPE and help our ranks grow!

We are many; they are few. Together we will transform our public schools so they are right for every child.

Thanks for all you do,

Diane Ravitch

President, Network for Public EducationA holiday greeting from Diane Ravitch:

---

There will be a lot happening at Network for Public Education in 2016

We have a new design for our website.

During 2016 our new website will expand, providing grassroots organizations and friends of public schools with the information and educational tools they need to make a difference in their communities and states.

We will issue our first national report card

What is your state doing to keep public education vibrant and strong? We will be issuing our first national report card, Valuing Public Education: A 50 State Report Card, which will evaluate states on their support for public schools. Look for it in February.

We will be expanding our organization.

NPE Action will launch. As we reorganize in the coming month, we are

Our twitter feed and Facebook page are temporarily dormant. Get ready for exciting things to come when we re-launch in 2016.

Teachers speak out about the “reform” evaluations

NPE will issue a national study on teacher evaluation based on an extensive survey of teachers. You will hear, in the words of classroom teachers from across the nation, how the new evaluations are affecting their work and their students.

Come join us in April!

NPE’s 3rd Annual National Conference, “And Justice for All: Strengthening Public Education for Each Child,” will take place April 16 – 17, 2016. Registration for the conference will open on January 1, 2016.

On Friday night, April 15, 2016, education advocates from around the country will begin gathering in Raleigh, North Carolina for NPE’s 3rdAnnual National Conference which will run from Saturday morning, April 16th until Sunday afternoon, April 17, 2016.

Aligned with the theme, “And Justice for All: Strengthening Public Education for Each Child”, keynotes and workshop presenters will tackle the challenges facing our students and schools as we all work towards a more just system of public education in America.

As previously announced, Saturday morning, April 16th will kick off with an inspirational welcome from our President, Diane Ravitch and a keynote address by Rev. William Barber, the President of the NC NAACP and co-founder of the Moral Mondays Movement.

Additional Keynote Speakers Announced!

We are now able to confirm two additional exciting keynote presentations by two friends of public schools: Bob Herbert and Superintendent Phil Lanoue.

Bob Herbert is an award-winning reporter, and author of LOSING OUR WAY: An Intimate Portrait of a Troubled America, which courageously speaks about the need to better fund and support our public schools.

You can read more about Mr. Herbert here.

Dr. Phil Lanoue is the Superintendent of the Clarke County School District in Athens, Georgia, and was recently named the 2015 AASA National Superintendent of the Year for his work in building community and school relationships as they work to close the achievement gap. He is an outspoken opponent of high stakes testing and corporate reforms.

You can read more about Dr. Lanoue here.

An agenda and initial workshops will be announced in January. At that time we will solicit workshop proposal submissions from the public as we continue to make this a conference for and about our members.

Be sure to check back on January 1 to register during our Early Bird special and reserve your spot so you can join other advocates from around the country. As Diane always says, “We are many. There is power in our numbers. Together we will save our schools.”

But to do that, we need YOU there.

Happy Holidays and thanks for all you do,

Carol Burris Executive Director, Network for Public Education

 A holiday greeting from Diane Ravitch:

How Business Got Schooled in the War Over Common Core Standards - Fortune

How Business Got Schooled in the War Over Common Core Standards - Fortune:

How Business Got Schooled in the War Over Common Core Standards 

When Exxon Mobil, GE, Intel, and others pushed for the education standards, they incurred the wrath of Tea Party conservatives and got a painful lesson in modern politics.

In February 2014, two of the world’s richest men, Bill Gates and Charles Koch, dined together at a West Coast restaurant.

They made quite the odd couple: the Seattle Microsoft  MSFT 0.58%  co-founder, now devoting his time and fortune to changing the world, and the Kansas industrialist, still running his private conglomerate while working to shrink government to the size of a pea.

The two discussed many subjects and even touched, diplomatically, on topics they disagree about, such as climate change. There was a second sensitive subject that Gates broached, and it didn’t come up by chance. His team at the Gates Foundation had engaged in a process it calls a “faction analysis” and identified Koch as a key opponent on a crucial issue. Gates had a mission that night: He wanted to persuade Koch to change his mind about Common Core.

The two men were bankrolling opposite sides in a raging war over the future of American education. Through his charitable foundation, Gates has spent more than $220 million on the Common Core education standards, aimed at boosting the dismal performance of American children. Starting in 2010, 45 states adopted the benchmarks—which spell out what kids from kindergarten through high school should learn in reading and math—with little controversy. But a backlash ensued, and by early 2014 the standards were under fierce political attack, facing repeal in many states. Koch and his brother David were sponsoring several Tea Party–aligned groups that were fueling the rebellion.

The ABCs of Common Core

• Replacing a hodgepodge of separate guidelines in 50 states, Common Core aims to provide a rigorous, more focused nationwide blueprint for what students should know at each grade in math and English language arts.
• It seeks to improve the U.S.’s poor educational performance relative to other countries’, making graduates “college- and career-ready” and assuring the nation’s economic competitiveness.
• It’s paired with new standardized tests to measure progress in meeting the new standards and to allow comparisons among states.
• Though developed without government funds, Common Core received a boost from race to the top, a competition for federal education grants, prompting unexpectedly rapid adoption.

Now Gates tried to convince his dinner companion that opposing Common Core was bad both for Koch Industries, which employs 60,000 Americans, and the rest of U.S. business. “Bill talked to Koch to understand what his concerns were and to explain what he thought was the potential and the promise for the Common Core,” says Allan Golston, president of the U.S. program for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. “When someone doesn’t believe in what you’re doing, it’s important to engage with them.”

But Koch wasn’t willing to engage with Gates on the issue. Instead, like a senator politely brushing off a constituent, he gave Gates the name of one of his staffers who focuses on the subject and suggested Gates call the staffer. The Microsoft billionaire left empty-handed. (Both men declined to discuss their dinner.)

This extraordinary tête-à-tête is just one example of how the war over Common Core has personally engaged—and bedeviled—some of America’s most powerful business leaders. Hugely controversial, it has thrust executives into the uncomfortable intersection of business and politics.

In truth, Common Core might not exist without the corporate community. The nation’s business establishment has been clamoring for more rigorous education standards—ones that would apply across the entire nation—for years. It views them as desperately needed to prepare America’s future workforce and to bolster its global competitiveness. One measure of the deep involvement of corporate leaders: The Common Core standards were drafted by determining the skills that businesses (and colleges) need and then working backward to decide what students should learn.

Organizations such as the Business Roundtable have devoted considerable effort to the initiative. The education chair for that association of CEOs, Exxon Mobil  XOM 2.58% chief Rex Tillerson, has played a particularly prominent role. A stern, commanding figure with an Old Testament glare and a chewy Texas drawl, Tillerson is an unlikely person to lead a campaign of persuasion. (Never a fan of the press, he declined to speak to Fortune for this article.)How Business Got Schooled in the War Over Common Core Standards - Fortune: