Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 1/19/15

CORPORATE ED REFORM

SKrashen: Billionaires coaltion pleased with Oxfam report, look for more progress in amassing wealth

SKrashen: Billionaires coaltion pleased with Oxfam report, look for more progress in amassing wealth: Billionaires coaltion pleased with Oxfam report, look for more progress in amassing wealth Reacting  to the news from Oxfam that the richest 62 billionaires are worth as much as half the world's population, a coalition of the top five billionaires announced today that they were pleased with their

by mike simpson / 8min 

Seattle Schools Community Forum: McCleary Already (says Dorn)

Seattle Schools Community Forum: McCleary Already (says Dorn): McCleary Already (says Dorn)State Superintendent Randy Dorn continues to speak out against the "kick the can down the road" methodology of the Legislature to enact McCleary. Here's his latest press release (and please e-mail your reps and tell them NO:)Staff from the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) testi

by mike simpson / 13min 

The out-of-district charter school scam has landed one CA supe a felony charge: Take heed Randy Dorn | Seattle Education

The out-of-district charter school scam has landed one CA supe a felony charge: Take heed Randy Dorn | Seattle Education: The out-of-district charter school scam has landed one CA supe a felony charge: Take heed Randy DornRandy Dorn steals playbook from California’s charter school out-of-district, alternative learning /homeschool scheme.This is a cautionary tale for Randy Dorn and others playing t

by mike simpson / 17min 

Trust Us, It’s For the Kids. – Save Maine Schools

Trust Us, It’s For the Kids. – Save Maine Schools: Trust Us, It’s For the Kids.The Charles M. Schulz Museum is Common Core aligned.This means that when kindergartners take a field trip to learn about Snoopy, parents can rest assured that their children are actuallylearning something.Just kidding.What it really means is that parents can rest assured that their child will be contributing to the digi

by mike simpson / 29min 

LAUSD charter investigations increase but funding doesn’t - LA School Report

LAUSD charter investigations increase but funding doesn’t - LA School Report: LAUSD charter investigations increase but funding doesn’tInvestigating and analyzing charter schools is becoming a greater burden for LA Unified, and the district isn’t getting any more money to do the work, according to a report presented today.“Charter-related work consumes the most amount of investigative resources du

by mike simpson / 3h 

BustED Pencils Trending News: This!; Netflix; | BustED Pencils

BustED Pencils Trending News: This!; Netflix; | BustED Pencils: BustED Pencils Trending News: This!; Netflix; |Create sustainable, equitable and meaningful public schools for all children.  There’s a thought!PRIVATIZATION OF PUBLIC EDUCATION: THIS CHANGES EVERYTHINGPRIVATIZATION OF PUBLIC EDUCATION: THIS CHANGES EVERYTHINGChildren are now considered a “Pet Project”??Netflix Founder Drops $100 Mill

by mike simpson / 3h 

Why is the man most to blame for the #FlintWaterCrisis, Darnell Earley, still the Emergency Manager of Detroit schools? | Eclectablog

Why is the man most to blame for the #FlintWaterCrisis, Darnell Earley, still the Emergency Manager of Detroit schools? | Eclectablog: Why is the man most to blame for the #FlintWaterCrisis, Darnell Earley, still the Emergency Manager of Detroit schools?On April 16, 2013, Flint Emergency Manager Ed Kurtz signed an agreement on behalf of the city to form a new water district that would, when the pr

by mike simpson / 3h 

CURMUDGUCATION: Jebucation Follies (Part I: The Conservative Conundrum)

CURMUDGUCATION: Jebucation Follies (Part I: The Conservative Conundrum): Jebucation Follies (Part I: The Conservative Conundrum)I give Jeb! Bush credit for one thing-- sincerity. While other politicians have adopted and disinherited reformster policies quicker than you can say "political expediency," Bush has stuck to his guns, even when those guns are aimed squarely at his own feet. Eve

by mike simpson / 4h 

To the Billionaires Destroying Public Ed « pedagogyofthereformed

To the Billionaires Destroying Public Ed « pedagogyofthereformed: To the Billionaires Destroying Public EdBetween Netflix, Facebook, the Koch brothers and all the other billionaires , public education is being systematically destroyed.Why do all these people care?Charter schools have a way of funneling money to tech companies with ed products, publishing companies, test prep companies. Companies,

by mike simpson / 6h 

Angelenos welcome their new schools superintendent -- with some reservations - LA Times

Angelenos welcome their new schools superintendent -- with some reservations - LA Times: Angelenos welcome their new schools superintendent -- with some reservationsMichelle King, left, is introduced as the new superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District on Jan. 11, backed by board member Ref Rodriguez, center, and King's daughter Brittney King. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)We ask

by mike simpson / 8h 

WHAT GETS YOU ACCLAIMED AS A TEACHER IN PRIVATE SCHOOL GET YOU FIRED AT LAUSD AND EQUALLY BAD CHARTERS - Perdaily.com

WHAT GETS YOU ACCLAIMED AS A TEACHER IN PRIVATE SCHOOL GET YOU FIRED AT LAUSD AND EQUALLY BAD CHARTERS - Perdaily.com: WHAT GETS YOU ACCLAIMED AS A TEACHER IN PRIVATE SCHOOL GET YOU FIRED AT LAUSD AND EQUALLY BAD CHARTERS(Mensaje se repite en Español)"Give a man a fish and you feed him today. Teach him how to fish and you feed him for the rest of his lifetime." 19th century Anne Isabella

by mike simpson / 8h 

Bright Black Students With Black Teachers More Likely to Get Into Gifted Programs - US News

Bright Black Students With Black Teachers More Likely to Get Into Gifted Programs - US News: Bright Black Students With Black Teachers More Likely to Get Into Gifted ProgramsResearchers call for all students to be screened for gifted programs.Black students are far less likely than white students to be assigned to gifted classrooms.In some schools, principals also factor in a student's classroom p

by mike simpson / 8h 

Report: Schools increasingly turn to ‘underprepared’ teachers to fill vacancies | EdSource

Report: Schools increasingly turn to ‘underprepared’ teachers to fill vacancies | EdSource: Report: Schools increasingly turn to 'underprepared' teachers to fill vacanciesTo cope with a widening shortage of teachers, California school districts are hiring an increasing number of teachers with “substandard” permits and credentials, as well as relying on short-term substitute teachers, according to

by mike simpson / 8h 

Will Flint’s Lead Poisoning Wake Us Up to Disaster of State Takeovers and Austerity Budgets? | janresseger

Will Flint’s Lead Poisoning Wake Us Up to Disaster of State Takeovers and Austerity Budgets? | janresseger: Will Flint’s Lead Poisoning Wake Us Up to Disaster of State Takeovers and Austerity Budgets?State takeovers of various sorts have been a favorite policy response of governors and state legislatures who seek an efficient solution to the problems of America’s poorest cities and school district

by mike simpson / 8h 

Is Kindergarten the New First Grade? Without a Doubt, Say Researchers - NEA Today

Is Kindergarten the New First Grade? Without a Doubt, Say Researchers - NEA Today: Is Kindergarten the New First Grade? Without a Doubt, Say ResearchersThe accountability pressures ushered in by No Child Left Behind more than decade ago reached into the nation’s kindergarten classrooms, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Virginia. In “Is Kindergarten the New First Grade?”

by mike simpson / 8h 

Save Our Schools March – Detroit Teachers “Sick” of Learning and Working Conditions

Save Our Schools March – Detroit Teachers “Sick” of Learning and Working Conditions: The Deplorable Learning Conditions Of Detroit Public Schools Are Unethical, Not Our ProtestsMr. Earley,I have been a teacher in Detroit Public Schools for 24 years. I feel the need to respond to some of the comments you madeduring your press conference this week.You described the actions of protesting teachers as

by mike simpson / 9h 

EXCLUSIVE: Lamar Alexander’s Staff Explains ESSA: PART 1 | Diane Ravitch's blog

EXCLUSIVE: Lamar Alexander’s Staff Explains ESSA: PART 1 | Diane Ravitch's blog: EXCLUSIVE: Lamar Alexander’s Staff Explains ESSA: PART 1 David P. Cleary, chief of staff to Senator Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, has prepared a series of answers to questions I posed about the new “Every Student Succeeds Act.” I am very grateful to have my questions answered by the staff of the Senator who led the re

by mike simpson / 9h 

CURMUDGUCATION: CA: Teacher Spanked for Tech Generosity

CURMUDGUCATION: CA: Teacher Spanked for Tech Generosity:CA: Teacher Spanked for Tech GenerosityA story from California reminding us that reformsters are not responsible for every single stupid thing that school administrations do.Chowchilla is a small place, located on the highway between Bakersfield and Modesto, just a little north of Fresno. So, not the lush, money-soaked part of California. Thi

by mike simpson / 9h 

SUNY opens probe into charter school over ‘forced out’ students | New York Post

SUNY opens probe into charter school over ‘forced out’ students | New York Post:SUNY opens probe into charter school over ‘forced out’ studentsThe State University Charter School Institute has opened a probe into whether a Success Academy charter school in Brooklyn improperly used its disciplinary policy to force out struggling students, The Post has learned.SUNY — which licenses charter schools —

by mike simpson / 9h 

Kindergarten the new first grade? It’s actually worse than that. - The Washington Post

Kindergarten the new first grade? It’s actually worse than that. - The Washington Post: Kindergarten the new first grade? It’s actually worse than that.FILE: Kindergarteners Noah Bellamy, L, and Morgan Creek read together during their kindergarten class library visit at Peabody Elementary School on Wednesday, February 25, 2015, in Washington, DC.  (Photo by Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post)Ther

by mike simpson / 9h 

Hilariously honest teacher responses to common student questions

Hilariously honest teacher responses to common student questions: Hilariously honest teacher responses to common student questionsBeing a teacher is one of the most essential and rewarding professions in the world — but that doesn’t mean it can’t be a frustrating job. Like all professions, academia comes with its own set of trials and tribulations; and trying to figure out your own life while cont

by mike simpson / 10h 

LFC: Charter schools get disproportionate amount of funding - The Santa Fe New Mexican: News

LFC: Charter schools get disproportionate amount of funding - The Santa Fe New Mexican: News: LFC: Charter schools get disproportionate amount of fundingThough New Mexico’s charter schools only serve 7 percent of the student population, they have received 46 percent of public-school funding increases over the past seven years, Legislative Finance Committee staff members told lawmakers Monday.The P

by mike simpson / 10h 

Study: Don't Make Mortgage Industry Mistakes with Charter Schools | Video | NJTV News

Study: Don't Make Mortgage Industry Mistakes with Charter Schools | Video | NJTV News: Study: Don’t Make Mortgage Industry Mistakes with Charter SchoolsThe study warns policy makers to beware of treating the charter school industry like the mortgage industry in the mid-2000s when risky and lax lending led to a glut of home loans that borrowers really could not afford, causing them to lose their ho

by mike simpson / 10h 

YESTERDAY

Cerf’s power grab over contract benefits–is this the end of the Newark Teachers Union? | Bob Braun's Ledger

Cerf’s power grab over contract benefits–is this the end of the Newark Teachers Union? | Bob Braun's Ledger: Cerf’s power grab over contract benefits–is this the end of the Newark Teachers Union?Here’s the question now in the Newark schools: Will the charm offensive pressed by Christopher Cerf, the governor’s man running the district, overpower the contractual rights of teachers and other school e

3 by mike simpson / 20h hide  //  save

BATs WALL OF SOLIDARITY! BATs RUNNING FOR LOCAL AND STATE UNION OFFICE! Badass Teachers Association

Badass Teachers Association: BATs WALL OF SOLIDARITY! BATs RUNNING FOR LOCAL AND STATE UNION OFFICE!The Badass Teachers Association encourages our members to be an important and active participant in their local, state, and national unions.  We encourage our members to run for office so that unions represent rank and file members, are run using a true democratic system, exist as entities that are

1 by mike simpson / 23h 

Marie Corfield: Study Commission Pt.3: What Public Testimony?

Marie Corfield: Study Commission Pt.3: What Public Testimony?:  Study Commission Pt.3: What Public Testimony?In Part 1 and Part 2 of this series, I dissected the report issued by the Study Commission on the Use of Student Assessments in New Jersey. In Parts 3 and 4 (coming tomorrow), education activist Sue Altman reports on the public testimony that was not only downplayed in the final report in t

1 by mike simpson / 1d 

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 1/18/15

CORPORATE ED REFORMWho Should Run LA's Public Schools? - LA ProgressiveWho Should Run LA's Public Schools? - LA Progressive: Who Should Run LA’s Public Schools? ver a decade ago, when there was a push to break off the vast San Fernando Valley from the Los Angeles Unified School District, and for the Valley to form its own school district, I was not in agreement. However, with approximately 675,000

43 by mike simpson / 1d

Snyder - 2016 State of the State - State of Michigan

SKrashen: Billionaires coaltion pleased with Oxfam report, look for more progress in amassing wealth

SKrashen: Billionaires coaltion pleased with Oxfam report, look for more progress in amassing wealth:

Billionaires coaltion pleased with Oxfam report, look for more progress in amassing wealth

 Reacting  to the news from Oxfam that the richest 62 billionaires are worth as much as half the world's population, a coalition of the top five billionaires announced today that they were pleased with their progress in cornering so much wealth but "much more needs to be done."

Noting that as recently as 2010, it took 388 billionaires to match the worth of half the world's population, a coalition proclaimed that its goal now was to reduce this number from the current 62 to five: "We will renew our efforts to build our fortunes, " a coalition spokesperson explained. "Our experts are constantly searching for new tax havens, and we will continue our efforts to keep wages down and eliminate costly benefits for workers."

"We are particularly pleased with our efforts to divert public funds to our corporations, especially in the area of education.  We are pleased with our plan and the results: A strong public relations campaign to convince the public that teachers are incompetent, and are, in fact, responsible for most economic problems throughout the world, and a parallel campaign informing the public of the wonders of computers.

We have easily convinced the public that computers are the answer to most of their problems, and will magically improve education. We have also convinced nearly SKrashen: Billionaires coaltion pleased with Oxfam report, look for more progress in amassing wealth:

Seattle Schools Community Forum: McCleary Already (says Dorn)

Seattle Schools Community Forum: McCleary Already (says Dorn):

McCleary Already (says Dorn)

State Superintendent Randy Dorn continues to speak out against the "kick the can down the road" methodology of the Legislature to enact McCleary. 

Here's his latest press release (and please e-mail your reps and tell them NO:)

Staff from the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) testified yesterday on Senate Bill 6195 (SB 6195), known as the “plan to plan” bill, andSB 6183, which will delay a decrease, currently set for 2018, in the amount school districts can raise in local levies. 

“SB 6195 and SB 6183 would delay progress toward our constitutional requirement to fully fund basic education,” State Superintendent Randy Dorn said. “In fact, both bills make the situation worse.”

We have studied education funding over and over again:

Early 2000s: The bipartisan Fromhold/Cox committee produced a study.
2006: Washington Learns produced a study.
2007: The Joint Task Force on Basic Education Finance produced a study.
2009: The Quality Education Council produced a study.
2011: Compensation Technical Working Group produced a study.
2012: The Joint Task Force on Education Funding produced a study. 

They’ve all concluded the same thing: Our state is not fulfilling its paramount constitutional duty to fund basic education. SB 6195 is another stall tactic. It’s time to act.

School districts are understandably concerned about a reduction in the amount they can raise in local levies, slated to occur in 2018, unless the State passes a bill like SB 6183. If the State isn’t fully funding their expenses related to basic education, they are left to make up the difference using local money. They simply cannot afford a reduction. 

For example, the State pays only a fraction of what it costs to employ teachers Seattle Schools Community Forum: McCleary Already (says Dorn):

The out-of-district charter school scam has landed one CA supe a felony charge: Take heed Randy Dorn | Seattle Education

The out-of-district charter school scam has landed one CA supe a felony charge: Take heed Randy Dorn | Seattle Education:

The out-of-district charter school scam has landed one CA supe a felony charge: Take heed Randy Dorn

Randy Dorn steals playbook from California’s charter school out-of-district, alternative learning /homeschool scheme.

This is a cautionary tale for Randy Dorn and others playing the charter school shell game in Washington State.

When there is privatization of any public holding, there are illegal dealings and fraud. Many of us have seen this with the privatization of utility companies, with military contracts and with charter schools.

As I wrote in a previous post The charter school shell game in Washington State: Money laundering at its best (or worst?) by way of OSPI, there is now a charter school shell game happening in Washington State where the state Supreme Court has deemed charter schools unconstitutional.

Instead of closing their doors, the charter schools, with the aid of our State Superintendent Randy Dorn, have been able to keep their doors open through a scheme that has been used in California.

What Dorn is doing in Washington State has been done in California, and probably involved the Summit charter franchise that originated in California with eight locations and is now trying to do the same in Washington State. Lawsuits abound in The out-of-district charter school scam has landed one CA supe a felony charge: Take heed Randy Dorn | Seattle Education:

 

Trust Us, It’s For the Kids. – Save Maine Schools

Trust Us, It’s For the Kids. – Save Maine Schools:

Trust Us, It’s For the Kids.

The Charles M. Schulz Museum is Common Core aligned.

This means that when kindergartners take a field trip to learn about Snoopy, parents can rest assured that their children are actuallylearning something.

Just kidding.

What it really means is that parents can rest assured that their child will be contributing to the digital learning cash cow that Wall Street and venture capitalists are banking on.

One of the loftiest dreams of next-gen ed reformers is that children will be able to “learn” anytime, anywhere – at museums, the grocery store, the hair salon – anywhere that is willing to align whatever it does to “standards,” while collecting information about your child and entering it into a tracking system.

Here’s how Mitchell Robinson, founder of Span Learning and former Senior Advisor for Nonprofit Partnerships for the U.S. Department of Education, explains it:

 Jenae spends Thursday afternoons this semester at the museum of natural history following a course of study that was jointly designed by her school science teachers and museum staff. Her work is organized in an online digital backpack that also includes logs of her activities, results of her online quizzes, and a digital portfolio of her Trust Us, It’s For the Kids. – Save Maine Schools:

LAUSD charter investigations increase but funding doesn’t - LA School Report

LAUSD charter investigations increase but funding doesn’t - LA School Report:

LAUSD charter investigations increase but funding doesn’t

Investigating and analyzing charter schools is becoming a greater burden for LA Unified, and the district isn’t getting any more money to do the work, according to a report presented today.

“Charter-related work consumes the most amount of investigative resources due to the time-sensitive nature of the work and the monthly deadlines for board action on charter petitions,” LAUSD inspector general Ken Bramlett said in his report to the Budget, Facilities and Audit Committee. He noted that at least 20 percent of the district’s total investigative work is to check the due diligence of charter schools. This year alone, there are also five ongoing large-scale charter school investigations.

“What worries me is that with more charter schools planned for the district we will be doing more investigations without additional resources,” Bramlett told the committee, chaired by Mónica Ratliff.

The district’s Office of Inspector General looks at improper and illegal activities of anyone doing business with LAUSD. Some of the investigations come from complaints, others come from research required by law. Bramlett said that about 54 percent of projects are investigative, and 46 percent are due diligence issues, such as checking staff backgrounds, facilities and charter schools.

The inspector general’s office needs an additional $570,000 for staff, which would pay LAUSD charter investigations increase but funding doesn’t - LA School Report:

BustED Pencils Trending News: This!; Netflix; | BustED Pencils

BustED Pencils Trending News: This!; Netflix; | BustED Pencils:

BustED Pencils Trending News: This!; Netflix; |

Create sustainable, equitable and meaningful public schools for all children.  There’s a thought!

PRIVATIZATION OF PUBLIC EDUCATION: THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING

PRIVATIZATION OF PUBLIC EDUCATION: THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING

Children are now considered a “Pet Project”??

Netflix Founder Drops $100 Million to Join Billionaire Crusade to Privatize Our Public Schools

http://www.alternet.org/education/netflix-founder-drops-100-join-billionaire-crusade-privatize-our-public-schools

It SOOOOO didn’t have to be this way.

Life Inside Detroit Public Schools

https://www.facebook.com/AFTunion/videos/10153548794364160/?fref=nf

Get BustED Pencils Trending News to come right to your in-box!

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

BustED Pencils Trending News: This!; Netflix; | BustED Pencils:

Why is the man most to blame for the #FlintWaterCrisis, Darnell Earley, still the Emergency Manager of Detroit schools? | Eclectablog

Why is the man most to blame for the #FlintWaterCrisis, Darnell Earley, still the Emergency Manager of Detroit schools? | Eclectablog:

Why is the man most to blame for the #FlintWaterCrisis, Darnell Earley, still the Emergency Manager of Detroit schools?

On April 16, 2013, Flint Emergency Manager Ed Kurtz signed an agreement on behalf of the city to form a new water district that would, when the project was completed, get its water from Lake Huron via a new pipeline. The decision was made in order save money since water from the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD) was very expensive. The next day, the city of Detroit, which was also under the control of an Emergency Manager, Kevin Orr, notified the city of Flint, that it was exercising its right to give one year’s notice that it was terminating their nearly 50-year-old contract. This would have compelled Flint officials to renegotiate the contract which was expected to result in even higher water costs since the new water pipeline would not be completed by April 2014.

In other words, despite the fact that both cities were under state control via Emergency Managers appointed by Governor Rick Snyder, Detroit was essentially attempting to extort additional money from Flint between April 2014 and when its new pipeline was operational. Emergency Management, a system ostensibly put in place to stabilize cities financially, had essentially degraded into a pissing match between two Emergency Managers under the direction of Gov. Snyder.

Shortly before the April 2014 deadline, DWSD Director Sue McCormick offered to let Flint stay on their system until their new pipeline was completed. However, EM Earley declined. If you were to point to one specific decision that lead to the poisoning of Flint’s drinking water, it would be this one. Earley, by rebuffing Detroit’s offer in their on-going internecine battle, put Flint on a course that lead to the state of emergency they are in today.

You can read Earley’s response to McCormick HERE. Here’s the paragraph that created Flint’s current catastrophe:

Dear Ms. McCormick:
Thank you for the correspondence dated February 12, 2014 which provides Flint with the option of continuing to purchase water from DWSD following the termination of the current contract as of April 17, 2014.

Following DWSD’s April 17, 2013 notice of termination of the water service contract between the City of Flint and DWSD, the City of Flint has actively pursued using the Flint River as a temporary water source while the KWA pipeline is being constructed. We expect that the Flint Water Treatment Plant will be fully operational and capable of treating Flint River water prior to the date of termination. In that case, there will be no need for Flint to continue purchasing water to serve its residents and businesses after April 17, 2014.

Earley’s letter goes on to acknowledge that Genesee County officials were negotiating with the DWSD to continue using their water (which is distributed to them by the Flint system), saying that, if Genesee County decided to go forward with it, Flint would only need to purchase the amount of water needed for them and that Flint itself would get its water from the Flint River.

This chutzpah and single-minded focus only on the economics of the situation with a total disregard to warnings about the impact of Flint River water chemistry tells us a great deal about how Darnell Earley operates. When you watch video of him talking to reporters, that arrogance comes through loud and clear. It was also blatantly clear inan almost laughable revisionist history op-ed he penned for The Detroit News denying any responsibility for Flint’s water catastrophe.

Earley is now embroiled in another controversy as the EM of Detroit Public Schools. DPS teachers have been staging “sick outs” over the past two weeks to protest over-crowded classrooms, deplorable working conditions, and continuous cuts to their pay and benefits. The sick outs, which have not been organized by their union, the Detroit Teachers Federation, reached their zenith on Monday when 64 DPS schools were closed due to a lack of teachers with two-thirds of the students impacted. The ongoing “non-strike” drove Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan to tour several DPS schools. What he saw is shocking:

Mayor Mike Duggan said he saw a dead mouse, children wearing coats in cold classrooms and a gym floor too warped for play during a tour of some Detroit public schools Tuesday, amid a teacher sick-out that has forced dozens of buildings to close.

Duggan pledged to quickly come up with a plan to improve the condition of the buildings. He noted that the state has been in control of DPS for the better part of a decade, saying, “It was a troubled district seven years ago, but there is no argument to say that state management has made it better.”

The teachers’ union has complained about mold, rodent infestations, too-large class sizes and other issues. Teachers upset about their pay, the district’s financial condition and work environments called in sick Monday, forcing the cancellation of classes at 64 schools.

“Our children need our teachers in the classroom. … But there’s no question about the legitimacy of the issues that they’re raising,” Duggan said Tuesday, when about two dozen schools were closed because of the sick-out. […]

“We’ve seen a couple of school buildings that are well-maintained and then saw some conditions that were deeply disturbing, including a school where the children have no gym class because the gym floor is buckled from roof leaks,” Duggan said.

He said it was “heartbreaking” to see some kids wearing coats in the morning until classrooms warm up by lunch.

After his tour, Duggan called for all DPS schools to be inspected.

The American Federation of Teachers has a scathing report on the conditions in DPS schools written by a school counselor at Spain Elementary-Middle School in Detroit. You can view it HERE.

In addition to that report which has photos of some of egregious conditions students and teachers are living with, here’s a heart-breaking video they produced that gives you an even better view. If you’re like me, it’ll make you weep to see these beautiful, innocent children having to attempt to learn in such a terrible environment.

Darnell Earley has been the Emergency Manager for DPS for a year now. While the obscene state of many DPS schools is not soley on his shoulders, it’s clear that he’s done nothing to solve the problem. Once again, he has used the Emergency 

CURMUDGUCATION: Jebucation Follies (Part I: The Conservative Conundrum)

CURMUDGUCATION: Jebucation Follies (Part I: The Conservative Conundrum):

Jebucation Follies (Part I: The Conservative Conundrum)

I give Jeb! Bush credit for one thing-- sincerity. While other politicians have adopted and disinherited reformster policies quicker than you can say "political expediency," Bush has stuck to his guns, even when those guns are aimed squarely at his own feet. Even when he's dead wrong about everything.

Now Bush, whose campaign seems designed to spin rich backers money into vapor, has gone back to the education well one more time with a comprehensive-ish education plan. It really is worth a look, as long as you think of it less as "Jeb! Bush's Bold Plan for US Education" and more "A Compendium of Current Reformster Greatest Hits." I'll be using the "backgrounder" that EdWeek kindly posted on their site. Let's wade in, shall we?

I'm going to address the plan in two parts. Here in Part I, I'll take a look at the lump of self-contradictory principle that is the foundation of Bush's plan. In Part II, we'll get into the nuts and bolts.

Bush opens with a general statement of his guiding theory of change. Here's the critical paragraph:

Governor Bush’s goal is to ensure that all Americans, no matter their background or zip code, graduate from high school, college or career ready, and have the opportunity to pursue affordable post-secondary education or training. Achieving this goal requires a complete overhaul of a system CURMUDGUCATION: Jebucation Follies (Part I: The Conservative Conundrum):

Jebucation Follies (Part II: The Nuts, Bolts and Screws)

Jeb! Bush has a shiny new education plan, and he hopes that it will be the big lightning bolt that will shock his comatose candidacy back to life. In Part I, I examined his premises and theories,arguing that the big crack in his foundation is the conservative-thwarting oxymoron of imposed choice. In this part, I want to look at the actual nuts and bolts of Bush's grand plan.

I'm using the "backgrounder" that EdWeek is kindly hosting on its site. After three pages of general argument, the plan gets down to some nitty with a side order of gritty. Here are the pieces of this master action plan.

Empower Parents and Students with Quality Options

For some reason or other, part of this list includes some specific plans for DC. Why federal ed proposals need to keep singling out one district in the whole country remains a bit of a mystery, unless, of course, it has to do with DC-dwelling bureaucrats and policy makers wanting to exercise local control over their local school district.

Beyond the beltway, Bush wants a thousand charter schools to bloom. He invokes the oft-debunked spectre of waitlisted students. Bush wants to double the amount of money that the feds would throw at charter schools, which is curious since I keep hearing that more money is not the solution in 

Jebucation Follies (Part II: The Nuts, Bolts and Screws)

To the Billionaires Destroying Public Ed « pedagogyofthereformed

To the Billionaires Destroying Public Ed « pedagogyofthereformed:

To the Billionaires Destroying Public Ed

Between Netflix, Facebook, the Koch brothers and all the other billionaires , public education is being systematically destroyed.

Why do all these people care?

Charter schools have a way of funneling money to tech companies with ed products, publishing companies, test prep companies. Companies, companies, companies. Money, Money, Money.

Charter schools have a way of segregating and dehumanizing children of color. Keeps them in their place you might say. Hmm, I wonder why all these white billionaires would want to do that?

Charter schools have a way of de-professionalizing teaching and paying young inexperienced “teachers” – mostly women- to work long hours without any labor protections. Most of these people end up leaving teaching after a few years. I wonder where they end up working?

Charter schools have very little oversight and discriminate against students with disabilities. Billionaires love not having oversight. That’s how people become billionaires!

Charter schools cost the states less money than public schools because they raise so much To the Billionaires Destroying Public Ed « pedagogyofthereformed:

Angelenos welcome their new schools superintendent -- with some reservations - LA Times

Angelenos welcome their new schools superintendent -- with some reservations - LA Times:

Angelenos welcome their new schools superintendent -- with some reservations

Michelle King, left, is introduced as the new superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District on Jan. 11, backed by board member Ref Rodriguez, center, and King's daughter Brittney King.

 (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

We asked Angelenos what they thought of the choice of Michelle King as the new superintendent for Los Angeles Unified, the nation's second largest school district. Readers responded favorably to her deep connection to the district; King, 54, was educated in local schools, has spent her entire career with L.A. Unified starting in 1978 and sent her children to local schools. Others, though, warned she may be so entrenched in the bureaucracy that she will not be able to effect change.

Understanding young people of color dealing with extreme poverty

My opinion of Michelle King is largely positive, and I am happy that she was chosen. Based on the problems LAUSD had attracting viable candidates from outside. For example, I read in the L.A. Times that a candidate with experience in Montgomery County, Md., had withdrawn his name saying that LAUSD was something along the lines of a complete mess. I grew up in Montgomery County, and know that it serves a very affluent student body, whose children overwhelmingly come from stable, two-parent households and who are mostly white.

I doubt that such a candidate could adequately lead LAUSD, whose students are mostly young people of color many of whom are dealing with severe poverty.

Ms. King, as someone who came up in the District, knows our student body well and is, in my opinion, much better able to take over the reins without a "break in" period that would be required by an outsider. While I have not worked directly with or under Ms. King, I believe she has had a good deal of influence on my school, Audubon Middle School, in the Leimert Park area of South Los Angeles. Our student body is approximately 65% African American and 35% Latino, and we have been told we have the highest percentage of students in foster care of any school in our area.

— Joel Parkes, teacher, Audubon Middle School

Guts and courage to take a thankless job

She's a long-term, "up from the ranks" kind of woman who is homegrown. That may be a plus but it might also be a negative as she may not "see the forest for the trees" as opposed to being the "new broom that sweeps best."

LAUSD's bureaucracy is notoriously wasteful and inefficient; not maliciously so, but it grew organically like kudzu. Or Jabba the Hutt. She is going to have to prove to a skeptical public that she can deliver results...

I commend Ms. King for having the guts and the courage to take on aAngelenos welcome their new schools superintendent -- with some reservations - LA Times:

The country's second-biggest school district has a new superintendent. But what does she even do? - LA Times http://lat.ms/1n7YQC8

WHAT GETS YOU ACCLAIMED AS A TEACHER IN PRIVATE SCHOOL GET YOU FIRED AT LAUSD AND EQUALLY BAD CHARTERS - Perdaily.com

WHAT GETS YOU ACCLAIMED AS A TEACHER IN PRIVATE SCHOOL GET YOU FIRED AT LAUSD AND EQUALLY BAD CHARTERS - Perdaily.com:

WHAT GETS YOU ACCLAIMED AS A TEACHER IN PRIVATE SCHOOL GET YOU FIRED AT LAUSD AND EQUALLY BAD CHARTERS

(Mensaje se repite en Español)

"Give a man a fish and you feed him today. Teach him how to fish and you feed him for the rest of his lifetime." 19th century Anne Isabella Richie

The best explanation as to why we still have a de facto segregated and objectively inferior public school system at the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) and elsewhere in this country's public schools 62 years after Brown vs. Board of Education supposedly made integration the law of the land is probably the least cited reason: People not subjected to what remains inferior segregated public education themselves are loathe to comprehend just how impossible the attainment of a good education is under an LAUSD-like system and the sanctions in place for any teacher who tries to buck this clearly inferior system.

If the corporate media bent on supporting the corporate privatization of public education for profit continues to censor any information regarding the abysmal level of the vast majority of LAUSD and charter schools, parents without children in these schools will have no personal knowledge or way of knowing just how deplorable these public school conditions remain, since their predominantly White children are safely ensconced in comparatively high functioning private or parochial schools. These students are being taught critical thinking skills in all subjects with a rigorous curriculum that rarely if ever exists at what remains a super-majority-minority-poor-segregated LAUSD or school districts like it throughout this country.

With no source of information as to just how bad the majority of public schools remain, those outside of this system are effectively limited in the potential actions they are willing to take to change this system, due to their own media nurtured ignorance as to what is really going on. Add to this the pernicious unchallenged racial stereotypes that foster low WHAT GETS YOU ACCLAIMED AS A TEACHER IN PRIVATE SCHOOL GET YOU FIRED AT LAUSD AND EQUALLY BAD CHARTERS - Perdaily.com:

Bright Black Students With Black Teachers More Likely to Get Into Gifted Programs - US News

Bright Black Students With Black Teachers More Likely to Get Into Gifted Programs - US News:

Bright Black Students With Black Teachers More Likely to Get Into Gifted Programs

Researchers call for all students to be screened for gifted programs.

Black students are far less likely than white students to be assigned to gifted classrooms.

In some schools, principals also factor in a student's classroom performance, creativity or demonstrated leadership skills. In these cases, of course, teachers' own racial biases could influence who gets tapped.

But it's not clear that white teachers are biased against black students, Grissom cautioned in an interview. Teachers often have a limited role in deciding who should be in a gifted-and-talented classroom. In many school districts, it's decided entirely by test scores.

Still, even when gifted placements are decided entirely by test scores, teachers often play a big role in identifying which students should take the test in the first place. Perhaps black teachers are more likely to recognize brilliance in a black student and suggest that the student be screened for giftedness.

[READ: Report Shows Huge Disparities Between White and Minority Students]

Parents also play a big role in lobbying for their children to enter these programs. Another possibility is that black parents feel more comfortable advocating for their child with a black teacher, demanding that their child be screened for giftedness.

And finally it's possible that black children perform better for a black teacher, and are more likely to demonstrate how brainy they are in these classrooms.

Grissom's research didn't investigate which of these hypotheses are correct. That's work for future scholars.

Only 22 percent of black students have a black teacher, according to data cited in the paper. Schools could hire more black teachers. But no matter how many they hire, there'd still be white teachers teaching black students.

A better, quicker solution to reducing the racial gap in gifted classrooms, according to Grissom, is to test every child in the school system for giftedness, so that you're not relying on subjective humans to decide whom to test. Education geeks call it "universal screening."

[READ: 2015 STEM Index Shows Gender, Racial Gaps Widen]

Indeed, after Broward Country, Florida, adopted universal screening in 2005, the number of Hispanic students in gifted programs increased by 130 percent and the number of black students by 80 percent. Low-income students increased by 180 percent. But it proved expensive to test everyone, and the Bright Black Students With Black Teachers More Likely to Get Into Gifted Programs - US News:

Report: Schools increasingly turn to ‘underprepared’ teachers to fill vacancies | EdSource

Report: Schools increasingly turn to ‘underprepared’ teachers to fill vacancies | EdSource:

Report: Schools increasingly turn to 'underprepared' teachers to fill vacancies

To cope with a widening shortage of teachers, California school districts are hiring an increasing number of teachers with “substandard” permits and credentials, as well as relying on short-term substitute teachers, according to a new report.

Teachers with these permits and credentials make up a small percentage of California’s nearly 300,000-strong teaching force, but the number of them has nearly doubled over the past two years, to more than 7,700. They made up a third of all new teaching credentials issued in the state last year.

Titled “Addressing California’s Emerging Teacher Shortage,” the report by the Learning Policy Institute, a Palo Alto-based research and policy organization, points to numerous studies that it says have found that the use of underprepared or substitute teachers can “harm student achievement.”

“It may be necessary in the short run, but it is not a preferred strategy in the long run,” said Linda Darling-Hammond, president of the Learning Policy Institute, who co-authored the report with Roberta Furger, Patrick Shields and Leib Sutcher.

She said that if not addressed the shortage “will seriously hamper the state’s effort to implement more challenging new learning standards.” The state is introducing new Common Core standards in English and math, and the Next Generation Science Standards which demand new approaches to teaching, as well as new learning strategies on the part of students.

“Teaching is an extraordinarily difficult task, even when people get thorough preparation in teaching and the right kinds of coursework,” she Report: Schools increasingly turn to ‘underprepared’ teachers to fill vacancies | EdSource: