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Thursday, January 26, 2017

Alert: @NAACP formally opposing @BetsyDeVos – Cloaking Inequity

Alert: @NAACP formally opposing @BetsyDeVos – Cloaking Inequity:

Alert: @NAACP formally opposing @BetsyDeVos


During School Choice Week a white Texas governor tried to convince the public that school choice, including school vouchers, are civil rights. However, the nation’s oldest and largest civil rights organizations appears to disagree with that premise by formally opposing Betsy DeVos, the school choice queen, for US Secretary of Education. (For more on Betsy DeVos click here).
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It was kind of cool that @NAACP tagged me on the photo in their official announcement on Twitter! Here is the press release:


Given the importance of education to the NAACP, and Mrs. Betsy DeVos’ sheer lack of qualifications and her demonstrated lack of commitment to ensuring the ability of all students to receive a high quality public education, the NAACP now officially opposes her confirmation.  The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions is scheduled to vote on whether to send the DeVos nomination to the floor of the full Senate with a positive recommendation at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, January 31.
We are asking supporters and members to call and urge every Senator to oppose her confirmation. Follow this link to our full Action Alert outlining our concerns and letting you know how you can help effectively.  The final page of the Action Alert includes a list of Senators who serve on the HELP Committee to call.

Please Contact both your Senators and Urge Them to Oppose the Nomination of Betsy DeVos to be US Secretary of Education, especially if they are members of the Senate Committee on Health, Eductaion, Labor and Pensions

Make a Phone Call:

Call your Senators in Washington by dialing the Capitol Switchboard and asking to be transferred to your Senators’ offices. The switchboard phone number is (202) 224-3121 No time for a letter! Call, e-mail, or fax!
Send an Email:
To send an e-mail to your Senators, go to http://www.senate.gov; click on “Find Your Senators”. Look up your Senators by state; go to their web sites for e-mail addresses.
REMEMBER TO CONTACT BOTH YOUR SENATORS!!!!!
THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS IMPORTANT MATTER!!! If you have any questions, call Hilary Shelton at the Washington Bureau at (202) 463-2940.
THE MESSAGE:
  • Over 90 percent of America’s children attend public schools in our nation. We owe it to them and to our future to ensure they get the highest quality education possible, regardless of their race, ethnicity, language, disability, gender, sexual orientation, where they live, or station in life.
  • Mrs. DeVos’ sheer lack of qualifications or experience with public schools and her demonstrated lack of commitment to ensuring the ability of all students to receive an adequate education are alarming.
  • Mrs. DeVos’ background is in promoting school vouchers and tax credits to support private schools. These options have been proven to be ineffective for students, families, communities and taxpayers.
Note that it appears KIPP and TFA will be really cozy with the Trump administration as one of their own is rumored to be appointed as the White House Education advisor.
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Join me today on Twitter for a LIVE chat about school choice at 4 pm PST.


Alert: @NAACP formally opposing @BetsyDeVos – Cloaking Inequity:

Will the press under Trump become the enemy of your right to know? |

Will the press under Trump become the enemy of your right to know? |:

Will the press under Trump become the enemy of your right to know?


A few days ago, the chief editorial writer and columnist for New Jersey’s largest newspaper wrote he leapt to his feet to applaud Gov. Chris Christie’s recent State of the State address. The journalist wrote he was “standing up and cheering” the politician who persists in trying to punish an independent press by depriving it of revenue from legal ads. He was cheering a man who, until Nov. 8 and the election of Donald Trump, represented the worst in modern American electoral politics.
Before the Russia-backed coup that brought Trump to power in the United States, I would have dismissed the columnist’s antics as an embarrassing lack of professionalism. If I were the newspaper’s editor, I would have spiked the sycophantic column and then lectured the man on the obvious—journalists are not cheerleaders for any politician and should not be seen to be. It is a betrayal of a fundamental value in our increasingly fragile democracy—a free and independent press.
But that was before Nov. 8. Now I see the sycophantic cheering as more than just another embarrassment one writer will have to live down. In the era of The Great Leader Who Will Make America Great Again, such behavior is just one more frightening hint of what will come. An independent press and the public’s right to know face many threats now—and one is the existence of media outlets that will, for whatever their reason, try to get on board the bandwagon that is now sweeping up Quisling Republicans, weak Democrats and others who see opportunity in an authoritarian quasi-dictatorship.
Some media employees always have sought the favor of the powerful, serving more as shills than as genuine journalists. Christie rode to power as governor based on the good press he received as a federal prosecutor—a good press he all Will the press under Trump become the enemy of your right to know? |:


Updated Floor Vote Estimate for Betsy DeVos (Secretary of Education) (updated 1/25 1230pm) – Decision Desk HQ Election 2016

Updated Floor Vote Estimate for Betsy DeVos (Secretary of Education) (updated 1/25 1230pm) – Decision Desk HQ Election 2016:

Updated Floor Vote Estimate for Betsy DeVos (Secretary of Education) (updated 1/25 1230pm)

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Thanks to rule changes under Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid back in 2013, a simple majority is enough for Cabinet confirmation votes. Barring a dramatic turn of events, we expect nearly every nominee to be confirmed, the questions outstanding are: how many Democrats cross over and vote yea, how many Republicans defect and vote nay. Advocacy for school vouchers and charter schools have been platform positions of the Republican Party for years, so Betsy DeVos almost certainly gets all of their votes. What about the Senate overall?
betsydevosestimate01242017

The publicized Nays from Senators like Cortez MastoKingMenendezWyden, and Gillibrand make the guesswork a lot simpler. Senators who have conflicted with Mrs. DeVos previously, or who come from states where teachers unions, strongly opposed to a Secretary DeVos, hold significant sway over the Democratic Party, fill in a lot of the not-public-but-pretty-obvious nays. After watching several floor votes and watching those nays, we can also piece together Senators not publicly opposing but who have used identical arguments against other nominees they have already nayed. You’ll notice that there is a stronger inclination for nay among Democrats with this Cabinet position than with the Attorney General. Mrs. DeVos lacks the insulation offered with being a Senator, and as of yet has no public yeas from the minority party. Democratic Senators with no statements or other indicators on the DeVos nomination are left as undecided, but may pile onto the bandwagon and force close to a party-line vote.
Mrs. DeVos is subject to a committee vote on Tuesday. She will likely clear it on at least a party-line vote, and then it’s a matter of scheduling before she makes it to the floor. The question marks we have left include some red state Democrats: Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Joe Donnelly of Indiana, and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, but it also includes a few traditionally more liberal members. The final number of Democrats who actually votes for Mr.s Devos can probably be counted on a single hand. It will be interesting to see who breaks ranks.
Update- soon after today’s chart was generated, Senator Joe Donnelly issued a statement that he will be opposing Betsy DeVos. In addition, an avid reader of the Desk emailed us linking to recent statements by Joe Manchin. We have moved him from undecided to no, as our experience has been when Senators in the opposing party repeatedly use the phrase “I might vote against/ uncomfortable/ leaning to oppose”, its a polite way of saying no. The West Virginia Senator is already voting for Jeff Sessions and likely to vote for Rex Tillerson, so he is expected to confirm most of President Trump’s more controversial picks.
Second update- Schatz now also a no on DeVos.
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CALL 202-224-3121 AND TELL YOUR SENATORS/CONGRESSMAN “VOTE NO” ON BETSY DeVOS ON JAN. 31ST! 
Please sign the CREDO Petition to keep Betsy DeVos from becoming the next Secretary of Education and Please Call your Senators and demand DeVos be denied Secretary of Ed. 

Tell Your Senator to Vote NO for Betsy DeVos - Network For Public Education - http://wp.me/p3bR9v-26K

CURMUDGUCATION: Read These Writers

CURMUDGUCATION: Read These Writers:

Read These Writers


There are a lot of good people in the edublogosphere, and if you've made it to this blog, you probably know many of them already. But for those of you just getting into the business, here's a quick reference list of some of my favorites with a capsule over-simplified explanation. Do sample and read and share-- amplifying voices is one way to make your point in the world.


I could try to organize these by geography or by how fiery or how funny or how progressive or some other issues play out, but ultimately this will take me a while to type out anyway, so let's go with the alphabet.

There's no doubt I've missed some folks (there are over 200 bloggers in the Education Bloggers Network alone), and that's before we even get to people like Wendy Lecker and Alan Singer and John Thompson who all are worth reading but who don't have a "home' I can link to. If you have other suggestions, feel free to add them to the comments. In the meantime, sample. It's vacation. You've got the time. Do some reading.

A View from the Edge

Rob Miller (@edgeblogger) is an Oklahoma educator who has done all-- marine, teacher, administrator. He brings a light sense of humor to national and Oklahoma stories.

Accountabaloney

I'm a sucker for a good name, but this Florida blogging duo includes a graphic designer, so it looks good, too. The good fight in Florida is a barometer for reformy messes elsewhere, and these folks have a good eye for malarkey.

Alfie Kohn 

Kohn doesn't post often, but when he does, you don't want to miss it. This is what actual education reform ideas look like.

Andrea Gabor

Gabor is a journalist and author (The Capitalist Philosophers, Einstein's Wife) who is frequently doing exceptional work looking at charter schools.

Answer Sheet 

Valerie Strauss at the Washington Post is the only big media journalist doing regular, daily coverage of education. Get national news, a public ed perspective, and answers from the kind of people who will ignore bloggers like me, but answer the phone when it says "Someone from the Washington Post is calling."

Automated Teaching Machine

Adam Bessie is a cartoonist who works the education beat. For those of you who like visuals.

Badass Teachers Association 

The activist group, best known through their facebook page, also has a blog featuring an assortment of voices.

Big Education Ape 

One of the best aggregators of edublogging out there. If you only have time to make a couple of stops, BEA will get you up to speed. And as a bonus, you get some fairly hilarious paste-up illustrations.

BustED Pencils

BustED Pencils is a webcast (I've been a guest and it was fun), and it is also the host to regular blogging from Morna McDermott, Peggy Robertson, and others, as well as regular features like What Would Matt Damon's Mom Say. It is unabashedly progressive and activist.

Blue Cereal Education 

Another Oklahoma blogger focusing on national issues. "Everything I say is so wise even I can hardly believe it. Feel free to concur."

Bob Braun's Ledger 

Long-time New Jersey reporter who has covered politics and education for decades. Regional and national stories with a hard-eyed reporter's view.

Bright Lights Small City

Sarah Lahm covers Minneapolis schools, policy and politics. As with many of the regional bloggers, her writing gives a good look at how the bigger issues play out on a smaller, specific stage.

Charter School Watchdog 

Longstanding clearing house for news of charter school shenanigans.

Chicago Public Fools

Julie Vassilatos blogs in and about Chicago, but watches national stories as well.


Clemsy's Corner

For a more militant take on the education debates and national policy, read Michael Lambert, who posts mostly when he's cranked up.

Cloaking Inequality

Julian Vasquez Heilig has been a visible and vocal part of the pro-public ed movement, covering a wide range of national topics.

Dad Gone Wild

A father in Tennessee who has educated himself in the issues and done some activist work as well. Another regional blogger with national lessons for all of us to learn.

Daniel Katz

Katz is the head of the Department of Education Studies at Seton Hall and a former HS English teacher. He presents a well-researched, thoughtful take on what's going on nationally.

DCulberhouse

Generally Really Big Picture thoughts about transformation, leadership, and how it relates to organizations like schools.

Deustch29 

I don't call her the indispensable Mercedes Schneider for nothing. Schneider blogs almost daily, generally on topics for which she has done research and digging-- she comes up with the facts about the reformsters and their organizations that nobody else had discovered.

Diane Ravitch's Blog

The chances that you read me and don't know about Ravitch are zero-to-none. But this list would look odd without her on it. This blog is like the pro-public education town square where everyone passes through at some point.

Eclectablog

The primo source for progressive coverage of all things Michigan. And they've now got Mitchell Robinson blogging about education for them. Essential regional read if you want to understand the state that spawned DeVos.

Education in the Age of Globalization

The website of Yong Zhao, an international writer and thinker about education. The best man to put China's educational "achievements" in perspective.

Education Opportunity Network

One of the places to find the work of education writer Jeff Bryant. Always well-sourced and thorough, a grown-up voice for public education.

Educolor

Educolor is a movement, a network, a hashtag, and a voice for equity in education. This is a place where you can start to get activated.

Edushyster

Funny and informative, the humor content here often overshadows the actual journalism. Jennifer Berkshire goes places, and talks to people, and we all get to find out how things look on the ground.

Finding Common Ground

One of the family of EdWeek blogs. Peter DeWitt is a former principal and a bridge-builder who is almost always entirely reasonable and thoughtful when discussing issues of policy or managing a school.

Fourth Generation Teacher

Claudia Swisher is yet another Oklahoma blogger and advocate who provides a good look at what advocacy looks like on the ground out west.

Fred Klonsky

Progressive union-loving activist with a clear direct tell-it-like-it-is style, writing in Chicago.

Gadfly on the Wall

Steven Singer blogs about national issues from a fiery progressive perspective.

Gary Rubinstein

Former TFA-er who keeps the pressure on that organization as well as other reformsters in New York.

Gene Glass

A senior researcher at the National Education Policy Center and co-author of 50 Myths & Lies that Threaten America's Public Schools. Smart man with a wide grasp of the actual research behind policy debates.

Jersey Jazzman

There's no better place for plain-language explanations of the wonky data behind policy debates. I've learned a ton reading this blog.

Keystone State Education Coalition 

A great roundup of links to news and commentary regarding Pennsylvania education.

Living in Dialogue

Anthony Cody, a co-founder of the Network for Public Education, has long been one of the steady progressive blogging voices in education. This site continues his own blogging work along with contributions from other strong voices for public education.

Marie Corfield

The teacher who got yelled at by Chris Christie in that video. Now she's a strong voice for public ed activism in New Jersey.

Mitchell Robinson

Heads music education for Michigan State University, as well as being a long-time policy wonk. Great lively writing about national issues.

Momma Bears

If you're going to talk about public education activism in Tennessee, you have to talk about the Momma Bears, digging deep and laying bare the tools of the reformsters.

Mother Crusader

New Jersey mom who became a powerhouse public education advocate.

Mr. Anderson Reads and Writes

Reading, writing and policy, digging deep for details, from a classroom teacher.

My Two Cents

Mary J. Holden was an English who left the classroom and became an education activist. Located in Nashville, she's busy in one of the flagship states of reforminess, so there's lots for us to learn from her.

Nancy Bailey's Education Website

Former special ed teacher with a Ph.D. in educational leadership, Bailey tackles national issues with both fists.

NYC Public School Parents 

Leonie Haimson and Class Size Matters are among the heroes in the defense of public education. They thwarted a big data incursion into NY, and they continue to have a sharp eye on what threatens public education in this country. 

Politics K-12

Alyson Klein and Andrew Ujifusa cover the political side of education at EdWeek and are a reliable source of what's happening in the halls of power.

The Progressive-- Public School Shakedown

The Progressive magazine is about the only news magazine with an actual commitment to public education, and that is shown through this ongoing project featuring eleven outstanding national writers (plus me).

Russ on Reading

Russ Walsh focuses on reading instruction, but sees the connections to larger education issues. Incidentally, Walsh has published the definitive layperson's guide to what's going on in ed reform.

Save Maine Schools

Emily Talmage is based in Maine, but she has been one of the voices out front in spotting and opposing the personalized competency based computerized learning trend.

School Finance 101

Bruce Baker manages to make sense out of the twisted labyrinth that is school financing. More interesting and important than you may imagine.

Schooling in the Ownership Society

A blog focusing on the moves to privatize public education with corporate reform.

Schools Matter

A roster of writers that includes Doug Martin, who wrote the book on Indiana Ed Corruption, and Jim Horn, who takes no prisoners and makes no compromises, but he knows his stuff. An aggressively anti-reform site.

Seattle Education

Another regional blog with a national take on ed reform, filtered through the unique perspective that comes from living in the shadow of Bill Gates' money.

Susan Ohanian

Ohanian had started to figure out what the hell was going wrong long before some of us had even started to wake up. Do not be put off by the design of her site, which can be... well, challenging. Trust me that it's worth it to dig in.

Teacher in a Strange Land

If you are unpaid viewer at EdWeek with only so many views per month, make Nancy Flanagan's blog your first priority. She's not as obviously combative, sparkly or full of fireworks as some blogs on this list, but she is smart and funny and honest and always worth the read.

Teacher Tom

Tom teaches at a pre-school co-op in Seattle, and his perspective (and that of his students) is always a welcome breath of cool air.

The Becoming Radical

Paul Thomas is a college professor comfortable blending references to ed research, race issues, poetry and comic books. A good pair of eyes for seeing beneath the surface of many issues in the ed realm. 

The Jose Vilson

A consistently decent, human, humane, and personal perspective on teaching and race. Pretty sure this is one of the major teaching voices of a generation.

The Merrow Report

John Merrow was a top reporter for decades. He's retired, but he hasn't stopped finding and commenting on some of the important stories in education.

Troy LaRaviere's Blog

LaRaviere was a principal in Chicago, and refused to buckle even when the school system and Rahm Emanuel came after him. He's still paying close attention.

Tultican

Thomas Tultican keeps an eye on national stories and the bloggers who cover them.

Wait What?

Connecticut blogger Jon Pelto has been fighting corporate control in politics and education.

What Is Common Core

These ladies in Utah are from the conservative wing of The Resistance; they pay close attention and do their homework, and they've been doing it for over four years, making them oldsters in this game.




 CURMUDGUCATION: Read These Writers:

Bernie Sanders Will Vote Against Betsy DeVos As Secretary of Education - Washington DC, DC Patch

Bernie Sanders Will Vote Against Betsy DeVos As Secretary of Education - Washington DC, DC Patch:

Bernie Sanders Will Vote Against Betsy DeVos As Secretary of Education

Sanders asked sharp questions about the secretary of education nominee's family wealth during her confirmation hearing.

Image result for Bernie Sanders Will Vote Against Betsy DeVos As Secretary of Education

Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont announced Thursday on Twitter that he will be voting against Betsy DeVos, President Trump's controversial nominee for secretary of education.
"I will be voting against Betsy DeVos for Secretary of Education," he said. "We must strengthen public education in America, not destroy it."
Democrats have been particularly critical of DeVos history with and plans for promoting school vouchers.
But after a shaky confirmation hearing that Republicans scheduled late in the day, and during which senators faced limited time to ask questions, concerns about her nomination grew.
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Democrats on the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs are currently facing criticism for unanimously approving Trump's pick of Ben Carson for secretary of housing and urban development along with the Republicans. Shifting focus to battling DeVos, who proved more contentious after her hearing, may be a useful way for the party to please its base.
Watch Sanders' exchange with DeVos during the hearings:


Photo credit: Scott P
Bernie Sanders Will Vote Against Betsy DeVos As Secretary of Education - Washington DC, DC Patch:

Employees of Charter Group Raided By FBI Among Funders of Mónica García’s Campaign

Employees of Charter Group Raided By FBI Among Funders of Mónica García’s Campaign:

Employees of Charter Group Raided By FBI Among Funders of Mónica García’s Campaign

– Los Angeles Times, 1/25/17
Exempting charters “from many of the regulations that govern traditional schools” was supposed to be a way to remove barriers to innovation. Unfortunately, this also provided a way unscrupulous operators to profit from education funds. As an example, the principal of El Camino Real Charter High School got caught charging “first-class airfare and luxury hotel rooms” and personal charges on his school credit card was “punished” with a $215k severance payout. Granada Hills Charter High School made unauthorized transfers from its Associated Student Body bank account. The latest example may be the Celerity Educational Group, which was raided today by federal agents.
While the “search warrants [have] been filed under seal and [will] not be made public”, we do know that this is not the first time that Celerity has been accused of improprieties. These include providing their CEO with an excessive compensation package, which in 2012 topped $438,730.00. The charter chain had one of its sites closed down by the Pasadena Fire Marshal after he found it to be “dangerous and unsafe” with 300 students being taught at a facility that had “no automatic sprinkler or fire alarm systems, inadequate egress, and kindergarten through second-grade classrooms were located in the basement, which is illegal.” Even as McFarlane surrendered the charter, she maintained “that the site was safe and appropriate for use by our students”.
None of this has stopped García from accepting a $1,100 donation from Vielka McFarlane. Grace Canada ($1,100), Diana Macias ($250), Juan Montalvo Saucedo ($1,100) and Kendal Employees of Charter Group Raided By FBI Among Funders of Mónica García’s Campaign:


1/26/2017 – How Trump’s Education Scheme Will Screw Rural People Who Elected Him

1/26/2017 – How Trump’s Education Scheme Will Screw Rural People Who Elected Him:

How Trump’s Education Scheme Will Screw Rural People Who Elected Him


THIS WEEK: Out Of Touch DeVos … DeVos Backs Quack Science … Obama’s Failed School Policies … Black Students Targeted … School Funding Unfairness

TOP STORY

How Trump’s Education Scheme Will Screw Rural People Who Elected Him

By Jeff Bryant

“Rural schools make up more than half of the school districts in America and serve around a quarter of the nation’s students … But rural schools are in trouble. Dropout rates for rural students are significantly worse than in urban districts, suspension rates are higher, school facilities are frequently lower quality, funding is disproportionally lower, and reading proficiency levels are sometimes below statewide averages … None of these problems will be solved by creating more charter schools and using vouchers … That option will only make things worse.”
Read more …

NEWS AND VIEWS

Betsy DeVos’ Big Education Idea Doesn’t Work

Slate

“Although DeVos’ exhortations on behalf of parental school choice are familiar to anyone who follows education reform, today she is wildly out of touch with a large part of the movement she purports to represent… she has repeatedly depicted school choice as antithetical to, and necessarily independent from, the government’s role in education … Yet unchecked free markets in education will inevitably put poor families in an even worse position … Substantial research showing that charter schools tend to perform better in states with rigorous vetting of charter operators, helped usher in a new phase of ‘school choice’ in many communities: one in which government agencies or designees play a more aggressive role.”
Read more …

DeVos-Backed Company Makes Questionable Claims On Autism, ADHD

Education Week

“President Donald Trump’s nominee to head the federal Education Department is a major backer of a company claiming its neurofeedback technology can ‘fix’ problems such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and has ‘proven and long-lasting’ positive effects on children with autism… DeVos sat on Neurocore’s board from 2009 until November … As part of her divestiture plan … DeVos and her husband will maintain an indirect financial interest in the company … between $5 million and $25 million … It’s worrisome that the country’s new education secretary nominee would remain closely tied to a company that has apparently made exaggerated and misleading claims about its service.”
Read more …

Obama Administration Spent Billions To Fix Failing Schools, And It Didn’t Work

The Washington Post

“One of the Obama administration’s signature efforts in education, which pumped billions of federal dollars into overhauling the nation’s worst schools, failed to produce meaningful results … Test scores, graduation rates and college enrollment were no different in schools that received money … than in schools that did not … Some education experts say that the administration closed its eyes to mounting evidence about the program’s problems in its own interim evaluations, which were released in the years after the first big infusion of cash.”
Read more …

Black Students More Likely To Be Arrested At School

Education Week

“Black students are arrested at school at disproportionately high levels … One reason may be that black students are more likely than students in any other racial or ethnic group to attend schools with police … Nationwide, black boys are at the highest risk, three times as likely to be arrested at school as their white male peers. And African-American girls fare little better: They are more than 1.5 times as likely as white boys to be arrested.”
Read more …

School Funding Remains Unfair For Most Students Across The Nation

Education Law Center

“Public school funding in most states continues to be unfair and inequitable, depriving millions of U.S. students of the opportunity for success in school … Many states with low funding levels … invest a low percentage of their economic capacity to support their public education systems … Students in certain regions of the country face a ‘double disadvantage’ because their states have low funding levels and do not increase funding for concentrated student poverty … States with unfair school funding perform poorly on key indicators of resources essential for educational opportunity.”
Read more …


 1/26/2017 – How Trump’s Education Scheme Will Screw Rural People Who Elected Him: