Latest News and Comment from Education

Show All

Saturday, June 24, 2017

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 6/24/17


Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 6/24/17
Featured Post

“The Fart-Free Classroom” (Jerry Heverly) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice





Catch up with CURMUDGUCATION
by mike simpson / 3h
CURMUDGUCATION : Catch up with CURMUDGUCATION What Choice Won't Do 41 by Peter Greene / 22h When it comes to the advocates of school choice, there are many points with which I disagree. I disagree with many of their assessments of the public school situation ("a dead end for which we spend more money than God and get results lower than dirt"). I disagree with many of their policy goals (why exact
Sacramento City Unified sends out letter that riles teachers | The Sacramento Bee
by mike simpson / 5h
Sacramento City Unified sends out letter that riles teachers | The Sacramento Bee : In labor dispute with teachers, school district goes directly to parents Big Education Ape: Struggling to make Sac City a destination school district | The Sacramento Bee - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2017/04/struggling-to-make-sac-city-destination.html Big Education Ape: Sacramento City school district, t
Schools Matter: PROTEST: Mind Trust’s IPS and the Almighty Dollar
by mike simpson / 5h
Schools Matter: PROTEST: Mind Trust’s IPS and the Almighty Dollar : PROTEST: Mind Trust’s IPS and the Almighty Dollar by Doug Martin Please see the poster above for details on Tuesday’s public demonstration protesting the closing of 3 IPS schools. The $200,00 the Silicon Valley based-NewSchools Venture Fund (see my recent article here ) gave to Phalen Leadership Academy in October 2015 helped wit
Stop wating money on school vouchers | Charlotte Observer
by mike simpson / 5h
Stop wating money on school vouchers | Charlotte Observer : The evidence is clear, vouchers don’t work Students who accept vouchers to attend private schools lose ground academically and perform worse on standardized tests than students who remain in public schools. That’s the takeaway from studies involving state vouchers in Louisiana, Ohio, and Indiana, as well as the only federally funded vouc
Former Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson Subpoenaed In Pie-Throwing Case « CBS Sacramento
by mike simpson / 5h
Former Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson Subpoenaed In Pie-Throwing Case « CBS Sacramento : Former Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson Subpoenaed In Pie-Throwing Case SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — Former Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson has been subpoenaed in a trial for a man accused of hitting him with a pie. CBS13’s Steve Large reports that Johnson and his wife Michelle Rhee were served with the subpoenas at Sac
John Thompson: U.S. Rep. Russell's Waste Watch report a 'publicity stunt' - NonDoc
by mike simpson / 7h
U.S. Rep. Russell's Waste Watch report a 'publicity stunt' - NonDoc : U.S. Rep. Russell’s Waste Watch report a ‘publicity stunt’ C ongressman Steve Russell’s latest Waste Watch “ report ” proves the timeless maxim: Even a broken clock is right twice a day. In reviewing the June installment of Russell’s newsletter, News 9 emphasized and The Oklahoman championed Russell ( R-Oklahoma ) for his parti
Does It Matter Who Runs New York City’s Schools? - The New York Times
by mike simpson / 7h
Does It Matter Who Runs New York City’s Schools? - The New York Times : Does It Matter Who Runs New York City’s Schools? Top 5 Things to Know About Mayoral Control of Schools - Center for American Progress - https://ampr.gs/ZZxj35 The State Legislature’s failure to pass a bill extending mayoral control of New York City’s schools before the end of the term on Wednesday had no immediate effect on t
School equity? The problem is funding, not formulas. | Fred Klonsky
by mike simpson / 7h
School equity? The problem is funding, not formulas. | Fred Klonsky : School equity? The problem is funding, not formulas Democrats in the Illinois state legislature have been focused on the school funding formula for years. One of the leaders in this effort has been Democratic State Senator Andy Manar. While Illinois state funding for public education ranks among the lowest in the nation, even t
Personalized Learning Is NOT Inclusion!
by mike simpson / 7h
Personalized Learning Is NOT Inclusion! : Personalized Learning Is NOT Inclusion! One is the loneliest number that you will ever do…. ~Three Dog Night Personalized learning must not be mistaken for inclusion. The reality is that it’s student isolation! Inclusion is generally defined as the action or state of including or of being included within a group or structure. Doing schoolwork on a digital
30 years after Edwards v. Aguillard: Here’s why creationism still lingers in America’s public schools
by mike simpson / 7h
30 years after Edwards v. Aguillard: Here’s why creationism still lingers in America’s public schools : 30 years after Edwards v. Aguillard: Here’s why creationism still lingers in America’s public schools his month marks the 30th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Edwards v. Aguillard , a groundbreaking case that ruled it unconstitutional to require creationism to be taught in p
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Rethinking binary gender views on Pride Week
by mike simpson / 8h
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Rethinking binary gender views on Pride Week : Rethinking binary gender views on Pride Week Klonsky brothers talking intersex with Pidgeon Pagonis on Hitting Left. After all these years, I find I'm still working to get unstuck from traditional, binary views of gender and sexuality and the power-laden and oppressive use of language that goes with it. Thanks to Friday
“The Fart-Free Classroom” (Jerry Heverly) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice
by mike simpson / 8h
“The Fart-Free Classroom” (Jerry Heverly) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice : “The Fart-Free Classroom” (Jerry Heverly) After the previous post on the teachers being practical politicians, Jerry Heverly commented on it and sent along a post he had written illustrating the inexorable dependence of teachers upon their students and the inherent dilemmas teachers face in exerting
An Open Letter to the Mukilteo School Board: Sometimes Doing the Right Thing Means Breaking the Rules and Allowing Kids to Walk in Graduation with Their Peers. | Seattle Education
by mike simpson / 9h
An Open Letter to the Mukilteo School Board: Sometimes Doing the Right Thing Means Breaking the Rules and Allowing Kids to Walk in Graduation with Their Peers. | Seattle Education : An Open Letter to the Mukilteo School Board: Sometimes Doing the Right Thing Means Breaking the Rules and Allowing Kids to Walk in Graduation with Their Peers. Dear Mukilteo School Board members, Over the two weeks be

YESTERDAY

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 6/23/17
by mike simpson / 22h
Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 6/23/17 Featured Post Teachers, Stop Saying You Work During the Summer - Teacher Habits CURMUDGUCATION: What Choice Won't Do by mike simpson / 7min CURMUDGUCATION: What 

Top Posts This Week



Posted by at

Catch up with CURMUDGUCATION

CURMUDGUCATION:

Catch up with CURMUDGUCATION




What Choice Won't Do

by Peter Greene / 22h
When it comes to the advocates of school choice, there are many points with which I disagree. I disagree with many of their assessments of the public school situation ("a dead end for which we spend more money than God and get results lower than dirt"). I disagree with many of their policy goals (why exactly should parents-- and no other taxpayers-- have a say about how tax dollars are spent). The

JUN 22

NY: Competition, Shmompetition

by Peter Greene / 1d
Eva Moscowitz has some kind of magical power. Maybe it's money or pheremones or some sort of magical aura, but her record in getting New York leaders to roll over and play fetch for her is impressive. At the beginning of the month, NY court declared that her Success Academy is not accountable to the taxpayers when it comes to her Pre-K program; the city can not hold her to any sort of performance
Rural Life vs. Free Market

by Peter Greene / 2d
I live in a small town and rural county in northwest Pennsylvania. Our population is a little over 50,000. The median value of a home is a little over $80K. Per capita income is a little over $23K, and our official poverty rate is 13.5%. As of 2010, we had about 81 persons per square mile. Our biggest city contains maybe 7,000 people, though our towns are surrounded by stretches of villages, farml

JUN 21

How To Sell Personalized Learning

by Peter Greene / 2d
Competency based education, one of the major flavors of personalized learning, has a great number of problems . It's beloved by our Silicon Valley tech overlords, but it has a lousy history (if you a4e of a certain age, you may recall Outcome Based Education , CBE's older failed sibling). CBE reduces education to a series of simple standardized tasks, the complexity and depth of rigorous intellect

JUN 20

Finn Backs Accountability-- Hard

by Peter Greene / 3d
The Great Divide in the reform world continues to be right along the lines of accountability, with DeVos and her DeVotees being pretty much against it in any meaningful sense. Just let the marketplace sort it out, they say, and Jeanne Allen, of the Center for Education Reform (a hard core charter-backing group), put together a whole book to help argue the point. It can happen Several folks have ta
Digital Native Naivete

by Peter Greene / 3d
The cliché is a fifty-year-old asking some ten year old student for help in making the computer work. Having trouble making working with your device or your software? Just grab one of those digital natives to handle it for you! Well, not so fast. Here's Jenny Abamu at Edsurge saying what I've been arguing for over a decade -- our digital natives are hugely naïve about technology. With the adoption

JUN 19

PA: Islamophobes, Real Estate, and Scam Artists

by Peter Greene / 5d
I'll tell you right up front that this story raises more questions than it answers, but many of them are questions about just what comes through the door when you invite privatization in, and others are questions about how people react when they discover what an open door actually means. The New Castle Youth Development Center was set up in about 1967 as a facility for dealing with "felonious yout

JUN 18

ICYMI:Father's Day Edition (6/18)

by Peter Greene / 6d
It's a day for Dads, a holiday that somehow doesn't clog restaurants and bolster the greeting card industry. But in the meantime, here are some readings from the week. Remember to share! The acquittal in Philando Castile’s killing makes clear that black lives still do not matter Not strictly about education, but important none the less, particularly for its pointed observations about the second am

JUN 17

PA: Testing Non-Reform

by Peter Greene / 6d
In Pennsylvania, our Big Standardized Test for high school students is the Keystone Exam. Its history is a sad study in BS Testing. Its future is cloudy. Unfortunately, while the Keystones may be on the way out, there's no reason to believe they won't be replaced with something worse. Back in the (pre-Common Core) day, PA used the PSSA tests to measure student achievement of some sort for reasons

JUN 16

FL: Death To Public Education

by Peter Greene / 7d
Florida has long struggled to take the lead in the State Most Hostile To Public Education contest, with North Carolina, Wisconsin and Nevada giving some real competition. But this week, Florida's legislature and governor took a decisive 


 CURMUDGUCATION:
Posted by at

Sacramento City Unified sends out letter that riles teachers | The Sacramento Bee

Sacramento City Unified sends out letter that riles teachers | The Sacramento Bee:

In labor dispute with teachers, school district goes directly to parents





Big Education Ape: Struggling to make Sac City a destination school district | The Sacramento Bee - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2017/04/struggling-to-make-sac-city-destination.html

Big Education Ape: Sacramento City school district, teachers union reach impasse in contract negotiations | ABC10.com - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2017/06/sacramento-city-school-district.html

Big Education Ape: Hundreds of Sacramento city teachers rally to protest lack of progress over contract talks with Sacramento City Unified | The Sacramento Bee - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2017/03/hundreds-of-sacramento-city-teachers.html
Image result for angry mob animated gif

Big Education Ape: SCTA Bargaining for the Common Good - Sacramento City Teachers Association - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2017/03/scta-bargaining-for-common-good.html

Big Education Ape: Hundreds converge on city school board meeting to fight for higher teacher salaries - Sacramento News & Review - - https://bigeducationape.blogspot.ca/2016/02/hundreds-converge-on-city-school-board.html

Big Education Ape: SCUSD and SCTA reach tentative agreement � SCUSD Observer - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.sg/2010/06/scusd-and-scta-reach-tentative.html


Parents at Sacramento City Unified School District opened up a seemingly urgent email from district leadership last week.
“Important update regarding next school year,” read the message in big bold letters.
A school closure? No, it was an email blaming the Sacramento City Teachers Association for the lack of a labor contract between the teachers and the district after nine months of negotiations.
The lengthy and unusual letter bluntly accused the teachers union of holding up contract negotiations.
“This adult disagreement needs to be resolved during the summer break so that it does not impact our ability to provide services to students in the next school year,” the letter reads, adding that “as parents and members of the community, you have a right to know about issues in our district.”
The letter was sent via the district’s “eConnection” email newsletter that is distributed to parents. It was also posted to the district’s Facebook page.
The union, which represents 2,400 teachers, was caught off guard. Union leaders took issue with the ominous tone and called the letter misleading.
“This is insulting to the teachers,” said Nikki Milevsky, president of the teachers association. “How dare they use Facebook and eConnection to attack teachers.”
Sacramento City Unified spokesman Alex Barrios defended the action, explaining that it was part of the district’s new push in being transparent. Before, such news would be posted on the district website, but not directly pushed out to parents, Barrios said.
“We have to do more to communicate to parents what’s happening and how it affects their kids,” he said. “Keeping the community in the dark ... is not very transparent.”
The tone of the district’s letter drew the scorn of several parents and teachers, who took to Facebook to criticize the district. Some said it was an attempt to smear and undermine the credibility of teachers. The post on Facebook was removed as the discussion grew increasingly uncivil, Barrios said.
Doug Elmets, a Sacramento crisis communications expert, wasn’t surprised by the backlash. “Trying to ensnare innocent kids” into the dispute would certainly backfire, he said.
“They are in for a world of hurt if they believe this is transparency,” Elmets added. “They are leveraging students who are only trying to get an education. (The district) clearly did not think through this.”
The union has put forward a series of proposals in the hopes of making Sacramento City a “destination district.” Among them: The teachers association said it seeks to ensure that all classrooms have a credentialed teacher; that class sizes are further lowered; that the number of school nurses and psychologists is increased; and that all students are able to take classes in arts, music and physical education.
The district, however, has balked at funding some of the initiatives at the same time that it Sacramento City Unified sends out letter that riles teachers | The Sacramento Bee:
Posted by at
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)