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Saturday, November 17, 2018

Top Posts This Week 11/17/18 #REDFORED


Top Posts This Week 11/17/18  




  • Posts This Week 11/17/18 

    TODAY

    Thrive Charter Schools All Hat and No Cattle | tultican
    Thrive Charter Schools All Hat and No Cattle | tultican Thrive Charter Schools All Hat and No Cattle Excellent public relations and marketing mask a substandard educational program at the inappropriately named Thrive Public [sic] Schools (TPS). The misleading name indicates that this private business is a public school. It is not. Four years of assessments confirm that both San Diego Unified Scho
    CURMUDGUCATION: CO: Charter Battles First Amendment
    CURMUDGUCATION: CO: Charter Battles First Amendment CO: Charter Battles First Amendment It's a reminder, again, that some charter operators feel certain they don't have to play by the same rules as the rest of the country. Victory Preparatory Academy in Commerce City, Colorado, is getting hauled into cou rt over an alleged violation of First Amendment rights . VPA (6-12) and Community Leadership
    Critics Warn 'Heartless' New Rules by Betsy DeVos Will Encourage Schools to 'Be More Complicit in Sexual Violence'
    Critics Warn 'Heartless' New Rules by Betsy DeVos Will Encourage Schools to 'Be More Complicit in Sexual Violence' Critics Warn 'Heartless' New Rules by Betsy DeVos Will Encourage Schools to 'Be More Complicit in Sexual Violence' "With sexual assaults already under-reported and routinely ignored, these new rules will make campuses dramatically more dangerous." Education Secretary Betsy DeVos on F
    Majority of Americans now led by governors with proven record of championing public education - Education Votes
    Majority of Americans now led by governors with proven record of championing public education - Education Votes Majority of Americans now led by governors with proven record of championing public education By Tim Walker Education was a top tier issue in the 2018 mid-term elections across the nation. It’s prominence in the Wisconsin governor’s race was such that incumbent Scott Walker campaigned a
    Why is There a Racial Achievement Gap? | gadflyonthewallblog
    Why is There a Racial Achievement Gap? | gadflyonthewallblog Why is There a Racial Achievement Gap? Sometimes the most racist aspects of a society are right there in front of you, but no one seems to notice. Take the racial achievement gap . It’s a term used to describe the fact that black and Latino students don’t do as well academically as white students. Why does it even exist? Why do students

    YESTERDAY

    SCHOOLS AND SUICIDES | The Merrow Report
    SCHOOLS AND SUICIDES | The Merrow Report SCHOOLS AND SUICIDES Please allow me to lead with two very disturbing stories, the first about a 9-year-old boy in Denver, the second about a 9-year-old girl in Birmingham, Alabama: DENVER — Leia Pierce shuffled out the front door on Tuesday. Her son, Jamel Myles, 9, had killed himself last week, and she was still struggling with the basics. Eating. Sleepi
    NEW! Chi-Town Educator and Community-Based Activism: Confronting a Legacy of Education Privatization in the Nation’s Windy City | Cloaking Inequity
    NEW! Chi-Town Educator and Community-Based Activism: Confronting a Legacy of Education Privatization in the Nation’s Windy City | Cloaking Inequity NEW! CHI-TOWN EDUCATOR AND COMMUNITY-BASED ACTIVISM: CONFRONTING A LEGACY OF EDUCATION PRIVATIZATION IN THE NATION’S WINDY CITY I am pleased to announce our brand new article in the Threshold in Education Journal entitled Chi-Town Educator and Communi
    Howard Fuller’s growing movement to expand black-controlled schools
    Howard Fuller’s growing movement to expand black-controlled schools Segregated schools are still the norm. Howard Fuller is fine with that A longtime advocate for black-controlled schools in Milwaukee found an unlikely home among conservatives pushing school choice M ILWAUKEE, Wis. — At age 77, Howard Fuller strides along Center Street with the loping gait of a former standout basketball player w
    NPE Conference 2018: Is the Corporate Reform Goliath Truly Dead? - Living in Dialogue
    NPE Conference 2018: Is the Corporate Reform Goliath Truly Dead? - Living in Dialogue NPE Conference 2018: Is the Corporate Reform Goliath Truly Dead? - By John Thompson. Part One of Two. The theme of the Network for Public Education’s fifth annual conference was that corporate reformers have lost the “David versus Goliath” battle over public education. We public school supporters have defeated t

    NOV 15

    Nellie Bowles: In America’s Schools, the Rich Get Teachers, the Poor Get Computers | Diane Ravitch's blog
    Nellie Bowles: In America’s Schools, the Rich Get Teachers, the Poor Get Computers | Diane Ravitch's blog Nellie Bowles: In America’s Schools, the Rich Get Teachers, the Poor Get Computers This is a terrific article by Nellie Bowles in the New York Times about the “digital divide.” Amazing that the newspaper of record printed three articles on the same day by the same author, all warning us about
    IPS Community Coalition victory is proof that ordinary citizens can defeat big money - Network For Public Education
    IPS Community Coalition victory is proof that ordinary citizens can defeat big money - Network For Public Education IPS Community Coalition victory is proof that ordinary citizens can defeat big money Sending a clear message that the community is fed up with corporate reform, voters in Indianapolis ousted two incumbents on the Indianapolis Public School (IPS) Board, replacing them with opponents
    Bruce Baker’s New Book on School Finance Develops a Scathing Critique of Charter School Expansion | janresseger
    Bruce Baker’s New Book on School Finance Develops a Scathing Critique of Charter School Expansion | janresseger Bruce Baker’s New Book on School Finance Develops a Scathing Critique of Charter School Expansion Rutgers University school finance professor, Bruce Baker’s new book, Educational Inequality and School Finance: Why Money Matters for America’s Students , covers the basics—how school finan
    Idaho Teachers/Staff Dressed as Border Wall and Mexicans Reinstated, Principal Remains Suspended | deutsch29
    Idaho Teachers/Staff Dressed as Border Wall and Mexicans Reinstated, Principal Remains Suspended | deutsch29 Idaho Teachers/Staff Dressed as Border Wall and Mexicans Reinstated, Principal Remains Suspended The 14 Middleton (Idaho) teachers and staff who were placed on paid leave after dressing as the border wall and Mexicans on Halloween purportedly for an after-school “team building exercise” ha
    CURMUDGUCATION: Anti-Test, Pro-Computer
    CURMUDGUCATION: Anti-Test, Pro-Computer Anti-Test, Pro-Computer Chalkbeat today notes the growing trend of reformster discontent with the Big Standardized Test, a thread which apparently emerged at the latest soiree thrown by the Center for Reinventing Public Education, a group that has pushed ed reform for years. But intentionally or not, Matt Barnum also captured part of what is driving this sh

    NOV 14

    School shootings have fueled a $2.7 billion school safety industry. What makes kids safer? - Washington Post
    School shootings have fueled a $2.7 billion school safety industry. What makes kids safer? - Washington Post Armored school doors, bulletproof whiteboards and secret snipers Billions are being spent to protect children from school shootings. Does any of it work? he expo had finally begun, and now hundreds of school administrators streamed into a sprawling, chandeliered ballroom where entrepreneur
    Is America’s Romance with Charter Schools Fading Despite Gobs of Political Money from Its Promoters? | janresseger
    Is America’s Romance with Charter Schools Fading Despite Gobs of Political Money from Its Promoters? | janresseger Is America’s Romance with Charter Schools Fading Despite Gobs of Political Money from Its Promoters? Last week’s election produced a couple of significant indicators that the public may be growing weary of charter schools. At the same time the public seems increasingly aware that ade

    NOV 13

    Ignore the charter school think-tank crowd - CommonWealth Magazine
    Ignore the charter school think-tank crowd - CommonWealth Magazine Ignore the charter school think-tank crowd We don’t need and can't afford charter school expansion in New Bedford YOU ARE AN EDUCATION RESEARCHER sent to discover best practices in urban schools so that you can replicate them to create results for more kids—kids who you believe are trapped in mediocre schools. You look at three ex
    More on the Public Purpose of Our Public Schools and the Role of Public Governance | janresseger
    More on the Public Purpose of Our Public Schools and the Role of Public Governance | janresseger More on the Public Purpose of Our Public Schools and the Role of Public Governance There has recently been a debate among guest writers in Valerie Strauss’s “Answer Sheet” column in the Washington Post . The Network for Public Education’s Carol Burris and Diane Ravitch published a defense of public go

    NOV 12

    Linda Darling-Hammond vs. Linda-Darling Hammond – How a Once Great Educator Got Lost Among the Corporate Stooges | gadflyonthewallblog
    Linda Darling-Hammond vs. Linda-Darling Hammond – How a Once Great Educator Got Lost Among the Corporate Stooges | gadflyonthewallblog Linda Darling-Hammond vs. Linda-Darling Hammond – How a Once Great Educator Got Lost Among the Corporate Stooges Linda Darling-Hammond is one of my education heroes. Perhaps that’s why her recent article in the Washington Post hurts so much. In it, she and her thi
    Billionaires, Not Voters, Are Deciding Elections | PopularResistance.Org
    Billionaires, Not Voters, Are Deciding Elections | PopularResistance.Org BILLIONAIRES, NOT VOTERS, ARE DECIDING ELECTIONS The recent midterm elections offered an opportunity for America’s moneyed elites to spend their ridiculous wealth on a catalog of their favorite causes and candidates. We are locked in a vicious cycle, where billionaires continue to amass wealth due to policies their influence
    New Governors Pritzker and Newsom Set Up For Their ReadyNation Gold Rush – Wrench in the Gears
    New Governors Pritzker and Newsom Set Up For Their ReadyNation Gold Rush – Wrench in the Gears New Governors Pritzker and Newsom Set Up For Their ReadyNation Gold Rush This past week will go down as an auspicious one for social impact investors and a foreboding one for the targets of their interventions: toddlers, job seekers, the unhoused, and those with mental illness. On November 1, 2018 corpo
    Impossible to Regulate Deregulated Charter Schools | Dissident Voice
    Impossible to Regulate Deregulated Charter Schools | Dissident Voice Impossible to Regulate Deregulated Charter Schools Regulations have to do with what is allowed and what is not allowed. They establish what an individual, organization, or business can or cannot do. Regulations shape behaviors, actions, conduct, aims, and outcomes. Regulations are often used in self-serving ways by different fac
    Inside Philanthropy: Billionaires Buying Political Support for Charter Schools, or, Democracy for Sale | Diane Ravitch's blog
    Inside Philanthropy: Billionaires Buying Political Support for Charter Schools, or, Democracy for Sale | Diane Ravitch's blog Inside Philanthropy: Billionaires Buying Political Support for Charter Schools, or, Democracy for Sale The veil is beginning to fall away from the billionaire-funded charter activity. There are no grassroots in this billionaire-driven “movement.” It is all about money. Wit

    NOV 11

    Supporting Parents and Students – Carl J. Petersen – Medium
    Supporting Parents and Students – Carl J. Petersen – Medium Supporting Parents and Students The Northridge East Neighborhood Council (NENC) is one of 99 Neighborhood Councils in the City of Los Angeles. These Councils “ are advisory bodies who advocate for their communities ” and are comprised of “ City officials who are elected by the members of their local communities ”. They are designed to be
    The Graphic Truth About Our Education System | The Crucial Voice of the PeopleThe Crucial Voice of the People
    The Graphic Truth About Our Education System | The Crucial Voice of the PeopleThe Crucial Voice of the People The Graphic Truth About Our Education System Please, take a good look at the graphic truth about public education in America. National leaders and much of the media repeatedly call the system “failed.” That is their version of the graphic truth. They point to test scores as “evidence.” Pr
    Lessons from the Continuing Attack on Kansas City’s Schools | tultican
    Lessons from the Continuing Attack on Kansas City’s Schools | tultican Lessons from the Continuing Attack on Kansas City’s Schools For three decades relentless harm has been visited upon public schools in Kansas City, Missouri. This city provides stark evidence for the fallacy of school choice and the folly of employing standardized testing results to gauge school quality. Leaders from the Kansas
    Louisiana’s Fickle 2018 School Grades: “Tougher” Calc Biased Upward for 35 Schools | deutsch29
    Louisiana’s Fickle 2018 School Grades: “Tougher” Calc Biased Upward for 35 Schools | deutsch29 Louisiana’s Fickle 2018 School Grades: “Tougher” Calc Biased Upward for 35 Schools On November 08, 2018, the Louisiana Department of Education (LDOE) released the much-anticipated and somewhat-dreaded 2017-18 school performance scores . One of the problems in trying to compare school grades across years
    NYC Public School Parents: News update on elections, federal investigation into DOE’s violation of student privacy and proposed capital plan – and how you can help!
    NYC Public School Parents: News update on elections, federal investigation into DOE’s violation of student privacy and proposed capital plan – and how you can help! News update on elections, federal investigation into DOE’s violation of student privacy and proposed capital plan – and how you can help! Much has happened in the last week: Tuesday’s elections will lead to a real sea-change in the NY

    NOV 10



    Top Posts This Week 11/10/18 #THANKSFORVOTING #REDFORED
    Top Posts This Week 11/10/18 School chief's plan would divide L.A. school district into 32 networks - Los Angeles Times #VoteTuesday #LAUSD #UTLA Are Charter Schools An “Innovation”? | Dissident Voice End K-12 Sex Harassment and Assault #MeTooK12 #MeToo #timesup My Message to the Teachers of Los Angeles | Diane Ravitch's blog CURMUDGUCATION: ICYMI: The Campaign Home Stretch Edition (11/4) Is Scre



    Thrive Charter Schools All Hat and No Cattle | tultican

    Thrive Charter Schools All Hat and No Cattle | tultican

    Thrive Charter Schools All Hat and No Cattle


    Excellent public relations and marketing mask a substandard educational program at the inappropriately named Thrive Public [sic] Schools (TPS). The misleading name indicates that this private business is a public school. It is not. Four years of assessments confirm that both San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) and the County Office of Education (COE) were correct in 2014 when the denied TPS’s charter petition:
    January 7, 2014 SDUSD staff felt that TPS was not ready to open and reported to the board, “Staff recommends approval of the petition to establish Thrive Public School (Thrive) Charter School, for a five-year term beginning July 1, 2015 and ending June 30, 2020.” TPS leaders wanted a charter starting July 1, 2014. SDUSD board concluded TPS is “demonstrably unlikely to successfully implement the program” and denied the petition.
    Founder Nicole Assisi turned to Voice of San Diego which was founded by one of her benefactors, Buzz Woolley. They ran her public complaint in which she declared,
    “It was not the finest hour for the SDUSD board of trustees, which ignored district staff diligence and its own existing policies to deny a school that would have served the influx of families in Mission Valley. The neighborhood, by the way, does not currently have a single public elementary school. Families drive miles to get to their ‘neighborhood’ school.”
    “Thankfully, the County Board of Education has an opportunity to right this wrong when our appeal comes before them next week.”
    March 27, 2014 COE staff reviewed the appeal and concluded TPS presents an “unsound educational program and does not contain reasonably comprehensive descriptions of required elements.” Interestingly, one of the reasons for denial was that the petitioner did not clearly identify the intended location for the new school. None of the four current TPS schools are in Mission Valley.
    On July 9, 2014, the State Board of Education (SBE) which has gained a Continue reading: Thrive Charter Schools All Hat and No Cattle | tultican





    CURMUDGUCATION: CO: Charter Battles First Amendment

    CURMUDGUCATION: CO: Charter Battles First Amendment

    CO: Charter Battles First Amendment


    It's a reminder, again, that some charter operators feel certain they don't have to play by the same rules as the rest of the country.

    Victory Preparatory Academy in Commerce City, Colorado, is getting hauled into court over an alleged violation of First Amendment rights.


    VPA (6-12) and Community Leadership Academy (PK-5) are run by CEO Ron Jajdelski, a man who leaves a pretty tiny internet footprint. His LinkedIn account lists only his current job. But the sixty-ish CEO does turn up in a few spots. He appears to have attended SaybrookUniversity's School of Organizational Leadership and Transformation.  He apparently holds a patent for "an ornamental design for a media storage device."

    According to the school website, Jajdelski was involved from day one:

    The school was conceived in March 2003, when several community members met to discuss education reform in Adams County School District 14. The discussion was facilitated by Ron Jajdelski, Executive Director at Commerce City Community Enterprise, a local grassroots non-profit focusing on empowering citizens to lead local change. These visionaries continued to meet and develop the school’s mission, programming and culture.

    His school has had issues before. In 2015, there was a flap that began with a parent believed her sixth grade daughter was being bullied. She called Jajdelski and ended up feeling bullied herself, wiuth Jajdelski suggesting that he daughter should just change schools. A video of the exchange Continue reading: 
    CURMUDGUCATION: CO: Charter Battles First Amendment




    Critics Warn 'Heartless' New Rules by Betsy DeVos Will Encourage Schools to 'Be More Complicit in Sexual Violence'

    Critics Warn 'Heartless' New Rules by Betsy DeVos Will Encourage Schools to 'Be More Complicit in Sexual Violence'

    Critics Warn 'Heartless' New Rules by Betsy DeVos Will Encourage Schools to 'Be More Complicit in Sexual Violence'
    "With sexual assaults already under-reported and routinely ignored, these new rules will make campuses dramatically more dangerous."



    Education Secretary Betsy DeVos on Friday officially unveiled her long-anticipated "heartless and immoral" proposal to overhaul how universities respond to sexual harassment and assault allegations, inciting outrage among survivors, their advocates, and educators alike.
    "This draft rule is a cruel attempt to silence sexual assault survivors and limit their educational opportunity."
    —Vanita Gupta, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
    "With one in five women sexually assaulted while in college, we are facing a national rape epidemic on our campuses, yet Betsy DeVos and the Trump administration just put out new rules encouraging schools to be more complicit in sexual violence," declared Shaunna Thomas of the women's rights group UltraViolet.
    As anticipated from a draft leaked earlier this year and recent reporting by the Washington Post, DeVos' proposal narrows the definition of sexual harassment, reduces schools' liability, and enables attorneys for the accused to cross-examine survivors.
    "These rules further protect abusers in a system that is already rigged in their favor and dramatically reduce requirements that schools protect their students," Thomas warned. "With sexual assaults already under-reported and routinely ignored, these new rules will make campuses dramatically more dangerous."


    DeVos' proposed changes to how universities enforce Title IX—the federal law that bars sex-based discrimination in schools—come after she was widely condemned for scrapping less formal guidelines established under the Obama administration as well as for touting concerns about false allegations, which research shows are incredibly uncommon, after meeting with "men's rights" groups.



    American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten charged that the "announcement of Title IX rollbacks is the latest in a troubling pattern of Secretary DeVos' efforts to dismantle the Education Department's Office for Civil Rights and turn the federal government's back on students who are suffering, vulnerable, or disenfranchised."
    "This rule abdicates the responsibility to protect every student's right to safety on campus. It tells academic institutions that they needn't bother helping to protect Continue reading: Critics Warn 'Heartless' New Rules by Betsy DeVos Will Encourage Schools to 'Be More Complicit in Sexual Violence'

    Hands off XI