Big Education Ape

Sunday, December 16, 2018

SPOTLIGHT BLOG OF THE WEEK: GADFLY ON THE WALL BLOG (gadflyonthewallblog.com)

gadflyonthewallblog | "To sting people and whip them into a fury, all in the service of truth."

SPOTLIGHT BLOG OF THE WEEK: GADFLY ON THE WALL BLOG (gadflyonthewallblog.com)

70by stevenmsinger / 2d

This year teachers took their mission way beyond the classroom. Starting in West Virginia, we staged half-a-dozen walkouts in red states across the country demanding a better investment in children’s educations and often getting it. Then we took that momentum and stormed our state capitals and Washington, DC, with thousands of grassroots campaigns that translated into seats in government. It was

DEC 07

Charter School Lobby Silent as Charter Teachers Continue Strike

100+by stevenmsinger / 8d

Charter school teachers in Chicago are in their fourth day of a strike . Yet I wonder why the leaders of the charter movement are quiet. Where is Peter Cunningham of the Education Post ? Where is Shaver Jeffries of Democrats for Education Reform ? Not a word from Campbell Brown or Michelle Rhee ? Nothing from Bill Gates , Cory Booker, Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton ? Not a peep from Betsy DeVos

DEC 04

The Holiday Season Brings Fear and Resentment for Many Students

200+by stevenmsinger / 11d

“I hate Christmas.” Teachers hear that with surprising regularity around this time of year . I hate Christmas. I hate Thanksgiving. I hate every holiday. America’s public school students are living under tremendous pressure. The social safety net is full of holes . And our children are left to fall through the ripped and torn fabric. The sad fact is that one in four students in America’s classroo

NOV 30

Billionaire Heiress Lashes Out at Unions Because Her Fortune Didn’t Buy Election

4Kby stevenmsinger / 15d

Betsy DeVos is furious! She and her family spent boatloads of money this election cycle and few of their candidates won. Instead, lawmakers were largely selected by these things called… ew… voters. She was so enraged that she used her platform as Secretary of Education – another prudent purchase by her family – to lash out at teachers unions for – get this – having too much influence!!!!! She tol

NOV 27

Teachers, It’s Okay to Smile

100+by stevenmsinger / 18d

I’m standing in front of my first period class after a long Thanksgiving break. Papers are rustling. Pencils are being sharpened. Voices are lowering to a whisper. And it occurs to me how glad I am to be here. So I tell my students. “We have a lot to go over today,” I begin and most of my middle school faces turn serious. “But I just want to tell you all how happy I am to be here.” Curiosity move

NOV 23

Dear Lawmakers, Please Hire Teachers as Education Aides – Not TFA Alumni

200+by stevenmsinger / 23d

Dear freshmen lawmakers, We did it! After a fiercely contested election, we have finally begun to turn the tide back toward progressive politics. Midterms usually are sparsely attended, but this year we had an unprecedented turnout. A total of 2 3 states had double-digit percentage-point increases compared with their 1982-2014 midterm election averages. And the result is one of the largest and mo

NOV 19

Charter School Cheerleaders Elected to Leadership with PA House Dems

by stevenmsinger / 26d

Democratic gains in the midterm elections were a repudiation of the policies of Donald Trump. Yet holding nearly the same views as Trump’s Education Secretary Betsy DeVos earned two Pennsylvania state representatives high leadership positions with House Democrats. Rep. Jordan Harris, D-Philadelphia, was elected minority whip – the second highest position after floor leader. Rep. Joanna McClinton,

NOV 16

Why is There a Racial Achievement Gap?

300+by stevenmsinger / 29d

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 of color in the United States achieve less than their white peers? They have worse grades, lower te

NOV 12

Linda Darling-Hammond vs. Linda-Darling Hammond – How a Once Great Educator Got Lost Among the Corporate Stooges

100+by stevenmsinger / 33d

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 think tank buddies slam education advocates Diane Ravitch and Carrol Burris for

gadflyonthewallblog | "To sting people and whip them into a fury, all in the service of truth."

KLCS THE LAUSD PUBLIC TV STATION Dismissed: Protest at LAUSD Board Meeting

KLCS Dismissed

KLCS Dismissed: Protest at LAUSD Board Meeting

Austin Beutner you can’t hide, we can see your greedy side.

LAUSD Parents and Students

As if the responsibility for educating 694,096students was not enough, the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) also owns and operates a television station. KLCS is part of the Public Broadcasting System and one of the Los Angeles homes for Sesame Street. It is also responsible for broadcasting and live-streaming public meetings held by the LAUSD Board. For many working parents, this is the only way to oversee the actions of their School Board.

KLCS’ coverage of public meetings is supposed to be devoid of editorial content and should be gavel-to-gavel as if the viewer is sitting in the gallery of the meeting room. Everything that the Brown Act allows the public to see should be seen by the viewer. Unfortunately, this was not the case for the meeting held on December 11, 2018.

Feeling that their voices have been drowned out by the wealthy interests who fund the campaigns of the Board Members, parents and students began to protest as the public comment section of the School Board meeting came to a close. At this point, KLCS cut the audio from the room even CONTINUE READING: KLCS Dismissed

CURMUDGUCATION: A Book About Rural Ed: No Longer Forgotten

CURMUDGUCATION: A Book About Rural Ed: No Longer Forgotten

A Book About Rural Ed: No Longer Forgotten

Andy Smarick and Mike McShane, they of the AEI-Bellwether-Fordham axis of reformerdom, have put together a book about "the triumphs and struggles of rural education in America," and I grabbed a copy because rural education A) is hardly ever part of the Education Debates and B) is mostly where I've spent the last fifty or so years, both as student and teacher.

This collection of eight ~~papers~~ essays reads a little like the stack of end-of-semester research papers for Rural Ed 101, which is another way of saying that a certain amount of devotion to and interest in is required to read this puppy. Some portions are interesting, some worthwhile. I've read this so you can decide whether you want to. Let's break it down.

First, about that title.

No Longer Forgotten,either intentionally or un, is a title that captures one of the problems of rural education (actually, of rural pretty much everything). Don't see it? Well, think about who would have announced that North America was "no longer undiscovered." It would be the people who were already living there before 1492.

Nobody who lives in rural America ever forgot about it. The title announces, for better or worse, that this work is going to be centered on the non-rural folks; it will be about rural education seen from the outside.

As I said, this is not unusual. Rural spaces are almost always framed as outside. My own neck of the woods is frequently framed, by government bureaucrats, politicians, media, and even companies like supermarket chains, as outside Pittsburgh, as if we were an extension of that metro area. We are actually 90 to 120 minutes away from the CONTINUE READING: CURMUDGUCATION: A Book About Rural Ed: No Longer Forgotten

School Choice Deception: Florida’s Plan and Students Who Don’t Measure Up

School Choice Deception: Florida’s Plan and Students Who Don’t Measure Up

School Choice Deception: Florida’s Plan and Students Who Don’t Measure Up

Florida is a bellwether state. What happens to schools there will move to other states in one form or another.

I would like to share a personal story of how I met school choice as a teacher in Florida and how it helped cement in me the desire to advocate for a public school system that denies no child the right to an education.

The State of Florida is in trouble when it comes to democratic public schools and its children. Governor-elect DeSantis appears to be a Jeb Bush, Betsy DeVos groomed ideologue. His governorship is a school privatization victory.

There will be more public school closures and an increase of second rate flimsy charters for the poor, with tax credits to exclusive private school attendance for the wealthy.

The state school board DeSantis chose is loaded with individuals who adore school privatization. Peter Greene gives a thorough description of the chosen individuals who will be overseeing Florida’s schools. There are no public school supporters, no one from the PTA, no students, or teachers.

Warren Hudson is one of the state board members. He is President of Lake Highland CONTINUE READING: School Choice Deception: Florida’s Plan and Students Who Don’t Measure Up

ITEP’ing the Scale: Part 1 – Educate Louisiana

ITEP’ing the Scale: Part 1 – Educate Louisiana

ITEP’ing the Scale: Part 1

Despite enormous push back and passionate testimony from citizens, on Friday, December 14th, the Louisiana Board of Commerce and Industry approved what is arguably the largest property tax exemption ever granted in the nation. Tellurian Inc., the applicant of the Industrial Tax Exemption Program (ITEP), could potentially be relieved of two billion dollars in property tax liability for its planned project, Driftwood LNG. A representative of Tellurian expressed a dire need to receive the exemption for the project to move forward without providing much detail. You can read more about the reasons by clicking this link.

I’ll bet you’re wondering. What is ITEP? Why is it needed? Why the push back from the public? To answer the first question, ITEP is a state program designed to entice businesses into locating in Louisiana by offering incentives. In this case, relief from paying ad valorem taxes, also referred to as property taxes. The reason ITEP is needed is because states compete with each other to draw business and industry. The states along the Gulf coast are particularly competitive when it comes to large industries that do business nationally, or worldwide, and need access to ports, waterways and railways. These locations also have large populations of employable blue-collar workers, which is beneficial to both the businesses and the communities.

The primary reason for public push back is simple. In general, the people are tired of being asked to approve tax propositions CONTINUE READING: ITEP’ing the Scale: Part 1 – Educate Louisiana

ITEP’ing the Scale: Part 2

In Part 1 of this blog, I explained the Industrial Tax Exemption Program (ITEP) and how it tilts the economy in favor of business/industry. In the closing, I stated that returning the economy to a more balanced state isn’t as simple as reining in ITEP. I hope to explain my reasoning, here, in Part two.

To illustrate, I’m going to stick with things that are specific to Calcasieu parish, which is where I live, and how it applies to K-12 education, which is where I work. What I am going to explain can be observed in what are considered to be Louisiana’s richest parishes; Jefferson, East Baton Rouge, St. Tammany, Caddo, Calcasieu, and an anomaly in Cameron.

Louisiana’s economy is a living example of what you would call “trickle-down” economics. There are many different economic theories, and in general, they tend to favor business to varying degrees. Any theory that attempts to balance its benefits equally between business and citizens is generally denounced as anti-business, or socialism. Trickle-down economics is a conservative, or Republican, ideal that mostly came to light under President Reagan. The general idea behind trickle-down is that when businesses are free of government restraints, they are able to increase profits, reinvest in their business, hire more people; therefore, creating a thriving economy. In order to accomplish this, there has to be a reduction in government’s reliance on tax revenue. This is generally done through business exemptions on income and property; however, like most theories, it doesn’t play out as well in CONTINUE READING: ITEP’ing the Scale: Part 2

LAUSD Teachers March in DTLA as Union Moves Closer to Calling First Strike in Nearly 30 Years | KTLA #REDFORED #UTLAStrong #StrikeReady #March4Ed #WeAreLA

LAUSD Teachers March in DTLA as Union Moves Closer to Calling First Strike in Nearly 30 Years | KTLA

LAUSD Teachers March in DTLA as Union Moves Closer to Calling First Strike in Nearly 30 Years

Image result for Thousands of LAUSD teachers march downtown as union moves closer to calling first strike in nearly 30 years

Thousands of teachers, students and union allies marched through downtown Los Angeles on Saturday, from City Hall to the Broad Museum, a month ahead of a possible strike that L.A. educators have threatened if Los Angeles Unified doesn’t meet demands that include retroactive raises, smaller class sizes and more nurses and counselors.

The March for Public Education, organized by United Teachers Los Angeles, was meant to be a show of force to LAUSD Supt. Austin Beutner, who has said the district does not have the funds to meet the union’s demands and ensure the district’s financial solvency in future years.

Thousands filled Grand Park and the western steps of City Hall leading up to the 10:30 a.m. rally, holding signs that said “Teachers We work for the people,” “Education is a human right,” and others that called for more reasonable hours for teachers, arts education and nurses.

The march was sandwiched by rallies at both ends, with local and national education activists, teachers and students reiterating the demands.

Read the full story on LATimes.com.
LAUSD Teachers March in DTLA as Union Moves Closer to Calling First Strike in Nearly 30 Years | KTLA

LAUSD Teachers March in DTLA as Union Moves Closer to Calling First Strike in Nearly 30 Years | KTLA

California: Teachers in Los Angeles and Oakland Preparing for Confrontation | Diane Ravitch's blog #REDFORED #UTLAStrong #StrikeReady #March4Ed #WeAreLA

California: Teachers in Los Angeles and Oakland Preparing for Confrontation | Diane Ravitch's blog

California: Teachers in Los Angeles and Oakland Preparing for Confrontation

Bill Raden of Capital & Main reports on potential strike developments in Los Angeles and Oakland.

Two California teachers unions, which are currently deadlocked in separate contract talks with their respective school districts, are on the verge of launching the West Coast’s biggest teacher walkout since 1989. What happens next will decide far more than fair wages for career educators. At stake are broader principles of equity, expressed as contract demands for smaller class sizes and less testing, the addition of sufficient health and social services staff, and an investment in community schooling and fair funding — aimed at restoring public education as a public good for all Californians, rather than as a private interest granted to the lucky few…

Meanwhile, an estimated 90 Oakland Unified teachers skipped classes December 10 in a one-day wildcat sickout to protest some of the state’s lowest teacher pay — against a backdrop of California’s fast-rising living costs. But a more fundamental grievance is with the $60 million that Oakland Unified must cut over the next two years. It has led superintendent Kyla Johnson-Trammell to adopt a draconian district downsizing plan that could close up to 24 mostly low-income neighborhood public schools and coordinate the remainder of the 87-campus district with the city’s 34 charters on things like enrollment and transportation. The strategy has been likened to a “portfolio model,” the controversial template for privatized district governance that favors charter expansion at the expense of traditional public schools.

It also bears an uncanny resemblance to “Re-Imagine LAUSD,” the prematurely leaked but still mostly secret pet portfolio plan of L.A. Unified supe Austin Beutner — just one of the issues behind the takeover by 50 CONTINUE READING: California: Teachers in Los Angeles and Oakland Preparing for Confrontation | Diane Ravitch's blog

Can charter schools be reformed? Should they be? - The Washington Post

Can charter schools be reformed? Should they be? - The Washington Post

Can charter schools be reformed? Should they be?

Image result for Can charter schools be reformed

In 2013, I published a post with this headline: “Why charter schools need better oversight.” The author of the piece, Jeff Bryant, wrote:

There are undoubtedly wonderful charter schools in existence, and Americans generally have a favorable opinion of charters, but hardly a week goes by without news of a scandal or a study tarnishing their image....

Leading off the charter scandal parade was Pennsylvania where an auditor general found that the state’s largest charter school pocketed $1.2 million “in improper lease-reimbursement payments.” The scheme the school was running has become all too familiar to anyone following the nefariousness of some charter school operators....

In Texas, a charter school located in Houston was recently accused of funneling of $5.3 million in federal funds to questionable destinations, including ”hotels, cruises and travel packages,” six-figure salaries, and, again, a real estate scheme involving a management company and the charter school....

Five years later, the same remains true: there are some wonderful charter schools, which are publicly funded but privately operated, but the sector is rife with scandal and critics charge that they are harming the traditional public schools which enroll most of America’s children.

What was once billed as a model for the improvement of traditionally governed public schools has become a troubled parallel system of privately managed schools with, in many places, patterns of waste, fraud and segregation.

In this post, veteran educator and public education advocate Carol Burris looks at the charter sector and asks and answers these questions: Can charter schools be reformed? Should they be?

Burris is a former New York high school principal who now serves as executive director of the Network for Public Education, a nonprofit advocacy group. She was named the 2010 Educator of the Year by the School Administrators Association of New York State, and in 2013, the National Association of Secondary School Principals named her the New York State High School Principal of the Year. Burris has been chronicling problems with modern school restructuring and school choice for years on this blog. She has previously written about problems with charter schools in California and other states.

[Why it matters who governs America’s public schools]

By Carol Burris

Last month, The Answer Sheet published a piece I co-wrote with education historian Diane Ravitch about school governance, which gave rise to a lively debate in the education community and additional commentary. Much of that conversation centered on the recent report issued by the California-based Learning Policy CONTINUE READING: Can charter schools be reformed? Should they be? - The Washington Post

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Sunday, December 16, 2018