Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Live-blogging Joel Klein’s “sayonara”; hello Cathie Black | GothamSchools

Live-blogging Joel Klein’s “sayonara”; hello Cathie Black [image: Bloomberg announced that Cathleen Black, formerly president of the Hearst company, will replace Joel Klein as New York City schools chancellor.] Bloomberg announced that Cathleen Black, formerly president of the Hearst company, will replace ...

Report: Joel Klein to step down; mayor may announce today [image: The press conference happening right now at City Hall.] The press conference happening right now at City Hall. MSNBC is reporting that Schools Chancellor Joel Klein will step down today from his top post. Mayor Bloomberg is holding a special ...

Schools Matter: Imagine in VA

Imagine in VA

by Kenneth Libby

No mention of facilities, but it's safe to say Imagine would be involved in the real estate. From WAMU 88.5 FM:

Public Charter School Idea Attracts Some In Loudoun County
Jonathan Wilson
November 09, 2010 - In Virginia, Imagine Schools, a locally-based charter school company, says it wants to be the first to establish a public charter school in Loudoun County.

Loudoun County isn't known for struggling schools, like many other districts where public charters have become popular, but Imagine's Executive Vice President Roy Gamse says the county school system is running out of space.

A hat trick! Ron Huberman, Michelle Rhee and now Joel Klein. « Fred Klonsky's blog

A hat trick! Ron Huberman, Michelle Rhee and now Joel Klein.

by Fred Klonsky

News out of NY is that NY schools Chancellor Joel Klein is resigning today.

Schools Chancellor Joel Klein is preparing to leave office, according to multiple

Klein goes to Murdoch. Replaced by Hearst Exec. « Fred Klonsky's blog

Klein goes to Murdoch. Replaced by Hearst Exec.

by Fred Klonsky

NY Mayor Michael Bloomberg has replaced the resigning Joel Klein with Hearst media mogul Cathy Black. Her kids went to private school and she is not an educator. She was head of the Hearst media corporation. And her qualifications for running the largest public school system in the country are…

Queens Teacher: KLEIN RESIGNS ! ! ! !

KLEIN RESIGNS ! ! ! !

by Queens Teacher

Joel Klein steps down as school chancellor; will be replaced by Cathie Black

By DAVID SEIFMAN

Schools Chancellor Joel Klein resigned from his post as head of the city's public education system.

"He leaves a legacy of achievement," said Mayor Bloomberg.

It's a legacy alright.

The mayor also announced that Klein's replacement will be magazine executive Cathie Black.

Who?

Far Northeast Round-Up « Failing Schools

Far Northeast Round-Up

NOVEMBER 9, 2010

by Sabrina

You’ve probably noticed by now that the site is a little “quieter” than usual. Don’t worry, nothing’s wrong; I’m just spending a lot of time working on a local struggle for an inclusive process to turn around some of our persistently struggling schools. In the interest of cataloguing key information and discourse around this decision, and to offer some context for pieces and actions you may see on the site over the next week, here are some links to articles and media that summarize what’s been happening. If anyone knows of any other stories posted elsewhere, please let me know!

From EdNews Colorado:

“Earthquake rattles far northeast Denver” (Opinion, 9/28/10)

Were Special-Needs Kids Denied An Education After Katrina? | Education | Change.org

Were Special-Needs Kids Denied An Education After Katrina?

by Tarice Gray

Leskisher Luckett describes her nine-year-old son Darren as a diamond in need of polishing. Education, she says, can provide the necessary buffing to unearth her son's natural glow.

But when the Lucketts relocated to New Orleans after fleeing from Hurricane Katrina, Darren's ADHD proved to be an obstacle his school's staff couldn't seem to overcome. Their collective solution was to lock the fourth-grader in a closet and use physical force to restrain his behavior. This proved to be barbaric in action and result. Now this young boy wants to give up on school -- a direct result of a school that gave up so quickly on him.

Education's role is to help students mature and grow by providing easily-accessible knowledge. The accessibility of the knowledge is as essential as its quality. But five years after Hurricane Katrina, a civil rights group alleges

This Week In Education: Thompson: Duncan's Headlong Reform Rush

Thompson: Duncan's Headlong Reform Rush

by john thompson

According to the State Collaborative on Reforming Education, SCORE, very few state Race to the Top applications included more than a paragraph discussing how they would implement their promises. Tennessee superintendents, who would execute the proposed reforms, had little knowledge about RttT details or how their districts would be allowed to spend the federal money. Tennessee only had 90 days to help 136 school systems decide how to spend $250 million. SCOPE did not explain how it was humanly possible to meet those deadlines while also establishing an

Queer, Black, Latino Youth Saw Major Turnout Gains in 2010 Election � Student Activism

Queer, Black, Latino Youth Saw Major Turnout Gains in 2010 Election

by Angus Johnston

The research group CIRCLE has a new report out on youth involvement in the 2010 elections, and it’s full of fascinating data, but a few demographic stats thing out at me when I read it:

Among young voters, 14% of the electorate was black this year. (Just 10% of over-thirty voters were.)

Seven percent of young voters described themselves as lesbian, gay, or bisexual, compared with 4% of over-thirty voters.

Young Latinos represented 15% of the youth electorate, but only 14% of the young population as a whole.

UC Wheeler Hall protester risks year's suspension

Nanette Asimov, Chronicle Staff Writer

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

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Lance Iversen / The Chronicle

Laura Zelko (right) confers with Carmen Comsti, a law student advising her, at her Oct. 27 hearing.

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Berkeley students rally in November 2009 in front of Whee...

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Mark Yudof puts 8% UC tuition hike to regents vote 11.09.10
www.scholargamers.com 11.08.10
Texas cheerleader suing - didn't root for attacker 11.05.10

Laura Zelko studies public health at UC Berkeley. At 21, she's soft-spoken, smiles easily and, as her major implies, likes helping people in need.

UC Berkeley wants to kick her out of school for a year.

Zelko is one of the "Wheeler 43," who barricaded themselves inside Berkeley's English Department, Wheeler Hall, last Nov. 20 to protest campus layoffs and a 32 percent tuition increase.

Nearly a year later, Zelko is the first Wheeler student to be tried under a campus disciplinary system fraught with delays and shifting rules. A panel's recommendation on whether she should be suspended or exonerated is expected tonight, although the final decision rests with the administration.

Shanker Blog � "No Comment" Would Have Been Better

“NO COMMENT” WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER

by Matthew Di Carlo

Bruce Baker is a professor at Rutgers University who writes an informative blog called School Finance 101. He presented some descriptive analysis of New Jersey charter schools in a post, and ended up being asked to comment on the data by a reporter. The same reporter dutifully asked the New Jersey Charter Schools Association (NJCSA) to comment on the analysis.

The NJCSA describes itself as “the leading statewide advocate for charter public schools in New Jersey and a principal source of public information about charter schools in the state.” The organization issued the following response to Baker’s analysis:

The New Jersey Charter Schools Association seriously questions the credibility of this biased data. Rutgers University Professor Bruce Baker is closely aligned with teachers unions, which have been vocal opponents of charter schools and have a vested financial interest in their ultimate

The Answer Sheet - So you want a PhD in the humanities? A laugh/cry video

So you want a PhD in the humanities? A laugh/cry video

By Valerie Strauss

Here’s a video that will make you and laugh and cry, this one entitled “So you Want to Get a PhD in the Humanities?”

The animated setting is an office where an optimistic undergraduate who dreams of becoming a college humanities professor asks her tough-talking teacher for a recommendation so she can apply to

UC Eyes $822 Fee Increase � Student Activism

UC Eyes $822 Fee Increase

by Angus Johnston

Yesterday University of California officials announced that they intend to seek an 8% increase in student fees for next fall, bringing the cost of in-state, off-campus attendance to more than twelve thousand dollars a year. This new hike comes on the heels of the 32% fee increase, implemented last fall, that sparked massive student protests throughout the state.

As noted here yesterday, in-state tuition, room, and board in the UC system is already several thousand dollars

Report calls attention to achievement gap between black and white male students

By Nick Anderson

Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, November 9, 2010; 10:57 AM

Black male students trail their white counterparts in school by alarming margins and for reasons that often are not well understood, according to a report released Tuesday.

The report from the Council of the Great City Schools, an advocacy organization for urban education, suggests that poverty is not the only factor behind the black-white achievement gap.

Federal test data show that white male students nationwide who come from families poor enough to qualify for free or reduced-price lunches outperform black males from large cities whose families are better off economically, according to the report.

The report analyzed fourth- and eighth-grade reading and math results from the 2009

Questions, answers about idea of Sacramento city-county consolidation - Sacramento City News - sacbee.com

Questions, answers about idea of Sacramento city-county consolidation

By Ryan Lillis
rlillis@sacbee.com

Published: Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2010 - 12:00 am | Page 1A

Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson touched a nerve last week when he said he'd like to see a conversation take place over whether the city should merge with unincorporated areas of the county.

While stopping short of suggesting Sacramento embark upon its own manifest destiny, the timing of the mayor's remarks played a big role in the reaction.

Just two days earlier, voters in the unincorporated Arden Arcade community soundly defeated a measure proposing cityhood for that area of the county. The mayor said he was relieved with the result and said there could be advantages to having Arden Arcade fold into

Your Teacher Training Program Sucks (Probably) - District 299: Chicago Public Schools Blog

Your Teacher Training Program Sucks (Probably) [image: ScreenHunter_10 Nov. 09 07.51.gif] That's the conclusion of a new report that looked at the curriculum requirements and substance of area teacher preparation programs: Colleges blasted over teacher preparation; deans blast back Tribune: The ...

AM News: Charters And Struggling Students [image: Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for news2.gif] Chicago charters schools struggle to hold onto weakest students WBEZ: Nobody told Alberto Rodriguez to leave his Noble Street charter school. Nobody had to. By the end of his freshman year, he ...

Schools Matter: Unpacking the Boston Globe's Definition of Charter School

Unpacking the Boston Globe's Definition of Charter School

by Jim Horn

Charter schools are public schools, funded with public tax dollars, which operate under fewer regulatory restrictions and are usually independent of school districts. Most do not have teachers [sic] unions. Admittance may be determined by lottery. Many supporters see charter schools as laboratories for educational innovation.

Let's take that apart and look a little closer at this compact and Cubberley-esque definition.

Charter schools are public schools, funded with public tax dollars, which operate under fewer

Adding a Bit More the Boston Globe's Definition of Charter School

by Jim Horn

Ever since the corporate foundation tax havens and oligarchs like Eli Broad and Bill Gates have been pushing charter schools in Massachusetts, the Boston Globe has maintained its allegiance and dedication to charters in its editorializing and in its version of edu-reporting. As the broke little sister of the NYTimes, which shares the same enthusiasms for the nano-cultural, zero tolerance segregated penal model for schooling the urban poor, theGlobe functions as primary mass media face for what is most often a low-key approach to destroying public schools. Nary or scant the negative word for these bastions of choice, innovation, and freedom for my children, or at least the freedom for my housekeeper's children.

Here is the Globe's definition of charter school in its most recent revision of its revised history of charter schools:

Charter schools are public schools, funded with public tax dollars, which operate under fewer regulatory restrictions and are usually independent of school districts. Most do not have teachers [sic] unions. Admittance may be determined by lottery. Many supporters see charter schools as laboratories for educational innovation.
Let's take that apart and look a little closer at this compact and Cubberley-esque definition.

Hard Choices Ahead for Florida over Class Size Limits - State EdWatch - Education Week

Hard Choices Ahead for Florida over Class Size Limits

by Sean Cavanagh

A majority of Florida's voters in last Tuesday's election favored easing the state's class-size limits, but it wasn't enough. A proposed amendment to the state's constitution failed to muster the necessary 60 percent vote to win approval, and this will leave state and local officials with some tough decisions, going forward.

Floridians originally approved the class-size limits back in 2002, and they've been popular among teachers and, as the election tallies suggest, among the state's voters. The measure on last Tuesday's ballot—Amendment 8—would have relaxed the mandate, which is scheduled to become tougher this year.

Many of the state's superintendents had hoped to ease the class-size caps. Those rules have posed a major challenge to districts around the state, which have made it difficult in some school systems for students to take the classes they need, and have reportedly forced districts to use teachers to lead classes outside their subject

The Answer Sheet - Schools in a banana republic

Schools in a banana republic

This was written by educator Anthony Cody. After 18 years as a science teacher in inner-city Oakland, he now works with a team of experienced science teacher-coaches who support the many novice teachers in his school district. He is a National Board-certified teacher and an active member of the Teacher Leaders Network. This appeared on his Teachers Magazine blog, Living in Dialogue. By Anthony Cody Nicholas Kristof of The New York Times this week described the economic state of the nation in rather stark terms. Due to the accelerated concentration of wealth, this country is in danger of becoming what is derisively termed a "banana republic." This term has been used to describe the Central American dictatorships such as Nicaragua and the Honduras, where a handful of families control the wealth, land and economy, while the poor barely get by. Kristof shared [these] statistics...: The richest 1 percent of Americans

What I Learned in New Orleans - Bridging Differences - Education Week

What I Learned in New Orleans

by Diane Ravitch

Dear Deborah,

The elections brought a barrage of bad news for supporters of public education. A number of governors and legislators were elected who support the corporate reform model. They will promote vouchers, charters, merit pay, more testing, tougher accountability, evaluating teachers by test scores, and anything else that is guaranteed to cause dissension and demoralization among the men and women who work in our nation's public schools. It's sad for teachers and administrators and will be catastrophic for the quality of education. The new superintendent of schools in Oklahoma was the founder of two charter schools; in her campaign, she pledged to defend the rights of homeschooling parents and opposed additional funding for public schools. No nation in the world, at least none that we wish to emulate, is engaged in doing what our "leaders" are doing. I can't say where all this is going, but it doesn't look promising for those who care about our nation's children and the quality of education that we provide them.

As you know, I have been traveling constantly this fall, speaking to teachers, administrators, school board members, parents, and researchers. Wherever I go, I try to learn something new and not just hear myself talk.

Latest News and Comment from Education

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Schools Chancellor Joel Klein is preparing to leave office, according to multiple

Far Northeast Round-Up

UC Wheeler Hall protester risks year's suspension

IMAGES

MORE EDUCATION

So you want a PhD in the humanities? A laugh/cry video

Report calls attention to achievement gap between black and white male students

Questions, answers about idea of Sacramento city-county consolidation