Monday, January 3, 2011

Bottom line for higher ed: Get someone other than state goverment to help pay for it, Washington state task force suggests | OregonLive.com

Bottom line for higher ed: Get someone other than state goverment to help pay for it, Washington state task force suggests

Published: Monday, January 03, 2011, 4:50 PM Updated: Monday, January 03, 2011, 5:03 PM

SEATTLE -- A task force charged with finding stable money to pay for higher education in Washington state has some ideas it wants the Legislature to consider.

At the top of its list announced today: Find someone other than state government to pay the bill.

The task force formed by Gov. Chris Gregoire wants donations from individuals and corporations to finance a new $1 billion scholarship fund. And it wants to allow state colleges to raise their own tuition to keep Washington tuition and fees comparable to charges at similar institutions in other states. Currently the Legislature sets tuition.

The task force chaired by Microsoft Corp. executive Brad Smith was asked to find ways to increase the number of degrees awarded by 30 percent over the next decade, while dealing with budget deficits and finding a stable source of money for higher education.

"We believe that the current economic challenges facing the state underscore the need for a new

Author and Stanford emeritus professor Larry Cuban cuts through ‘the hype’ on school reforms | Thoughts on Public Education

Author and Stanford emeritus professor Larry Cuban cuts through ‘the hype’ on school reforms - by admin

by admin

IEA, IFT and CTU offer an alternative reform bill. « Fred Klonsky's blog

IEA, IFT and CTU offer an alternative reform bill.

by Fred Klonsky

The Illinois Education Association, the Illinois Federation of Teachers and the Chicago Teachers Union issued a challenge to the General Assembly today. In response to the so-called Performance Counts legislation that has been bought and paid for by big money reformy outfits like Stand for Children, the three unions offer a different approach.

January 3, 2011 – Springfield, IL – Illinois educators this week will introduce major reform legislation that will hold school administrators, school board members and teachers accountable for their performances on behalf of school children statewide.
Three unions representing more than 230,000 Illinois education employees, the Illinois Education Association (IEA), the Illinois Federation of Teachers (IFT) and

Remainders: 2011 predictions include Cathie Black’s resignation | GothamSchools

Remainders: 2011 predictions include Cathie Black’s resignation

by Philissa Cramer

Cathie Black will be gone by Easter, predicts Mike Petrilli. (Flypaper)
Black’s management history might not bode well for her chancellorship. (Politics Daily)
Read the student play about NYC school reform that Jamaica HS banned. (Answer Sheet)
Race to the Top flip-flops lead a list of politically significant education events. (Politics K-12)
A dad says he’s finally come to terms with the fact that his daughter is good but not great. (Insideschools)
The difference between starting and finishing college might be skills to read boring texts. (Mike Goldstein)
Brooklyn High School for Leadership and Community Service helped steer a dropout to college. (Times)
Jason Glass of Iowa tops a list of state education leaders to watch in 2011. (Christian Science Monitor)
Leonie Haimson: Joel Klein’s departure was thing to happen last year. (NYC Public School Parents)
A blogger’s wish list for the UFT in 2011 brooks no compromise. (Chaz’s School Daze)
2010’s best education articles include Elizabeth’s “Building a Better Teacher.” (Educated Reporter)
A Bronx teacher who started as a Teaching Fellow says she wasn’t “highly qualified.” (HuffPo)

MY VIEW: Schools should be a national asset - Freeport, IL - The Journal-Standard

MY VIEW: Schools should be a national asset

The Journal-Standard

Posted Jan 03, 2011 @ 05:33 PM

Mount Carroll, Ill. —

In order to have a productive discussion on education, we should all agree on a few basic points: The very best public schools in America are as good as the very best schools any place in the world. The best schools in America and around the world are staffed with union teachers who belong to innovative and dynamic unions. Even Bill Gates has decided that unions are not part of the problem but are part of the solution, and he is now working closely with the AFT. Diane Ravitch, a former Bush education researcher and former champion of school choice, vouchers and charter schools, and a previous advocate of No Child Left Behind, has dramatically changed her mind about these issues.

Some charter schools do an outstanding job, but most of them perform no better than other public schools. Most teachers, like most workers, are not motivated primarily by money and merit pay. Performance-based pay is not a silver bullet and it will not produce the miracles that both Bush and Obama have counted on. In addition, the mechanism for evaluating teachers is flawed, and in many of the current discussions the number of bad teachers, lousy parents, clueless administrators and

Wearing red for ed. A movement. « Fred Klonsky's blog

Wearing red for ed. A movement.

by Fred Klonsky

You know, if
one person, just one person does it they may think he’s really sick and
they won’t take him. And if two people, two people do it, in harmony,
they may think they’re both faggots and they won’t take either of them.
And three people do it, three, can you imagine, three people walking in
singin a bar of Alice’s Restaurant and walking out. They may think it’s an

My comment/response to post by @ValerieStrauss « Teacher Reality

My comment/response to post by @ValerieStrauss

by TeacherReality

Here is my comment/response to the article in the Washington Post by Valerie Strauss (When will our nation’s leaders get it through their thick heads that we have a serious poverty problem in America?)….

As our nation’s poverty level rises, so does the teacher bashing. As a teacher in the trenches of a public school in Florida, I am tired of hearing that I do not work hard or smart enough; that I’m lazy; that I’m for the “status quo”; that I’m ineffective;…and so on.

We have a problem in America and it is neglect. Pointing the finger at teachers will NOT fix the problems. As a teacher, I see hungry, tired children; children who have been traumatized, children with parents in prison, and children who are homeless or on the verge of being homeless. At my little public school, we now have over 100 kids who are homeless or “in transition”. Our kids need help: psychological, behavioral, housing, proper nutrition,

Educators Will Propose "Accountability for All" Education Reform Legislation

Jan 03, 2011 16:42 ET

Educators Will Propose "Accountability for All" Education Reform Legislation

SPRINGFIELD, IL--(Marketwire - January 3, 2011) - Illinois educators this week will introduce major reform legislation that will hold school administrators, school board members and teachers accountable for their performances on behalf of school children statewide.

Three unions representing more than 230,000 Illinois education employees, the Illinois Education Association (IEA), the Illinois Federation of Teachers (IFT) and the Chicago Teachers Union are proposing the legislative package "Accountability for All."

"Accountability for All" would streamline the process for removing underperforming teachers from Illinois classrooms. The changes would ensure a proposed teacher dismissal is resolved in a much shorter time, helping to reduce costs associated with dismissals for both districts and employees.

"We believe these reforms are fair and rigorous standards that will make a difference in children's education. This legislation provides accountability and support for all of the adults

Marc Epstein: Bloomberg's Secret Education Agenda

Marc Epstein

History teacher at Jamaica High School

Posted: January 3, 2011 03:18 PM

Bloomberg's Secret Education Agenda

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Just as he was walking out the door Joel Klein, "the most important person living in New York City,"according to Rupert Murdoch, received another piece of bad news to add to his rapidly tarnishing image as the great education game changer in America.

It came at the same time that Michele Rhee; Joel Klein's favorite protégé was receiving her urban innovator award from the Manhattan Institute. It appears that New York's community colleges have experienced a spike in remediation classes for their incoming freshman during Klein's tenure. But it's Michael Bloomberg, the self-anointed "Education Mayor" who will have to live with it for the next three years.

Never missing an opportunity to obfuscate the truth, the New York Post ran an editorial condemning the now discredited New York State tests for the dismal results! They made these assertions without ascribing any responsibility to Klein's performance as chancellor, nor

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Monday, January 3, 2011