Monday, February 14, 2011

“Star” educator Michelle Rhee sparks debate in Florida - Education - MiamiHerald.com

“Star” educator Michelle Rhee sparks debate in Florida

Former Washington D.C. chancellor Michelle Rhee sparks debate among Florida lawmakers, educators

Michelle Rhee, left, former D.C. public schools chief, and Gov. Rick Scott prepare to tour a South Florida charter school in in Opalocka, Fla., Thursday, Jan. 6, 2011. Rhee was on Scott's education transition team, and the new governor said she would continue to serve Florida as an informal education adviser.

ALAN DIAZ / AP

MEET MICHELLE RHEE

Age: 41

Position: CEO, Students First; Education adviser to Florida Gov. Rick Scott Past positions: Chancellor, District of Columbia Public Schools, 2007-10; Founder and CEO, New Teacher Project, 1997-2007; Teach for America teacher, 1994-97

Career highlights:

Shrank D.C. school system from 150 schools to 123

• Winnowed central office administration from more than 900 to less than 600

• Overhauled principal ranks

Dismissed almost 1,000 teachers including at least 120 for poor performance

• Secured new teacher contract including performance pay

• Saw strong student achievement growth on local tests 2007-09, followed by declines in 2010; continued a string of improvement on NAEP begun schools under her predecessor

• Struggled with achievement gap between wealthy and poor district schools

(Sources: Education Week, Washington Post, StudentsFirst.org)

BY JEFFREY SOLOCHEK

ST. PETERSBURG TIMES

Florida’s lawmakers were starstruck.

Before them stood Michelle Rhee, the former Washington D.C. public schools chancellor recently featured on Oprah, on a Newsweek cover and in the documentary film Waiting for Superman.

“I am here today to ask you to keep being a leader,” Rhee said, urging members of two education committees to tackle one the few reforms that Florida has yet to achieve: a streamlined way to get “ineffective” teachers out of the classroom. “There is so much more to do.”

Senate Pre-K-12 committee chairman Steve Wise called her a movie star, and even Sen. Eleanor Sobel, a more skeptical Broward Democrat, gav

Child obesity threatens Colorado’s future | EdNewsColorado

Child obesity threatens Colorado’s future [image: Photo by Andy Sherman] Colorado may be the fittest state in the nation for adults but childhood obesity is skyrocketing. Photo by Andy Sherman. Colorado once again laid claim to being the fittest of the 50 states in 2010 with an obesity rate ...

Promising anti-obesity programs in schools Students at Aurora's Park Lane Elementary participate in the Go, Slow, Whoa! program. Keeping kids thin and fit is no small order in 2011. Schools experiment with countless ideas to battle children’s obesity. They’ve tried cooking classes, nutrition ...

Doctor a reluctant expert on child obesity Dr. Daniel Feiten has been shepherding babies and their parents through the challenges of childhood and adolescence for more years than he cares to count. He is a clinical professor of pediatrics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, ...

Modern School: Name-Calling From the Left Doesn't Help

Name-Calling From the Left Doesn't Help

by Michael Dunn

I like Jim Horn’s wit, and his empathy for students and teachers certainly come from a good heart. But when he resorts to the same kind of shock jock name calling of his pet bogeymen, (e.g., Beck and Limbaugh, et al) he insults and potentially turns off many of the same regular folk who we need on our side in the fight against the corporatization of the public sector.

Today he justifiably went after Indiana’s Mitch Daniels, but unjustifiably attacked its poor white rural residents as “hate-filled Indiana hillbillies who get lathered up daily watching Fox and listening to Clear Channel.” Certainly we should be concerned about the near monopoly on public opinion held by right-wing media, but it is overly simplistic to blame them for Americans’ misdirected anger. If our unions were doing their jobs, people would be much better organized and educated about working class issues. They’d have a sense of solidarity and, instead of only 9% of the workforce being unionized, virtually all workers would be members of unions and willing to fight

Happy Valentine’s Day | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

Happy Valentine’s Day Here are more new additions to The Best Sites To Learn About Valentine’s Day : Valentine’s Day in Asia is a Wall Street Journal slideshow. Valentine’s Day around the world in pictures is a slideshow from The Telegraph. Top Ten Memorable Kisses is a ...

Vienna Zoo Shows Off Giant Panda Cub Vienna Zoo Shows Off Giant Panda Cub is a fun video from MSNBC. I’m adding it to The Best Sites To Learn About Pandas.

Nice Materials Template Jason Renshaw, who is always very generous in sharing materials he creates to help teach English Language Learners, has done it again with a nice and simple Template for making your own reading + projects material. It’s similar to what he created, ...

Resources On Winter Here are the newest additions to The Best Sites For Learning About The Winter Season: Wintry Weather is a series of photos from The Atlantic. 7 of the coldest places in the world to live is a very interesting slideshow from The Mother Nature ...

“18 Days at the Center of Egypt’s Revolution” 18 Days at the Center of Egypt’s Revolution is a top-notch interactive from The New York Times. I’m adding the link to The Best Sites For Learning About The Protests In Egypt.

“New York City’s Waterfronts, Covered” New York City’s Waterfronts, Covered is a New York Times interactive showing images of…New York City’s waterfront areas. I’m adding it to The Best Sites For Learning About New York City.

A Collection Of “The Best…” Lists On Egypt & Beyond Who knows what’s going to be happening in the Arab world over the coming months? For now, I thought it would be useful to bring together my “The Best…” lists related to the Egyptian revolution, plus some others. Here are they are: The Best Sites ...

DPS Parent: Boasberg, the Denver Plan is a failure | DeFENSE

DPS Parent: Boasberg, the Denver Plan is a failure

by admin

February 12, 2011

Dear Superintendent Boasberg,

When I opened The Denver Post this morning and read about the 52% graduation rate in DPS, I was stunned. We have had The Denver Plan for six years now, and all we can manage is a 5% improvement in our graduation rate? Particularly when this “improvement” is due to nothing other than a “lowering of the academic bar” to make DPS numbers look better than they are? Proof of this is in the increased remediation rate to 55% of our DPS graduates who attend college. That is outrageous!

It is time to fix our schools starting with the high schools. By “fix” I do not mean closing the schools and replacing them with charters. Find six excellent principals, or pairings of competent assistant principals with smart business people, (not those from education corporations), and put them into the failing high schools: Manual, Montbello, North, West, Lincoln (and possibly Kennedy). That leaves only five decent high schools remaining to serve the students in DPS: East, GW, TJ, and South. How can you spend six years not

After lawsuit, officials call for new 'statewide charter' rules | California Watch

After lawsuit, officials call for new 'statewide charter' rules

by Corey G. Johnson

Corey G. Johnson

The state Board of Education ordered new rules last week to clarify how charter schools are granted statewide operating privileges. The action comes in the wake of a July 2010 Court of Appeals ruling that found the board improperly awarded statewide status to Aspire Public Schools, a charter school company founded in 2000.

Aspire currently operates six "statewide benefit" schools – two each in Sacramento, Huntington Park and Stockton. The organization has appealed the ruling – the result of a lawsuit filed by the California Teachers Association, California School Board Association and others – to the state Supreme Court. The court has not

New initiative aims to restrict teen access to abortion

by Deia de Brito

Deia de Brito

In the past five years, three measures attempting to restrict abortions for minors have appeared on California ballots.

Last week, another state initiative "entered circulation," which means organizers have until July 11 to gather enough signatures to get it on the ballot. In December, another version failed to make it to the ballot, but proponents aren't giving up.

Like other recent measures, this initiative proposes [PDF] to change the California Constitution to require

Right-Wing Denounces Democracy | Dailycensored.com

Right-Wing Denounces Democracy

Written by HurricaneDeanWorld NewsFeb 13, 2011

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Over the last two and a half weeks, the world witnessed Egypt’s stunning move toward democracy. We watched as the brutal dictator Hosni Mubarak unleashed camel and horseback riding thugs to bash in the heads and disrupt peaceful protesters. We heard and saw through the lies about foreign interference spread by Mubarak supporters and state owned television. We heard the false claims by Mubarak’s thugs of the looting and violent intentions of the pro-democracy supporters. Most of the world denounced the Mubarak administration and finally, to everyone’s

U. of Puerto Rico Students Protest Additional Fees; Other College News - Hispanically Speaking News

U. of Puerto Rico Students Protest Additional Fees; Other College News

Students at the University of Puerto Rico-Río Piedras protested against a special fee last week. The $800 fee is “intended to compensate for the university’s budget deficit.” A two-month student strike took place last spring and shut down the entire university until an agreement was made, which stated that the university would not demand the fee until January 2011.

A new survey found that nearly one-third of community college students were unable to enroll in at least one class last semester due to seat limitations. Harris Interactive surveyed 1,434 students between Sept. 27 and

LAO: Change pensions for new teachers | Thoughts on Public Education

LAO: Change pensions for new teachers - by John Fensterwald - Educated Guess New teachers would be among public employees whose state-financed retirement benefits would shrink under a proposal that the non-partisan Legislative Analyst’s Office outlined last week to limit taxpayers’ future liability. Stating that the current ...

Listen to California’s youths; do not let them defer their dreams - by Bruce Fuller Rising stock prices now signal upbeat expectations among consumers and employers that the economy is finally bouncing back, according to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. California’s youth aren’t so sure. Three in five young people, age 16 to 22, ...

Tennessee Leads The Pack To Crush Public Education

I’ve followed Schools Matter for a couple of years. The views might be considered extreme by some, but I often find myself reading and thinking, “this is right on.” I’ve quoted them and used their ideas for inspiration.

Tennessee is a special place for me. I attended public schools there for seven years, through my junior year of high school. It was always a conservative state and, yes, public education was never as strongly supported there as in other states, but what I am reading about the proposals in the Tennessee

The Answer Sheet - Why teacher bashing is dangerous

Why teacher bashing is dangerous

This is an edited version of a commentary by Stan Karp, a teacher of English and journalism in Paterson, N.J., for 30 years. He is now the director of the Secondary Reform Project for New Jersey’s Education Law Center and an editor of Rethinking Schools magazine. The full version of the commentary, which Karp delivered last December before about 250 people at a Portland high school, can be found here, at the website called www.notwaitingforsuperman.org and the audio can be heard here. By Stan Karp Far too many people are bashing teachers and public schools. The attacks are coming from different places for different reasons, and we need to pay attention to the differences. The parent who’s angry at the public school system because it’s not successfully educating his/her children is not the same as the billionaire with no education experience, who couldn’t survive in a classroom for two days,

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: WEEKEND QUOTABLES

WEEKEND QUOTABLES

by Mike Klonsky

Cheney on Mubarak

“So he’s been a good man and a good friend and ally of the United States, and we need to remember that.” -- Dick Cheney at Reagan celebration.

Wrong Message

Seething about coverage that made it look as if the administration were protecting a dictator and

Wisconsin Teachers Union Blinks

Wisconsin’s Teachers Union Faces New Political Reality

by Richard Lee Colvin

The former longtime president of the teachers union in Toledo, Ohio, a progressive leader named Dal Lawrence, considers Wisconsin’s statewide union to be among the most “retrograde” in the country. “In Wisconsin, they think they invented labor-management relations in the 1920s and they don’t want to hear about anything new since then,” Lawrence told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel last fall. Last week, however, the union’s leaders showed that they are very much aware of just how much has changed not only since the 1920s but from even as recently as last year. Saying “we believe good teachers should be rewarded”, the union made a sharp turnaround from its previous position and proposed that teachers be paid more when they earn promotions, just as assistant professors get a raise when they become associate or full professors. The union also proposed a new teacher evaluation system, which would consider student

GOP Proposal Would Spare Title II, Cut Other Teacher Programs - Teacher Beat - Education Week

GOP Proposal Would Spare Title II, Cut Other Teacher Programs

by Stephen Sawchuk

Alyson Klein reports on a House Republican proposal for fiscal 2011 funding over at Politics K-12. The proposal would eliminate some teacher programs but leave the single largest federal teacher-quality program, the Title II state grants, intact.

Before you go getting too excited, worried, or hysterial about this, remember that at this point, it's only a proposal. It has a good shot of passing the Republican-dominated House, but is likely to get snagged up in the Senate.

Under the plan, the $400 million Teacher Incentive Fund, which supports performance pay for teachers and principals, is preserved. Republicans are supporters of performance pay, so no surprise there.

Not all programs would be as fortunate, including the $43 million Teacher Quality Partnerships program, which

School Tech Connect: Teacher Union Leaders Arrested in Wisconsin

Teacher Union Leaders Arrested in Wisconsin

by effacethefacade@yahoo.com (Tim)

Oops, my bad. It was Iran.

Late last year I attended a small memorial for Farzad Kamanger, a young Iranian teacher who was executed for

NYC Educator: Abolish the Middle Class

Abolish the Middle Class

by NYC Educator

That's what the Wisconsin Governor wants to do. He's basically living the Republican dream--rolling back that costly and inconvenient 20th century. Governor Scott Walker is pushing a bill to wipe out collective bargaining for public unions, except regarding salary. However, they'd only be able to negotiate increases that matched consumer price index.

Therefore, the best they'd be able to do is keep up with inflation (unless local voters approved a larger increase.) However, with the immediate 5.8% deduction Walker is imposing to fund pensions, as well as whatever it costs for 12.6% of their health care, they're unlikely to even stay where they started.

Not only that, but unions will be prohibited from collecting dues, and dues will be optional. This will pretty much

Same As It Ever Was | The Jose Vilson

Same As It Ever Was

by Jose

Talking Heads

The Grammys always reminds me of the quasi-utopia the music industry portrays. With the gusto and aplomb the musicians and artists convey, one might think there’s absolutely nothing wrong with this billion dollar industry. Numbers get flung around with showcases of the elected and selected best. Grandiose speeches accompany goldenrod statuettes as gifts for the figureheads for the production of tunes. Graphics and special

NYC Public School Parents: Sam Pirozzolo: We need an Education Tea Party of parents against mayoral control

Sam Pirozzolo: We need an Education Tea Party of parents against mayoral control

by Leonie Haimson

From the Bronx to Brooklyn, from Harlem to Tribeca, from Queens to Staten Island, public school parents are furious about Mayor Bloomberg's arrogant disregard for our views and his malignant educational policies. Check out the remarks of Sam Pirozzolo, President of the Community Education Council 31, at the Staten Island legislative breakfast last week, and what he said to state legislators about their extension of mayoral control:

I would like to thank the Staten Island Federation of PTA’s for holding this forum. I would like to thank all of the people in the audience and especially our elected officials for being here today.

As many of you know Staten Island school children have been under attac

Why I Love Public Education « InterACT

Why I Love Public Education

by David B. Cohen

The critics of public education have had their say, more than their say, in recent months. Isn’t it a predictable side-effect in difficult economic times that scapegoats must be found? I’m not saying everything is great in public education or that the criticisms are baseless, but the gross generalizations, distortions, and lies are proving rather resilient.

Let me tell you why I still love public education, and why I’m fighting

Why I LOVE Public Education « Teacher Reality

Why I LOVE Public Education

by TeacherReality

Four days before Valentines Day, I witnessed a wonderful example of community, learning and joy all rolled up into one heart-warming event. I had the joy of watching my child and her teammates compete in a color guard competition with other local high school teams. The competition took place in a packed auditorium of kids, teachers, and families and was an absolute pleasure to watch…so full of life and creativity. The high school teams, made up of kids from many backgrounds, all beautifully demonstrated what they had put their heart and souls into and worked hard together to develop. Their “end product” was a culmination of sweat, tears, creativity, knowledge, a few bruises, and individual expression that showed their families and community what they had created and learned together. It was a really great scene to watch unfold and it reminded me of why I love public education. I love the learning, the community, the contributions of the children, parents,

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