Monday, March 28, 2011

4LAKids - IT'S THE KIDS WHO LOSE OUT: Targeted teachers worry about students' futures and their own

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: IT'S THE KIDS WHO LOSE OUT: Targeted teachers worry about students' futures and their own

IT'S THE KIDS WHO LOSE OUT: Targeted teachers worry about students' futures and their own By Connie Llanos, Staff Writer, LA Daily News | http://bit.ly/hcp5cW Teacher Jolene Kuebler, left, gets a hug from assistant principal Shanna Sarris at Cleveland High, Thursday, March 24, 2011. Both have been notified they are on the list to be laid ...

YOUTHS AND GUN VIOLENCE: CHICAGO’S CHALLENGE - An epidemic of youth violence in Chicago and the city's intensive new efforts to try to reduce it. A NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO SPECIAL SERIES | http://n.pr/g9uZ5t Nearly 700 children were hit by gunfire in Chicago last year — an average of almost two a day. Much of the violence is attributed to gangs in specific parts of town. That has the mayor, ...

Rethinking Schools Vol 23 No 3: THE DUNCAN MYTH - Goodbye to Schools as Businesses + Arne Duncan and the Chicago Success Story: Myth or Reality? + Dunking on Arne Duncan “If you believe that ‘we can't just throw money’ at schools, that unions are a block to reform, that the military should have open access to our kids, and that charter schools are the greatest thing to happen to education since corporal punishment, then ...

Democurmudgeon: So Who Wants to Send their Kids to Voucher Schools? Rep. Robin Vos thinks you do #wiunion #wi .

Democurmudgeon: So Who Wants to Send their Kids to Voucher Schools? Rep. Robin Vos thinks you do.

So Who Wants to Send their Kids to Voucher Schools? Rep. Robin Vos thinks you do.

by Democurmudgeon

Another test, another mixed report coming?:

WSJ: And state test scores to be released Tuesday, which for the first time include 10,600 Milwaukee voucher students, could suggest they are testing no better than poor students in the Milwaukee Public Schools.

This might be the last voucher test recorded, if Scott Walker gets his way.

The state required voucher students to take the Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Examination for the first time last fall.

Post Crescent Endorses Kloppenburg in Editorial, but Forgets to Mention Prosser was a Republican. Oops.
by Democurmudgeon
Something I didn’t notice but my significant other did was the omission of the word “Republican” in key sections of the Post Crescent’s electoral rejection of Justice Prosser, his hometown newspaper.
Editorial: Supreme Court: One issue doesn't add up…
Prosser, an Appleton native, was appointed to the court by Gov. Tommy Thompson in 1998, and ran unopposed in 2001. He served in the state Assembly from 1979 to 1996; from 1989-94, he was the Assembly minority leader. In 1995 and 1996, he was the Assembly speaker.
He is supported by groups perceived to be conservative, including the Wisconsin Club for Growth,

Want Better Schools? Exalt Great Teachers « Cooperative Catalyst

Want Better Schools? Exalt Great Teachers

by zoeweil

For my blog post today, I’m sharing an essay I wrote that was published on Common Dreams.org, a progressive news site. Here’s a short excerpt:

“We all have our stories of bad teachers. Most of us have memories of being bored, frustrated, anxious, and often miserable at school. We love our great teachers, and we remember them fondly and with gratitude, but for too many of us, they are too few in number to offset the bad and mediocre ones. Thus, teachers as a whole are commonly vilified, and the field of teaching is often perceived as a

A SIMPLE PETITION (to Bill Gates) | Seattle Education 2010

A SIMPLE PETITION (to Bill Gates)

by seattleducation2010

Dear Bill Gates,

Please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please,

Daily Kos: 42 years ago a decent man passed away

42 years ago a decent man passed away

by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken)

Here are just a few of the things he said:

There is no glory in battle worth the blood it costs

When people speak to you about a preventive war, you tell them to go and fight it. After my experience, I have come to hate war. War settles nothing.

We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security.

If you think those are the words of a someone who has not know war, you are very wrong. They are the words of a man who knew war as well as anyone.

Perhaps the next quote will help you realize who the speaker was:

Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. This is not a way of life at all in any true sense. Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron.

That last quote is from a speech in April 1953 before the American Society of Newspapers Editors by the President of the United State, Dwight David Eisenhower.

On this day in 1969 he passed away, in Washington DC, at Walter Reed, of congestive heart failure.

I choose to take today to remind us of a decent man.

School Tech Connect: Back To The Grind

Back To The Grind

by effacethefacade@yahoo.com (Tim)

And we're back.

Had a delightful social media sabbatical, as well as a fun Chicago staycation.

High point: the Wanda Jackson concert at Lincoln Hall.

Low point: prep work for another crown.

I got nuthin' tonight, but I did enjoy the Riz Kahn

NYC Educator: Public Enemy Number One

Public Enemy Number One

by NYC Educator

That's you and me. How did we become such a dire threat? Tough to say.

Right here if seniority protections are not stripped from NYC teachers, the quality of teaching will plummet and lives of our children will be ruined. This does not apply to teachers in other parts of the state, for whom quality does not matter. Nor does it apply to police or firefighters, because it makes no difference what the quality of their services may be. This is what Mayor Bloomberg wants us to believe, and this is why he's set up groups like ERN and E4E, to relentlessly push this illogical fairy tale.

In Wisconsin, of course, they need to save money.

There is no fiscal crisis in Wisconsin. Governor Walker reports a nearly 130 million dollar deficit, but doesn't report that he caused it by

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: WEEKEND QUOTABLES

WEEKEND QUOTABLES

by Mike Klonsky

Marcus Yam for The New York Times

A sign at 168th St. and Broadway in Manhattan announcing enrollment for KIPP Star Elementary, a charter school.

Educator Takes On Charter Chain

"There is a quiet but fierce battle going on in education today, between the unions that represent the public school teachers and the hedge-fund managers who finance the big charter chains, between those who trust teachers to assess a child’s progress and those who trust standardized

Yong Zhao » Blog Archive » Race to Self Destruction: A History Lesson for Education Reformers

Race to Self Destruction: A History Lesson for Education Reformers

27 MARCH 2011 151 2 COMMENTS

Race to the Top, Obama Administration’s $4.35 billion education initiative, has been touted many times by the President and his Secretary of Education Arne Duncan as “the most meaningful education reform in a generation”. It is also been proposed as the blueprint for the upcoming reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), currently bearing the more notorious title No Child Left Behind (NCLB). I have always found Race to the Top amusingly sad and educationally harmful and written about it in different places including an op-ed piece inEducation Week and a couple of posts on my blog. Today when I was re-reading Jared Diamond’s brilliant book Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, I found his story of how the Easter Islanders’ race to build the most magnificent statues eventually led to their collapse chillingly similar to what is happening to American education.

The hundreds of stone statues on Easter Island have been one of the greatest mysteries on earth. Locate

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Blog U.: Snooping Email - Confessions of a Community College Dean - Inside Higher Ed

Snooping Email

By Dean Dad March 27, 2011 9:25 pm EDT

From the “just when you think it couldn’t get more ridiculous” files...

The leadership of the Republican party in Wisconsin has filed a Freedom of Information request to read all of the emails from the account of Professor William Cronon, a well-known historian and union activist at the University of Wisconsin. They’ve specifically asked for emails containing terms that would suggest relevance to union and/or political activity.

Technically, the request is legal. Emails at public institutions are considered public documents; that’s why I have a gmail account for my “dean dad” stuff, and another gmail account for things like Amazon purchases. Those of us in administrative positions are routinely advised that college emails can be subpoenaed, and that anything we write could later be used in court. That said, though, you’d have to be a special kind of stupid not to see that this request is an attempt to intimidate university employees. (Notably, tenure offers no special protection against this kind of snooping.)

The contrast to the rights of employees at private institutions is striking. The legal bar to clear for such a fishing expedition would be dramatically higher.

Already, public employees’ salaries and benefits either barely match or trail those of employees in similar jobs in the private sector. And that isn’t because of the profit motive,

Targeted teachers worry about students' futures and their own - LA Daily News

IT'S THE KIDS WHO LOSE OUT

Targeted teachers worry about students' futures and their own

By Connie Llanos, Staff Writer

Posted: 03/27/2011 06:07:13 PM PDT

Teacher Jolene Kuebler, left, gets a hug from assistant principal Shanna Sarris at Cleveland High, Thursday, March 24, 2011. Both have been notified they are on the list to be laid off. (Michael Owen Baker/Staff Photographer)

CLICK PHOTO TO ENLARGE

Cleveland High School assistant principal Shanna Sarris has been notified she is on the list to...

Manny Banuelos is known for his ability to motivate kids - both in his fourth-grade classroom at Fullbright Elementary and on the neighborhood baseball diamond, where he volunteers as a Little League coach.

Jolene Kuebler is beloved by students and colleagues, who marvel at the stamina that allows her to teach health classes, coach drill team and lead the school band at Cleveland High School.

Despite their success, the two San Fernando Valley teachers are among 5,200 educators who have received layoff notices from the financially troubled Los Angeles Unified School District. With just seven years each in the classroom, they're unlikely to beat the state-mandated system of using seniority to determine who gets to stay and who must go.

"This upsets me because I'm a good teacher ... I work hard," Kuebler said, breaking down in tears.

"What I'm really concerned about is my kids ... In the long run it's the kids

Why do I support my union? I have another question « JD2718

Why do I support my union? I have another question

by jd2718

My post Tuesday, after hours of wordpress being down (read-only) and a stress-y day, my post was a bit intemperate. So I wanted to redo it, and found that I had little additional to say.

I support my union because supporting your union is the right thing to do. I’ve never thought twice about it.
How many ways have I written there’s only two sides, or there are no neutrals. Which side am I on. No question mark, since it is not a question. This was true a decade ago when it may have seemed stranger, and today, when it seems obvious. Hello, Wisconsin. Indiana. Michigan. Florida. Bloomberg. Gates. Duncan.
I support my union, I support unions for the history, for the battles they fought to win such basic rights. And I support my union as a guarantee that my generation not swap those rights, and the legacy, blood,

"I don't need no stinkin' Union" #wiunion #miunion #solidarity

A lighthearted yet cautionary tale about what our education system might be like if it were turned over to the corporate world. Produced by the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation.

The Future of Teaching: We’re Not Gonna Take It Anymore | The Jose Vilson

The Future of Teaching: We’re Not Gonna Take It Anymore

by Jose

Excerpt:

Thus, the term “teacherpreneur” gets mixed up with terms like “education entrepeneur” (see: Rhee) instead of what it’s intended to do: allow teachers to create their own opportunities while still serving in the classroom. If we continue to perceive the teachers as the hired help (Renee Moore’s a genius), then we’ll continue to get treated as such. It’s amazing that, even as the ideas in the book gain traction with futurists and unionists alike, we’re still having a discussion about whether teachers should be compensated better. We discuss Finland now as the epitome of success for their superior assessments and 100% union membership, but don’t recognize that they also compensate their teachers well above living expenses. Why, then, do we still chastise those teachers who discuss compensation in the context of advancing the profession?

For more, read here. Share. Tweet. Comment. Thanks!

Report: #ASCD11 Conference In San Francisco — Share Yours! | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

Report: ASCD Conference In San Francisco — Share Yours! | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

Report: ASCD Conference In San Francisco — Share Yours!

by Larry Ferlazzo

I really enjoyed my time at the ASCD Conference in San Francisco today, though had to leave early to get back to play in my regular Sunday night basketball game The next time I attend one I plan to make arrangements to attend the whole thing — it would certainly be worth it!

The best places to get thoughtful reports on the conference are at Alice Mercer’s blog and at the posts written by David B. Cohen at the InterAct blog. David also has some nice photos there.

I’d love it if others left comments here with their reactions to the workshops and speakers. Or just leave links to

Grab bag of solidarity, cooperatives, and the CLAP. | blue cheddar.

Grab bag of solidarity, cooperatives, and the CLAP.

BY BLUECHEDDAR

Madison housing cooperatives face threat. Mayor Dave?

This Tuesday night March 29 at 6:30pmAlder Marsha Rummelwill introduce a measure to prevent city zoning from removing “co-op friendly” provisions in city code [the agenda].

April 5th we have a mayoral election. Madison is home to at least 11 cooperative housing sites some of which date back to 1968, I know we have more in the woodwork, and we have a locally beloved & nationally known food coop which recently expanded into Middleton. When Willy St Co-op wanted to raise $600,000 in 60 days—they raised it

LAUSD's John Deasy and the L.A. Times Jason Song Teach You How to Make More Money Less - New Math? - Perdaily.com

LAUSD's John Deasy and the L.A. Times Jason Song Teach You How to Make More Money Less - New Math? (Deasy de LAUSD y Jason Song del LA Times te enseñan cómo hacer más dinero menos - Matemáticas nuevoy?) - Perdaily.com

LAUSD's John Deasy and the L.A. Times Jason Song Teach You How to Make More Money Less - New Math? (Deasy de LAUSD y Jason Song del LA Times te enseñan cómo hacer más dinero menos - Matemáticas nuevoy?)

by Leonard Isenberg

(Mensaje se repite en Español)

(For a national view of public education reform see the end of this blog post)

One of the advantages of having a long and purposeful failed public education system, where abysmal English language skills are only matched by equally atrocious math skills is that the Los Angeles Times reporter Jason Song can write an article entitled,"L.A. schools chief cuts his own pay" and fewer people are left with enough critical thinking skills to question either the linguistic sophistry or fuzzy math that Song uses to arrive at his conclusion in complete derogation of what has actually taken place.

The fable goes something like this: Gates Foundation's John Deasy is given the job of Superintendent of LAUSD to replace Ramon Cortines at $330,000 a year with no other candidates for the position. Ramon Cortines has been paid $250,000 a year, if you don't count his generous benefits package and the $150,000 a year he also made from Scholastics for 10 years in a clear

NYC Public School Parents: Rally on Wed. at City Hall to protest budget cuts to schools!

Rally on Wed. at City Hall to protest budget cuts to schools!

by Leonie Haimson

Join parents at a rally/press conference opposing the mayor’s devastating budget cuts to our schools!

Where: the steps of City Hall

When: Wednesday, March 30 at 9:30 AM

Here is a flyer you can post or distribute in your schools.

The Mayor plans to eliminate 6,000 teaching positions, which would lead to huge increases in class size.

The savings from these cuts would be only about $350 million; fa

Important Organizing Meeting for Parents This Wednesday at Central Office at 6 PM « Larry Miller's Blog #p2 #middleclass #wiunion #wearewi

Important Organizing Meeting for Parents This Wednesday at Central Office at 6 PM « Larry Miller's Blog

Important Organizing Meeting for Parents This Wednesday at Central Office at 6 PM *Please help get parents to this important parent organizing meeting.* *CALLING ALL MPS PARENTS!* Please come to the district wide MPS parents meeting *March 30th from 6-8pm*, in the Central Office Auditorium, 5225 Vliet. Organized by Parents for ...

The GOP Would Rather Go Through the Courts than Try to Pass a New Repair Bill *Why they don’t want a do-over * March 26, 2011 Gary Porter Wallace Sherlock dons his academic robe on the King St. steps to the state Capitol in Madison on Saturday as part of ongoing protests against Gov. Scott Walker’s recently passed ...

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: A New Poem for Chicago by Luis J. Rodriguez

A New Poem for Chicago by Luis J. Rodriguez