New Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott greeted by parent suit vs. charter

New Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott greeted by parent suit vs. charter

BY RACHEL MONAHAN
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Monday, April 11th 2011, 4:00 AM

Egan-Chin/News

Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott replaced Cathie Black.

RELATED NEWS

• Newly appointed schools chancellor Dennis Walcott - day one, and back to school
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• Editorial: Mike takes control ...
• Cathie Black out as schools chancellor

In a first major challenge to incoming Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott, parents are suing to block the city's plan to let a Manhattan high school share space with a charter school.

The largely technical lawsuit, filed Friday in Manhattan Supreme Court, attacks the city for undercounting the number of students at the Brandeis High School campus - and overestimating the room available for Upper West Success, a charter elementary school.

"We don't want our children to be treated like second-class citizens in their own

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/education/2011/04/11/2011-04-11_walcott_is_greeted_by_parent_suit_vs_charter.html#ixzz1JDREvong

Deep rifts over next NCLB | Thoughts on Public Education

Deep rifts over next NCLB | Thoughts on Public Education

Deep rifts over next NCLB

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Consensus on what's wrong, not how to fix it

Posted on 4/10/11 • Categorized as Common Core standards, No Child Left Behind

By John Fensterwald - Educated Guess

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and President Obama are confident that members of Congress will revise and reauthorize the No Child Left Behind law this year, just as when they put aside fundamental differences to pass the law in 2001.

But Duncan and the president are deluding themselves, said two of three education insiders during a discussion of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), NCLB’s formal name, at a conference of education writers last week.

Rick Hess, an influential writer at the American Enterprise Institute, put the odds of

Has the Percentage of Texas Public School District Staff Who Directly Impact Student Outcomes Changed over the Last 20 Years? « A "Fuller" Look at Education Issues

Has the Percentage of Texas Public School District Staff Who Directly Impact Student Outcomes Changed over the Last 20 Years? « A "Fuller" Look at Education Issues

Has the Percentage of Texas Public School District Staff Who Directly Impact Student Outcomes Changed over the Last 20 Years?

by Dr. Ed Fuller

In the last post, I showed that the decrease in the percentage of teachers was largely due to an increase in support staff. But support staff is a catch-all that covers a wide variety of individuals. As it turns out, a fair percentage of support personnel are located at schools and have a direct impact on students. A significant percentage also provide teacher support. Below I review this in (agonizing) detail. The goal here is to document the percentage of individuals in positions that directly impact student outcomes. The reason for doing this is to determine how many positions could be cut without directly impacting student outcomes. I want to do this to disprove some comments by the governor, other politicians, and lobbyists that school districts are choosing to lay off individuals who directly impact student outcomes. First, we must determine the number of individuals who are in positions that directly impact student achievement and the amount of money expended on their salaries. Next week, I will examine whether districts would have enough money under HB 1 to not cut individuals who

Time For The Fright Lists | California Progress Report

Time For The Fright Lists | California Progress Report

Time For The Fright Lists

by megan

By Peter Schrag

So now all of Sacramento is going to have budget crisis road shows – Jerry Brown, the Democrats, even the Republicans. And they’re all going their separate ways, literally and figuratively.

But at bottom there’s still the same old question: How much pain and inconvenience will taxpayers have to suffer before they understand that there’s no such thing as a free lunch? How many potholes and unsafe bridges; how many cancelled university classes; how high the tuition; how short the school calendar; how slow the response from the fire department, how long the wait at the DMV? Or do we simply not care?

The governor, said GOP Assembly leader Connie Conway, is trying to scare people by trying to tell them that the budget deficit either requires even more severe cuts than the state has already made or the tax extensions the governor wants.

That’s a false choice, quoth she, "It's disingenuous to scare people." You can fix it all with fiddles and efficiency. And pigs can fly.

read more

Open Carrying of Guns Should Be Banned in California --Support AB 144

This Week In Education: AM News: Back To Reality

This Week In Education: AM News: Back To Reality

AM News: Back To Reality

by Alexander Russo

Newark school woes transcend money USAT: Last week the school advisory board voted against opening the new schools. The district plans to open them anyway. Students are already signing up... Balto. Co. lawmakers, educators call to keep teacher jobs Baltimore Sun: State lawmakers and educators in Baltimore County say they believe there are options to keep teachers in their current jobs... Conn. schools brace for potential teacher layoffs Associated Press: Hundreds of Connecticut teachers have been warned they could get pink slips later this spring, leaving some parents worried about larger class sizes next fall and whether reform efforts might stall in their city schools... Years-long backlog of investigations into accused teachers LAT: The state Commission on Teacher Credentialing also had a backlog of nearly 12,600 cases in the summer of 2009, about three years' worth of cases, according to a report by the California state auditor... Six High Schools Make Finals in Obama Graduation Contest PK12: In the coming weeks, a video presentation from each finalist will be posted on the White House's website. The public will be able to vote for their favorite, and the top three will be forwarded to Obama, who will make the final decision...North Carolina School Engages Tech Generation With Digital Learning ToolsPBS: While computers have been around in public schools for more than 20 years, this is one of the only districts in the country that's gone entirely digital. It's completely changed things for teachers like Kristin Faucher, whose class was studying sharks... Ex-administrator is accused of bankrupting a Santa Monica school LAT: Court documents allege that Susan Packer Davis put relatives on the Concord International High School payroll, used school funds for personal expenses and received 'grossly inflated' compensation... 75 Years Later, Black Student Finally First In ClassNPR: This week, Fannetta Nelson Gordon got the recognition denied her 75 years ago because of her race. She was posthumously named valedictorian of Westinghouse High School in Pittsburgh... For $28,500 A Year, Kids Can Go To The New Blue School AP: Blue Man founders Chris Wink, Matt Goldman and Phil Stanton are the co-founders of Blue School, a private preschool and elementary school that they started so they could send their own children to a school that was creative enough for them...

Daily Kos: E. J. Dionne speaks my mind

Daily Kos: E. J. Dionne speaks my mind

E. J. Dionne speaks my mind

by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken)

in an op ed with the title The high cost of hating government. He begins by telling of of the rally attended by Republican Mike Pence of Indiana where that worthy joined the crowd in urging the government be shut down. Dionne notes that the relatively small gathering of several hundred had a size that indicates how unrepresentative of the American people that attitude is, hates the government, and has no respect for the normal give and take of the political process. He then notes succinctly

in no serious country do threats to shut down the government become a routine way of doing business. Yet in our repertoire of dysfunction, we are on the verge of adding shutdown abuse to abuse of the filibuster in the Senate.

Of course, the Senate Democrats refused to do filibuster reform in 2007, which could have prevented many of the logjams which created the national mood that allowed for the rise of the Tea Party and the loss of the House. Surprisingly, they failed again to address that issue earlier this year, meaning even though they control the Senate they still face the obstacle of needing 60 votes for anything important.

But it is the hostage taking of the threat of shutdown which is on my mind today, as it was this weekend, which is why Dionne spoke to me, and which is why I urge you to read his piece and pass it on.

California Teacher Pensions: Are We Really Breaking the State? « InterACT

California Teacher Pensions: Are We Really Breaking the State? « InterACT

California Teacher Pensions: Are We Really Breaking the State?

by ACT Guest Blog Posts

This guest post comes to us from Lynne Formigli, a middle school science teacher from the San Francisco Bay Area, and an occasional contributor to InterACT. Lynne is also an active leader in the California Teachers Association. Her post is a modified version of a letter she wrote to teachers, and in the brief time since she wrote it, the California State Teachers Retirement System (CalSTRS) received a noteworthy recognition:Institutional Investment Magazine named CalSTRS the Large Public Fund Manager of the Year. The announcement at BusinessWire.com states that “The CalSTRS Investment Office has gained global recognition for its depth, innovation and quality.”

Since InterACT usually focuses more on education policies relating to teaching and learning, I asked Lynne to

NYC Educator: "I’m going to fire somebody in a little while. Do you want to see that?"

NYC Educator: "I’m going to fire somebody in a little while. Do you want to see that?"

"I’m going to fire somebody in a little while. Do you want to see that?"

by NYC Educator

So speaks uber-"reformer" Michelle Rhee to a PBS camera crew. Apparently, this is something Rhee takes pride in. I guess I'm not made of whatever Rhee is. On the few occasions I've known people losing jobs, I found it deeply disturbing. For me, it really had nothing to do with whether or not the people deserved it--as a human being I can't help being upset by seeing others lose their livelihoods.

Rhee has no such reservations. That's a good thing, because under her tenure, almost half of the DC education staff either left or was fired. Diane Ravitch, in reviewing Richard Whitmire's The Bee Eater, points out that

Charter Schools Outsource Education to Management Firms, With Mixed Results - ProPublica

Charter Schools Outsource Education to Management Firms, With Mixed Results - ProPublica

Charter Schools Outsource Education to Management Firms, With Mixed Results

Excerpt from Hope Academy Broadway Campus's lawsuit against White Hat Management. Inset: Screenshot from a White Hat Management promotional video.

by Sharona Coutts
ProPublica, April 6, 2011, 10:09 a.m.

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Since 2008, an Ohio-based company, White Hat Management, has collected around $230 million to run charter schools in that state. The company has grown into a national chain and reports that it has about 20,000 students across the country. But now 10 of its own schools and the state of Ohio are suing, complaining that many White Hat students are failing, and that the company has refused to account for how it has spent the money.

The dispute between White Hat and Ohio, which is unfolding in state court in Franklin

School Tech Connect: Rothko, and Red Herrings

School Tech Connect: Rothko, and Red Herrings

Rothko, and Red Herrings

by noreply@blogger.com (Tim)

Ok, we're back. In the aftermath of the burglary and the exhausting week, I've tried to stay blissfully ignorant of what's going on in the world around me. I will say this: spring has sprung. It was warm and windy here in Chicago today, which means that it's going to be harder than ever to concentrate.

I was walking Scout down an alley when I came across a few boarded up windows--- each one had been painted green and then patched with a different shade of green, probably to cover up some graffiti. "Each one a Rothko," I told Scout. She gave me that look that she gives me. Here's one of them, tarted up a bit with some color rotation.



Really, things can be lovely, even in an alley.

I missed all the great labor activity over the weekend, but I did get to hear David Warlick talk about "cracking the native information experience" on Saturday. It's a pretty good talk-- if you get a chance, go hear it. He talks

Oakland teacher convention ends on a high note | The Education Report

Oakland teacher convention ends on a high note | The Education Report

Oakland teacher convention ends on a high note

By Katy Murphy
Saturday, April 9th, 2011 at 4:35 pm in teachers.

Day 2 of the Oakland teacher convention ended with anger and frustration. Today ended with standing ovations.

“What a turn,” said Mercedes Ugarte, a fourth-year teacher at Melrose Leadership Academy. “It’s turned into something that’s teacher-owned. We’ve never had this space before to share these things out.”

A last-minute change to the program, made in response to the sharp criticism, was well received. This morning, the 200 delegates divided into six groups. Each one papered the walls of their rooms with lists of what was working and not working in their classrooms, in their schools and in the district, and recommendations for resolving them. They came up with their top priorities and shared them with everyone, including Superintendent Tony Smith, at the end of the day.

Different Figureheads, Same Boss | The Jose Vilson

Different Figureheads, Same Boss | The Jose Vilson

Different Figureheads, Same Boss

by Jose

Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Dennis Walcott, and Cathleen Black

“YES! Cathie Black is out! Woo! Congratulations!”

Cheers and smiles in the building abound as the 100-day chancellor of NYC schools has come and gone without making any major dent on the largest school district in the nation. Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s miscalculations about the appointment of Cathie Black as chancellor proved deleterious to the already tenuous relationship between him and his city. Already suspicious of the oligarchic fist under which the Mayor rules the city, NYC citizens grew weary of decisions that proved to the general public Michael Bloomberg’s aloofness to the

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: DEAR PRESIDENT OBAMA (in 338 words or less),

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: DEAR PRESIDENT OBAMA (in 338 words or less),

DEAR PRESIDENT OBAMA (in 338 words or less), By Bill Ivey, Bill Ivey’s blog/Independent School Educators Network | http://bit.ly/gIdiOS April 10, 2011 at 3:54pm Dear President Obama, Like millions of Americans, I wept on the night you were elected. For me, the audacity of hope and the fierce ...

THE 338 WORD (or less) CHALLENGE: “President Obama - We Want for Our Children What You Want for Yours” By Anthony Cody | EdWeek / Living in Dialogue |http://bit.ly/dOZib8 April 7, 2011 9:42 AM | Last week I kicked the hornet's nest by pointing out that President Obama's remarks at a town hall meeting do not align with the policies being carried out by his ...

338 WORDS: Obama Blasts His Own Education Policies By Anthony Cody | EdWeek / Living in Dialogue | March 29, 2011 12:29 AM | - If only the Department of Education could hear this guy Obama, boy, they would have to rethink their approach! In a town hall meeting hosted by Univision, President Obama was ...

FORMAL SEARCH NEEDED FOR NYC SCHOOLS CHANCELLOR smf: …what a concept! By ANDREW WOLF, Special to the NY Sun | http://bit.ly/gDlWSX April 10, 2011 -- From all we’ve seen, Dennis Walcott, Mayor Bloomberg’s choice as the city’s new schools chancellor is a fine fellow, a loyal deputy to the mayor, ...

A message from IEA Prez Swanson. I’m worried. « Fred Klonsky's blog

A message from IEA Prez Swanson. I’m worried. « Fred Klonsky's blog

A message from IEA Prez Swanson. I’m worried.

by Fred Klonsky

IEA President Ken Swanson sent out an email to all IEA Board of Directors this afternoon. A number of BOD members forwarded it to me.

On the issue of the right to strike, Swanson says:

The deadline to be finished with the process led by Senator Kimberly Lightford and the Senate Educational Reform Committee is now Tuesday afternoon. There are still some unresolved issues, many that will come to resolution before Tuesday – one big issue that may not be resolved – the right to strike.

The parties have fundamental differences about the right to strike. The union team, IEA, IFT, and CTU have committed to each other that if one group’s right to strike is threatened, we will all come together in unison to fight it. We have been working hand in glove together for three months, and we are not about to change that strategy now. We will need your help, and our members’ help as

Educational Transformation? It’s the Governance, Stupid! | Lefty Parent

Educational Transformation? It’s the Governance, Stupid! | Lefty Parent

Educational Transformation? It’s the Governance, Stupid!

by Cooper Zale

In my most recent piece “Schools: Trying to Balance Coercion, Inspiration and Facilitation”, I put forward that many American public schools are on increasingly shaky ground because they are tasked with at least six very challenging and at times conflicting goals, and are being asked to achieve all of those goals with shrinking budgets. In this increasingly difficult juggling act of doing more with less, the focus is generally on curriculum, teachers, and even at times educational methodology. But I believe the mostly unexamined element in transforming our schools (as well as other institutions in our society) is the governance model – who makes the decisions and how.

Like the cautionary reminder made famous from Bill Clinton’s presidential campaigns, whenever I think about our society’s developmental path forward and I forget to focus on who the decision-makers are and how the decisions are made, I need to be shaken out of my stupor and reminded that, “It’s the governance, stupid!”

I believe that in any venue where people are brought together to try to accomplish something important, who