Mike Klonsky: Chicago Schools CEO Choice Shows Problem With Mayoral Control

Mike Klonsky: Chicago Schools CEO Choice Shows Problem With Mayoral Control

Mike Klonsky

Educator, Author of "Small Schools: Public School Reform Meets the Ownership Society

Chicago Schools CEO Choice Shows Problem With Mayoral Control

"I wanted an entire new board, an entire new corporate suite because what's happening today both on the finances and the educational scores -- needs to be shaken up. And what I know in my heart [is that] the people of the city do not think we're doing what we need to do for our children." -- Rahm Emanuel

Rahm Emanuel isn't even officially mayor yet and he's already got the city and its schools in a fine mess. His appointment of the embattled J.C. Brizard as schools CEO (that's what we call school superintendents here in Chicago) rivals only Bloomberg's pick of Cathie Black in N.Y. as most embarrassing of the year. Black lasted a mere three months before high-tailing it back to the sanctuary of the corporate world, where failure is more often than not rewarded with super bonuses and not just a kick in the ass and a golden parachute a la urban school bosses.

Bloomberg's choice of the eminently unqualified Black reset the I-don't-give-a-damn-what-anybody-else-thinks standard previously set by former D.C. mayor, Adrian Fenty, whose pick of

Secretary Duncan on Family Engagement | ED.gov Blog

Secretary Duncan on Family Engagement | ED.gov Blog

Secretary Duncan on Family Engagement

Posted on May 6, 2011 by Cameron Brenchley

Great family engagement programs will never be developed in Washington said Secretary Duncan, who answered a couple Facebook questions this week in the video below. Arne’s statement comes in response to a question regarding the importance of family engagement programs in helping students be successful. He notes that ED is seeking to double funding for family engagement programs, with a focus on the programs that work at the local level.

Arne also responds to a comment he received from a teacher who had found the importance of 4-H in a student’s life.

Don’t hesitate to join the conversation in the comments below, on Facebook, or onTwitter.

Click here for an alternate version of the video with an accessible player.

Sabrina Stevens Shupe: DPS and SB 130: "Innovating" Around the Law?

Sabrina Stevens Shupe: DPS and SB 130: "Innovating" Around the Law?

Sabrina Stevens Shupe

Teacher & activist

GET UPDATES FROM SABRINA STEVENS SHUPE

Sabrina Stevens Shupe: DPS and SB 130: "Innovating" Around the Law?

by Sabrina Stevens Shupe

Denver Public Schools recently voted 4-3 to approve innovation status for three new schools in Far Northeast Denver. In doing so, they almost certainly broke the law.

For those who don't know, SB 08-130 (The Innovation Schools Act) grants schools and districts that receive innovation status the privilege of waiving certain requirements, like their local collective bargaining contract and some district mandates. The stated aim is to give schools the flexibility to be creative in figuring out ways to solve achievement problems (a noble idea), but it also gives schools a way to eliminate certain rights and protections for teachers (a potentially problematic idea). In order to mitigate against some of those concerns, the law requires school leaders to prove they have the consent of majority of their staff and school community before pursuing the status. So what's the problem here?

Well, the schools in question don't quite yet exist, in that they don't currently have staff members or school accountability committees -- two groups

RALLY AGAINST RHEE-WALKER-CORBETT! May 9, 11:30-1PM

RALLY AGAINST RHEE-WALKER-CORBETT! May 9, 11:30-1PM

RALLY AGAINST RHEE-WALKER-CORBETT! May 9, 11:30-1PM [image: Click here for more information] Click here for a printable flyer. Best anti-Rhee sign wins a free ErasureGate eraser! Posted: 12:35, May 6, 2011

Prominent DC blogger calls for protest against upcoming Rhee-Walker-Corbett event Don’t Let Rhee, Scott Walker, and Their Buddies Get Away With It! Help protest in DC on Monday May 9, 2011! Brandenburg’s call to action: *“Let’s have teachers, parents, students (those who belong to any of those categories right now or in the ...

Join Monty Neill in Webinar about Changes Needed in Reauthorization of ESEA :: Save Our Schools March and National Call to Action

Join Monty Neill in Webinar about Changes Needed in Reauthorization of ESEA :: Save Our Schools March and National Call to Action

Join Monty Neill in Webinar about Changes Needed in Reauthorization of ESEA

by Katherine Cox

Forum on Educational Accountability

http://www.edaccountability.org

Join Us for a Free Webinar!

Monday, May 9, 2011, from 2:00 to 3:00 pm (EDT)

“Overhauling ESEA to Improve Public Schools: FEA’s Reauthorization Proposals”

Join us for a frank discussion of the unintended consequences of the current No Child Left Behind Act and recommendations of the Forum on Educational Accountability (FEA) to shift the focus of the federal law from penalties and compliance to a more meaningful framework for supporting improved learning and stronger school and district performance. Panelists will address key areas for ESEA reauthorization, including assessment, accountability, school improvement and opportunity to learn. Following the presentations, attendees will have an opportunity to ask questions and discuss desired outcomes and challenges. FEA recommendations are at http://www.edaccountability.org/Legislative.html.

Featured Speakers:

Reggie Felton, Director for Federal Relations, National School Boards Association

Molly A. Hunter, Esq., Director of Education Justice, Education Law Center

Monty Neill, Ed.D., Executive Director, FairTest; Chair, FEA

Gary M. Ratner, Esq., Executive Director, Citizens for Effective Schools, and Chair, FEA Committee on School Improvement and Capacity-building

Moderator: Mary Kusler, Manager of Federal Advocacy, Governmental Relations, National Education Association

To register, go to this link: https://premconf.webex.com/premconf/j.php?ED=145579622&UID=1157813012&RT=MiMxMQ%3D%3D

Forum on Educational Accountability: FEA carries forward the ideas presented in the Joint Organizational Statement on No Child Left Behind, signed by 154 national education, civil rights, religious, disability, parent and civic groups, including National School Boards Association, American Association of School Administrators, Council for Exceptional Children, Learning Disabilities Association of America, National PTA, National Council of Churches, National Urban League, Public Education Network, National Education Association, American Library Association, and more.

To join the online meeting (now from iPhones too!):

1. Click the above link.
2. Enter your name and e-mail address.
3. Enter the meeting password. (Ignore this. This meeting does not require a password.)
4. Click “Join Now.”

For more information on how to participate in the “Overhaul ESEA” Webinar:

To view in other time zones or languages, please click this link (which is slightly different):

https://premconf.webex.com/premconf/j.php?ED=145579622&UID=1157813012&ORT=MiMxMQ%3D%3D

To join the teleconference only:

Call-in toll-free number (Premiere): 1-888-7375834 (US/Canada)

Call-in number (Premiere): 1-719-4574158 (US/Canada)

Show global numbers: https://www.myrcplus.com/cnums.asp?bwebid=8369444&ppc=451904&num=1888-7375834

Attendee access code: 451904

Rachel Levy on Framing the Education Reform Debate - E.D. Kain - American Times - Forbes

Rachel Levy on Framing the Education Reform Debate - E.D. Kain - American Times - Forbes

Rachel Levy on Framing the Education Reform Debate Rachel is making all kinds of sense here: One of the more troubling things about the education reform debates is not that they happen, but how they’re framed–the debates and their participants are often misrepresented. First, some folks inaccurately ...

Megan McArdle on Standardized Tests Here’s Megan: I spend a lot of time fighting over school reform, and even so, when I go to report stories on this, I’m still blown away by the poor quality of the education that many kids receive. I frequently feel like when I’m arguing education ...

Grifters and the Cult of Savviness Here’s DougJ at Balloon Juice, with a theory: Sometimes, though, I think that we have become a nation of grifters and that standardized tests are part of the reason why. When I say “grifter” here, I’m not referring to all the welfare queens buying ...

A Letter to Secretary Arne Duncan Re: the 2010 NAEP Civics Report Card | Mr. D’s Neighborhood

A Letter to Secretary Arne Duncan Re: the 2010 NAEP Civics Report Card | Mr. D’s Neighborhood

A Letter to Secretary Arne Duncan Re: the 2010 NAEP Civics Report Card

Image via Wikipedia

Dear Secretary Duncan,

(Again, is Arne okay? We tend to be informal here at the Neighborhood, so we hope you don’t mind.)

How’s it going, big guy? Still keeping up that jump shot? I’m just assuming since you seem to be more of a perimeter player than someone who dominates the paint…

…which is a lot like your current job as Secretary of Education (just kidding, I think).

Anyway, I’d like to start out by offering condolences. It wasn’t easy being taken to the woodshed for your alleged insincerity on Teacher Appreciation Day—especially from my friend Sabrina Stevens Shupe. I know, I know: your press flunky felt that the “broader teaching community” was in agreement with you.

NYC Public School Parents: Did Bin Laden Doc Dupe DOE?

NYC Public School Parents: Did Bin Laden Doc Dupe DOE?

Did Bin Laden Doc Dupe DOE?

by Gary Babad

May 6, 2011 (GBN News): An alarming document recovered during the Sunday night raid on Osama Bin Laden’s hideout suggests that the terrorist leader might have been planning to undermine the NY City educational system. According to GBN News sources, the document detailed a set of plans which included exposing children to environmental hazards, precipitously closing down schools, fostering corruption, and subjecting schoolchildren to a mind-numbing regimen of assessments and test prep. The centerpiece of the Bin Laden plan was said to be the layoffs of over 4000 teachers along with the elimination of seniority protection, which together would lead to untenably overcrowded classes taught by novices.

A crack CIA team has been working furiously to decipher more of the recovered documents to see if these plans have as yet become operational. A top priority is said to be translating a document entitled, “NY City Executive

GRAPH: Income Inequality In U.S. Worse Than Ivory Coast, Pakistan, Ethiopia

GRAPH: Income Inequality In U.S. Worse Than Ivory Coast, Pakistan, Ethiopia

by SOURCE on MAY 6, 2011

in: AMERICAN EMPIRE, ECONOMY

From ThinkProgress.org

As ThinkProgress has repeatedly noted, crucial services and public investments for Main Street America are being gutted as taxes on the richest Americans are the lowest they’ve been in a generation. Yet many Americans may not know exactly how unfair this is, as the country has grown increasingly unequal at the same time. Using data from the CIA Factbook based on the Gini coefficient — a measure of income inequality within a society — ThinkProgress has assembled the following graph, which demonstrates that the United States is now about as economically unequal as Uganda and more unequal than countries like Pakistan or the Ivory Coast:

Income inequality in the United States is actually higher than at any other time in modern history since the Great Depression. There is also a tremendous amount of inequality even in life

Mayor Bloomberg unveils $65.7B budget; sticks to threat cut 6,000 city teachers

Mayor Bloomberg unveils $65.7B budget; sticks to threat cut 6,000 city teachers

BY ADAM LISBERG
DAILY NEWS CITY HALL BUREAU CHIEF

Friday, May 6th 2011, 11:04 AM

NY1

Bloomberg blamed the state and federal governments for slashing their payments to the city, saying Albany pushed its bad budget decisions onto the people of the city.

TAKE OUR POLL

School cuts

Can the city afford to lose so many teachers, or should cuts come from elsewhere?

	No, our schools are already suffering and can NOT operate with fewer teachers.
	Yes, I think there are enough teachers - we need to trim the ineffective ones.
	I'm not sure.
	I'm not interested.

Mayor Bloomberg is sticking to his threat to get rid of 6,000 city teachers by next fall.

He unveiled a $65.7 billion budget Friday morning that cuts another $233 million from city spending, on top of the firehouse closings, social service cuts and teacher layoffs he has demanded for months.

"It is a budget that is less than last year's budget," the mayor said. "It is not just less after inflation or less than the projected growth, but less money, total, period."

Bloomberg blamed the state and federal governments for slashing their payments to the city, saying Albany pushed its bad budget decisions onto the people of the city.

"This thought that 'Oh, the city has plenty of money, they can make up for anything' is

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/education/2011/05/06/2011-05-06_mayor_bloomberg_unveils_657b_budget_sticks_to_threat_cut_6000_city_teachers_.html#ixzz1LaRvogwe

Taking Action in a State of Emergency | California Progress Report

Taking Action in a State of Emergency | California Progress Report

Taking Action in a State of Emergency

by megan

By Lisa Schiff

May is turning into a month of action on the part of public education supporters. From parent groups to the University of California system, teachers, administrators, parents, students and advocates will be engaged in a variety of actions to convey to elected officials and the public the seriousness of the financial crisis our schools are facing. Since the effort to get a vote on tax extensions onto a June ballot failed, there has been an eerie period of relative calm, but that is an illusory state, a quiet before the storm.

read more

This Week In Education: Update: Union Backtracks On IL "Consensus" Reform Legislation

This Week In Education: Update: Union Backtracks On IL "Consensus" Reform Legislation

Update: Union Backtracks On IL "Consensus" Reform Legislation

by Alexander Russo

Facing a rebellion in the ranks and perhaps having been told that she'd given away the farm, the head of the Chicago Teachers Union sent out a blistering press release yesterday calling for changes in the deal that everyone supposedly agreed on a few weeks ago and claiming that they'd been tricked. A roundup: Unions Disagree with School Reform Bill Fox: The coalition that helped craft Illinois school reform is in jeopardy tonight... CTU calls bill language 'atomic bomb' WBEZ: The measure was the result of months of backdoor negotiationsamong some of the state's most powerful interests--teachers unions, business groups and an out-of-state education