Saturday, August 20, 2011

Jersey Jazzman: Rupert Loves Rhee Loves Bradford

Rupert Loves Rhee Loves Bradford

by Duke

Rheefirst confirms what you already knew:

In his new book, Class Warfare, Steven Brill confirms that Michelle Rhee is being funded by Rupert Murdoch. Murdoch, CEO of News Corp., is currently embroiled in a growing cell phone hacking scandal. Rhee’s mentor, Joel Klein, serves as Murdoch’s chief legal counsel. News Corp is the parent company of far-right FoxNews.
Last month Rhee refused to confirm or deny whether she and her front group had taken Murdoch money.
According to credible sources, Rhee took as much as $50M from Murdoch.

Broad-Trained Superintendent Dr. Marie Goodloe-Johnson Reappears in Broward County, Florida | Seattle Education

Broad-Trained Superintendent Dr. Marie Goodloe-Johnson Reappears in Broward County, Florida

by seattleducation2011

For all of the folks in Broward County, we have something to share with you regarding a candidate for superintendent who is listed on the Broward School District’s website, Dr. Marie Goodloe-Johnson.

The following article should be a red flag to you about hiring anyone who has anything to do with Bill Gates or the Broad Foundation.

I would highly recommend that you personally vet each candidate even if it’s a quick Google search, for instance with the candidate’s name and the words “broad foundation”. If there is no connection, great, then continue to

Jersey Jazzman: The "Other" Ben Chavis - Reformy Maniac

Bob "Hoover" Ingle Update

by Duke

It's been a while since I've checked in with Chris Christie's favorite suck-up, Bob "Hoover" Ingle:

Should public school districts be allowed to use tax money for lawsuits that seek to keep charter schools from opening? As charter schools increasingly go from urban to suburban it's a question that needs the public spotlight.
The Princeton International Academy Charter School seeks to bring attention to the issue by suing three public school districts, contending that for two years Princeton Regional, South Brunswick and Plainsboro-West Regional districts

The "Other" Ben Chavis - Reformy Maniac

by Duke

I want to start this with a hat tip to some terrific bloggers who were nice enough to drop by here and leave some great information for this post:

Robert D. Skeels over at solidaridad.
The Perimeter Primate
South Bronx School (not anything about Chavis, but plenty on the NYC schools and Moskowitz)

You should check them out - they're all on my blogroll at the left.

I honestly had not heard of Ben Chavis (no, not that Ben Chavis, this Ben Chavis), before his disastrous and

Schools Matter: The National Standards Discussion: A Weapon of Mass Distraction

The National Standards Discussion: A Weapon of Mass Distraction

by skrashen

We are again invited to give our opinions about the content of national standards (http://www.parcconline.org/parcc-content-frameworks). We are not invited to discuss whether we need national standards and their spawn, national tests. For those who haven't been paying attention, the Department of Education is

TEACHERS AND FACEBOOK « Teachers Fight Back

TEACHERS AND FACEBOOK

by alkleen

News item - a central Florida teacher faces disciplinary action after reports that he posted comments blasting same-sex marriage on his personal Facebook page.

I am not going to support this teacher, even though his comments were on his PERSONAL page. Listen carefully teachers everywhere, NEVER MAKE A DEROGATORY COMMENT ABOUT ANYONE OR ANY GROUP! Never comment on a person’s age, race, gender, sexual orientation, political leanings or anything remotely related to those items!

This is one of the many things that makes being a teacher so difficult and why only a select few people have the overall qualities necessary to be a teacher. When you become a teacher you must take a vow to yourself that you will accept all human beings as equal. You will never judge a student on any aspect of their life other than what is necessary in classroom evaluations. You must never offer negative opinions about particular types or groups of people, because you might have one of those people in a classroom of yours.

I’m sorry, part of being a good teacher is virtually giving up some of your first amendment rights. If you aren’t

All Education Matters: [Announcement] New Series: The Author's Hour

[Announcement] New Series: The Author's Hour

by C. Cryn Johannsen

I am pleased to announce a new series on AEM called "The Author's Hour." This series will entail interviews with authors who are already published or on their way to being published. The subjects will be wide ranging. We'll talk to experts from the fields of economics, history, sociology, political science, philosophy, literature, etc. The intent of this new series is to connect with authors whose work intersects with my own. This way, it will allow me to introduce my readers to other authors who are:

concerned about the student lending crisis
other major societal problems
interested in my work as a political activist for the indentured educated class

These conversations will also provide me with new insights for my ongoing research and projects on the student

School Tech Connect: Crops and Stuff

Crops and Stuff

by noreply@blogger.com (Tim)

Scout sniffing for any signs of Arne Duncan's Chicago Miracle.

Like Scout, here, I've been sniffin' around for something to write about. The start of the school year wipes me out-- there's so much to do all at once. In technology, there's so much to learn and explain and distribute and fix that there's really isn't time left over to comment on the latest reformy atrocity. Work has kept me away from writing on a daily basis, which as you know is the key to writing anything worthwhile at all. If I step away from writing even for a day, then the smallest writing task seems too large to bother with.

I can vaguely remember a time before I wrote regularly; writing was such an at-school-only hoop-jumping exercise that it seemed pointless and endlessly frustrating. Nothing I said was ever right. Then I signed up for a writing class just to be with my friend, and the teacher of that class was

Daily Kos: So you want to write/opine about education?

So you want to write/opine about education?

by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken)

Good for you.

But before you do, I have four questions for you. I'd like you to be able to describe and/or explain each of the following, if you would be so kind.

1. Reggio Emelia

2. Campbell's Law

3. Simpson's Paradox

4. The Zone of Proximal Development

What, you are not even sure you've heard of most of them?

Congratulations, that might, based on my experience at a conference with a number of members of the

Human Teratology: Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders | Special Needs in Education

Human Teratology: Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders

UCSD Department of Pediatrics & the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences bring together world-renowned experts in the field of Human Teratology in a new series providing clinicians an update on the environmental causes of birth defects. In this program, Kenneth Lyons Jones, MD, UCSD School of Medicine, discusses Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders. Series: “Human Teratology: Environmental Causes of Birth Defects” [3/2007] [Health and Medicine] [Professional Medical Education] [Show ID: 12169]

Sharp Themes Emerge from #AskArne Questions - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher

Sharp Themes Emerge from #AskArne Questions

by Anthony Cody

A few days ago I posted an invitation for people to share questions they have for Arne Duncan, in preparation for his Twitter Town Hall meeting on Wednesday, August 24th.

The questions that are emerging are a fascinating glimpse into the debate over our schools. I reviewed questions, and found some themes emerging. Perhaps it might help us be smart participants if we saw some of the big questions that keep coming up. Here are some key ones. Please keep posting and re-tweeting questions onTwitter, and share your favorites in the comments below. And let's pay close attention to how the key questions are addressed next Wednesday.

TeachMoore Renee Moore asks:

Question 1: Why have a Twitter town hall in middle of school day when many teachers can't

Jersey Jazzman: Corporate "Reformers" HATE Occam's Razor

Corporate "Reformers" HATE Occam's Razor

by Duke

Occam's Razor: "The simplest explanation is most likely the correct one." That's a little simplistic, perhaps, but the principal is important: it shifts the burden of proof away from those who state the obvious and the observable on to those who want to believe in their preconceived notions.

Which brings us to charter schools:

An umbrella group for the city's charter schools says its members outperformed district schools on state exams this year - but admits they serve fewer special-needs kids.
A study by the New York City Charter School Center says charters "have lower enrollment rates for

voiceofsandiego.org: Education

Bragging Rights for a Turnaround SchoolComments | 4:15 pm

When a tiny charter school in San Diego got a massive federal grant thatmore than doubled its annual budget, skeptics said it was a classic example of how California bungles giving out money to turn around faltering schools.

Testing expert Doug McRae argued that California deserved a "Golden Fleece Award" for giving King-Chavez Arts Academy so much more money per pupil than other schools. Stephen Rhoads, a lobbyist who works with school districts, called it "way out of line."

"It's really questionable that those funds are going to be spent well," Rhoads told me last fall.

Read the rest of this article

Kids as Commodities: Virtual Learning and Real Profits | Dissident Voice

Kids as Commodities: Virtual Learning and Real Profits

by Kathleen Wallace Peine

They never surrender when there is still loot to be had. If nothing else, our American army of Privateers continue to find wildly creative methods to continue extracting wealth from the declining Empire. And sometimes the windfalls can come from little children.
I was sitting with my young daughter as she watched a program on television the other day. No, I’m not perfect — I haven’t slung the TV out the window like a person probably should. And, yes, I allow her to watch a show now and then. This particular one is called “Rescue Heroes” and they pretty much just go around rescuing people whether they like it or not. And they tell kids not to start fires. That seems reasonable. So, yeah, I let her

Mass Movements in the USA Today

by Ted Glick

What does it take to build a popular movement that has a chance of succeeding in its objectives? I thought about this a good bit during my recent vacation in the West Virginia mountains.
I’ve been personally involved in several mass movements over the course of my adult life: the draft resistance and anti-Vietnam war movements in the late 60s and early 70s; the very short, very small, but very successful mass movement to impeach/remove President Richard Nixon in 1973-74; the 1980’s Rainbow Coalition movement; the third party movement of the 90’s; the global justice movement in the first years of this century; the movement to end the Iraq war of the past decade; and the climate movement that has been building since about 2005.
Based on these experiences, these are what I would see as the essential components of a genuinely popular

Modern School: Liars, Thieves & Lunatics Guarding the Hen House

Liars, Thieves & Lunatics Guarding the Hen House

by Michael Dunn

From Our Load of Malarkey Department

Michelle Bachman, defending her stint as an employee of the IRS, told supporters that she had infiltrated the IRS to better learn about “the enemy” so she would be better able to dismantle the evil enterprise (seeDemocracy Now). Clearly, this lie was a lame attempt to mollify her anti-tax Tea Party supporters who were considering jumping ship at the thought that she was a carpet bagging tea bagger. Regardless of her motivations, the statement is an admission that she opposes a fundamental branch of the government she

Court Rules in Favor of Teacher Who Ridiculed Creationism

by Michael Dunn

The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco has dismissed a student's lawsuit against a high school history instructor who ridiculed creationism and religious fundamentalism in the classroom, the SF Chronicle reported this morning.

One of the comments in question involved calling a former teacher’s promotion of anti-evolutionary ideas "religious, superstitious nonsense."

A student sued, saying that the teacher’s comments violated the constitutional requirement of government neutrality because they were hostile toward religion. However, the court said that a public employee can only be sued for violating clearly established constitutional rights. In this

Saturday coffee. + Old school « Fred Klonsky's blog

Saturday coffee. « Fred Klonsky's blog

Saturday coffee.

by Fred Klonsky

Our Brooklyn grandkids and their mom are about to witness a classic Chicago late summer thunderstorm. Ulysses is already hiding out in some corner of the house.

Yesterday’s opening day of school was a pleasant surprise for everyone.

For some reason the Type 75s in our district decided that we could figure out what to teach this year without a power point presentation of district goals.

They hired a guy who does a motivational talk about school life that was actually pretty funny. What I could hear

Old school.

by Fred Klonsky

The Specials.

Class Warfare: Fact checking pages 1 through 100 | Gary Rubinstein's TFA Blog

When the new book ‘Class Warfare’ came out, the story of the current ed reform movement featuring TFA and KIPP, I refused to buy it, since I didn’t want anyone to profit from passing fiction and fantasy off as non-fiction.

But when I received a complimentary copy as a gift from my frequent debate opponent, Whitney Tilson, I promised that I would, at least, read it.

Analyzing a short research paper or an hour long debate is one thing, but a 500 page book — well, I was hoping that I wouldn’t find much to say about it since I really don’t have the time, yet I can’t resist.

Page 1 starts innocuously enough, but then one of the most misleading sentences in the entire first 100 pages occurs on page 2. Jon Schnur is one of the protagonists of the book, designing Race To The Top and advising Clinton and others on education. Schnur is a very sophisticated

Cheer the President, Boo His Motives - Hispanically Speaking News

Cheer the President, Boo His Motives

0 Comments

August 20, 2011 | by HS News Staff

Photo Credits: Obama on Deportations

The decision made by the Obama administration this week to focus its deportation efforts on serious threats to national security should be applauded by Latinos and progressives alike. It seems that President Obama has finally expressed his support for the Latino base that helped elect him in 2008.

Yet, while the administration’s policy shift will provide relief for tens of thousands of undocumented citizens unjustly living in fear of deportation, I find it unfortunate that the decision was made for political reason rather than on its moral merit.

The night Obama was elected president one chilly November night, I smoked a celebratory cigar with friends at an Election Day party. His presidency, I hoped, would bring to fruition all

What is Conscious Community in the Field of Education (and Parenting)? « Cooperative Catalyst

What is Conscious Community in the Field of Education (and Parenting)?

by Ba Luvmour

Community is created by individuals who share common values. Conscious community means that the well-being of the consciousness of all constituents is the highest priority. Implied is that nourishing consciousness leads to the best possible outcomes of all community members.

What do most educators know about a child’s consciousness? Given my 30 years of engagement in the field I confidently assert: not much, and certainly not enough. And as long as that ignorance pervades then, no matter how well intentioned, programs and curricula with have minimal impact. Inversely, were the consciousness of children the primary consideration, education would become vivacious, relevant, and a locus of growth and

Latest News and Comment from Education

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Human Teratology: Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders

Class Warfare: Fact checking pages 1 through 100

Cheer the President, Boo His Motives