Jerry Brown’s fresh start: Local control tied to accountability | Thoughts on Public Education

Jerry Brown’s fresh start: Local control tied to accountability | Thoughts on Public Education:

Jerry Brown’s fresh start: Local control tied to accountability - by Eric Hanushek

by Eric Hanushek

Gov. Jerry Brown made two important statements about K-12 education in his State of the State speech on Wednesday. First, it is very important to have a strong accountability system that makes student achievement the focal point of our schools. Second, within that accountability system, local districts should have discretion to decide how to provide [...]

Finnishing School - by Kathryn Baron

by Kathryn Baron

Forget Santa Claus and saunas, the biggest export from Finland these days is its educational system. During a two-day conference this week at Stanford University, Finnish educators discussed how they improved so dramatically and what the United States can learn from the Nordic country. Finnish education reform can be summed up in ten points, according to [...]

The Innovative Educator: Are schools making our children illiterate to make a profit?

The Innovative Educator: Are schools making our children illiterate to make a profit?:

Are schools making our children illiterate to make a profit?

by noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Nielsen)

Professional writer and filmmaker Peter Kowalke didn't start reading until he was 11 which wasn't a problem for him because he didn't go to school. He explained it to me this way.

In school you read about doing things. I preferred to spend my early childhood doing things rather than reading about doing things.

He shared that this wasn't even something he thought about much. When learning to read independently became more of a priority for him, he began picking up reading and from that point on there was no turning back. Peter is not unusual. Dr. Peter Gray studies young people who were never schooled because they were unschooled or attended a Democratic

Reasons an innovative educator likes the Google Chromebook and some things I'd like improved

by noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Nielsen)

I have been using Google’s Chromebook for the couple months, and while there were some things I don’t like, overall, it has moved up as my top recommendation for a learning device for a number of reasons. Schools will love that it eliminates the need to purchase software licenses, servers, costly security solutions, and maintenance plans.

The total cost of owning a Chromebook is up to 70% lower than the ownership costs for a traditional PC. After 3 years, schools receive a whole new set of Chromebooks and can

The Gifted/ADHD Connection

by noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Nielsen)

Guest post by Dori Staehle | Cross posted at Next Stage Educational Consulting

It reads like something from a science fiction novel: Millions of schoolchildren lining up everyday for the medication that will make them sit still, pay attention – and behave! Orwell’s1984 or Kurt Vonnegut’s Harrison Bergeron perhaps?

This is life imitating art. We’ve become so convinced that children need to be medicated in order to learn that we’ve completely ignored what’s really causing their inattention and hyperactivity in the first place.

As an educational consultant and private tutor, I’ve seen children medicated needlessly. I’ve seen the prevalent side effects, I’ve heard from

Seattle Schools Community Forum: My No to Charters

Seattle Schools Community Forum: My No to Charters:

My No to Charters

by Melissa Westbrook

I'm going to express my thoughts about charters in general and then, in a separate thread, give an analysis of the current charter legislation.

I waited until I had finished my series on charters. I gave time for readers to read the series and hopefully, thoughtfully consider the evidence and experience that other states have had. You may have noticed that I put the series (with links) at the top right of the blog along with a link to the State Legislature page that shows how to contact your legislator to give your opinion.

I will say this again - this blog is the only place that truly tried to give factual and complete information in order to allow readers to educate themselves on this issue. We have never had charters in this state and so there are likely many, many people who don't even have a vague idea about what they are.

This did not happen at LEV, Stand for Children or through the state PTSA organization. They could have done this but chose not to do so. Ask yourself why. Why would there be pro and con discussions about charters

City Club is Looking for Heroes

by Melissa Westbrook

I was pleased to find out that City Club took over the Jefferson Awards went the PI went dark. The Jefferson Awards "recognize, inspire and activate volunteerism and public service in communities, workplaces and schools across America." The awards are presented on a national and local level. The program started in 1972 "to create a Nobel Prize for public service."

"From the beginning the Jefferson awards has been based on a simple idea. One of the most powerful ideas in the world. One person can make a difference. That is the heart of democracy at work."

I was nominated for the work we did as part of the entire Closure and Consolidation Committee. It was

Parents United for Responsible Education

Parents United for Responsible Education:

Update on SFC phone blitz

admin at PURE - 8 hours ago

We were using the phone last night sometime after 7 pm when our SFC call came in. The voice mail message that “Jackie” left for us said she was sorry she missed us but that she was with Stand for Children and that if we, like them, want better education for children, we should look [...]

Education’s 1% – how vulture philanthropists dictate school policy

admin at PURE - 8 hours ago

A day or so ago, I re-read Joanne Barkan’s excellent article, “Got Dough? How Billionaires Rule Our Schools.” about the Bill Gates-Eli Broad-Walton family oligarchy that is dictating much of public school policy these days, and I was struck by her final paragraph, which hadn’t jumped out the first time I read it (before Occupy [...]

Trouble in Arizona’s charter school paradise?

admin at PURE - 8 hours ago

Arizona has more charter schools than any other state in the nation, and has no charter cap. If Arne Duncan is to be believed, Arizona – with so much charter school “innovation” and “courage” – ought to be the best possible place for your child to get an education. Let’s see how that looks in [...]

$tand for Children calling 50,000 Chicagoans tonight

admin at PURE - 8 hours ago

This is the kind of thing a group can do when it’s getting big bucks from Bill Gates, WalMart and other folks who are working to destroy public education. Saying that they just want to hear from parents, and “help” them, the astroturf group Stand for Children has paid for a radio ad blitz supporting [...]

Eva Helwing: a true educator

admin at PURE - 8 hours ago

In all the storm and stress about schools these days, it helps to be reminded what a real educator can do. The life of Eva Helwing, who died last week, provides just such an illustration. Mrs. Helwing was the first principal of Inter-American Magnet School, which pioneered dual language education in Chicago. IAMS was also [...]

PSAT for 1-17-12: Time to put pressure where it really hurts

admin at PURE - 2 days ago

For the past few years I’ve been trying pretty much single-handedly to goad people into a boycott of Microsoft, WalMart, and other corporations behind the attack on public education. Three years ago, I publicly vowed to stop using the Microsoft operating system, and I did. The bottom point under Take Action on the right hand [...]

PSAT for 1-17-12: Time to put pressure where it hurts

admin at PURE - 2 days ago

For the past few years I’ve been trying pretty much single-handedly to goad people into a boycott of Microsoft, WalMart, and other corporations behind the attack on public education. Three years ago, I publicly vowed to stop using the Microsoft operating system, and I did. The bottom point under Take Action on the right hand [...]

For MLK Day – “Put pressure where it really hurts”

admin at PURE - 3 days ago

Last year on the observance of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday, I offered this quote from Dr. King’s famous last message, the “Mountaintop” speech: We don’t have to argue with anybody. We don’t have to curse and go around acting bad with our words. We don’t need any bricks and bottles. We [...]

Robin rocks

admin at PURE - 1 week ago

FOX Chicago’s Robin Robinson has been taking a no-nonsense approach to public education in Chicago for a while (disclaimer – I’ve been on her schools segment a couple of times). She actually asks the questions WE would ask – the ones that we usually end up shouting at the TV during these interviews. Last night [...]

PSAT for 1-10-12: Do this, read this, watch this

admin at PURE - 1 week ago

There’s so much going on in public education right now (thanks to everyone who has been active and activist, fighting the war against our public schools) that I have had a hard time keeping up – so, for Public Schools Action Tuesday today, here’s a quick round up for you, to help you stay in [...]

“Fire Chris Koch”: ISBE chief hid real costs of testing company junkets

admin at PURE - 1 week ago

The Pearson junket scandal broke — i.e. was actually reported – a few months ago in New York, and the NY state attorney general is now investigating local education officials, but Chicago media seems uninterested in the fact that Illinois State Superintendent Chris Koch also took advantage of free trips around the world courtesy of [...]

NYC Educator: Is it Real, or Is it Corporate Media Crap?

NYC Educator: Is it Real, or Is it Corporate Media Crap?:

Is it Real, or Is it Corporate Media Crap?

by NYC Educator

Take heart, my brother and sister teachers, and don't believe all the crap they plaster all over the papers. Were you to do that, you'd need to believe:

Hedge fund managers care about kids. Teachers don't.

It's kind of amazing to watch the people who put the economy in the toilet, where it still is, lecture us on yet another topic about which they know nothing. I mean, you'd think that once these people failed so miserably in their own field, they wouldn't presume to jump into another. Still, there is great allure in breaking what is likely the last bastion of vibrant unionism, to wit, us,

I’m not publishing any more comments attacking Roger Ebert. I like Roger Ebert « Fred Klonsky

I’m not publishing any more comments attacking Roger Ebert. I like Roger Ebert « Fred Klonsky:

I’m not publishing any more comments attacking Roger Ebert. I like Roger Ebert

by Fred Klonsky

I like Roger Ebert.

A year ago, a year ago, I posted a brief comment applauding Roger Ebert for changing his mind about the faux documentary Waiting for Superman on Twitter. My post got picked up by the Washington Post.

Waiting for Superman, you may recall, was part of a larger effort by supporters of charter schools to build public

Calling B.S When Confronted with B.S: The Nations Drop out Rate is Proof that American Public Education is failing « Cooperative Catalyst

Calling B.S When Confronted with B.S: The Nations Drop out Rate is Proof that American Public Education is failing « Cooperative Catalyst:

Calling B.S When Confronted with B.S: The Nations Drop out Rate is Proof that American Public Education is failing

by Jabreel Chisley

In order to uplift a people they need to be educated, emboldened, empowered, and entrusted with a sense of worthiness and purpose. Without one of those six things you have a population of people who can’t rationalize, who can’t revolutionize, who can’t problem-solve, and who can’t embrace innovation. Without one of the six above things you have a people who are crippled, who are powerless and who are voiceless.

However, it’s the first of the above stated things that yields the most importance because it’s the main ingredient that brings all the others together in harmony. It’s rather redundant to expect a people to do any of the others if they lack that main ingredient and that is exactly what’s being done to America’s youth. Our education system no longer works to educate, embolden, empower, or entrust with a sense of worth and purpose. It instead works coercively to restrain with intellectual constraint, limiting potential and dreams along the way in retaliation for

What Can We Learn from Educational Change in Finland? (Pasi Sahlberg) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

What Can We Learn from Educational Change in Finland? (Pasi Sahlberg) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice:

What Can We Learn from Educational Change in Finland? (Pasi Sahlberg)

by larrycuban

For the past few years, U.S. policymakers and pundits have conducted a love affair with the Finnish education system. This not the first time that policy elites have looked abroad for ways of transforming U.S. schools into jet-powered engines promoting economic growth. Remember how Japanese schools (and later Singapore and Korea) were praised for their performance in creating “Asian Tigers” in the 1980s. This passion for seeing the future in other nation’s schools–once it was even Soviet schools–now has fixed upon Finnish schools.

Pasi Sahlberg is director of the Finnish Ministry of Education’s Center for International Mobility and author of the new book Finnish Lessons: What Can the World Learn from Educational Change in Finland? He posted this sensible way of borrowing from another nation on his blog November 5, 2011.

“I think the first lesson that Finland offers to other educational reformers is that whole-system reform can be successful only if it is inspiring to all involved and thereby energizes people to work together for intended

Mother Crusader: Who is Amir Khan? WHERE is Amir Khan!?!

Mother Crusader: Who is Amir Khan? WHERE is Amir Khan!?!:

Who is Amir Khan? WHERE is Amir Khan!?!

by darciecima

At a Town Hall meeting in Voorhees, New Jersey yesterday several vocal Voorhees and Cherry Hill residents challenged Governor Christie about the approval of the Regis Academy Charter School. The Rev. Amir Khan is the lead founder of Regis Academy and also the senior pastor of the Solid Rock Worship Center, which will house the charter.

Regis Academy was approved in September of 2011 as one of only four charters approved in that round of applications. The New Jersey Department of Education said the four approvals were a result of a rigorous review process and they were confident the four schools would offer students a great education on day one of the school year.”

In New Jersey Monthly however, Sara Butrymowicz reported that David Sciarra of the Education Law Center felt the low number of approvals raised “a lot of red flags of what’s really going on behind closed doors at the

Teaching Quality and California’s Future « InterACT

Teaching Quality and California’s Future « InterACT:

Teaching Quality and California’s Future

by David B. Cohen

State Capitol Building (photo by the author)

Today in Sacramento (beginning at 9:30 a.m.), Accomplished California Teachers (ACT) will co-present “Teaching Quality and California’s Future” – an event sponsored by the Stuart Foundation and organized by ACT, the Center for Teaching Quality (CTQ), and Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy Equity (SCOPE). We are excited to see months of planning culminating in what we hope will be an informative and useful event for our audience.

I’ll try to post short, timely updates on some of the highlights and takeaways of the day, with more of the