Thursday, June 21, 2012
Geaux Teacher!: REMEMBER PAUL VALLAS?
Geaux Teacher!: REMEMBER PAUL VALLAS?:
REMEMBER PAUL VALLAS?
Remember Paul Vallas? - he's the guy who followed up the destruction of our schools by Katrina with further destruction of the entire public school system with hurrican Reform! Well he has finished up with Chile (or was thrown out) and is now collecting a cool million $ to destroy Connecticut schools. Check out what he left in Chile!!!! Are we getting the big picture here yet?
More than 10,000 High School Chilean Students March for 'Free Education' | Common Dreams
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/06/21-1
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http://pureparents.org/?p=19376
Father of High-Stakes Testing, Paul Vallas, now opposes them
Reuters reports that former Chicago Public Schools Chief Executive Officer Paul Vallas thinks end-of-year assessments are “not useful” and that it’s “a big mistake” to use them for high-stakes purposes.
Well, he needs to apologize to about 125,000 Chicago Public School students who have been flunked because of the high-stakes testing policy he started in 1996 as CPS CEO. And maybe his “education consulting firm” can
More than 10,000 High School Chilean Students March for 'Free Education' | Common Dreams
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/06/21-1
* * * * * * *
http://pureparents.org/?p=19376
Father of High-Stakes Testing, Paul Vallas, now opposes them
Reuters reports that former Chicago Public Schools Chief Executive Officer Paul Vallas thinks end-of-year assessments are “not useful” and that it’s “a big mistake” to use them for high-stakes purposes.
Well, he needs to apologize to about 125,000 Chicago Public School students who have been flunked because of the high-stakes testing policy he started in 1996 as CPS CEO. And maybe his “education consulting firm” can
Corporate Education Reform - Michigan Style | MLive.com
Emergency manager recommends Highland Park become a charter school district, as state educators fear plan will spread to others | MLive.com:
Review Board Members Rob Bovitz, left, Fredrick Headen, center, and Carol Wolenberg listens to residents during the open meeting with the review team for Highland Park School District in February. The process led to an emergency manager set in place.
Emergency manager recommends Highland Park become a charter school district, as state educators fear plan will spread to others
Published: Monday, June 18, 2012, 5:31 PM Updated: Monday, June 18, 2012, 5:52 PM
Review Board Members Rob Bovitz, left, Fredrick Headen, center, and Carol Wolenberg listens to residents during the open meeting with the review team for Highland Park School District in February. The process led to an emergency manager set in place.GRAND RAPIDS, MI – Highland Park School District’s emergency manager is recommending the financially struggling system be turned over to a charter school operator to help pay down the system’s debt while still providing an education.
The move comes after state Board of Education members raised concerns about a similar agreement in Muskegon Heights becoming the norm for struggling schools -- and were told that the Muskegon Heights move was “unique.”
Highland Park emergency manager Joyce Parker announced Monday she was planning a public forum on Wednesday to discuss theplan to convert schools to charters to eliminate a $11.3 million deficit.
Under the plan, the district would continue to levy property taxes. Normally locally collected money is rolled into per-student state aid. But charter schools – which can’t levy property taxes -- would be able to collect the full amount from the state, allowing property
On the ethics of selling slingshots :: Sabrina Joy Stevens
On the ethics of selling slingshots :: Sabrina Joy Stevens:
On the ethics of selling slingshots
I was very happy when I learned of Change.org’s decision to end their relationships with two astroturf organizations operating against the common good in education. It’s always heartening to see how people faced with tough decisions can listen to (often heated) input and weigh sometimes competing concerns. Having spoken to some of their staff, I know they take our concerns very seriously, and I applaud them for having the courage to publicly take this important first step towards ensuring that their business commitments fully align with their stated values.
For those unfamiliar with why this became such a contentious issue, let’s return to the David and Goliath metaphor some of Change.org’s staff and many commentators use to describe the site’s impact.
How would you feel about King Saul if, just after sending a slingshot-armed David into battle, he
NYC Public School Parents: Reactions to sample Common core questions; what do you think?
NYC Public School Parents: Reactions to sample Common core questions; what do you think?:
Reactions to sample Common core questions; what do you think?
NYS Education Commissioner John King released sample Common Core questions this week. Here are some responses from parents and former teachers on the NYC Education list. Please take a look and add your comments below.
Jeff Nichols: parent of 3rd grader:
Well, I looked at the sample 3rd grade ELA questions. Utterly bizarre. I would never put this material in front of my 8-year- olds (avid, enthusiastic, proficient readers both). The Tolstoy translation is stilted and boring, and full of inappropriate vocabulary (hoarfrost? caftan? threshing-floor?) It's as though the selection were made to project this to the kids: "reading is excruciatingly dull and confusing; maybe you thought you could do it, but I'm here to tell you 8-year-olds are stupid and teachers (and test designers) are smart.
You're going to have to work like a dog and suffer a lot if you want to pass this test." Honestly, I thought the practice tests that came home all year as homework were bad, buy they were just mealy, unreadable trivial
Louisiana Believes Advisory Committees | The G Bitch Spot
Louisiana Believes Advisory Committees | The G Bitch Spot:
Louisiana Believes Advisory Committees
Louisiana Believes Advisory Committees
FINAL LOUISIANA BELIEVES PLAN INTRODUCED AND ADVISORY COMMITTEES NAMED: Statewide School Board Meeting Tour to Follow Announcement. Press release. 6/18/2012. PDF.
Louisiana believes what exactly?
Of the principal advisory committee’s 23 members, 5 are from Orleans. The 11-member superintendents advisory committee, a small one, has the superintendents of KIPP and Crescent City Schools. The teaching advisory committee has 76 members, one from Orleans. Yes, one, even though NOLA still has the largest school “system” in the state.
Hm.
Louisiana believes what exactly?
Of the principal advisory committee’s 23 members, 5 are from Orleans. The 11-member superintendents advisory committee, a small one, has the superintendents of KIPP and Crescent City Schools. The teaching advisory committee has 76 members, one from Orleans. Yes, one, even though NOLA still has the largest school “system” in the state.
Hm.
EDUCATION AND THE WHIPLASH IT’S CAUSED | GoingPublic
EDUCATION AND THE WHIPLASH IT’S CAUSED | GoingPublic:
The marvels of Facebook surprised me again last week. A former student–this time from 1968–’found’ me through my daughter’s work. Thanks, Liz (mom-101.com.) Wendy reminded me of “Alice in Bookland,” the film we made when she was in the 4th grade. Her gracious message brought on a wonderland of memories.
I followed my reverie to the basement where I store students’ love notes, workshop handouts, binders, class photos. Memories.
While I was downstairs I decided to go through the material I offered as I facilitated professional development
EDUCATION AND THE WHIPLASH IT’S CAUSED
The marvels of Facebook surprised me again last week. A former student–this time from 1968–’found’ me through my daughter’s work. Thanks, Liz (mom-101.com.) Wendy reminded me of “Alice in Bookland,” the film we made when she was in the 4th grade. Her gracious message brought on a wonderland of memories.I followed my reverie to the basement where I store students’ love notes, workshop handouts, binders, class photos. Memories.
While I was downstairs I decided to go through the material I offered as I facilitated professional development
Secretary’s Mom Inspires National Service at Chicago Conference | ED.gov Blog
Secretary’s Mom Inspires National Service at Chicago Conference | ED.gov Blog:
Secretary’s Mom Inspires National Service at Chicago Conference
Who inspires you?
Secretary of Education Arne Duncan’s hero is his mother, Sue Duncan, who founded a tutoring center in one of Chicago’s toughest neighborhoods 51 years ago, and continues to lead it today.
The Secretary used his mom’s story to stir an audience of more than 3,000 members of volunteer organizations from throughout the U.S., as she listened from the front row at the plenary session on “Celebrating the Power of Service in Education” for the National Conference on Volunteering and Service in their hometown Chicago on June 19. Wendy Spencer, CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) and CNN’s Soledad O’Brien joined Secretary Duncan for the session.
“It’s been an amazing journey,” said Duncan of his mom’s work, which began not far from the conference’s site with “just 9 girls in the downstairs of a church” and has grown to help thousands.
Secretary Duncan announces Together for Tomorrow in Dubuque, Iowa in April. Official Department of Education photo by Paul Wood.
“You had kids — who started off very low, academically — start to do extraordinarily well,” he said. “There were no excuses. If kids weren’t fed, she’d feed them. If kids didn’t have clean clothes, we’d take their clothes home to wash them and bring them back the next day. Whatever it took to help kids fulfill their potential, that’s what her focus was.”
Sue Duncan also demonstrated courage, said her son.
“The church (where the tutoring center was located) was fire bombed,” he explained. “One of my earliest memories is of carrying boxes of books to a new church, to start over again. We went from this situation with lots of potential violence early on to the community really embracing, supporting and actually protecting us.”
Community support is the vital ingredient of the Together for Tomorrow (TFT) initiative kicked-off earlier this year by ED, CNCS and the White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships at a town hall meeting in Iowa. This has been followed-up with additional forums throughout the nation. With about 25% of young Americans dropping-out of high school each year with no good job opportunities awaiting them, TFT “rallies entire communities to bring together resources in a very targeted and strategic way, to change children’s lives,” said Duncan.
“We need to wrap our hands our arms, our love around these children and support teachers, faculty members, administrators in any way we can. We can do this with service,” Spencer said.
Spencer said that she and Secretary Duncan will soon be announcing the first one-hundred communities across America that will participate in the TFT School Improvement Challenge for the 2012-2013 school year. The Challenge is an opportunity for schools and districts, institutions of higher education, and nonprofit organizations to join with other partners to improve their neediest schools by raising key measurable student outcomes. It is not a new grant program, but rather an approach to better coordinate resources and efforts. Applicants have until June 29, 2012, to submit their plans. More details about the Challenge are at tft.challenge.gov.
While funding is a consistent issue in education, Duncan has learned through his own experiences – beginning with his mother’s efforts — that money is not the ultimate solution.
“Some people think that the only way to fix education is to fix poverty first,” he said. “I think the only way to fix poverty is to fix education.”
–Julie Ewart is the Director of Commun
Michelle Rhee asks NEA and AFT, “Can’t we all just get along?” And she has good reason to ask. « Fred Klonsky
Michelle Rhee asks NEA and AFT, “Can’t we all just get along?” And she has good reason to ask. « Fred Klonsky:
Does MichelleRhee want to paddle Dennis Van Roekel? Or sing a little Kumbayaa?
Here in Chicago Michelle Rhee and her StudentsFirst (I think I’ll start calling her, MichelleRhee.) just got their heads handed to her on a platter by Jennifer Johnson, history teacher and CTU union activist.
MichelleRhee and Jonah Edelman of Stand for Children posted a Change.org petition attacking union collective bargaining rights in Chicago. Johnson posted a petition on Signon.org calling for the self-proclaimed progressive
Michelle Rhee asks NEA and AFT, “Can’t we all just get along?” And she has good reason to ask.
Here in Chicago Michelle Rhee and her StudentsFirst (I think I’ll start calling her, MichelleRhee.) just got their heads handed to her on a platter by Jennifer Johnson, history teacher and CTU union activist.
MichelleRhee and Jonah Edelman of Stand for Children posted a Change.org petition attacking union collective bargaining rights in Chicago. Johnson posted a petition on Signon.org calling for the self-proclaimed progressive
EXCLUSIVE: Failed DC Chancellor Michelle Rhee To For-Profit College Industry: "You're Doing Incredible Work" | Republic Report
EXCLUSIVE: Michelle Rhee To For-Profit College Industry: "You're Doing Incredible Work" | Republic Report:
She promised a bang, but delivered a whimper.
Republic Report was the first to report that Michelle Rhee, the hard-charging former chancellor of the District of Columbia public schools, would be addressing the Las Vegas annual convention of APSCU, the largest trade association for the controversial for-profit college industry. Not everyone is a fan of Rhee’s approach to education reform, but she is a prominent figure, and we expressed concern that, unless Rhee used the opportunity to sharply criticize her hosts, her appearance would look like an endorsement of an industry where many schools offer a toxic mix of deceptive
Seattle Schools Community Forum: Updates + Decline to Sign
Seattle Schools Community Forum: Updates:
Updates
Breaking news from the West Seattle Blog; Executive Director Aurora Lora is leaving the district. She's going to Dallas as an assistant superintendent. Her last day is July 6th.
That's one TFA gone (and I hear we lost another in HR).
Decline to Sign flyer here.
Going to the Gay Pride parade? There an SPS float in it that will be decorated as a school bus.
The Board approved the change to the advertising policy and will permit it on school calendar, scoreboards, etc. Not sure where (high school only?) and when it starts.
From SPS (to update your calendar):
Seattle Public School employees will again take unpaid furlough days in the 2012-13 school year to help balance the budget and prioritize classroom funding.
Furlough days for teachers and other Seattle Education Association-represented employees include Wednesday, Aug. 29, 2012, and a half-day on Feb. 14, 2013.
Principals will take a furlough day on Jan. 3, 2013. Non-represented employees, meanwhile, will take Aug. 29, 2012, and Dec. 26, 2012, and upper management staff will take an additional two days on April 19, 2013, and July 5, 2013.
The John Stanford Center for Educational Excellence will be closed on Wednesday, Aug. 29, 2012.
That's one TFA gone (and I hear we lost another in HR).
Decline to Sign flyer here.
Going to the Gay Pride parade? There an SPS float in it that will be decorated as a school bus.
The Board approved the change to the advertising policy and will permit it on school calendar, scoreboards, etc. Not sure where (high school only?) and when it starts.
From SPS (to update your calendar):
Seattle Public School employees will again take unpaid furlough days in the 2012-13 school year to help balance the budget and prioritize classroom funding.
Furlough days for teachers and other Seattle Education Association-represented employees include Wednesday, Aug. 29, 2012, and a half-day on Feb. 14, 2013.
Principals will take a furlough day on Jan. 3, 2013. Non-represented employees, meanwhile, will take Aug. 29, 2012, and Dec. 26, 2012, and upper management staff will take an additional two days on April 19, 2013, and July 5, 2013.
The John Stanford Center for Educational Excellence will be closed on Wednesday, Aug. 29, 2012.
School Tech Connect: Father, Forgive Them..
School Tech Connect: Father, Forgive Them..:
Father, Forgive Them..
For they do not know what they are doing..
From the man who came up with Race to the Top, a program that took all of the worst aspects of NCLB and made them worse. No successful nation on earth does anything like what Arne Duncan has inflicted on America. He's the national version of mayoral control.
From the man who came up with Race to the Top, a program that took all of the worst aspects of NCLB and made them worse. No successful nation on earth does anything like what Arne Duncan has inflicted on America. He's the national version of mayoral control.
NJ Spotlight | Op-Ed: Tenure Reform -- The Teacher Perspective
NJ Spotlight | Op-Ed: Tenure Reform -- The Teacher Perspective:
Op-Ed: Tenure Reform -- The Teacher Perspective
Op-Ed: Tenure Reform -- The Teacher PerspectiveDespite all the misunderstandings and misinformation, tenure simply means teachers have the right to due process
The tenure bill (S-1455) sponsored by Democratic State Senator Theresa Ruiz (D-Essex) is the latest attack on teachers demonstrating New Jersey legislators’ bipartisan support of the corporate education agenda. These anti-teacher reforms, couched in the language of equity and democracy, harm our nation’s kids living in poverty, kids of color, kids who speak English as a second language, and kids with disabilities (although often these categories are one and the same) by covering up thereal sources of failure: widespread child poverty, institutionalized racism, inequitable access to quality education that reproduces societal inequality, and recently, a deliberate starving of public education monetarily. The mainstream coverage of the bill in New Jersey also shows that those who have a voice in this issue lack even a precursory understanding of what “tenure” means and does for K-12 teachers, so here is a short lesson.
“Tenure” simply means that a teacher has the right to due process -- that’s it -- and teachers are not granted tenure automatically. After three years, during which their administrator must conductnine formal observations to determine whether the teacher is effective, the administrator signs off
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