Saturday, July 21, 2012

by dianerav

Great Chicago Fire

A reader writes about the injustice of closing schools in Chicago instead of helping them.
It s odd to think that Chicago is now our national model of school reform, as Chicago continues to rank in the bottom tier on NAEP in reading and math, in fourth grade and eighth grade.

In Chicago, 10 more schools lost ALL their staff and administration to turnarounds this year . They will be opening in the fall with a much younger, less-diverse staff but the same students (Black and Hispanic).One school, Pablo Casals, posted an 8% gain in its ISAT scores , in a year when the system average gain was only 0.9%. It is at par with all its neighborhood schools, and outscored over 100 elementary schools in Chicago ( even in 2011). Still, it was put on the list and acted upon by CPS , and now its teachers ( the ones who helped achieve that 8% gain) are spread out across the city. Weary from this process, many moved on to much

How Corporate Talk Prevails

by dianerav

Rita Solnet is a parent activist in Florida who works hard to support public education in Palm Beach County, in Florida, and across the nation. She is a co-founder of Parents Across America.
She writes in response to the article about whether schools are and are not like businesses:

I am a product of corporate America and still involved in organizational consulting for corporate America.I listened to the lobbyists and the FL BOE members recklessly scatter business terms throughout their State BOE meeting this week. At one point I wanted to shout “these business terms are for companies with products; they’re not meant for the process of educating children.” Not to mention the fact that some of the terms were preposterously misused.Frequently interspersed with education jargon were terms like: Rebranding; ROI (return on investment);, ROA (return on assets); Six Sigma (a program emphasizing quality and perfection in

My Vision for Urban Education (Guest Post by Mark Naison) « Cooperative Catalyst

My Vision for Urban Education (Guest Post by Mark Naison) « Cooperative Catalyst:

My Vision for Urban Education (Guest Post by Mark Naison)

by dloitz

I am extremely critical of current trends in education policy which involve deluging schools with standardized tests and rating teachers, administrators and whole institutions based on test result. Such policies result in school disengagement on the part of students, destroy teacher morale, and magnify health problems in poor and working class communities by crowding out exercise and the arts.
Given my criticism of existing policies, skeptics have a right to ask-“What do you want to see urban schools doing that they are not doing now.” So let me take the time to lay out my own vision of what kind of things urban schools should be doing that will promote student engagement, parent involvement, teacher excitement, and transform schools into centers of community empowerment
Portions of what I am talking about are already being done by schools all over the country. I invite you to see

Florida BOE Member Belittles Local School Board Members as a “Constituency” | Scathing Purple Musings

Florida BOE Member Belittles Local School Board Members as a “Constituency” | Scathing Purple Musings:

Florida BOE Member Belittles Local School Board Members as a “Constituency”

by Bob Sikes

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush

The arrogance of Florida’s Jeb Bush’s education policy establishment reared its head in Tuesday’s Fort Lauderdale meeting. From Leslie Postal in the Orlando Sentinel:

Board member Akshay Desai, a physician from Tampa, said he was glad the state was able to “fend off” attacks from those, in his view, who are “trying to discredit” testing in Florida. He mentioned a certain “constituency” that does like testing, apparently a reference to Florida school boards approving resolutions that argued an over emphasis on standardized testing was hurting education in Florida.
”We have been able to continue to fend off the unnecessary attacks on the A+ system,” he said, adding that he thought Education Commissioner Gerard Robinson had done a good job answering

Schools Matter: Letters in Sunday's NY Times "Sunday Dialogue": Common Core

Schools Matter: Letters in Sunday's NY Times "Sunday Dialogue": Common Core:

Letters in Sunday's NY Times "Sunday Dialogue": Common Core

by skrashen

Letter posted to the NY Times website, July 16, 2012. Readers were invited to respond to this letter for the NY Times Sunday Dialogue with the understand that I would respond.

To the Editor: The common core movement seems to be common sense: Our schools should have similar standards, what students should know at each grade. The movement, however, is based on the false assumption that our schools are broken, that ineffective teaching is the problem and that rigorous standards and tests are necessary to improve things. The mediocre performance of American students on international tests seems to show that our schools are doing poorly. But students from middle-class homes who attend well-funded schools rank among the best in world on these tests, which means that teaching is not the problem. The problem is

Bricks and Mortar Schools vs. Cyberspace

by Judy Rabin

Finally getting the message straight.

Taxpayers are funding privately-held, no transparency cyber charter schools with that giant sucking sound - moving jobs, not overseas like with NAFTA for cheap labor but bringing it to a school and a neighborhood near you. Who needs building, gyms, cafeterias, food, nurses, or teachers when all you need is to put a kid in front of a computer. Pa Cyber will take care of your kids, don't worry just because Pa is a crook.

Cyber excess: Taxpayers should not over-fund charter schools

July 20, 2012 12:00 am

/ Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

There is something very wrong with an education funding system that has public school districts chopping staff and ending programs while a publicly funded charter school is making so much money that it can pay millions to

Saturday coffee. « Fred Klonsky

Saturday coffee. « Fred Klonsky:

Saturday coffee.

by Fred Klonsky

Popout

Last night was beautiful. A short break in the 90 degree summer we’ve been sweating through.
Anne and I walked up to the Monument where the Milwaukee Avenue Arts Festival is running this weekend.
Our friend Peter has a couple of large-scale photographs on exhibit. Peter used to work for the City and was Mayor Washington’s photographer. He, like me, is retired now and taking his photography is new directions. They’re great.
We stopped at Lula on the way home. We sat at the bar and Anne had a gin and tonic with some locally made gin. It’s made by a little company started by the bartender somewhere on the north side. Anne said it was pretty

Old school.

by Fred Klonsky

Carl Perkins.

Arne.

by Fred Klonsky

The in box. Those who crafted SB7 regret not making it even more union busting.

Fred Klonsky at Fred Klonsky - 20 hours ago

Fred, I’m sure those who crafted SB7 just regret not making it even more union busting. I’m sure they wish they’d called for a 99% threshold for a strike vote. I’m sure they wished they’d specified that Michelle Rhee or Jonah Edelman as the fact finder. I’m sure they don’t think this was a failure [...]

To be vindicated on Senate Bill 7 doesn’t make it any better.

Fred Klonsky at Fred Klonsky - 21 hours ago

Let us go back to the Spring of 2011. When the teachers in our local took a look at Senate Bill 7, we were appalled. In fact, when we went to Springfield as a part of the 2011 Lobby Day effort and were told to push for pension protection and for Senate Bill 7, we [...]

Joe McCarthy goes to summer camp.

Fred Klonsky at Fred Klonsky - 1 day ago

Nobody would ever confuse right-wing pundit Tucker Carlson for a progressive Jew. My grandma Esther might have called him a putz. But she would never use such language. Some might confuse him for Joe McCarthy, however. Carlson’s Daily Caller has decided to go after a [...]

The in box. That Governor Quinn – what a swell guy.

Fred Klonsky at Fred Klonsky - 1 day ago

Fred, That Gov. Quinn – what a swell guy. He wants grandma to choose between having to sell her house or getting her blood pressure medicine. He wants grandpa to choose between hiring someone to fix his roof or having that dark mole on his forehead looked at by a dermatologist. He wants your elderly [...]

Will Governor Quinn be able to get a pension deal in August?

Fred Klonsky at Fred Klonsky - 1 day ago

H/T Roger Sanders. Capitol Fax reported that Governor Quinn still has dreams of getting the General Assembly back in session before the November election. The members of the General Assembly may have other ideas. But in Springfield two things can always be counted on. Either nothing happens. Or it happens before you can do anything [...]

Teacher voice. CTU teachers get to tell their story on my favorite TV show, Chicago Newsroom.

Fred Klonsky at Fred Klonsky - 1 day ago

Chicago Newsroom host Ken Davis couldn’t believe a hundred percent of teachers agree on anything. I had to laugh at that. And then cry a little. Team Englewood High School teacher and four-year member of the CTU House of Delegates David Stieber says he’s never seen it happen before. But it happened the other night [...]

Bill Gates’ dreams.

Fred Klonsky at Fred Klonsky - 1 day ago

Rahm’s CPS budget puts a dagger into the heart of neighborhood schools.

Fred Klonsky at Fred Klonsky - 2 days ago

Public Radio station WBEZ and Catalyst analyzed the CPS budget and found: The proposed $5 billion dollar CPS operating budget directs funding to magnet, specialty, selective and charter schools and away from neighborhood schools Nearly 90% of the city’s 100 charter schools will get more money from CPS. 70% of the system’s neighborhood public schools will [...]

The in box. Stephen Colbert on Texas GOP’s opposition to teaching critical thinking skills.

Fred Klonsky at Fred Klonsky - 2 days ago

“I blame Galileo.” Stephen Colbert: ..The minds of our young people are being poisoned by knowledge… I have long praised the Texas Board of Education for their valiant work rewriting our nation’shistory textbooks. But now I believe they’ve got some stiff competition from the Texas GOP, who recently put a plank in their 2012 party [...]

Chicago teachers respond to fact-finder: Not just fair compensation. Reduce class size. Not just a longer day. A better day with art, music, foreign language and physical education.

Fred Klonsky at Fred Klonsky - 2 days ago

Here is the response from CTU President Karen Lewis following the vote of the House of Delegates this afternoon which unanimously rejected the fact-finder’s report: Thank you. I’d like to introduce Chicago Teachers Union Vice President Jesse Sharkey, Recording Secretary Michael Brunson, Financial Secretary Kristine Mayle, and CTU Attorney Robert Bloch.Today the Chicago Teachers Union [...]

Tony at the Red Line Tap.

Fred Klonsky at Fred Klonsky - 2 days ago

“What’s up, Klonsky?” “Give me a bottle of whatsever cold,” I mumbled to Marty behind the bar. We’ve had thirty-one days of 90 degrees and above in Chicago so far this summer. “It’s so hot, the sun makes me woozy,” I told Tony. “The beer will help. Just pour it over your head,” said Tony. [...]

Life in Rahm’s Chicago. Teachers take Rahm to school.

Fred Klonsky at Fred Klonsky - 3 days ago

Even the Chicago Sun-Times, which was recently bought by close pals of the Mayor, have pointed out the obvious. Chicago teachers have taken Rahm to school. For a political chess player who never makes a move without thinking three moves ahead, Mayor Rahm Emanuel looks more like a high school clubber than a grand master [...]

The in box. Legislators as Willie Sutton.

Fred Klonsky at Fred Klonsky - 3 days ago

Since Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan prefers to see the cost of the pension benefits as the cause of our state’s pension problem, it came as no surprise this past spring that he proposed a solution that called for reducing the cost of the COLA for active teachers and other current public employees. What did [...]

The problem with our underfunded TRS is not investment shortfalls.

Fred Klonsky at Fred Klonsky - 3 days ago

When I appeared on the radio show Stocks and Jocks with Tom “The Chief” Hough, our only major difference was on the issue of investment returns. Tom considered this one of the main reasons for the TRS system being only 40% funded. I claimed the underfunding was primarily the result of over 50 years of [...]

The in box. From Hawaii.

Fred Klonsky at Fred Klonsky - 3 days ago

Fred, I appreciate your dedication to our schools, students, parents, community, and to the advancement of public education nationwide. I live in Hawaii. We are generally behind the curve of what happens on the Mainland and, more specifically, what happens in traditionally strong teachers’ unions in NYC and Chicago. What your latest blog indicates is [...]

The Chicago teachers movement. The whole world is watching.

Fred Klonsky at Fred Klonsky - 4 days ago

On behalf of the Illinois delegation to the NEA RA, I presented NBI 13. I explained the reason that the entire NEA should pass a resolution specifically in support the AFT Chicago local’s current struggle with the Mayor and his hand-picked school board. “It is a special case,” I said. “We didn’t choose it. Stand [...]

Want suggestions on how to curb violence in the neighborhoods? Did you think of asking Margot Pritzker?

Fred Klonsky at Fred Klonsky - 4 days ago

Hyatt heiress Margot Pritzker. “She has an idea,” says the Sun-Times. Reading the Sun-Times this morning brought back memories of the classic SNL Gilda Radner character, Emily Litella. On Weekend Update Litella editorialized about violins on television. “Teamwork,” suggests heiress Margot Pritzker of the union-busting Hyatt Hotel Pritzker family. Teamwork? Yes. Teamwork. “It kept the [...]

Collective bargaining works. If both sides want it to. Let the Mayor know we want it to work.

Fred Klonsky at Fred Klonsky - 4 days ago

The process of bargaining a contract has mutually agreed upon rules. The process is also is governed by labor laws. From my experience over twenty years of engaging in the process, I can say that it works. If both sides want it to. Everyone expects that both sides will start far apart. If the intention [...]

CNN’s David Gergen defends Romney and Bain. He got paid by Bain.

Fred Klonsky at Fred Klonsky - 4 days ago

To call David Gergen a media whore is to give insult to whoring. Gergen is presently a CNN pundit. He started out as a speech writer in the Nixon White House on a team that included the far right-wing anti-Semite, Pat Buchanan. He then went on to work in the administrations of Ronald Reagan and [...]