In NYC, Fair Student Funding Is Unfair « Diane Ravitch's blog

In NYC, Fair Student Funding Is Unfair « Diane Ravitch's blog:

In NYC, Fair Student Funding Is Unfair

by dianerav

Not long after corporate reform started in New York City, the Department of Education adopted a formula promoted by conservative think tanks called “fair student funding” or “weighted student funding.” The surface idea was that each child would have the money he or she deserved “strapped to his/her back.” (Sorry for the clumsy effort to be gender neutral.) The real purpose, from the point of view of those on the right, was to enable students to go to charter schools or maybe even voucher schools bringing their public dollars with them. After all it was only “fair.”
In New York City, the funding system was designed by Robert Gordon, an economist and reformer who now 

School Tech Connect: The Cost Shift Is Stupid

School Tech Connect: The Cost Shift Is Stupid:

The Cost Shift Is Stupid

by noreply@blogger.com (Tim Furman)

Gery Chico is insane. That's the good news. The bad news is that he's got a lot of company. This cost-shifting of the pension system is just a dumb idea. Phil Kadner has it right here.

Quinn and Chico contend that shifting the pension funding will somehow help those children, but I don’t see any proof of that.

There’s no guarantee that if Illinois shifts its cost for teacher pensions to school districts that the state will increase public school funding by a like amount. Nobody can guarantee that the Legislature won’t cut general state aid for education again, even if it frees up the millions of dollars in pension payments.

I'm not sure what these guys are thinking, marrying themselves to the cost shift. It seems to me that if they're trying 

Detroit school reform head to push forward | Lansing State Journal | lansingstatejournal.com

Detroit school reform head to push forward | Lansing State Journal | lansingstatejournal.com:

Detroit school reform head to push forward

DETROIT — The leader of the reform district operating 15 Detroit schools said he intends to move forward as planned, despite the Detroit school board's attempts to disband the new system.

John Covington, chancellor of the Education Achievement Authority of Michigan, released a statement Friday to assure parents that the school board cannot stop the EAA from operating.

"We have received a number of calls from parents this morning voicing concern and uncertainty about the start of school Sept. 4 as a result of a vote taken last night by the Detroit Board of Education," Covington said. "It is unfortunate that the board took that vote because clearly it has no legal authority to interfere in any way with the opening 

School executive fired for cheating on tests receives $245,000 settlement - Portland K-12 | Examiner.com

School executive fired for cheating on tests receives $245,000 settlement - Portland K-12 | Examiner.com:

School executive fired for cheating on tests receives $245,000 settlement

 

RELATED TOPICS

• K-12 Education
• School Crimes
• Charter Schools

The Los Angeles Times learned on Friday that a Los Angeles charter school executive who filed a wrongful termination suit won $245,000 in a settlement.

The settlement was reached in April and has a confidentiality clause. It was reached between the board of Crescendo charter schools and its founder and former chief executive John Allen.

Allen was terminated from his job after allegations surfaced that he ordered school principals to have teachers review the 2010 standardized tests in order to achieve higher scores. Before tests were to be given in May, a few teachers went to the Los Angeles Unified School District 

Race To The Top Competition Opens To School Districts For New Grants To Close Achievement Gap:

Race To The Top Competition Opens To School Districts For New Grants To Close Achievement Gap

WASHINGTON -- Hoping to build on state-level reforms aimed at closing the education achievement gap, the Education Department opened its Race to the Top competition to school districts on Sunday, inviting the poorest districts across the country to vie for almost $400 million in grants.

Following four months of public comment on a draft proposal, the Education Department unveiled its final criteria for the district-level competition, which will award 15 to 25 grants to districts that have at least 2,000 students and 40 percent or more who qualify for free or reduced-cost lunches – a key poverty indicator.

Grants will range from $5 million to $40 million, depending on the size of the district.

"We want to help schools become engines of innovation through personalized 

Perdido Street School: NY Times Fails To Mention Rhee/KJ Sex Abuse Scandal In Campbell Brown Story

Perdido Street School: NY Times Fails To Mention Rhee/KJ Sex Abuse Scandal In Campbell Brown Story:

NY Times Fails To Mention Rhee/KJ Sex Abuse Scandal In Campbell Brown Story

The NY Times covered Campbell Brown's assault on teachers unions tonight.

They do mention how her husband Dan Senor sits on the board of the New York chapter of Michelle Rhee's group, StudentsFirst.

But they fail to mention how Michelle Rhee has been accused of helping a sex abuse case against her husband, former NBA star and current Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson, go away when he was running a charter school.

Far from being an immaterial part of the story, how does Brown come off declaring the unions protectors of perverts and sex 

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 8-12-12 Diane Ravitch's blog

Diane Ravitch's blog:

Who Else Is Rolling Over in His Grave?

by dianerav

A reader, noting the plan to privatize 40% of the schools in Philadelphia, had this to say:

WILLIAM PENN is rolling over in his grave, I’m sure.

It occurred to me that :
John Dewey must be rolling over in his grave as he sees our national leaders using standardized tests to impose rankings and ratings on students, teachers, principals, and schools, while many abandon the arts to reach their targets.
Horace Mann must be rolling over in his grave as he sees corporations descending on the schools to make a

Strange Bedfellows

by dianerav

A reader this morning said I should make a clear distinction between what the Republicans and the Democrats say/do about education.
I wish I could.
Race to the Top is no different from No Child Left Behind, other than the timetable.
It shares the same assumptions that testing, choice, and data are the magic keys to the kingdom of 100%

A Teacher in a Charter School

by dianerav

A teacher in a charter school comments:
I have worked in a charter school in an impoverished area for several years. I am a teacher by trade and by nature and I am patient, caring and kind to my students. Teaching is my vocation. I agree with what is being said about charter schools. The children are NOT getting a better education in fact they are getting a worse one. The sense of community is not there and more importantly the eyes and ears of the community cannot be utilized to watch over those who run them because these corporations are run more than not outside of the state they are operating. Where is the “voted in to office school board?” Oh yeah that’s right we have a CEO and a 

The Rights and Responsibilities of Parents

by dianerav

Writing in response to this post, a reader has another view about the rights and responsibilities of parents:

I’m not satisfied with the way this question is being framed; sometimes just taking an opposing stance to a bad argument isn’t correct.Although parents don’t always “know what’s best” for their child, there is overall no safer repository for the child’s rights and interests than in their hands. Guardianship is a fundamental obligation of parents, as much as a “right”. The first principle for legal defense of children is respect for their families, because there actually isn’t anywhere children can be put which is capable of meeting their needs, or is

Three Articles and a Book about TFA

by dianerav

I periodically post outstanding articles that were written a while ago. “A while” might mean a month ago, six months ago, or years ago.
This article was written by Rachel Levy, a thoughtful essayist. A sample:
It’s time to stop allowing achievement and privilege to masquerade as competence, dedication, and skill. It’s time for the grown-ups who promote TFA to acknowledge that the quality teaching that we all agree is so valuable comes from experience. It’s time to stop letting TFA stand in the way of the committed, skilled, and 

O Brave New World of School Reform

by dianerav

A retired teacher writes about her experiences teaching in an inner-city school in Hartford, Connecticut:
I retired last June, after nearly 38 years of teaching at M. L. King Elementary School, in Hartford, CT. ,one of the poorest mid-sized cities in the nation.   As I listen to the President, educational leaders, media commentators, and many in the concerned public, I am always distressed by the degree of blame and scorn heaped upon “failing” city schoolteachers and their “obstructionist “ unions.  While I believe that the expressed concerns regarding the state of education in our poorest communities are valid, the solutions seem to be leaving many of 

A Call to Retired Teachers!

by dianerav

Several readers have pointed out that retired teachers are free to be outspoken, because they can’t lose their jobs.
This teacher explains what retired teachers did in one community:
In Rockford, IL, a group of retired teachers and parents heard the cry for help from their active teachers. They formed an organization (W.E.E.: Watchdogs for Ethics in Education), and set about doing fact-finding work: they researched, went to meetings and took notes, filed an FOIA, and then presented their facts via a fact sheet to the community. Their efforts–in large part–resulted in the departure of their reviled Broad superintendent! (The 

Do Parents Always Know What Is Best?

by dianerav

The State Commissioner of Education John White memorably said in defense of school vouchers: “To me, it’s a moral outrage that the government would say, ‘We know what’s best for your child,’” White said. “Who are we to tell parents we know better?” 
This Louisiana teacher disagrees. She says that parents should expect professionals to know what’s best when it comes to education. She says that parents and teachers should work together, but that it is irresponsible to assume that parents always know what’s best for their child.
I am  tired of this attitude about parents knowing what is best for their children. Parents are easily swayed by 

The No Complaining Rule | Connected Principals

The No Complaining Rule | Connected Principals:

The No Complaining Rule

August 12, 2012

By jjohnson

I’ve read a number of books by Jon Gordon and have never been disappointed.  His books are quick reads, but always inspirational with powerful, positive messages.  I recently read The No Complaining Rule: Positive Ways to Deal with Negativity at Work.  Who doesn’t encounter issues of complaining, whether it’s your spouse, a colleague or even yourself?
Complaining is very prevalent, however, the negativity it spreads is like cancer.  In Gordon’s book, he shares the cost of negativity:

• Negativity costs the U.S. economy between $250 to $300 billion every year in lost productivity according to the Gallup Organization.
• 90% of doctor visits are stress related, according to the CDC, and the #1 cause of office stress is coworkers and their complaining, according to Truejobs.com
• A study found that negative employees can scare off every customer they speak with–for 

Education - U.S. Congress - OpenCongress

Education - U.S. Congress - OpenCongress:

Bill Introduced: S.3475 Women and Minorities in STEM Booster Act of 2012

Open Congress : Major Bill Actions in Education programs funding - 7 hours ago

A bill to increase the participation of historically underrepresented demographic groups in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education and industry.

Bill Introduced: S.3474 Protecting Students from Worthless Degrees Act

Open Congress : Major Bill Actions in Education programs funding - 7 hours ago

A bill to provide consumer protection for students.

Bill Introduced: S.3478 Uninterrupted Scholars Act

Open Congress : Major Bill Actions in Education programs funding - 2 days ago

A bill to amend the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 to provide improvements to such Act.

Bill Introduced: S.3472 Uninterrupted Scholars Act

Open Congress : Major Bill Actions in Education programs funding - 2 days ago

A bill to amend the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 to provide improvements to such Act.

Bill Introduced: H.Res.733 Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that any deal replacing the Budget Control Act of 2011 should contain serious revenue increases and no Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security benefit cuts.

Open Congress : Major Bill Actions in Education programs funding - 2 days ago

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that any deal replacing the Budget Control Act of 2011 should contain serious revenue increases and no Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security benefit cuts.

Bill Introduced: H.R.6230 Grow Your Own Teacher Act

Open Congress : Major Bill Actions in Education programs funding - 1 week ago

To amend title II of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to establish a Federal "Grow Your Own Teacher" program, and for other purposes.

Bill Introduced: S.3436 Infant and Toddler Care Improvement Act

Open Congress : Major Bill Actions in Education programs funding - 1 week ago

A bill to amend the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 to improve the quality of infant and toddler care.

Bill Introduced: H.R.6138 Ending the HIV/AIDS Epidemic Act of 2012

Open Congress : Major Bill Actions in Education programs funding - 1 week ago

To bring an end to the spread of HIV/AIDS in the United States and around the world.

Bill Introduced: H.R.6083 Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act of 2012

Open Congress : Major Bill Actions in Education programs funding - 1 week ago

To provide for the reform and continuation of agricultural and other programs of the Department of Agriculture through fiscal year 2017, and for other purposes.

Bill Introduced: H.R.6081 Advancing Innovative Manufacturing Act of 2012

Open Congress : Major Bill Actions in Education programs funding - 2 weeks ago

To accelerate research, development, and innovation in advanced manufacturing, to improve the competitiveness of American manufacturers, and for other purposes.

Bill Introduced: H.R.6173 Protecting Life in Funding Education Act

Open Congress : Major Bill Actions in Education programs funding - 2 weeks ago

To amend the General Education Provisions Act to prohibit Federal education funding for elementary schools and secondary schools that provide on-campus access to abortion providers.

Bill Introduced: S.3407 Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act

Open Congress : Major Bill Actions in Education programs funding - 2 weeks ago

A bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to increase the number of permanent faculty in palliative care at accredited allopathic and osteopathic medical schools, nursing schools, and other programs, to promote education in palliative care and hospice, and to support the development of faculty careers in academic palliative medicine.

Bill Introduced: H.R.6155 To amend the Public Health Service Act to increase the number of permanent faculty in palliative care at accredited allopathic and osteopathic medical schools, nursing schools, and other programs, to promote education in palliative care and hospice, and to support the development of faculty careers in academic palliative medicine.

Open Congress : Major Bill Actions in Education programs funding - 2 weeks ago

To amend the Public Health Service Act to increase the number of permanent faculty in palliative care at accredited allopathic and osteopathic medical schools, nursing schools, and other programs, to promote education in palliative care and hospice, and to support the development of faculty careers in academic palliative medicine.

Bill Introduced: H.R.6020 Judiciary Appropriations Act, 2013

Open Congress : Major Bill Actions in Education programs funding - 4 weeks ago

Making appropriations for financial services and general government for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2013, and for other purposes.

Bill Introduced: H.R.5975 Workforce Infrastructure for Skilled Employees Investment Act

Open Congress : Major Bill Actions in Education programs funding - 4 weeks ago

To amend the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 to provide for the establishment of the Small Business Liaison Pilot Program.

Bill Introduced: H.R.5944 Today's Entrepreneurs are America's Mentors Act

Open Congress : Major Bill Actions in Education programs funding - 5 weeks ago

To strengthen entrepreneurial education, and for other purposes.

Bill Introduced: S.3342 Strengthening and Enhancing Cybersecurity by Using Research, Education, Information, and Technology Act of 2012

Open Congress : Major Bill Actions in Education programs funding - 5 weeks ago

A bill to improve information security, and for other purposes.

Bill Introduced: H.R.5893 Startup Act 2.0

Open Congress : Major Bill Actions in Education programs funding - 5 weeks ago

To jump-start economic recovery through the formation and growth of new businesses, and for other purposes.

Bill Introduced: S.3328 Juvenile Mentoring Program Reauthorization Act of 2012

Open Congress : Major Bill Actions in Education programs funding - 5 weeks ago

A bill to provide grants for juvenile mentoring.

Bill Introduced: H.R.5996 Mental Health First Aid Higher Education Act of 2012

Open Congress : Major Bill Actions in Education programs funding - 1 month ago

To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Administrator of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, in coordination with the Secretary of Education, to carry out a 5-year demonstration program to fund mental health first aid training programs at 10 institutions of higher education to improve student mental health.

Pass / Fail : New 'Race to the Top' details officially released; money will go directly to schools | 89.3 KPCC

Pass / Fail : New 'Race to the Top' details officially released; money will go directly to schools | 89.3 KPCC:

New 'Race to the Top' details officially released; money will go directly to schools

by By Tami Abdollah

US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan speaks to the press at the White House in Washington, DC, April 20, 2012. The US Department of Education released the application requirements of the 2012 Race to the Top competition, which will allow districts to apply directly to the federal government for funds rather than via their states. Credit: SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images
The U.S. Department of Education released details of the 2012 Race to the Top competition today for nearly $400 million in federal dollars that will, for the first time, go directly to school districts rather than their states.
The competition was launched in 2009 and has been lauded by federal education officials as inspiring nationwide education reform and working to improve "student achievement and educator effectiveness."
"We want to help schools become engines of innovation through personalized learning so that every child in 

Paul Ryan in high school: Voted by his senior class as.... - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

Paul Ryan in high school: Voted by his senior class as.... - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post:

Paul Ryan in high school: Voted by his senior class as....

By Valerie Strauss

When Paul Ryan , now 42, was in high school, he won an honorific from his senior class, but it may not have been one he would have chosen.

Rep. Paul Ryan (Saul Loeb - AFP/Getty Images)Ryan was popular enough atJoseph A. Craig High School in Janesville, Wis. to have been elected prom king and junior class president, but he was also voted by his senior class in 1988 as “Biggest Brown-Noser.” (His cousin, Adam Ryan, won “Most Likely to Succeed” that same year, the Los Angeles Times said.)

Ryan, the seven-term member of the House who was tapped on Saturday by Mitt Romney to be his vice presidential running mate, was a busy young man in school.

Paul Ryan on education policy: vouchers, for-profit colleges, local control

by Valerie Strauss

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.)talks a lot about scaling back the reach of the federal government, but back in 2001, he voted in favor of No Child Left Behind, the signature education program of the George W. Bush administration that gave unprecedented power to the U.S. Education Department to tell states and districts what they had to do to get federal funds.
Read full article >>

Lady Gaga and U-Va.’s Helen Dragas

by Valerie Strauss

Helen Dragas, the rector of the University of Virginia’s governing board, probably never thought she would be linked in a headline to Lady Gaga, but she did it to herself with e-mails she sent to the school’s leaders.
Read full article >>

Why Alabama is going slow on charter schools

by Valerie Strauss

This was written by Larry Lee, who led the study “Lessons Learned from Rural Schools,” a look at 10 high-performing, high-poverty rural schools in Alabama. This appeared in the Birmingham News.

By Larry Lee
Read full article >>

Daily Kos: thoughts outside the normal bounds of political discussion

Daily Kos: thoughts outside the normal bounds of political discussion:

thoughts outside the normal bounds of political discussion

by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken)

not mine, those of Karen Armstrong, in her book Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life.
A brief and very partial explanation, for which I apologize.  In the past few weeks I have found myself in a different mental and emotional place for reasons that at this point I choose not to disclose.  As a result of that, I have been reexamining what really matters to me, how I relate to the world.  As part of that, I have been turning some of my time to reading that challenges me in ways that are important.  The nature of compassion, which has always been important to me to some degree, has now become exceedingly so, which is in part why I turned to this book.
I just read a passage that in the midst of our political discourse and activity spoke loudly to me, so I thought I would share it.  Do with these words - and this post - whatever makes sense to you

If we continue to make our national interest an absolute value, to our cultural heritage and way of life as supreme, and to regard outsiders and foreigners with suspicion and neglect their interests, the interconnected global society we have created will not be viable.  After the world wars, genocide, and terrorism of the twentieth century, the purpose of the tribe or the nation can no longer be to fight, dominate, exploit, conquer, colonize, occupy, kill, convert, or terrorize rival groups.  We have a duty to get to know one another, and to cultivate a concern and responsibility 

NYC Educator: In Which We Revolutionize Basketball for Arne Duncan

NYC Educator: In Which We Revolutionize Basketball for Arne Duncan:

In Which We Revolutionize Basketball for Arne Duncan

by NYC Educator

Last night, on Twitter, Arne Duncan congratulated the USA Women's Basketball Team for a wonderful performance. But a lot of teachers on Twitter questioned it. For one thing, how do we know they're doing well if there isn't a charter team to ensure healthy competition? And why aren't we doing this right now? Isn't this a crisis that can't wait for solutions?

Also, it's important we fire the bottom 10%, so as to ensure we are truly fielding the best team. And it's not enough that they do an excellent job. Sure, it looks like they're doing well. But how do we know they're doing well unless we give their opponents tests in reading and math twice a year and check the improvements from September to June? We really can't go by measures like whether or not they win 

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Education News Roundup

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Education News Roundup:

Education News Roundup

by Melissa Westbrook

I bookmark many education stories but wait until I have a mass and/or time to post them.

First, up worry over teachers labeled "highly qualified" teaching Special Ed students.  This story comes from the Special Ed section at Ed Week.

Earlier this year, the Senate merely left the door open to extending a provision that allows teachers still working on their certification to be considered "highly qualified"—a designation created by 2001's No Child Left Behind law. The law says teachers must already be certified to qualify, but Education Department regulations created