Monday, January 7, 2013

by Melissa Westbrook

One reason for this blog - and that has always been the case since its earliest days - is discourse and encouraging activism.

I said this recently in an interview and I frequently have parents tell me that it's the only place they can really go to ask questions. I am glad that enough parents know about it that they feel comfortable to come here and raise issues. (Some also e-mail Charlie and me and that's fine as well.)

One topic that came up in the Eric Lui interview was about how parents can be involved (and how deeply) in their children's education. Eric pointed out that many parents don't want to speak out.

I've said this before - my belief is most parents just want a good school that they have confidence in the staff and where they feel welcome (either as a volunteer or a parent who visits occasionally). I don't think most parents want to be activists. I think most parents want to be advocates for their child's education.

The Education of Michelle Rhee (via Frontline)

by Melissa Westbrook

Grab a soothing drink (or set that VCR or DVR) because this is going to be good - Frontline is showing aspecial on Michelle Rhee. It will be on KCTS 9 at 10 pm Tuesday night.

Rhee, the poster girl for all that is wrong in public education reform today, has had this discussion long coming. Given Frontline's hard-hitting reporting, I'm sure they will be thorough and frank.

Coincidentally, Rhee just released a report card of sorts, through her "group" StudentsFirst on how states are doing. Diane Ravitch calls her out on it here.

This comes on the heels of a number of staffers at StudentsFirst, all Democrats, who abruptly left the organization recently.

From the Huffington Post:

"There were known to be some significant differences on political strategy and policy matters, especially in StudentsFirst's approach toward unions and partisanship," said a source close to the education reform community who declined to be named in order to preserve working relationships.

Schools Matter: DC Charters Kick Out the Problem Children and Keep the Compliant Ones

Schools Matter: DC Charters Kick Out the Problem Children and Keep the Compliant Ones:

DC Charters Kick Out the Problem Children and Keep the Compliant Ones

by Jim Horn

A clip from an investigative report by WaPo that details expulsion of 6 year old KIPP student:

. . . .Greenfield said the D.C. school system is far from perfect and too often relies on suspensions, including long-term suspensions of up to 90 days, to deal with bad behavior.

The city’s traditional public schools use long-term suspensions more often than charter schools, imposing nearly twice as many in the past academic year, according to school data. That year, 2011-12, 601 students were suspended from traditional schools for more than 10 days as punishment for a single incident; 327 charter school students received similarly long suspensions.

But unlike expulsion, suspension does not allow a school to give up responsibility for a difficult child, Greenfield said.

She pointed to the case of a homeless 6-year-old her

Is Diane Ravitch the George Ball of Our Generation and Education Reform our Vietnam? | Academe Blog

Is Diane Ravitch the George Ball of Our Generation and Education Reform our Vietnam? | Academe Blog:

IS DIANE RAVITCH THE GEORGE BALL OF OUR GENERATION AND EDUCATION REFORM OUR VIETNAM?

Mark Naison, the author of this post, is a Professor of African-American Studies and History at Fordham University and Director of Fordham’s Urban Studies Program. He is the author of three books and over 100 articles on African-American History, urban history, and the history of sports. The post originallyappeared on Naison’s blog With a Brooklyn Accent.

In the spring and summer of 1965, as US policy makers debated whether to send large numbers of US ground troops to Vietnam to insure that the South Vietnamese government not collapse , a longtime Washington insider named George Ball issued a fierce warning that the policy being recommended would be disastrous. Declaring that the conflict in Vietnam was a“civil war among Asians” not a front of a global struggle against Communism, Ball warned that sending US

California gets F grade from education advocacy group - latimes.com

California gets F grade from education advocacy group - latimes.com:

California gets F grade from education advocacy group

Failed DC Chancellor Michelle Rhee:

If you can't buy it, Bad Mouth it!

California is sorely lacking when it comes to school reform, according to a rating of states issued by a high-profile education advocacy group.

California received an overall grade of F, ranking 41st nationally, from StudentsFirst, a Sacramento-based group run by Michelle Rhee, whose outspoken views have polarized those who share her focus on improving the nation’s schools.

Her group’s “report card” concentrates “singularly on the education policies in place in each of our states,” Rhee said in a statement. “And when we look solely at policy, it's clear that we have a long way to go toward improving our education system in America."

As with other rating systems, the results follow from the choice of parameters judged most important. California received its only high mark for being the birthplace of “parent trigger” laws, which allow parents, by petition, to replace the staff of a low-performing school and also to convert the campus to an independently operated charter school.

Among other recommendations, the report said California’s students would benefit from a statewide teacher and principal evaluation system that incorporates “student growth” as a significant factor.

Such “value-added” formulas attempt to measure a teacher’s impact on a student’s learning through standardized test scores that are adjusted for a student’s past performance and personal characteristics. Some experts and teacher unions are skeptical of the method, and those critics have had allies in Gov. Jerry Brown and state Supt. of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson.

Rhee’s top-rated states are Louisiana and Florida; each earned a B-.

Louisiana has been notable for converting a high percentage of campuses to non-union charter

Tara Subramaniam Inside a Listening Session | Student Voice

Tara Subramaniam Inside a Listening Session | Student Voice:

Tara Subramaniam Inside a Listening Session

by admin

Inside a Listening Session

(cross posted from the Cooperative Catalyst) http://www.imagininglearning.us/#!student-experiences-short-articles/c249z
Over the summer, when David Loitz sent out a request for Imagining Learning Listening Session planners, I said, “Why not?” and agreed to organize one. Months later, after numerous emails back and forth between David, Charles Kouns (the founder of Imagining Learning) and Mr. Bo Adams (my old teacher, who was helping me put it all together), I filled out my consent to be recorded form and knew that the day was finally here.
On November 15, I arrived at Unboundary for the “Listening Session,” full of energy, but unsure of what to expect. I’d heard that a Listening Session was an opportunity to share ideas on what we, as students, imagined school should be. What I found was a fun, small, thoughtful community, bursting with ideas and jokes and smiles. With 6 other students from schools around the metro Atlanta area, led by Mr. Kouns and his partner, Stella

TN schools graded C- by reformers | The Tennessean | tennessean.com

TN schools graded C- by reformers | The Tennessean | tennessean.com:

TN schools graded C- by reformers

ALEC INSPIRED

Failed DC Chancellor Michelle Rhee:

If you can't buy it, Bad Mouth it!

Failed DC Chancellor Michelle Rhee: If you can't buy it, Bad Mouth it!

One of the nation’s most influential education reform groups recommended this morning that Tennessee create a school voucher program and take charter school approval out of the hands of local school boards.

StudentsFirst gave the state’s education policy an overall C- or 1.75 grade-point average for 2013, mainly because of its low marks on policies aimed at giving parents a choice in their child’s education, a cornerstone idea of the reform movement.

StudentsFirst is a group of about a million members across the nation that was founded by Michelle Rhee, a national figure in the push for accountability reforms, a former Washington, D.C., Public Schools chancellor, and ex-wife of Tennessee

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20130107/NEWS04/301070004/TN-schools-graded-C-by-reformers

Schools Matter: The TFA PR Machine Even Works in the Critics

Schools Matter: The TFA PR Machine Even Works in the Critics:

The TFA PR Machine Even Works in the Critics

by Jim Horn

Walt Gardner has a post on the TFA PR machine, and in it he shows exactly how effective the TFA PR machine is by perpetuating the lie that TFA teachers perform as well as, or better than, professionally-prepared teachers.

The protracted recession has caused many graduates from top-tier schools to put their real career plans on hold and take their knowledge and skills to the classroom through TFA. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and assume they perform as well as, or even slightly better than, traditionally certified teachers. To the extent that such performance helps students who otherwise would be shortchanged, I commend TFA. But let's not forget that there is hubris associated with TFA ever since it was the subject of Wendy Kopp's senior thesis at Princeton.

Come on, Walt, you can do better than that. Just in case your google machine is broken, here is this sidebar

Ed Notes Online: UP YOURS: Are Charter Schools so unregulated, or 'private', they are exempt from providing students with their constitutional rights?

Ed Notes Online: UP YOURS: Are Charter Schools so unregulated, or 'private', they are exempt from providing students with their constitutional rights?:

UP YOURS: Are Charter Schools so unregulated, or 'private', they are exempt from providing students with their constitutional rights?

by ed notes online

Hello Boston Globe. UP (Yours) IS the mainstream charter movement.

Charter crooks abound. I don't mean stealing in the classic sense but creating an entire industry feeding at the public teat. Here is a follow up to my earlier post (just read Inside Colocation and seethe) on the usual outrages by Success Academy schools, something we will wait til hell freezes over for the NY Times to cover. Before I get to Lisa Donlan's pointing out how the lead shield put around charters protects them from accountability, Boston based EduShyster today reports on the end of the love affair between the Boston Globe and UP (Yours) Academy charter.

It’s time now for another installment of EduShyster’s favorite telenovela: “Nos Encanta Los Escuelos Charteros.” This long-running series features the Boston Globe in the role of love-besotted suitor, intent on showing its love for local charter schools through cartas de amor,

Heads Up: School Bus Union Notifies Parents They’re Going To Strike « New York City Parents Union

Heads Up: School Bus Union Notifies Parents They’re Going To Strike « New York City Parents Union:

Heads Up: School Bus Union Notifies Parents They’re Going To Strike

by admin

Attention Parents, Grandparents & Guardians:

On January 4, ATU 1181, the union that represents the yellow school bus drivers and matrons distributed the letter below to parents. In this letter, ATU 1181 advises parents “there will be a work stoppage of service to you”. To view the ATU 1181 letter online, click here or go to http://www.scribd.com/doc/118979994/English

The school bus union and NYCDOE are fighting over the Employment Protection Provision (EPP). Simply put, EPP is seniority & LIFO (Last In First Out) for bus drivers and matrons. The NYCDOE has requested bids for bus contracts and the school bus union wants the bids to include the EPP. In 2011, the court ruled the EPP is illegal but the school bus union believes NYCDOE should still go ahead and include the EPP. They obviously differ on the interpretation of the law and if it applies to K-12 bus contracts.

Click here to view the NYCDOE FAQ on the School Bus Bids or go to http://schools.nyc.gov/NR/rdonlyres/DCEFA43F-2CCD-4439-9657-A655E028738E/0/BusBidsFAQ_20130107.pdf

While the school bus union and NYCDOE fight, our children as usual will end up as collateral damage and our lives turned upside down with the school bus strike. At the end of this posting are links to news coverage on this issue, I suggest you read the articles and become fully informed on this issue that will impact your child when they strike. And, in the meantimes, hope the NYCDOE and ATU 1181, work it out together for our children and avoid a strike.

The NYCDOE has prepared for the strike. To view the most updated letter in multiple languages from Chancellor Walcott, click here or go to http://schools.nyc.gov/Offices/Transportation/default

FCMAT » Cali Education Headlines Monday, January 7, 2013

FCMAT » Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team:

Failed DC Chancellor Michelle Rhee:

If you can't buy it, Bad Mouth it!

Education Headlines

Monday, January 7, 2013

Escalon man takes post as S.J. assistant schools chief

Escalon Unified Superintendent Ron Costa has accepted a new position to be the San Joaquin County Office of Education's assistant superintendent of educational services.

District hopes online program will net diplomas

Stockton Unified had a 26.5 percent dropout rate in 2010-11, according to the California Department of Education. Superintendent Steve Lowder believes technology is part of the solution to addressing that troubling statistic, so San Joaquin County's largest school district may take an online approach to cutting into the problem before the end of the current academic year.

School change in Sausalito, Marin City renews racial equality issues

There is concern that a racial divide and a school system for the "haves and have-nots" may result from a current push by the Sausalito Marin City School District to merge schools, while supporters say the change would benefit students' education.

Lynwood school district business officer sentenced for diverting funds

A former chief business officer for the Lynwood Unified School District was sentenced Friday to eight years behind bars for diverting more than $700,000 in public funds for his own use.

Interim superintendent soon to take over Upland Unified School District

Budget cuts and student achievement will continue to be a priority in the Upland Unified School District when Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources Sherri Black takes over as interim superintendent this month.

College of the Desert prepared to pay back millions, restore trust

College of the Desert officials will begin 2013 by working out a repayment plan for $5.3 million the community college owes the state for false financial reporting.

Costa Mesa police to restart school-officer program

Costa Mesa police announced Friday that they plan to restart their school officer program in the wake of the Newtown, Conn. shooting. Chief Tom Gazsi said the department and the district will split the cost for a reserve officer to return to the city's two high schools.

Some bonds allow prepayment, others don't

Among capital-appreciation school bonds that have become controversial across California, some allow prepayment as an escape hatch and others do not. The bonds generally allow school districts to pay nothing for decades, then require large balloon payments with accrued interest that can eventually cost more than $10 for every dollar borrowed.

LAPD, sheriff's deputies begin patrols at L.A. schools on Monday

Police officers and sheriff's deputies who have simply cruised by elementary and middle schools in the past will add campus visits to their daily patrols beginning Monday, the first day that LAUSD students will be back in class since the Dec. 14 school shootings in Connecticut.

Fraud allegations swirl around firm run by two L.A. candidates

Clients say firm run by James T. Law and Analilia Joya, both candidates for city office, broke agreement to get enough signatures to put the clients on school board ballot. Law denies the allegations.

Vargo: Creativity in the classroom is what’s really at stake with accountability

Many readers of EdSource know that a variety of factors have combined to put rethinking accountability on state leaders’ to-do list. But most people don’t understand what is really at stake.

Baron: Districts pay more for special ed, feds underfund

California school districts are shouldering a bigger share of the cost of special education, reflecting a further shift of the burden from state and federal governments, according to a new report from the state Legislative Analyst’s Office.

EdWatch 2013: Head Start funding and transitional kindergarten

Transitional kindergarten, a program for students on the youngest end of the kindergarten spectrum, began in 2012 as a result of the Kindergarten Readiness Act of 2010. It is set to hit its first expansion target in the fall of 2013.

Friday, January 4, 2013

K-8 district reverses trend of declining enrollment

After nine straight years of declining enrollment, Escondido’s K-8 district has seen a slight rise in its student population this school year.

Special-education aid from U.S. lagging

California school districts increasingly are paying a greater share of special education costs as federal officials fail to make good on a pledge to pay more, according to a Legislative Analyst's Office report released Thursday.

Lempert; Resolving to transform our school finance system

We believe it is time for California to move forward and implement education finance reform that fosters local control. For far too long we have evaluated and bemoaned the failings and inequities of the current funding system, and now we have a chance to fundamentally restructure it for the better.

New Education Standards Will Fail Your Kids And America's Future If We Don't Act Now - Forbes

New Education Standards Will Fail Your Kids And America's Future If We Don't Act Now - Forbes:

New Education Standards Will Fail Your Kids And America's Future If We Don't Act Now

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Shakespeare's still the man, but the kids need a little Michael Lewis, too. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

School’s back in session—or is it?

If you’re a concerned parent, business owner, Human Resources director, or just a plain ol’ taxpayer, check out the Common Core State Standards—the national teaching guidelines for grades K-12 set to take effect in 2014. The Standards are not mandated by the federal government, but public schools (and some private ones) in nearly every state have begun to adopt them.

I fear the new rules will short-change future generations in a fundamental way—and America will end up paying for it.

The guidelines, which cover mathematics and English language arts (reading and writing), have ignited a debate about the amount of nonfiction material students should have to read. According to the Standards, 70% of the 12^th grade reading list will consist of nonfiction works—an extra-large helping for traditionalists who fear that

This Week In Education: Update: Test Security Company Responds To Rhee Claims

This Week In Education: Update: Test Security Company Responds To Rhee Claims:

Update: Test Security Company Responds To Rhee Claims

Caveon Test Security has responded via email to the claim made in tomorrow's Frontline piece on Michelle Rhee that it did not go as far as it could have.

In the Frontline piece, Rhee says "We just hired them to do the investigation and really believed that they were going to do it in as comprehensive a manner as possible."

In an email statement pasted below, Caveon states that while there were some topics that DC schools were not asked by OSSE to provide (and thus could not be addressed by Caveon), "Caveon has such a full tool kit that virtually all of our clients use only part of our services."

According to Caveon's John Fremer, President of Consulting Services, " Caveon has such a full tool kit that virtually all of our clients use only part of our services. It is not appropriate to say that fault should be assigned to a client for using some of our services and not others."

DC Schools were not asked by OSSEto perform additional analyses and was not provided with test item by test item data that would be needed to perform some of the most important analyses. So the district could not do its own in-depth statistical analyses for the classes with high erasure rates or