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Saturday, January 19, 2013

Occupy the Department of Education California Father


California Father


Published on Jan 19, 2013
April 4-7 students, parents and educators will speak out in defense of public education. Join Diane Ravitch, Deborah Meier, Nancy Carlsson-Paige, Stephen Krashen and many others @ the United States Department of Education or watch @ www. livestream.com/califather.

PS The LA Times Has Always Hated Public Schools

by  on January 15, 2013 · Leave a Comment
I am reading Upton Sinclair’s wonderful muckraking book about public education in Los Angeles in the ‘twenties, The Goslings, a Study of American Schools. See if any of this sounds familiar (e.g.,teacher bashing by the LA Times, business’ stranglehold on public education). For more check it out on Google.
It is the thesis [...]
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Common Core’s David Coleman on How We Think and Feel

by  on January 12, 2013 · Leave a Comment
This past week, I learned more about what’s in store for public schools. I was dismayed to find out, at our Tuesday faculty meeting, that Common Core, a new set of learning standards mandated in 46 states, deemphasizes the importance of fiction as well as the experiences in a child’s life that make stories [...]
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Opt Out in ’13!

by  on January 1, 2013 · Leave a Comment
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Not Right: Common Core & Inappropriate Tests

by  on December 26, 2012 · Leave a Comment
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Occupy the DoE 2.0

by  on December 24, 2012 · Leave a Comment
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An Important Message from Diane Ravitch

by  on October 29, 2012 · Leave a Comment
Please consider signing this petition.
Several states plan to share confidential student data with a corporation funded by the Gates Foundation. This information may be shared with other entities, for purposes that are not clear.
As parents, grandparents and educators, we must protect our children’s rights to privacy.
We expect schools to understand the [...]
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Fort Hernandez

by  on October 28, 2012 · 2 Comments
Every weekend I drive to Fort Hernandez in Van Nuys a few miles away from where I teach and drop off food.  The Hernandezes have been fighting eviction for years and now are getting help from 50+ Occupiers camped in their front yard.  Housing is a human right.  I hope they can [...]
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VAAP

by  on October 27, 2012 · Leave a Comment
I recently received this thoughtful comment bin response to a blog entry I wrote a while back about alternative assessment for kids with IEPs. Thank you, Karen.  I think your take is spot on!
I wrote a letter that appeared in our local newspaper. Free Lance Star. I thought it might interest you. [...]
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Noam Chomsky

by  on October 27, 2012 · Leave a Comment
Hi, folks. Back after a long silence, awakened a few days ago by a thoughtful response to one of my posts. Anyway, a new hero of mine: Noam Chomsky. Enjoy!
AMY GOODMAN: We’re on the road in Portland, Oregon. We are here as part of our 100-city Silenced Majority tour. On this week when [...]
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Seattle Schools Community Forum: McCleary Decision

Seattle Schools Community Forum: McCleary Decision:


McCleary Decision

by Melissa Westbrook


Via SPS, I see that there is an OSPI document on the McCleary decision.  It's a fairly basic overview but it may be helpful to those getting up to speed on the issue.

One key issue that I have been reading is that the Court based its decision on HR2261 about what full funding looks like.  What I have heard some legislators say is that they DON'T like what is in HR2261 and if they redid it, then we would be fully funding schools.

In other words, rewrite the rules of what full funding means so that you don't have to fully fund schools.

Here (via Publicola) is what Senator Steve Litzow (R-41) had to say:

PubliCola: The McCleary decision compels the Legislature to fully fund education. This week, you heard more 
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Upcoming dates for school closing and testing resistance Parents United for Responsible Education

Parents United for Responsible Education » Blog Archive » Upcoming dates for school closing and testing resistance:


Upcoming dates for school closing and testing resistance

by admin
From Parents 4 Teachers:
An important month ahead
Many of you probably read the interim report from the “independent” school utilization commission last week. The report made news by recommending that no high schools be closed this year—at least for low enrollment—and by suggesting high-performing schools and schools with more than 600 students also be spared.
A few things jump out at us about this report. First, CPS CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett told P4T and other community groups in November that high schools were off the table. So, it seems the commission is just following its marching orders. No news there—but more evidence that the “independent” commission is a sham.
At the time, she also acknowledged that the formula CPS uses to determine if a school is under enrolled had some problems. But she—and her commission—are sticking by it, despite mounting evidence that it’s designed 
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AFT supports the Garfield High School teachers, armed janitors in Ohio (?) and the rich get richer off of charter schools. | Seattle Education

AFT supports the Garfield High School teachers, armed janitors in Ohio (?) and the rich get richer off of charter schools. | Seattle Education:


AFT supports the Garfield High School teachers, armed janitors in Ohio (?) and the rich get richer off of charter schools.

by seattleducation2011


The Weekly Update for the news and views you might have missed.
Today AFT President Randi Weingarten sent a message of support to the teachers at Seattle’s Garfield High School who are standing up against the fixation on high-stakes testing by refusing to administer the state’s high-stakes test. The school’s student government and PTSA both voted to support the teachers.
Dear Garfield High School Teachers:
Thank you. Thank you for taking a courageous stand against the fixation on high-stakes testing and its harmful impact on our ability to give our students the high-quality public education they deserve.
Your actions have propelled the national conversation on the impact of high-stakes testing. Every educator understands that appropriate assessments are an integral part of a high-quality education system. But an accountability 
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SACRAMENTO PROGRESSIVE ALLIANCE: Martin Luther King Jr. and Economic Justice

SACRAMENTO PROGRESSIVE ALLIANCE: Martin Luther King Jr. and Economic Justice:


Martin Luther King Jr. and Economic Justice

by Duane Campbell


Martin Luther King, Economic Justice, Workers’ Rights,
and Multiracial Democracy
by Thomas Jackson
In 1968, a united black community in Memphis stepped forward to support 1,300
municipal sanitation workers as they demanded higher wages, union recognition, and respect for
black personhood embodied in the slogan “I Am a Man!” Memphis’s black women organized tenant
and welfare unions, discovering pervasive hunger among the city’s poor and black children. They
demanded rights to food and medical care from a city and medical establishment blind to their
existence. That same month, March 1968, 100 grassroots organizations met in Atlanta to support
Martin Luther King’s dream of a poor people’s march on Washington. They pressed concrete demands for economic justice under the slogan “Jobs or Income Now!” King celebrated the “determination by poor people of all colors” to win their human rights. “Established powers of rich America have deliberately exploited poor people by isolating them in ethnic, nationality, religious and racial 
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Daily Kos: "Memory is a motherf*&%er"

Daily Kos: "Memory is a motherf*&%er":


"Memory is a motherf*&%er"

by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken)


Okay, so I cleaned that up a bit.
I am sure you can appropriately replace the *&% with uck and have it appear as it does in the original, at the beginning of the remarkable memoir by Bill Ayers, Fugitive Days.
I am posting this at Bill's request, since the book is now available here as an audio book
On a personal note, I have reviewed several of Bill's books for a variety of outlets.  My review of the 3rd edition of his To Teach, the Journey of  Teacher was the 2nd most downloaded review at Education Review in 2010, just ahead of my review of Diane Ravitch's blockbuster book.
Too many people are still trying to refight the battles of almost half a century ago.  Some get embarrassed when linked to figure of that period of divisiveness in American politics and culture, one that may soon pale when compared to what we now may be facing.  One of for me the lowest moments in Obama's public career is when he tried to dismiss his connection with Bill as being with some English professor who lived in the neighborhood when Ayers opened his home to help the now-President with his political career, and when they had together sat 
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Real Parent Power Organized Parents, Organized Teachers

Real Parent Power:


Current national and local education policies often pit teachers and parents against each other, trapping them in a cycle of blame and mistrust. But in one Minneapolis community, parents and teachers decided to work together to make their schools better – with great results. This is their story.
About Organized Parents, Organized Teachers
Organized Parents, Organized Teachers was produced by the Annenberg Institute for School Reform as part of AISR’s ongoing efforts to support community organizing for better schools and collaborative, effective partnerships between community members, parents, and teachers. The film was inspired by the report Community Voices for Equity and Excellence.



Center for Education Organizing
Part of the Annenberg Institute for School Reform, the Center supports and amplifies local and national demands for educational justice in underserved communities.
Getting Started in Education Organizing
This publication outlines strategies and resources for groups considering education organizing.
Community Organizing as an Education Reform Strategy
Highlighting compelling research, this report shows how community organizing for school reform has the great potential to create equitable changes in schools and districts.
Community Organizing for Stronger Schools: Strategies and Successes
Drawing on a six-year national study, the authors of this publication examine the role of organizing in building social and political capital and improving educational outcomes for students in some of the nation’s most challenged school districts. 
A Match on Dry Grass: Community Organizing as a Catalyst for School Reform
Based on a comprehensive national study, Mark Warren’s book presents rich and compelling case studies of prominent organizing efforts in Chicago, New York City, Los Angeles, Denver, San Jose, and the Mississippi Delta.
Examples of Successful Parent-Teacher Collaboration
Parent Power: Education Organizing in New York City, 1995-2010
Through the voices of parents, this film chronicles fifteen years of effective parent organizing for education reform in New York City – organizing that has led to effective collaboration with the local teachers union.
Family-School-Community Partnerships 2.0: Collaborative Strategies to Advance Student Learning
This report by the National Education Association highlights successful partnerships between the national teachers union and sixteen communities across the nation.
The Lead Teacher Project
An intensive three-year collaboration by organized parents and teachers in the Bronx led to this innovative effort to collaborate with the school district to improve teacher quality in some of the city’s lowest-performing public schools.
Grow Your Own Teachers of Illinois
This partnership of community organizations, higher education institutions, and school districts supports parents, community members, and paraprofessionals in low-income communities to become highly qualified teachers.
The Parent-Teacher Home Visit Project
By building trust and respect, instilling cultural competency, and increasing personal and professional capacity for all involved, this model of family engagement aims to end the cycle of blame between families and school staff.
Alliance School Initiative
In this Texas-based initiative, community members partnered with schools and used relational organizing principles to engage parents and community in the transformation of their schools to improve student achievement.
Logan Square Neighborhood Association
Collaborating closely with local schools, LSNA has created created several successful education programs for immigrant families.
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UPDATE: New Audio Book of Fugitive Days now available! « Bill Ayers

New Audio Book of Fugitive Days now available! « Bill Ayers:


New Audio Book of Fugitive Days now available!

 http://www.audible.com/pd?asin=B00AFF6UDG&source_code=SUSP0339WS012607

Fugitive Days: Memoirs of an Anti-War Activist | [William Ayers]

Fugitive Days: Memoirs of an Anti-War Activist

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The Unknown Teacher

control of teachers:


The Unknown Teacher

by Susan Ohanian
The Unknown Teacher

(To JS/07/M/378 In place of a marble monument, this data is warehoused at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and at NEA and AFT Headquarters)
She was found by the U. S. Department of Education to be
One against whom there was no official debit side,
And all the reports on her conduct agree
That, in the modern sense of an old-fashioned word, she was highly qualified,
For in everything she did she obeyed Standardisto decrees.
Except for maternity leave, till the day she retired
She worked in a classroom and in dissent never was mired;
She satisfied the State and the literacy coach
In following script she was above reproach.
She wasn’t a complainer, not odd in her views,
And her Union reports that she paid her dues,
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Seattle Schools Community Forum: Saturday Round-Up

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Saturday Round-Up:


Saturday Round-Up

by Melissa Westbrook


Former State Superintendent Judith Billings weighs in at the Times about charter schools.

So The Times recommends Superintendent Dorn violate his oath of office to uphold the state Constitution. Article III, Section 22 states in plain language — by law not subject to interpretation if the language meets that test — “the superintendent of public instruction shall have supervision over all matters pertaining to publicschools.” The initiative emphasizes charter schools will be public schools, yet excludes the superintendent from supervising them.

Superintendent Dorn has suggested an easy “fix,” if the Legislature wishes to support 51 percent of the voters. A two-thirds majority of both houses of the Legislature could put charters under the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. Barring that, amending the constitution itself is the only way to move forward without violating 
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Saturday coffee. « Fred Klonsky

Saturday coffee. « Fred Klonsky:




Saturday coffee.

by Fred Klonsky
Illinois State Senate Impeaches Rod Blagojevich
Since it is Martin Luther King’s birthday celebration weekend, it is an appropriate time to consider issues of law and morality, justice and decency.
Yesterday I posted a satirical piece about former Federal prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald and Governor “Squeezy” Quinn. I accused Quinn of pension theft.
This did not go over well with Chris Montoya who wrote, “Fitzgerald and Quinn are friends. Your post represents a delusional conspiracy, and it libels the first honest gov Illinois has had in a long time. Find a real villain, Fred.”
Aside from the fact that Chris did not appreciate (or perhaps get) my sense of humor, as I drank my coffee this morning, it got me thinking about the issue of honesty and villainy.
Chris is correct that Squeezy and Fitzgerald are friends. Some have suggested that Squeezy functioned as a


The inbox. The three warriors!

by Fred Klonsky
January 3 and 4 We Are One held a pension rally in Springfield. At least 3000 people attended on January 3 and 4. Speakers from Illinois AFL-CIO, IFT, IEA, Illinois Police Benevolent and Protective Association AFSCME, Illinois Nurses Association, and SEIU encouraged the crowd in the rotunda to make our voices heard to legislators. Some legislators watched from the rail.
Again no press coverage. What happened to the Fourth Estate which Edmund Burke felt was more important than all the others? Where is balanced journalism? If we cannot count on the media to get our message across, it is vital that we do so ourselves to our friends, neighbors, family, and legislators. See our website: http://www.wlsu.weebly.com for pictures. Also, check the website for contact information for key legislators or call or email me at sucansky@comcast.net.
Nekritz and Biss have promised to bring up the pension issue and their ill-conceived proposal again in the new legislature and in the spring session. The battle has been won for a while, but the 
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Today is a good day to fight back against the overuse of Standardized Testing in Connecticut - Wait, What?

Today is a good day to fight back against the overuse of Standardized Testing in Connecticut - Wait, What?:


Today is a good day to fight back against the overuse of Standardized Testing in Connecticut

by jonpelto


It is a good day to make a big difference!
Follow this link to the anti-standardized testing petition being circulated by the Connecticut Chapter of Parents Across America.
Connecticut state government and public schools have been spending too much time, money and energy on high-stakes standardized testing. The over-reliance on these tests is harmful to our children and to our schools.
With over 750 signatures, the petition is almost ready to go to Connecticut’s elected officials.  A few more names and we’ll have a strong statement the inappropriate reliance on standardized testing in our public schools.
As we know, the overuse of standardized testing is a waste of time and money and this is the legislative session when our elected officials can stand up and make our schools and our children truly a top priority.
Take a moment and join the list of those who have said enough!
Follow the link to add your name to this important petition and then send the link to friends and families.
Together we can successfully fight back.
Thanks for all you are doing to enhance and protect public education in Connecticut.
Jonathan Pelto
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