Daily Kos: Sacramento School District Rushing to Close 1/5 of its Elementary Schools

Daily Kos: Sacramento School District Rushing to Close 1/5 of its Elementary Schools:

SUN FEB 10, 2013 AT 09:03 AM PST

Sacramento School District Rushing to Close 1/5 of its Elementary Schools

byERTBenFollow

 
 
• 7 Comments / 7 New

On January 16th, the Sacramento City Unified School District announced that it was planning to close 11 elementary schools - 1/5 of the total elementary schools in the entire district. This came as a shock to many, since city voters had just overwhelmingly passed Measures Q and R, providing $414 million in bonds to fund repairs and expansion recommended by the District's own Facilities Master Plan. Now, two months later, the same officials are claiming that a"District Right-Sizing" plan is urgently needed to address budget problems and declines in enrollment. These cuts are so pressing, according to the District, that a final vote on the school closures is being held on February 21st, just five weeks after they were announced.

Parents in Sacramento are raising serious concerns about the process used to select schools to close, the District's failure to follow established practices for school closures, and the possible motives behind this sudden rush to close schools. We'll look into these questions, and local reaction, after the jump.

The Sacramento City Unified School District claims that the 11 schools selected for closure 

Missouri Education Watchdog: Another State Legislative Hearing on the Common Core Standards

Missouri Education Watchdog: Another State Legislative Hearing on the Common Core Standards:

Another State Legislative Hearing on the Common Core Standards

by stlgretchen

Click on the brochure to download a copy.

From politicalchips.org: 

Time: February 14, 2013 from 1:30pm to 2:30pm
Location: State Capital
City/Town: Topeka, KS
Event Type: hearing 

The legislators in various states are finally waking up to the enormous costs of the unfunded Federal mandate which leave local and state school boards with no authority over what and how our K-12 students are taught.  This hearing on the 14th is an important 

UPDATE: THE Enemy is TESTING + Fear of Creativity – @ the chalk face

Fear of Creativity – @ the chalk face:

Fear of Creativity

by Kris Nielsen

On her blog, Kate Edson (who is a spare-time frugality researcher) tells about a book she is reading and offers these words:

Everyone is born creative. However sometime between kindergarten and today, perhaps during the tumultuous time called adolescence, doubt creeps in and we may think we aren’t creative. Fear 

THE Enemy is TESTING. Enlist educators against it.

by Chalk Face, PhD

Testing is the disease.

21st Century Education Is the Way Forward | toteachornototeach

21st Century Education Is the Way Forward | toteachornototeach:

21st Century Education Is the Way Forward

by aristotlethewise

21st Century Education Is the Way Forward 

by John Thomas
Everywhere you turn in education today, you hear mention of “21st Century Learning.” It is very natural that whenever there is talk about “change,” there is anxiety and confusion until people fully understand what is meant by the change. A parent in a very direct and honest way reached out to me recently after hearing me talk about the growing emphasis of teaching, collaboration, creativity, and critical problem solving. “I don’t get it!” he said, “I went to school and did well. My oldest kids have gone through school and it looked exactly the way it was when I went to school. I didn’t like school, but I got through it and I’ve done well.” Then he added, “So what is this talk about “changing” school? I don’t understand what you mean by 21st Century Learning? What’s the definition of it?”
It is hard to fully grasp such an abstract concept when we have been all through school and have all succeeded. “Why fix what’s not broken?” is a common refrain. But let’s be honest — education is broken. The world is changing. The skillset needed in the world today is far different than the one needed just a few years ago. The 

What is the truth about the new Windham STEM Magnet? - Wait, What?

What is the truth about the new Windham STEM Magnet? - Wait, What?:

What is the truth about the new Windham STEM Magnet?

by jonpelto

A major controversy is brewing about the operating agreement that will govern Windham’s new Charles H. Barrows STEM Academy.  Recruitment for the K-8 magnet school is beginning and the school will be opening in September 2013.

The Agreement, as proposed by Windham’s Special Master Steven Adamowski and approved by the Windham Board of Education, includes the concept that “New students entering beyond grade 3 must be reading at grade level.”

As Windham’s Board of Education Chairman explained in a recent email, “That language is in a section referring to students who transfer into openings in an ongoing Magnet School class. It does not apply to ANY student applying to enroll in initial classes during 

Diane in the Evening 2-10-13 Diane Ravitch's blog

Diane Ravitch's blog:

Exclude Students with Disabilities to Raise Test Scores

by dianerav

This is not a new trick. It is proven to work. Remove students with disabilities from the mandated tests and the scores go up.
You won’t be surprised where this is happening. Read about it here.
After all, what matters most? Kids or test scores? In another era, we might have said without thinking twice that kids mater most. But in the age of No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top, that’s no longer true. The fate of schools, principals, and teachers depend on test scores.
This is sad. It’s wrong. It’s unethical. It’s malpractice.

Georgia: “The Chaos Theory of Running Our Schools”

by dianerav

Myra Blackmon, a columnist for the Athens, Georgia, Banner-Herald, explains how the state legislature is determined to destabilize and disrupt public education with a wacky “parent trigger” bill. Read her terrific analysishere.
It won’t do anything to improve education nor will it “empower” parents, but it will make ALEC and others advocates of privatization very happy.

Amazing Reporting on New Orleans Charters

by dianerav

Bobby Jindal went to Virginia to boast of the miraculous transformation of education in Louisiana, all attributable to the magic of replacing public schools with privately managed, deregulated charters.
This is an oft-told tale, repeated again and again by advocates of privatization in both political parties and endlessly regurgitated by an uncurious and credulous media.
But something amazing happened when th

Bad News from Sacramento

by dianerav

A reader from Sacramento warns that privatization is moving rapidly in his city:
Here in Sacramento we are facing an all out assault by the privatisation armies. Sacramento City Unified School District has slated eleven elementary schools for closure under their “Children First” and “Right Sizing” plan. Instead of following the six month plan our state dept of ed suggests for closing a school they are pushing it to a vote in one month. We have about a week and a half until eleven of our communities are decemated. Our superintendent – Jonathan Raymond – is a big player in the republican hierarchy with no educational experience. He hired a local charter school bigwig as his chief of staff. To make matters worse our mayor – Kevin Johnson –

This Boy Is Not a Striver

by dianerav

A few weeks ago, I posted a column by Mike Petrilli defending the idea that charters skim the best, most ambitious kids from public schools. The column was refreshing in that Mike abandoned the usual reformer pretense that charters enroll “exactly” the same children as public schools and get amazing results. Mike said that charters are for “strivers,” not for the others.
Here is a story about a non-striver and his teacher. Would the charters want him?

We Must Out-Educate and Out-Innovate Other Nations | Group Think | BillMoyers.com

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 hour ago

We Must Out-Educate and Out-Innovate Other Nations | Group Think | BillMoyers.com: We Must Out-Educate and Out-Innovate Other Nations By Diane Ravitch, Professor, New York University [image: Diane Ravitch] Diane Ravitch My fellow Americans, I have said in previous addresses on this occasion that the key to our future success is to make sure that the education we provide our young people is the best in the world. I have said that we must out-educate and out-innovate other nations. Over the past four years, I have learned what we need to do. First, we must end the pressure on teachers... more »

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 2-10-13 Diane Ravitch's blog

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 hour ago

Diane Ravitch's blog: [image: Click on picture to Listen to Diane Ravitch] Could Mark Zuckerberg Please Fix This Newark Problem? by dianerav Mark Zuckerberg paid out $100 million to fix Newark’s schools. Millions have been spent on consultants. Probably lots more charters too, free to push out kids they don’t want. But couldn’t some of Mark’s millions be spent to Great News: How to Succeed without Corporate Reforms by dianerav In this superb article in the New York Times, David Kirp shows how the public schools of Union City, New Jersey,succeeded despite all the obstacles of pov... more »

House Charter School Bill Corrupted by Cozy Relationship Between Tony Bennett and Charter Schools USA | Scathing Purple Musings

House Charter School Bill Corrupted by Cozy Relationship Between Tony Bennett and Charter Schools USA | Scathing Purple Musings:

House Charter School Bill Corrupted by Cozy Relationship Between Tony Bennett and Charter Schools USA

by Bob Sikes

House Charter School Bill Corrupted by Cozy Relationship 

Between Tony Bennett and Charter Schools USA

Chris Moya,  Charter Schools USA lobbyist testified this week that Rep. George Moraitis charter school bill was about ‘improving accountability”. Moya and Florida Charter School Alliance lobbyist Jim Horne’s smug performances this week were justified. The new bag of goodies for their clients are assured of being delivered. The fix is already in.
Within several clauses of PCB CIS 1301 are numerous references to “high performing charter schools” who would benefit from the public school facility take-over intentions of the bill. This prompted inquiry as to what criteria established such a lofty status. FLDOE official, Michael Kooi, a former charter school lobbyist himself, dryly brushed aside such concerns as the bill’s nuances  would only benefit  one – KIPP Schools of Jacksonville. There’s no way that Moya and Horne were going to correct their colleague and call attention to 

Sorry, Kirp’s Fix Another Flawed Discourse on Ed Reform – @ the chalk face

Sorry, Kirp’s Fix Another Flawed Discourse on Ed Reform – @ the chalk face:

Sorry, Kirp’s Fix Another Flawed Discourse on Ed Reform

by plthomasedd

Before I could find David Kirp’s “The Secret to Fixing Bad Schools,” I received by email and discovered on Twitter a series of enthusiastic praise from  friends, colleagues, and like-minded progressives and left-leaning radicals.
So let me be the first to say, “Sorry, but Kirp’s fix is yet another flawed public commentary about the state of schools and the needed education reform.”
Now, briefly, let me count the ways:
(1) The headline reinforces the “bad” schools narrative that keeps the political and public gaze on the school as the sole cause-agent of educational outcomes.
(2) Kirp’s description of Union City triggers the flawed and misleading “miracle” school narrative.

Schooling in the Ownership Society: Corporate reformers and union haters target Zimmer in L.A. board race

Schooling in the Ownership Society: Corporate reformers and union haters target Zimmer in L.A. board race:

Corporate reformers and union haters target Zimmer in L.A. board race

by Mike Klonsky

 

I have done several posts on various local school board elections which recently have become targets for corporate reform types bent on district takeovers. Their aim is to gain control of hundreds of school district budgets and shift money away from neighborhood public schools and into the pockets of private charter school operators.

In October, I referred to a piece  in The Nation which asked

Short Notes: Dear Chris Lehmann [This Time, It's About You] | The Jose Vilson

Short Notes: Dear Chris Lehmann [This Time, It's About You] | The Jose Vilson:

Short Notes: Dear Chris Lehmann [This Time, It's About You]

by Jose Vilson

Chris Lehmann and … Chris Lehmann

A few links:

• Amidst all the talk about Obama’s lack of action regarding Chicago’s daily murders, First Lady Obama attends Hadiya Pendleton’s funeral. [The Root]
• ITeach4Change ruminates on the situation at Garfield High School in Seattle. We still need serious reform. [Cooperative Catalyst]
• The NAACP asks you to nominate a local hero

Palm Beach County schools look for ways to reduce teen arrests - Sun Sentinel

Palm Beach County schools look for ways to reduce teen arrests - Sun Sentinel:

Students arrested for 'bad behavior, not criminal behavior'

February 9, 2013|By Leslie Postal and Scott Travis, Orlando Sentinel, Sun Sentinel

Thousands of Florida students are arrested in school each year and taken to jail for behavior that once warranted a trip to the principal's office — a trend that troubles juvenile-justice and civil-rights leaders who say children are being traumatized for non-criminal acts.

Though the number of school arrests has dropped significantly since the state eased its "zero tolerance" policies a few years ago, there are still far too many kids handcuffed and hauled away in front of their classmates, said Wansley Walters, secretary of the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice.

"The vast majority of children being arrested in schools are not committing criminal acts," Walters said.

Palm Beach County Public Defender Carey Haughwout notes that:

• A child who accidentally set off a fire extinguisher in the hall was charged with a felony — interfering 

So much for school choice in New Orleans and elsewhere « Seattle Education

So much for school choice in New Orleans and elsewhere « Seattle Education:

So much for school choice in New Orleans and elsewhere

by seattleducation2011

Karran Harper Royal

Karran Harper-Royal, an advocate for all children in public schools, works tirelessly in New Orleans and beyond in ensuring an equitable education for all against many odds.

Mrs. Harper-Royal has begun a collection of video recordings of herself and others as they describe the reality of the so-called miracle of New Orleans charter schools.

The first video is one of Mrs. Harper-Royal as she speaks in front of the school board in New Orleans in 2011 when promises by Paul Vallas, then the superintendent of the New Orleans School District, were not kept.

By the way, Paul Vallas is another superintendent associated with the Broad Foundation who began his path of destruction through the privatization of public schools in Chicago 

Madigan can run but he can’t hide. He wants you to fax him. So, fax him. « Fred Klonsky

Madigan can run but he can’t hide. He wants you to fax him. So, fax him. « Fred Klonsky:

Madigan can run but he can’t hide. He wants you to fax him. So, fax him.

by Fred Klonsky

If you were like me on Friday you were going to find a way to send a message to Democratic Party Chairman and House Speaker Michael Madigan.
He had disrespected our union and its members with his drop dead letter telling the We Are One coalition of public employee unions that he had no time to meet with them about pensions.
And while the union leaders themselves had proposed no membership response to this disrespect, a number of pension activists, bloggers and union members wanted to express their unhappiness directly to the Speaker.
We suggested calling or sending an email in a coordinated response last Friday.
If you were like me, you may not have been able to get the Speaker’s office in Springfield. The line was constantly busy.
I was able to speak to an unenthusiastic staffer when I called the Speaker’s Chicago office.
Then I sent an email.
The unenthusiastic staffer told me and others to send a fax.
In Ken Previti’s words, “A fax?”
I  faxed things years ago at my old school. But a fax machine is rarer than the old land-line phone I used in my video on Friday (I was mocked quite mercilessly about that).
But have no fear. Technology has given us online faxing.
Here.
Since the Speaker wants you to fax him, fax him.
Do it now!

The exaggeration of charter school waiting lists:

The exaggeration of charter school waiting lists

Posted by Valerie Strauss on February 10, 2013 at 11:18 am

•   Text Size
• Print
• Reprints

• Share:
• More »

No doubt there are excellent charter schools in the country where the waiting lists are very, very long. But there also are instances where waiting lists aren’t exactly as long as they appear.

That became clear at a recent legislative hearing in Florida, when charter school lobbyist Jim Horne gave public testimony on a charter school bill, which includes a measure that some people are calling a land grab. It would require Florida school systems to offer, free of charge, the use of empty or half-empty public school buildings to charter nonprofit and for-profit school operators.

Blogger Bob Sikes reports that Horne said that there are 

Test anxiety: Why it is increasing and 3 ways to curb it

by Valerie Strauss

One of the many unfortunate consequences of the rise of high-stakes test is an increase in the prevalence of test anxiety, a condition that goes beyond the normal nervousness people may feel before a challenge. Test anxiety is a psychological … Continue reading →

Jersey Jazzman: Teachers Stand Up Against Merit Pay

Jersey Jazzman: Teachers Stand Up Against Merit Pay:

Teachers Stand Up Against Merit Pay

by Duke

Back when we were debating the Newark teacher's contract, I warned everyone that if the Newark Teachers Union accepted a deal that included merit pay, all other districts in the state would be under pressure to accept a similar provision in their contracts.

And so has come to pass that the teachers in Paterson - another district, like Newark, that is under state control- are being pressured to accept merit pay. But the latest reports show that the reformyists at the NJDOE and in Paterson are willing to push a plan that goes even further than the Newark contract:

In Newark, teachers are being given the option of shifting into the merit pay system. Those who do will be given up-front bonuses simply for making the change, according to NJ Spotlight. The Newark plan calls for teachers themselves to be part of the teams that would evaluate teachers for merit pay. Teachers deemed effective in 

Schools Matter: Corporate Insider, Bob George, Named Steering Committee National Director for SOS

Schools Matter: Corporate Insider, Bob George, Named Steering Committee National Director for SOS:

Corporate Insider, Bob George, Named Steering Committee National Director for SOS

by Jim Horn

Below is the first paragraph from a post I put up in 2006, which lists Catapult Learning as one of the fat leeches sucking dollars from ED during the heyday of NCLB.  

The coming of the neocons to ED has meant that subjects other than reading, math, and behavior control have been shoved aside by a plalanx of testing pushed by the ed industry, the testing/textbook industry, and the politicos at the Business Roundtable. Let's not forget, too, the know-nothing politicians who use the testing hysteria as an opportunity to appear tough by punishing schools and children, while turning their backs to the criminals 

Parents in Pittsburgh are Opting Out

by Judy Rabin

Listen to great reporting from Chalkface Radio's interview on Saturday with Tim Slekar, United Opt Out and  the radical suburban soccer moms in PA who are opting out of testing to protect the best interests of their children.

Leafy suburban neighborhoods are the new battlefront against the barrage of high stakes tests, schools closings, for profit charter schools and privatization. Haven't these corporate ed deformers ever heard of NIMBE (not in my backyard).