NYC Educator: Standing Up for Our Right to No Voice and No Choice

NYC Educator: Standing Up for Our Right to No Voice and No Choice:

Standing Up for Our Right to No Voice and No Choice

by NYC Educator

That's what the so-called Educators for Excellence are doing. Though their most visible proponents, their leaders, are not even teachers, they're regularly cited as a teacher group. And though they're funded by Gates and his ilk, they're accepted by a sleepy press corps as representative of teachers.

Now they've put out a video demanding that NY State impose an evaluation system on teachers. Perhaps it's mere coincidence that this is precisely what the reformy agenda demands, and perhaps it's coincidence that they demand everything the reformy types demand at all times. I'd say, though, that any group claiming to support excellence ought to at least have one foot anchored in reality.

Reality dictates that VAM is unworkable and unreliable. There have been no instances where it's been proven to be effective, and last year's 50-80% margins of error in NYC were so humiliating that even reformy Bill Gates had to publicly oppose their release. Of course, that's not because Bill believes in science. It's 

Jersey Jazzman: NJDOE Knew About LEAP's Problems

Jersey Jazzman: NJDOE Knew About LEAP's Problems:

NJDOE Knew About LEAP's Problems

by Duke

Over the last couple of weeks, we've seen a flurry of reporting about one of the biggest charter school disasters in New Jersey, if not the nation: LEAP (Leadership, Education, and Partnership) Academy University Charter School in Camden. LEAP and its funder, Gloria Bonilla-Santiago, are now entangled in allegations of incompetence, cronyism, and abuse.

And yet, in spite of the many, many problems the charter has encountered, Education Commissioner Chris Cerf has given LEAP his blessing. Here he is this past October, cutting the ribbon at the opening of LEAP's brand new $12.5 million STEM school.

You may wonder how Cerf - the sole authority over charter schools in New Jersey - could have been so clueless about LEAP. The fact is, he wasn't clueless at all: Commissioner Cerf and the NJDOE had already 

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Ruiz gets an F, Katten an A+ on Chicago Tonight

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Ruiz gets an F, Katten an A+ on Chicago Tonight:

Ruiz gets an F, Katten an A+ on Chicago Tonight

by Mike Klonsky

I almost felt bad for Jesse Ruiz last night as I watched him play the fool to Wendy Katten on Chicago Tonight. Armed only with an embarrassed grin, a pocket full of cliches ("it's for the kids"... "it's about teaching and learning"..."all hands on deck"...) and a bag full of half-truths and misinformation, Rahm's hand-picked board V.P Ruiz was sent out to face the Raise Your Hand's Wendy Katten and Catalyst's Rebecca Harris to try and defend the indefensible -- CPS's list of 129 "underutilized" schools slated for closure.

It was a total mismatch. Katten, armed with credible information, waited patiently as Ruiz spouted the party line:

"It's under-utilization that's driving it. We want to right-size the footprint. There's been a drop in the 

Special Late Nite Cap UPDATE 2-19-13 #SOSCHAT #EDCHAT #P2

Nite Cap UPDATE

UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE

Ohanian Nails the Common Core, and then Burns It

by Jim Horn

Too good to miss from our national treasure and every corporate education deformer's nightmare.  At  Daily Uncensored.

Charter School Watch

by Melissa Westbrook

It's been awhile since we talked about charters.   I have been stockpiling the stories because, yes, there's a lot happening.

FYI, the Washington Board of Education is having a public hearing on charter rules.  They seek input from citizens.  It is on Tuesday, Feb. 26th at 1:00 pm in Olympia at OSPI. 

Those wishing to provide comment on the draft rules may attend the hearing in Olympia, via K-20 video feed in Spokane at the office of ESD 101, or by writing us directly (sbe@k12.wa.us).

The draft rules establish an annual application and approval process and timelines for local school boards seeking approval to be charter school authorizers. For example, the current draft rules will require school districts to submit an authorizer application to the State Board by June 15 and for the State Board of Education 

What Did the Democrats Really Promise the Bus Workers Union?

by Beth Fertig

The city’s first school bus strike in over 30 years ended when the five Democrats running for mayor issued a statement calling on the union to go back to work. The statement allowed the union to suspend the strike in favor of waiting for a more sympathetic mayor but actually the candidates did not promise very much.
“We know this is not an easy decision,” the mayoral candidates said. “But we pledge, if elected, to revisit the school bus transportation system and contracts and take effective action to insure that the important job security, wages and benefits of your members are protected within the bidding process, while at the same time 

Proposed special needs voucher program draws parents’ concerns

by millerlf

•  By Meghan Chua Daily Cardinal 2/18/13

A provision of Gov. Scott Walker’s budget that would create a voucher-like program for special needs students drew concern from activists across the state Monday.
Walker announced Monday the budget would create a Special Needs Scholarship Program that would provide state-funded scholarships for children with special needs to attend a school of their choice, which could be private or public.
Beth Swedeen, Executive Director for the Wisconsin Board for People with Developmental Disabilities, likened 

LAUSD board race: Outside spending tops $2 million, with $1 million just in San Fernando Valley-including District 4

by By Barbara Jones Staff Writer

Outside spending for the Los Angeles Unified school board has soared past $2 million - including $1 million in the contentious District 4 race - which has shaped up as a pitched battle between reform and union interests.

Closure opponents not satisfied with proposed changes to District plan

by thenotebook

by Dale Mezzacappa and Benjamin Herold for the Notebook and NewsWorks

While some students and communities were glad to have a reprieve and felt that their voices were heard, supporters of a moratorium on school closings said that they haven’t changed their minds as a result of Superintendent William Hite’s revised recommendations that would shutter 29 instead of 37 schools.
read more

Teachers Flocking to “Pilot” School Model

by Samantha Oltman

When the LAUSD Board voted last week to approve 12 new “pilot schools,” it was a small but positive sign of change in a school district long troubled by battles among key stakeholders about to how to best improve LA’s many underperforming schools and create successful new options.
Pilot schools are the most flexible of three “autonomy models” agreed to under a 2011 agreement between the 

Education panel: To close achievement gap, urgent state, federal action needed

by Lyndsey Layton

The nation must act urgently to close the achievement gap between poor and privileged children by changing the way public schools are financed, improving teacher quality, investing in early-childhood education and demanding greater accountability down to the local school board level, according to a report issued Tuesday by an expert panel.
Read full article >>

Report: U.S. should focus on equity in education

by Valerie Strauss

When Barack Obama was elected president four years ago, many people in the education world had hoped hewould pick as his education secretary Linda Darling-Hammond, a Stanford University professor who was the head of his first education transition team and who is an expert on educational equity. Pushed by pro-school choice forces to pass over her, Obama selected Arne Duncan, who has presided over a school reform agenda with standardized test-based accountability as its focus. Issues of equity and the role of poverty in student achievement not only got short shrift, but it became popular among school reformers to say that people who insisted that poverty could not be ignored were merely providing excuses for bad teachers.
Read full article >>

Common Core Crashing in Florida?

by stlgretchen

Pity.

From Bob Sikes in Scathing Purple Musings:

In the aftermath of yesterday’s caution delivered by education commissioner Tony Bennett that Florida needed to prepare itself for Plan B  on implementation of Common Core Standards and it’s PARCC assessments, Jeb Bush’s education foundation acquiesced.

Read more here,

Sikes writes politicians are using the word "implode" when speaking about common core.  Dare we hope?

Anti-Common Core Legislation in South Dakota

by stlgretchen

From truthinamericaneducation.com:

The South Dakota House Education Committee advanced another anti-Common Core bill on an 8 to 7 vote last Friday.  House Bill 1204 would require the South Dakota Board of Education to obtain legislative approval before adopting any further Common Core standards, and to repeal a provision requiring the board to conduct certain public hearings.

...State Representative Bolan who authored the bill said, “One of the founding principles of 

Bush Foundation Resigns Itself to Plan B on Common Core and PARCC Tests in Florida

by Bob Sikes

In the aftermath of yesterday’s caution delivered by education commissioner Tony Bennett that Florida needed to prepare itself for Plan B  on implementation of Common Core Standards and it’s PARCC assessments, Jeb Bush’s education foundation acquiesced. From Mike Thomas in the  Foundation for Excellence in Education’s blog:

(Tony) Bennett also is concerned about the ability of 22 states in the PARCC consortium to agree on common assessments and common cut scores. The range of states in PARCC goes from 

Reward Good Behavior

by noreply@blogger.com (Tim Furman)

PURE is right; you have to reward good behavior. I'm dashing of a "nice job" as we speak.

Teaching in My Sleep!

by Lisa M

Last night, while I was sleeping, I developed a Fractions Math Review lesson using Socrative's Space Race. I am serious, while I was sleeping! I am at the end of the unit in fractions and I wanted to create a review that would be fun and productive. But, never in my wildest dreams, pun intended, did I intend to create it while sleeping!  I woke up from the "dream", and figured I would fall

Report: U.S. should focus on equity in education

by Valerie Strauss

When Barack Obama was elected president four years ago, many people in the education world had hoped he would pick as his education secretary Linda Darling-Hammond, a Stanford University professor who was the head of his first education transition team … Continue reading →

LAUSD'S FANTASY REFORMS CONTINUE BREWING THE LATINO "FIRE NEXT TIME"

by Leonard Isenberg

(Mensaje se repite en Español)

"Do I really want to be integrated into a burning house?" 
― James Baldwin, The Fire Next Time

It occurs to me that in the discussion of what it will take to fix public education in the United States and to stem the downward spiral of our society, there are few other than inner city teachers and their students that actually have the slightest idea of the demoralizing reality we presently face on a daily basis in our schools. People outside and even many within remain blind to this reality. Furthermore, it is hard for dedicated teachers to defend themselves under the present onslaught of attacks motivated by the privatization juggernaut without resorting to language that is 

Huge spending gaps between school districts, report finds

Vast inequities still exist in education funding across the nation, contributing to an academic achievement gap that separates the students at well-funded schools from those who attend campuses with fewer resources, according to a report released Tuesday.
The funding disparities are “as wide as ever despite decades of effort,” said Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar, a Stanford law professor who co-chaired the Equity and Excellence Commission, a federal panel that examined funding and other issues over two years of research and testimony.
Analysts have frequently put California near the bottom of states in education dollars when the cost of living is 

Testing the temperature of the Twitter Water

by James Gonzales

I recently added myself to the Twitter nation as a newbie.  I never saw the value in posting trivial information about this and that, but when my current professor required us to get on Twitter and use it to our advantage, I was pleasantly surprised. I don't use Twitter to update my followers on my recent 7-11 visit or my latest viewing of The Vampire Diaries," but rather I use it to keep updated on the latest teaching practices.  This afternoon I joined the #edchat forum for tuesdays.  I thought there would be one overriding questions, but there were many.  I found myself jumping from this post and that post.  Some were dated, but others were up to the minute with posts.  The one I found interesting was one about creativity dying after primary school.  Two of the people 

Diane in the Evening 2-19-13 Diane Ravitch's blog

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 5 hours ago

Diane Ravitch's blog: What About the Good Charters? by dianerav This parent takes issue with Mark Naison and Bruce Bernstein, who wrote a post about how to tell whether your local charter school is avaricious. The few “good charters” are used by the corporate charter chains to clear the path. Superb list. Very true. However, I must disagree with this sentence: “We will not categorically write off charter schools because there are some great ones.” Maybe. But the privatizers declared war on our schools, our kids, our teachers, our parents and our taxpayers. We didn’t start thi... more »

Big Education Ape - SPECIAL Mid Day Banana Break 2-19-13 #soschat #edreform

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 5 hours ago

*Big Education Ape - Mid Day Banana Break* The Eduttante’s Balls by edushyster2012 *Eduttante: /ˌedjuˈtänt/ Noun: A shill or paid spokesperson advocating strict no-excuses charters for the urban communities in which he or she does not live. Related terms: educolonialist, whiteousness.* Today we meet a new character in our fast-paced edu-drama: the eduttante. This individual is among the most enthusiastic cheerleaders for the academies of excellence and innovation that are rapidly setting up shop in our urban centers. Among his traits: the eduttante, often paid for his efforts (an... more »

Bill Introduced: H.R.551 Fast Track to College Act of 2013

To authorize the Secretary of Education to make grants to support early college high schools and other dual enrollment programs.

Panel Outlines Strategies to Promote Educational Equity

by cmaadmin

Commission co-chair Mariano-Florentino Cuellar
 says all members agreed on the final plan.

A blue-ribbon federal advisory panel outlined an ambitious plan Tuesday to combat achievement gaps, focusing on improved teacher preparation and a stronger education and support services pipeline to help meet the needs of high-poverty students.

The Equity and Excellence Commission concluded its two-year effort with a report with five key recommendations to U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. Commission Co-chair Mariano-Florentino Cuellar called the report “unprecedented,” since all members agreed to the final plan. In addition to teacher prep and services to high-poverty students, the panel also called for school finance reforms, improved access to high-quality early childhood education and governance changes to improve accountability and excellence.
In For Each and Every Child: A Strategy for Education Equity and Excellence, Cuellar and Co-chair Christopher Edley Jr. noted that U.S. leaders “decry but tolerate disparities in student outcomes that are not only unfair, but socially and economically dangerous.”

They note that test-driven accountability “has not been enough” and that the next steps must include coordinated 

Rally for Public Education-Vanessa German -2-10-13

Rally for Public Education Dr. Tim  Slekar 2 10 13

And now $9.2 million to design “better” standardized tests for 4 year olds! - Wait, What?

And now $9.2 million to design “better” standardized tests for 4 year olds! - Wait, What?:

And now $9.2 million to design “better” standardized tests for 4 year olds!

by jonpelto

Hooray!  The U.S. Department of Education is giving away $9.2 million to help states devise better tests for 4 year olds!

According to a recent article in Education Week, “Some state officials say the money would be welcome as they revamp their early-childhood-assessment programs. But others suggest that if the Education Department wants to focus attention on just one part of early learning, an avenue other than kindergarten assessments—teacher professional development, for example—would have been more welcome.”

But I say, to Hell with “teacher professional development.”

We are Connecticut and more assessments is our motto.

For example, just this past year, Governor Malloy’s education reform initiative included not 

Equity And Excellence Commission Report Warns Of Failure To Right Unfair U.S. Schools

Equity And Excellence Commission Report Warns Of Failure To Right Unfair U.S. Schools:

Equity And Excellence Commission Report Warns Of Failure To Right Unfair U.S. Schools

by Joy Resmovits

Advocates have shouted about inequalities in the U.S. education system for decades, with issues ranging from the availability of good teachers to the amount of money spent on schools with poor students. The gaps in standardized test scores between minorities and white students, and between rich and poor children, are longstanding and well-known facts.

Today, a diverse group of 27 education experts, economists and civil-rights leaders convened by the U.S. Education Department and with the support of the White House released a report recommending how to help remedy these problems. The report was commissioned by a congressional appropriation written by Rep. Michael Honda (D-Calif.). The Tuesday release comes one year after the report was initially expected, and follows months of torturous meetings and squabbling between union representatives and budget hawks.

The report's authors say that despite the failure of previous attempts to correct this gaping inequity, this time will 

PSAT for 2-19-13: Thank your alderman Parents United for Responsible Education

Parents United for Responsible Education » Blog Archive » PSAT for 2-19-13: Thank your alderman:

PSAT for 2-19-13: Thank your alderman

by admin

We spend a lot of time criticizing our elected officials for the bad decisions they make, or for wimping out when we want them to stick up for us.
But it may be even more important to thank them when they are right. The 35 Chicago aldermen who signed on in support of a moratorium on new charter schools are going up against Mayor Emanuel and his charter-cheerleader hedge fund cronies, along with all so many others in power across the nation from Arne Duncan on down.
Here are some of the points they made in the resolution:

• A major factor contributing to the underutilization of CPS schools is the expansion of charter schools in Chicago. Currently, the number of seats available in charter schools amounts to more than half of the