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Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Big Education Ape - (VERY LATE) Morning Wink 3-26-13 AM Posts #SOSCHAT #EDCHAT #P2



BIG EDUCATION APE - MORNING WINK  AM POSTS




FCMAT » Cali Education Headlines Tuesday, March 26, 2013

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 3 hours ago
FCMAT » Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team: California voters split on Jerry Brown school plans Education Headlines *Tuesday, March 26, 2013* Former Santa Ana principal, parents, seek new charter schoolA former Santa Ana charter school principal is seeking approval to open a new K-8 school in the city. The Santa Ana Unified School District board is scheduled to hold a public hearing on Odyssey Charter Academy's petition on Tuesday. It will vote on the proposal by May. Somis School could move because of gas pipelines on campusThe Somis Union School District may move its ele... more »

Jersey Jazzman: Major Newspapers: Wrong On Iraq; Wrong On Education

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 3 hours ago
Jersey Jazzman: Major Newspapers: Wrong On Iraq; Wrong On Education: Major Newspapers: Wrong On Iraq; Wrong On Education by Duke [image: Corporate Media = Corporate Lies] The tenth anniversary of the start of the Iraq War came this week, with some, such as David Corn, taking the opportunity to reflect on the failure of the press. At the time, it was clear to any that cared to listen that the evidence in support of the invasion was weak at best and downright deceptive at worst. And yet most of the major newspapers wrote editorials in support of George W. Bush's war that credulous... more »

Shuttered: How America is Selling Out its Schools | Dissident Voice

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 4 hours ago
Shuttered: How America is Selling Out its Schools | Dissident Voice: Shuttered: How America is Selling Out its Schools by Peter Rugh Boos and hisses fill the auditorium of Brooklyn Technical High as the governing board for New York City’s public schools, the Panel on Education Policy, takes the stage. It’s March 11 and the PEP is meeting to consider a proposal from Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott to close nearly two dozen schools. Parent after parent, teacher after teacher, student after student takes the microphone and pleads for their school to remain open. Similar scenarios ar... more »

Florida School Board Association Reaffirms Opposition to Parent Trigger | Scathing Purple Musings

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 4 hours ago
Florida School Board Association Reaffirms Opposition to Parent Trigger | Scathing Purple Musings: Florida School Board Association Reaffirms Opposition to Parent Trigger by Bob Sikes Last summer, the Florida School Board Association (FSBA) took the unprecedented step of signing onto a Resolution on High Stakes Testing. More than anything other development, the action established as one which is clearly opposing the Jeb Bush dominated legislative agenda. The FSBA released their platform at the end of last year and on Friday, the FSBA reemphasized their opposition to Parent Trigge... more »

Schooling in the Ownership Society: Editorial: 'Stop the giveaway to charter schools'

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 4 hours ago
Schooling in the Ownership Society: Editorial: 'Stop the giveaway to charter schools': Editorial: 'Stop the giveaway to charter schools' by Mike Klonsky [image: Charter Schools - Dividing Communities since 1991] I'm reposting this editorial from today's Tampa Bay Times in full because it's spot on. Once again legislators are looking for ways to undermine Florida's public school system by giving more taxpayer dollars and freebies to charter schools, including those run by for-profit management companies. At a time when school district budgets remain squeezed for cash, two House bi... more »

Why we can’t threaten our way to better schools | Hechinger Report

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 4 hours ago
Why we can’t threaten our way to better schools | Hechinger Report: Why we can’t threaten our way to better schools by Eric Shieh [image: Why we can’t threaten our way to better schools] Last month, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo pushed back, for the third time, his deadline for New York City to devise a new teacher evaluation system. On the surface, it seemed a benevolent move that recognized the enormity of this undertaking—one in which many school districts across the nation are similarly taking part. The truth of the matter, however, is that Cuomo—along with U.S. Secretary of Educat... more »

The Evolution of School Health — Whole Child Education

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 4 hours ago
The Evolution of School Health — Whole Child Education: THE WHOLE CHILD BLOG [image: Sean Slade]The Evolution of School Health March 25, 2013 by Sean Slade The first tenet of a whole child approach to education is *healthy*. Each student, in each school and in each community, should enter school healthy and learn about and practice a healthy lifestyle. We know that if students aren't healthy, they can't learn; therefore, health is the most basic of the tenets of education. For the past decade, ASCD has been working on strengthening the links between health and education. These two e... more »

Student Voice

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 4 hours ago
Student Voice: Jake Frackson – The Art of the Lecture by Editor Admin Through the manipulation of a material, an artist can make ordinary material into something extraordinary. This material can be physical or otherwise. Examples of the latter include literature, music, poetry, and, I would argue, lectures. The lecture is an art form. It requires a skilled individual along with the right circumstances. Just like a great artist, a professor cannot create a truly great and effective lecture if the conditions are not exact. A major element of this is the ideas; without the content th... more »

Tom Izzo, the World's Greatest French Teacher and Cutting Costs in Education - Teacher in a Strange Land - Education Week Teacher

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 4 hours ago
Tom Izzo, the World's Greatest French Teacher and Cutting Costs in Education - Teacher in a Strange Land - Education Week Teacher: Tom Izzo, the World's Greatest French Teacher and Cutting Costs in Education by Nancy Flanagan Regular readers of *Teacher in a Strange Land* know that I loathe sports/education analogies. Equating theCommon Core to "having the same goalposts," for example, or the desirability of "box scores" for teachers--it's all Grade A ball-park baloney. Hot-ticket sports are entertainment and education is something else entirely. Both fine in their own right, but ... more »

NYC Educator: AFT Puts a Smiley Face on Junk Science

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 5 hours ago
NYC Educator: AFT Puts a Smiley Face on Junk Science: AFT Puts a Smiley Face on Junk Science by NYC Educator It's quite disappointing to contemplate the inevitable institution of an evaluation system that will judge teachers based on student test scores. For one thing, there's absolutely no research to suggest this is a reflection on teacher quality. For another, the system has never actually worked anywhere. There are examples of teachers regarded as excellentlosing jobs as a result. There are great teachers whodon't get tenure because of junk science, and who likely as not will ... more »

How Effective is Head Start? |

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 5 hours ago
How Effective is Head Start? |: How Effective is Head Start? by Irene Sege [image: Photo: Micaela Bedell for Strategies for Children] Photo: Micaela Bedell for Strategies for Children Head Start has been in the news lately, both because of the effects of sequestration on the program and because of discussion about its effectiveness in light of proposals to expand early education. W. Steven Barnett, director of the National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers University, sheds light on the research in arecent column on the Washington Post’s Answer Sheet blog. Barnett c... more »

I still cannot get an answer to this question… #commoncore #teachervoice – @ the chalk face

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 5 hours ago
I still cannot get an answer to this question… #commoncore #teachervoice – @ the chalk face: @educationweek gives us, via Walt Gardner, a “reality check” by Chalk Face, PhD I’ve seen this post on “protecting” children from failure tweeted a few times. I get it, but for some reason, these kinds of arguments feel icky to me. I can’t quite put my finger on it. The tone of some of them, or the assumptions buried within the arguments, seem to me like they are paternalistic or tailored for students from privileged backgrounds. I always thought it takes a lot of sand for authors like Paul... more »

Modern School: The New Network for Public Education

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 5 hours ago
Modern School: The New Network for Public Education: The New Network for Public Education by Michael Dunn Huck/Konopacki Labor Cartoons A new anti-reform education reform movement is taking shape: The Network for Public Education. Led by Diane Ravitch, Anthony Cody, Leonie Haimson and other lefty ed reformers, the NPE is calling for an end to privatization schemes; increased funding; assessments that are used to inform instruction, not to penalize schools, students and teachers, among other reforms; community control; teacher autonomy; and a host of other reforms.. As far as ref... more »

Shanker Blog » How Many Schools Don't Have Nurses?

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 5 hours ago
Shanker Blog » How Many Schools Don't Have Nurses?: How Many Schools Don’t Have Nurses? by Matthew Di Carlo In 2006, the National Association of School Nurses (NASN) commissioned the largest and, to my knowledge, most recent national survey on the availability of nursing services in U.S. public schools. It was administered to a sample of over 1,000 schools in all 50 states and D.C. The primary purpose was to gather basic information on the health staff in these schools, as well as a few core characteristics, such as school size and student demographics. I must confess that I was a... more »

Bruce Lesley: Renewing Our Vision for America's Children

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 5 hours ago
Bruce Lesley: Renewing Our Vision for America's Children: Renewing Our Vision for America's Children[image: Bruce Lesley]President, First Focus BruceL[at]firstfocus.net Mr. Lesley has more than 20 years of public policy experience at all levels of government and a demonstrated commitment to making children’s lives better. Lesley directs all aspects of policy development and internal operations at First Focus. The promise of this nation is that our young people will be provided an equal opportunity to fulfill their full potential. Unfortunately, over 16 million or more than 1 in 5 ... more »

The School Library Situation. | Sarah Kennedy

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 5 hours ago
The School Library Situation. | Sarah Kennedy: The School Library Situation. Today’s topic is something I’ve had a bee in my bonnet about for a very long time. This is something that I have been concerned about even before I decided to pursue a career in librarianship because it’s an issue that has affected me in my journey through the Irish education system. I want to talk about the lack of libraries in schools and, with it, the lack of digital literacy training. The School Library Association has pointed out that the situation in Ireland is “highly unsatisfactory.” As it stands... more »

Westside Parents, Teachers Facing ‘Deasy’s Revenge’ CityWatch

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 5 hours ago
CityWatch: Westside Parents, Teachers Facing ‘Deasy’s Revenge’ EDUCATION POLITICS* *- It seems that while Superintendent John Deasy gets famously mad, when crossed he gets pretty darned even as well. Evidently there was an enormous rift in the political structure of the LAUSD board at their meeting of last Tuesday, 3/19/13. Signaled by the de-throning of long-time board chair Mónica García, Steve Zimmer’s surprising reelection early this month has realigned power behind-the-scenes. Reflective of this is the citing of a pilot school in his community with absolutely zero respect for... more »

Boston Review — Diane Ravitch Responds to Rob Reich

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 6 hours ago
Boston Review — Diane Ravitch Responds to Rob Reich: Response: Funding Conventional Wisdom*Diane Ravitch* *This article is part of What Are Foundations For?, a forum on philanthropic institutions and their role in democracy.* Diane Ravitch For many decades foundations played the role that Rob Reich describes. Twenty years ago I would have agreed about their unique capacity to take chances with new ideas, tolerate the risk of failure while promoting innovation, and create pilot projects that spur the government to take action. In the area of education, where I work, they served as in... more »

Tavis Smiley: Education Under Arrest: Taking America Out of Its Comfort Zone

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 6 hours ago
Tavis Smiley: Education Under Arrest: Taking America Out of Its Comfort Zone: Education Under Arrest: Taking America Out of Its Comfort Zone We had to shut the cameras down for a moment. The testimony of the two New Orleans sisters, Kenyatta, 15, and Kennisha, 17, was too surreal, too emotional and too raw. Kenyatta was involved in a fight at school that she didn't start. Because of "zero tolerance" policies adopted at their high school and many others in America, Kenyatta was handcuffed, arrested and expelled. Kennisha, who tried to break up the fight, was also expelled. Both gir... more »

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Rahm finds his strongest support coming from the right

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 6 hours ago
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Rahm finds his strongest support coming from the right: Rahm finds his strongest support coming from the right by Mike Klonsky The Chicago Students Organizing to Save Our Schools group marches to Mayor Rahm Emanuel's office at City Hall on Monday to present a letter from Chicago Public Schools students asking him not to close their schools. | Al Podgorski~Sun-TimesOnce again, the mayor is finding his strongest support coming from right-wing, anti-tax, anti-union conservatives. The far-right National Review dotes on Rahm and his school closings and bla... more »

MORNING UPDATE LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 3-26-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 6 hours ago
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: [image: Click on picture to Listen to Diane Ravitch] Just Look at Malloy Nominee for State Board of Education by dianerav Jonathan Pelto reminds us of the national publicity about a homeless woman who was arrested and fined for the crime of enrolling her child in the Norwalk public schools when she was not a resident of that city in Connecticut. Now Governor Dannell Malloy has nominated a woman to the state board of education even though she was in the same dispute with the Windsor schools a decade ago. But it is ... more »

UPDATE: A tale of two unions + The in box. Only five Democrats in the Illinois House believe in the Constitution. | Fred Klonsky

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 6 hours ago
The in box. Only five Democrats in the Illinois House believe in the Constitution. | Fred Klonsky: A tale of two unions. by Fred Klonsky [image: Al & Tammy 2] *Al Ramirez and Tammy Vinson submit CORE nominating petitions.* Yesterday representatives of the Caucus of Rank and File Educators submitted 5,000 signatures that placed the names of current CTU President Karen Lewis and her CORE colleagues on the ballot for re-election in about a month. Her opposition, currently invisible in the fight against school closings, represents the group that was ousted by CORE in the last election... more »

Why the United States Is Destroying Its Education System… by Chris Hedges | Teacher Reality

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 6 hours ago
Why the United States Is Destroying Its Education System… by Chris Hedges | Teacher Reality: Why the United States Is Destroying Its Education System… by Chris Hedges by TeacherReality This is an amazing piece by Chris Hedges that puts all of this destructive education reform into perspective… Original post on Truthdig.com… http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/why_the_united_states_is_destroying_her_education_system_20110410/ Why the United States Is Destroying Its Education System By Chris Hedges A nation that destroys its systems of education, degrades its public information, guts ... more »

Daily Kos: Cuccinelli compared slavery to abortion in 2008

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 6 hours ago
Daily Kos: Cuccinelli compared slavery to abortion in 2008: Cuccinelli compared slavery to abortion in 2008 by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken) *The Washington Examiner* is a conservative DC area paper, owned by right-wing billionaire Philip Anschutz, that this coming June will stop its daily print run and be replaced by a weekly magazine. That makes this story all the more delicious. The context of the story is that Democrats in Virginia have been pushing out a video taken by a tracker at a small small gathering of religious conservatives in Williamsburg, VA, in which the Virgini... more »

Can't We Pay Our Best Teachers More? - Bridging Differences - Education Week

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 6 hours ago
Can't We Pay Our Best Teachers More? - Bridging Differences - Education Week: Can't We Pay Our Best Teachers More? by Deborah Meier *Eric Hanushek files his final blog post with Deborah Meier today.* Dear Deborah, Since we have already entered into a number of sensitive areas, we might as well go all the way and discuss salaries. I am always struck by two competing arguments—frequently made by the same people—that teachers are not motivated by money and that a major problem with American schools is that the salaries are too low to attract top people in teaching. On the surface, t... more »

Louisiana Educator: OWN Reality Show Reveals Charter Secrets

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 6 hours ago
Louisiana Educator: OWN Reality Show Reveals Charter Secrets: OWN Reality Show Reveals Charter Secrets by Michael Deshotels The Oprah Winfrey Network reality show, *Blackboard Wars*, filmed at John McDonogh Hi School in New Orleans this school year reveals some rather shocking details about how charter schools operate in Louisiana. State Board president, Chas Roemer has often bragged that charter operators have the freedom to operate their schools without the usual bothersome red tape required of traditional schools. But we were always told that charters must comply with basic ac... more »

Missouri Education Watchdog: Common Core Costs $22 Million in One Alabama District

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 6 hours ago
Missouri Education Watchdog: Common Core Costs $22 Million in One Alabama District: Common Core Costs $22 Million in One Alabama District by stlgretchen Pearson is really cleaning up in the Huntsville, Alabama school district. From The Report Card and*Pearson $22 Million Contract With Huntsville AL Schools Exposed:* Editor: The Report Card has published a series of articles pro and con about on the Common Core K-12 Standard now required in 46 states. Diane Ravtich, and Sandra Stotsky well known educational reformers have come out against the Common Core saying. Dr. Stotsky has ... more »

Budget cuts create unprecedented stress on community colleges | EdSource Today

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 6 hours ago
Budget cuts create unprecedented stress on community colleges | EdSource Today: Budget cuts create unprecedented stress on community colleges - by John Fensterwald by John Fensterwald A decline of 24 percent in per-student funding over five years has led to a record decline in access to community colleges and has jeopardized the services to those students who are enrolled, an extensive study by the Public Policy Institute of California concluded. [image: Between 2006-07 and 2011-12, total revenue per student (in FTES or full-time equivalent, since most students attend part-time) f... more »

Could Big Pharma be slapped down by SCOTUS? Daily Kos

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 11 hours ago
Daily Kos: An important clip from All in the Family: Could Big Pharma be slapped down by SCOTUS? by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken) Yesterday the Court heard arguments in Federal Trade Commission v. Watson Pharmaceuticals. The question before the Court is whether it is legal for the patent holder of a bran-name drug to pay competition to delay introduction of a generic equivalent. As you can read here, Supreme Court justices suggested that they will open drugmakers to suits over “pay for delay” agreements, hinting at a ruling that would rewrite the rules governing the release of ge... more »

Chinua Achebe and Finding The Language For My Experience | The Jose Vilson

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 15 hours ago
Chinua Achebe and Finding The Language For My Experience | The Jose Vilson: Chinua Achebe and Finding The Language For My Experience by Jose Vilson [image: Chinua Achebe] Chinua Achebe When Chinua Achebe passed away, my thoughts immediately took me to the fifth grade book fair. There, I found the cover of a book I found interesting. Knowing nothing about the actual book, reading level, or histories behind it, I decided to buy it for what was probably five bucks from my school’s library. Shortly after the book sale, we had African dance classes for the semester. The volunteer dance ... more »

EARLIER SCHOOL AGE ? NOT IN ILLINOIS | Teachers Fight Back

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 17 hours ago
EARLIER SCHOOL AGE ? NOT IN ILLINOIS | Teachers Fight Back: EARLIER SCHOOL AGE ? NOT IN ILLINOIS by alkleen Most states have a starting compulsory attendance age for students that is either at the age of 5 or 6. The compulsory age to start school in Illinois has always been 7 years old. Many people have been urging legislators to lower the compulsory age here in Illinois. After weeks of studying the proposal, it looks like the idea is going nowhere. Illinois doesn’t have the money to spend on what it would take to enforce the lower compulsory age. We will just have to be one of t... more »

Look what Susan Ohanian started about the #commoncore. – @ the chalk face

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 17 hours ago
Look what Susan Ohanian started about the #commoncore. – @ the chalk face: Look what Susan Ohanian started about the #commoncore. by Timothy D. Slekar Most days I try to post meaningful quotes concerning education on my Facebook page. Today I posted: The issue is trusting teachers, trusting kids, and trusting them to find the books they need. The Common Core trusts nothing but computerized programs that train teachers and kids to do what they’re told. Susan Ohanian [image: url] This what followed: *Rick*. The Common Core reduces teachers to low level techies. *Steve.* Why are some... more »

Poll finds the less you make, the more you like Brown’s school finance reform | EdSource Today

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 17 hours ago
Poll finds the less you make, the more you like Brown’s school finance reform | EdSource Today: Poll finds the less you make, the more you like Brown’s school finance reform - by John Fensterwald by John Fensterwald More Californian voters favor than oppose Gov. Jerry Brown’s sweeping plan to reform school finance, and most are against the idea of lowering the threshold for approving local school parcel taxes from two-thirds to a 55 percent majority, according to a new statewide poll. [image: Polls show mixed support for Gov. Jerry Brown's Local Control Funding Formula.] Gov. Jer... more »

Data:to use or not to use…. | Deborah Meier on Education

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 17 hours ago
Data:to use or not to use…. | Deborah Meier on Education: Data:to use or not to use…. by debmeier Did you know that: only Russia , the Ukraine and Lebanon have as much inequality of income and wealth as the USA? If you even want to give democracy a chance, this should suggest how hard the road will be to recover even a modicum of greater equality! Between CEOs and minimum wage workers the difference is 5,000 per hour vs $7.25 per hour, and every day it’s getting worse. Why do I find myself going through these exercises over ad over–to keep me angry? And maybe it’s just that I fin... more »

Action Alert: Chicago School Closings

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 20 hours ago
Action Alert: Chicago School Closings: Volume 1, Issue: #2.5March 25, 2013*In This Special Alert*Chicago School Closings*Greetings!* This is a special action alert. Please read below about the developing situation in Chicago. It is time to support the students, parents and teachers there. *Chicago School Closings Demand a Response* Dear Friends and Allies, Chicago has announced plans to close 53 schools. Philadelphia will close 23. New York City has 22 on the hit list. Atlanta is planning to close 13. Sacramento will close seven. Last year Oakland closed five. These are not the ... more »

California Office to Reform Education District Waiver Request - Letters (CA Dept of Education)

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 20 hours ago
California Office to Reform Education District Wai - Letters (CA Dept of Education): March 22, 2013 Deborah S. Delisle, Assistant Secretary Office of Elementary and Secondary Education U.S. Department of Education 400 Maryland Avenue, SW Washington, DC 20202 Dear Assistant Secretary Delisle: We received your letter dated February 28, 2013, seeking comment from the California State Board of Education (SBE) on the request for a district-level waiver of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) submitted by nine California districts, organized as a consortium called the Calif... more »

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Same-Sex Marriage and Public Education

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago
Seattle Schools Community Forum: Same-Sex Marriage and Public Education: Budget Updates for SPS and Washington State by Melissa Westbrook In case you didn't hear, last Wednesday the economic forecast was released for Washington State. It showed flat growth which was actually good news as it means the Legislature doesn't have to find more cuts (in theory). Here's what was stated by Duggan Harman who is the Assistant Superintendent of Business & Finance (aka the budget guy) for SPS at last week's Board meeting. He stated the following: - SPS has an $18M shortfall. Staff has fo... more »

Student Voice: How a Community School Became an Oasis in South Central Los Angeles — Whole Child Education

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago
Student Voice: How a Community School Became an Oasis in South Central Los Angeles — Whole Child Education: THE WHOLE CHILD BLOG [image: ASCD Whole Child Bloggers]Student Voice: How a Community School Became an Oasis in South Central Los Angeles March 25, 2013 by ASCD Whole Child Bloggers *By Martin J. Blank and Ryan Fox, Coalition for Community Schools* [image: Kevin Valiencia] Walking through the halls of John C. Fremont High School in South Central Los Angeles with senior Kevin Valiencia, one finds an unexpected inner city public school in one of the most maligned neighborhoods in... more »

Diane in the Evening 3-25-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: Network for Public Education Deplores Mass Closings in Chicago by dianerav The Network for Public Education has released a statement condemning the Rahm Emanuel administration for the outrageous school closings in Chicago. Parents, teachers, administrators, and concerned citizens must speak up and act out against this horrendous and arrogant action by Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Mass Protest Rally in Chicago by dianerav The Chicago Teachers Union is planning a mass protest rally on Wednesday. The schools closings in Ch... more »

UPDATE: More lies from Tribune + Who’s scarier??? Parents United for Responsible Education

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago
Parents United for Responsible Education » Blog Archive » Who’s scarier???: More lies from Tribune survey report by admin [image: trappedchild] Thanks to Diane Ravitch for picking up and sharing yesterday’s post about the deceitful Tribune public education survey report. Catalyst picked it up, too: *CHARTER CHEERLEADERS:* A survey commissioned by the Chicago Tribune and the Joyce Foundation finds widespread support—among parents of CPS students and other Chicagoans—formore charter schools in the city. However, Julie Woestehoff, of the group PURE, says the polling wasn’t exactly b... more »

UPDATE: Jersey Jazzman: Mayoral Control Ain't Done Squat For NYC

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago
Jersey Jazzman: Mayoral Control Ain't Done Squat For NYC: The Screaming Hypocrisy of Chris Christie by Duke New Jersey Governor Chris Christie really does not care if he gets caught in his contradictions or not: Gov. Christie says the state could intervene in the day-to-day affairs of the Camden school system within six to eight weeks, depending on how quickly the legal process moves. Under the state-run system, the school board will have an advisory role, and the state will choose a new schools superintendent. Christie, the father of four school-age children, expressed what he des... more »

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: The continuing Vallas saga in Bridgeport

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: The continuing Vallas saga in Bridgeport: The continuing Vallas saga in Bridgeport by Mike Klonsky Vallas*Kathleen Megan *writes in the Hartford Courant: *To hear some tell it, Paul Vallas is the savior of Bridgeport schools, a visionary working to turn around one of the state's lowest-performing districts. Others contend that the schools superintendent is an arrogant reformer, making too much change too quickly, with an agenda to turn education into a profit center.* I'll go with the latter. Says fellow privateer, *Andrew Rotherham*: "He's a disaste... more »

UPDATE: Answers On Hiring Substitutes for SPS Seattle Schools Community Forum: PBS Two-Parter on an American High School

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago
Seattle Schools Community Forum: PBS Two-Parter on an American High School: Answers On Hiring Substitutes for SPS by Melissa Westbrook There are not further details/information on the Hamilton substitute incident that occurred last week as the investigation is on-going. SPS replied to these basic questions about substitute hiring. *1) *Why did the reporter say the sub wasn't employed by the district? Is that right? We did not tell the reporter that the substitute wasn’t a district employee. We did say that because he isn’t a permanent teacher, he couldn’t be placed on leave. In... more »

The downside of superstar schools - latimes.com

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago
The downside of superstar schools - latimes.com: The downside of superstar schoolsIt's no surprise that parents go to great lengths to get their children into the coveted classrooms. But other campuses suffer a loss from such lopsided enthusiasm.[image: Carpenter Community Charter]Carpenter Community Charter has almost 1,000 students, a waiting list and a controversy over parents who lie about their addresses to get their children in. But a generation ago, fewer than 50 of Carpenter’s 450 students were from the neighborhood; most were bused in. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Ti... more »

LAO suggests curtailing accreditation of teacher prep programs by CTC SI&A Cabinet Report – News & Resources

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago
SI&A Cabinet Report – News & Resources: Print this article*LAO suggests curtailing accreditation of teacher prep programs by CTC* *By Tom Chorneau* Monday, March 25, 2013 A policy paper from the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst released late last week suggests lawmakers consider curtailing the accreditation of teacher training programs by the Commission on Teacher Credentialing. The proposal was one of several recommendations included in a review of the impacts of the governor’s budget on the state’s primary standards board for educator training and professional conduct. A key elem... more »

Bipartisan on Child Poverty | First Focus

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago
Home | First Focus: [image: The 2014 Budget Debate] Bipartisan on Child PovertyPublished: March 8, 2013 - FACEBOOK - TWITTER - GOOGLE+ - SAVE - E-MAIL - SHARE - PRINT - REPRINTS - *To the Editor:* [image: Opinion Twitter Logo.] Connect With Us on Twitter For Op-Ed, follow@nytopinion and to hear from the editorial page editor, Andrew Rosenthal, follow@andyrNYT. Sheila C. Bair is right (“Grand Old Parity,” Op-Ed, Feb. 27): income inequality should concern both parties. In Britain, it does, at least when it comes to children. Ms. Bair also rightly identi... more »

The complex issue of stealing public education…Just ask Malloy’s nominee for the State Board of Education - Wait, What?

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago
The complex issue of stealing public education…Just ask Malloy’s nominee for the State Board of Education - Wait, What?: Bridgeport Board of Education…and the vote is, once again, five to four by jonpelto Following the sudden announcement that Jacqueline Kelleher is resigning as the chair of the Bridgeport Board of Education (although she will be staying on as member of the Board), the five members of the Board of Education are expected, tonight, to elect Kenneth Moales Jr. to serve as the new Chairman of the Board. Kenneth H. Moales, Jr. has served as vice chair of the Board and ... more »

The Second Annual Dog and Pony Show of Faux Support for Parent Trigger is Tuesday | Scathing Purple Musings

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago
The Second Annual Dog and Pony Show of Faux Support for Parent Trigger is Tuesday | Scathing Purple Musings: The Second Annual Dog and Pony Show of Faux Support for Parent Trigger is Tuesday by Bob Sikes They tried this last year, too. But this time, Jeb Bush’s top lobbyist lieutenant Patricia Levesque will be bringing in an equally loathsome group for a sham press conference. From Florida Watchdog reporter William Patrick in*Bush’s Foundation for Florida’s Future* website: Florida Watchdog contacted *Nikki Lowery* of *Students First Florida* for comment but received a form lett... more »

FCMAT » Cali Education Headlines Monday, March 25, 2013

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago
FCMAT » Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team: [image: Corporate Media = Corporate Lies]*Budget gap at Sacramento City Unified School District down to $5.6 million* *School district borrows $50 million to cover projected shortfalls from the state* Education Headlines *Monday, March 25, 2013* Teacher layoff notices see notable slowdownSeveral recent years of March sadness came to a quiet end this month for Stockton Unified and numerous other school districts in California. With the state regaining fiscal health, what had been a deluge of teacher layoffs slowed to a trickle. R... more »

Gates Foundation Sponsored: Effective Teaching BY VICKI PHILLIPS AND RANDI WEINGARTEN | New Republic

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago
Gates Foundation Sponsored: Effective Teaching | New Republic: SPONSORED CONTENTMARCH 25, 2013 *Six Steps to Effective Teacher Development and Evaluation*Sponsored by Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and American Federation of Teachers BY VICKI PHILLIPS AND RANDI WEINGARTEN - Read Later - Listen - Font Size - Facebook - Twitter *Sponsored content by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and American Federation of Teachers.* Some see us as education’s odd couple—one, the president of a democratic teachers’ union; the other, a director at the world’s largest philanthropy... more »







Big Education Ape Nite Cap 3-24-13Big Education Ape Nite Cap 3-23-13Big Education Ape Nite Cap 3-22-13Big Education Ape Nite Cap 3-21-13 Big Education Ape Nite Cap 3-16-13Big Education Ape Nite Cap 3-15-13 Big Education Ape Nite Cap 3-14-13Big Education Ape Nite Cap 3-13-13 Big Education Ape Nite Cap 3-12-13Big Education Ape Nite Cap 3-11-13

Big Education Ape Nite Cap 3-10-13 




 

Diane in the Evening 3-26-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all:





Anthony Cody and I Weigh In on the Weingarten-Gates Article

In this post, Anthony Cody takes issue with Randi Weingarten’s decision to write an essay with Vicki Phillips of the Gates Foundation about teacher evaluation. Here is the essay.
The fundamental problem with the Gates Foundation is that they have directed the entire national conversation to blaming teachers–instead of poverty and segregation– for low test scores. They have put hundreds of millions of dollars into evaluating teachers, finding good teachers (and rewarding them), finding “bad” teachers (and firing them).
For the past four years, since Gates dropped his small high school obsession, the foundation has been 


Would You Take the Test?

How great is the Providence Student Union? The students persuaded 50 accomplished professionals to take a test made up of released items from the math test.
60% of these brave and successful people would have failed to get a high school diploma if they were high school students.
The Providence Student Union made a video of the event. It is less than three minutes

Chicago Principals Told to Spy on Protestors Tomorrow

In Chicago, the corporate reformers who claim to be leading “the civil rights movement of our time” are closing down schools in black communities. How this enhances the civil rights of the children is a mystery known only to the elites.
This is a news bulletin from the Chicago Teachers Union about tomorrow’s protest demonstration:
NEWS RELEASE
March 26, 2013
StephanieGadlin@ctulocal1.com
Secret Memo: CPS warns principals about possible civil disobedience in response to massive school closings
School officials asked to spy on demonstrators, take note of media
CHICAGO – The day before educators from the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) intend to join with parents, students, clergy, community leaders, civil rights activists and the rank-and-file members of SEIU Local 1 and Unite HERE Local 1; the union released a confidential memo sent to the city’s public school principals warning 

Did Chicago Tribune and Joyce Foundation Do Push Polling?

Several weeks ago, a Chicago website reported that the Chicago Tribune, the Joyce Foundation, and the University of Chicago were engaging in “push polling.” This is a telephone poll that literally “pushes” the listener in a certain direction, with questions designed to have pre-determined conclusions.
Read the transcript. Do you think this was a push poll?

Researchers and Professors: Sign Petition Against Chicago School Closings

This just in, and don’t forget tomorrow’s big rally at Daley Plaza to protest the closing of more than 50 public schools:

 


CReATE has a petition that we are asking university researchers and education professors to sign on to.  After reading our brief on School Closings (url below), they can go to
createchicago@gmail.com and put SIGN SCHOOL CLOSING PETITION in subject line.  In your message, include your name, university affiliation, and an email address where you can be contacted (this will not be included on the petition).
DEADLINE –  MONDAY, APRIL 1ST at NOON. The signatures will be brought to a Chicago school closings 

MORNING UPDATE LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 3-26-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 6 hours ago
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: [image: Click on picture to Listen to Diane Ravitch] Just Look at Malloy Nominee for State Board of Education by dianerav Jonathan Pelto reminds us of the national publicity about a homeless woman who was arrested and fined for the crime of enrolling her child in the Norwalk public schools when she was not a resident of that city in Connecticut. Now Governor Dannell Malloy has nominated a woman to the state board of education even though she was in the same dispute with the Windsor schools a decade ago. But it is ... more »

UPDATE: Prop 8: What did they say? Read the full tran­script Hollingsworth v. Perry Supreme Court of the United States

Supreme Court of the United States:


The Su­preme Court justices heard ar­gu­ments on Cali­for­nia’s Pro­pos­i­tion 8, which bans gay mar­riage, and the De­fense of Mar­riage Act, which denies fed­er­al spous­al be­ne­fits to same-sex couples. Read the full tran­script and use the fil­ters be­low to nar­row to spe­cif­ic speak­ers.

Oral Argument - Audio



Hollingsworth v. Perry
Docket Number:12-144
Date Argued:03/26/13
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4LAKids - TO OCCUPY… OR BE OCCUPIED…

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: TO OCCUPY… OR BE OCCUPIED…:


TO OCCUPY… OR BE OCCUPIED…

BY SMF FOR 4LAKIDSNEWS:



When the following email with the title above popped up in my browser I thought it was going to be about Prop 39 charter co-locations in California – maybe about Dr. Deasy’s threat to place  a charter co-lo at Venice High School if the School site Council/School Based Management Committee won’t agree to his Pilot School Plan – even though it has already been rejected by the Board of Ed based on community input!
27. Superintendent behaves as if he is beyond reproach.
33. Superintendent bypasses school board entirely and keeps them out of the loop on significant or all issues.
34. School board candidates receive unprecedented amounts of campaign money from business interests.
  • …..almost all the numbers from 1 to 41 apply …these just apply specifically today!
But no – it’s different. It’s National!
And – gentle reader – it’s exactly the same thing, the same thinking, scaled nationally.
Read on:

BY EMAIL  TO  SAVE OUR SCHOOLS MEMBERS

Tuesday 26 March 2013
To Occupy or be Occupied, that is the question.  In reality, perhaps the greater question is are we, in this country, preoccupied with 

School reformers increasingly use threats to drive agenda

School reformers increasingly use threats to drive agenda:


School reformers increasingly use threats to drive agenda

fistEducation reformers haven’t been able to persuade everybody to their point of view, so increasingly, they use threats. Here’s a piece about why that approach won’t work. It was written by Eric Shieh is a founding teacher of the Metropolitan Expeditionary Learning School, “A School for a Sustainable City,” in New York City, where he teaches music and leads curriculum development. This appeared on The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, non-partisan education-news outlet affiliated with the Hechinger Institute on Education and the Media.
By Eric Shieh
Last month, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo pushed back, for the third time, his deadline for New York City to devise a new teacher evaluation system. On the surface, it seemed a benevolent move that recognized the enormity of this undertaking—one in which many school districts across the nation are similarly taking part.
The truth of the matter, however, is that Cuomo—along with U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg—has misunderstood entirely what it means to build capacity for thoughtful education reform.
Imagine, for a moment, that everything Cuomo, Duncan and Bloomberg have promised will happen if New York City fails to deliver an evaluation system actually happens. In 

You can’t say La Raza and Education Trust didn’t warn Texas legislators about weakening rigor and accountability | Education Blog

You can’t say La Raza and Education Trust didn’t warn Texas legislators about weakening rigor and accountability | Education Blog:


You can’t say La Raza and Education Trust didn’t warn Texas legislators about weakening rigor and accountability

It may seem like only business leaders express their frustration with lawmakers who want to retreat on academic rigor. But the truth is many minority and civil rights groups are equally committed to keeping states and Washington from adopting policies that lessen the chances of graduates being ready for college or a challenging job beyond high school.
The latest example is the letter that the National Council of La Raza and the Education Trust just sent to Texas legislators. Respectfully, … [visit site to read more]

PSAT for 3-26-13: Get out your comfortable shoes Parents United for Responsible Education

Parents United for Responsible Education » Blog Archive » PSAT for 3-26-13: Get out your comfortable shoes:


PSAT for 3-26-13: Get out your comfortable shoes

psat_logo
Tomorrow is the big one, the citywide action against school closures. Our friends at the new Network for Public Education wrote this list of actions to take, which really sums it up:
  • If you are in the Chicago area, attend the march and rally in downtown Chicago at 4 pm on Wednesday, Mar. 27 at Daley Plaza, Clark and Washington Streets. Details here.
  • Mayor Rahm Emanuel needs to hear from us. He is on Twitter at @rahmemanuel. Mayor Emanuel has a City of Chicago feedback form where you can leave  a message.
MARCH 27 RALLY FLYER


Here’s what I tweeted to Mayor Rahm: “Your school closings rhetoric is a sham. Take responsibility for neighborhood schools, don’t close them.”
You can retweet that if you follow me @pureparents.
Here’s what I wrote on the City Hall feedback form:
You recently said that the pain of the closings doesn’t compare to the anguish of “trapping” kids in failing schools. But it’s you who run these “traps.” It’s your appointed school board that makes all the major decisions about these “traps.” It is you, Mayor Daley, and the appointed school board who have failed year after year to give these “traps” the resources they need to educate children. We need better leaders for our schools, not more empty buildings in decimated neighborhoods. Community based school improvement through local school councils and an elected school board will save our schools.
Here’s what I e-mailed to Barbara Byrd-Bennett:
You are a real educator, which we hope generally informs your decisions. However, your track record as a Broad trainer makes it clear that you were brought to Chicago not to raise the quality of education but to do just what you are doing – close large numbers of schools. The Chicagoland Researchers and Advocates for Transformative Education, a large group of your educator peers, just released a fact sheet showing that school closings:
  • Have a negative impact on children’s academic performance.
  • Have not resulted in the savings predicted by school officials.
  • Exacerbate racial inequalities.
  • Contribute to increased violence. 
http://createchicago.blogspot.com/2013/03/create-releases-research-brief-on.html
Let this be one of the times when you make choices based on real education research, and not on the demands of corporate education reform politicians.

Common Core Model Resolution for County Political Party Platforms | Truth in American Education

Common Core Model Resolution for County Political Party Platforms | Truth in American Education:


Common Core Model Resolution for County Political Party Platforms

We encourage activists to also make opposition to the Common Core part of your county political party platform.  To that end we would like to provide a model resolution that you can use as a template.  The template can be used for any political party as we believe opposition to the Common Core can and should be a bipartisan position.
RESOLUTION OPPOSING COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS
WHEREAS, in 2010 officials in the Executive Branch committed our state to participation in the Common Core State Standards Initiative through the federal Race to the Top grant application; and
WHEREAS, this participation required our state to adopt the Common Core standards in K-12 English language arts and mathematics, and to commit to implementing the national [SMARTER Balanced (SBAC)/Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC)] assessments, all without legislative oversight and without public input; and
WHEREAS, adoption of Common Core obliterates [state’s] constitutional autonomy over education in English 

Harvard is Looking to Scrub the Last Remnants of Paid Teaching Labor Out of the MOOC Model |

Harvard is Looking to Scrub the Last Remnants of Paid Teaching Labor Out of the MOOC Model |:



Speaking Engagement in Southern California This Thursday

Here’s something cool: I’ve just learned that a talk I’ll be giving this week in the Los Angeles area is going to be open to the public.
On Thursday afternoon I’m going to be giving the annual Stephen and Sandra Glass Humanities Lecture at Pitzer College in Claremont, California. My talk will be a discussion of “Campus Activism in America’s Past and Present.”
The lecture will be at 4:15 at the George Benson Auditorium on campus, and it will be followed by a question and answer session and a wine-and-cheese reception immediately afterwards.
If you’re in the area and so inclined, feel free to stop by.


Harvard is Looking to Scrub the Last Remnants of Paid Teaching Labor Out of the MOOC Model

The New York Times reports this morning that Harvard is attempting to recruit alumni to serve as unpaid volunteers in its first big MOOC offering.
The university is seeking alums who took the course, “The Ancient Greek Hero,” as undergrads to serve as  ”mentors and discussion group managers” — what used to, back in the olden days when people got paid for classroom labor, be called Teaching Assistants.
More than 27,000 people have enrolled in the course’s MOOC version this semester, and Harvard is apparently nervous. Online discussions in MOOCs “tend to run off the rails,” one Harvard staffer told the Times. Harvard has already recruited ten alums who have TAed the course in the past to do the same again on a volunteer basis, 

Behind the racist school closings agenda | SocialistWorker.org

Behind the racist school closings agenda | SocialistWorker.org:


Behind the racist school closings agenda

Lee Sustar looks at what's driving the school closings in Chicago and beyond as activists prepare to protest at City Hall on March 27.
Students and parents at Lafayette Elementary School march against their school's threatened closure (Bill Healy)Students and parents at Lafayette Elementary School march against their school's threatened closure (Bill Healy)
CHICAGO PUBLIC Schools (CPS) has set a dubious new record for school closings in announcing plans to close 54 schools, shutter 61 buildings and "turn around" six schools as part of 71 "school actions."
It's one of the most aggressive moves yet by so-called education "reformers," and its consequences will be felt nationally. The growing movement to defend public education will have to step up its efforts--not just in Chicago, but across the U.S.
In this city, there's nothing new in the substance of the policy--relegating Chicago's African American students to inferior education in the name of "reform." As Catalyst, the publication covering Chicago schools, notes: "Nearly 90 percent of the students in the closing schools are Black, though African Americans make up only about 40 percent of the district's entire student population" on the city's South and West Sides.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
In Chicago, join teachers, students, parents and community activists for aRally and March to Stop School Closingson March 27 at 4 p.m. at Daley Plaza, 50 W. Washington.
Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) President Karen Lewis blasted Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who controls the schools through his hand-picked board of education:
Closing 50 of our neighborhood schools is outrageous and no society that claims to care anything about its children can sit 

Best of the Ed Blogs | National Education Policy Center

Best of the Ed Blogs | National Education Policy Center:




Best of the Ed Blogs

Rephorm on the Rocks | EduShyster

Rephorm on the Rocks | EduShyster:


Rephorm on the Rocks

How the rich cornered the market on great ideas to $ave our failing public schools
When we last checked in with our rich friends, they were flush with cash and aflurry with many excellent ideas for saving our failed and failing public schools. Now, with the stock market ascendant and corporate profits at an all time high, these generous benefactors are themselves rising to new heights of generosity and excellence. Today’s outstanding idea is brought to us (and to our failing schools) by the rich of New York City who have come up with an idea so bold, so transformative, so disruptive that we have no choice but to raise our glasses to them.
Reader: it is a great irony that even as the prospects of New York City’s schoolchildren plummet due to union stifling and excellence depletion, the value of the land on which their failed and failing schools sit continues to