Sequester Cuts Are Dumb, Education Cuts Are Dumber

Sequester Cuts Are Dumb, Education Cuts Are Dumber:

Sequester Cuts Are Dumb, Education Cuts Are Dumber

by Jeff Bryant

Cuts to government spending like the now-reviled “sequester” are not only “dumb” as my colleague Robert Borosage explained this week. They are literally making us dumber.

What’s dumb is to cut money for air traffic controllers and endanger airline passengers and relegate them to long waits for delayed flights.

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What’s even dumber is to cut funding to Head Start and other education programs that ensure the nation’s children have learning opportunities that vastly improve their futures and our national prosperity.

Unfortunately, cuts to essential funds for educating our children aren’t limited to the dreaded sequester. The assault on spending is pervasive in all aspects of education budgeting at every level of government. Even worse, spending cuts are aimed at the very areas where we should be investing the most.

If you’re of the opinion that “money doesn’t matter” in relation to the quality of education, then you’re horribly misinformed. Indeed, anyone advocating for better education in America should put the funding cuts at the top of their list of policy mandates to protest against.

Stupid Sequester

Anyone advocating for good schools for all kids should be particularly alarmed at the damage being done by cuts to spending resulting from imposed across-the-board budget cuts called “sequestration.”

Sequester cuts are especially damaging to schoolchildren who are the most vulnerable and critically in need of government funding.

As Think Progress and other news outlets reported, the sequestration resulted in 

Special Late Nite Cap UPDATE 4-30-13 #SOSCHAT #EDCHAT #P2

Nite Cap UPDATE

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CORPORATE ED REFORM

More trouble for UNO

by Mike Klonsky

It keeps getting worse and worse for the UNO charter hustlers. Now that Gov. Quinn has turned off the $98 million spigot, the construction company and its workers have walked off the job, demanding to be paid. UNO's shiny new charter school has been stalled in mid-stream.

According to the Sun-Times: 

Patrick Cermak, the president of general contractor Wight & Co. of Darien, cited unspecified past-due payments in a letter 

Please, Keep Writing and Teaching [Kick More Ass]

by Jose Vilson

Iron Man 3

Hypothetically speaking, let’s say you’re a blogger writing about education and a whole mess of other stuff that permeates the experiences you have as an educator looking inward and outward, trying to seek solutions to complex and amorphous situations.

Let’s say you decided to look at the landscape of writing about education through this lens. You see messages and e-mails asking you why you put your name out there, no pseudonym, in a land where central district offices want to block and fire teachers with dissenting opinions, follow and interrogate teachers who pose hard questions on Twitter, or only highlight the teachers who please corporate sponsors and / or proffer ed-tech solutions. While the rhetoric sounds supportive of the “best” teachers, the policies themselves call worsening working (and learning) conditions. Congress and the White House continue to bundle the social safety net of America and prepare it on a cutting board, directly affecting the works of educators for everyone except the most privileged.

Your last message asks you if the person should keep her blog around in an environment like this. Your answer is hell yes.

As writers in the education field, we have a right, a privilege, and for many of us, a responsibility to tell the truth 

Am I A Conspiracy Theorist ? Maybe !

by Walt S,

******************************************************

I had lunch with a friend last week. 

He said he had been cleaning out his filing cabinet and found this!

I found it both shocking and depressing. I have underlined some of the purported returns of the 1998 TPAF. 

I am a frequent viewer of the TV show"American Greed" on CNBC. Many of the shows are about Ponzi Schemes that are foisted on the public. 

When I first looked at the returns on this pension report they immediately reminded me of the returns promised by the fraudsters shown on the aforementioned shows.

Then I began to think about this a bit more. I wonder if this these reported returns were really valid at the time or if they were artificially concocted to those seemingly impossible levels?

You might say "You must be a conspiracy theorist! "

(Well, I don't think I am a conspiracy theoristbut maybe!)

"Why would anyone want to inflated those numbers? "

Someone who wanted to "borrow" (steal) money from the fund so as to give tax breaks and thereby enhance his/her reelection chances and just might like to use these return numbers to justify the "theft", that's who !

More stuff by Walt at: www.wsautter.com

Get Schooled: DeKalb school chief unveils 90 day plan

DeKalb Superintendent Michael Thurmond finally released his 90 day action plan today. It is not rife with details or specifics.

While brief, it still is a plan. Thurmond was originally supposed to deliver his plan to the school board by March 15, but received an extension to today

Free digital-textbook project drives down cost of college

Washington’s community colleges have expanded a program that is creating low-cost digital textbooks and curricula for the state’s most popular courses.

high stakes testing moratorium? @slekar says not enough!

by Timothy D. Slekar

Sorry, but Randi Weingarten’s call for a “moratorium on the consequences of high stakes testing with the Common Core standards” is worthless! We don’t need a moratorium on “consequences” associated with the Common Core.  We need the abolition of all high-stakes testing and dissolution of the Common Core. Anything else is a capitulation to the [...]

Bloomington High students show up for prom a week early

by Beau Yarbrough, Staff Writer

BLOOMINGTON -- Without a doubt, no one at Bloomington High will forget Saturday night's prom. Somewhere along the line, there was a clerical error: The school believed the prom was scheduled for April 27, but Santa Anita officials were expecting them on May 7.

Despite parent, teacher pleas, Council still not moved on District budget woes

by thenotebook

by Bill Hangley

Day two of City Council’s education hearings was a long string of bleak predictions and passionate calls for funding from public school supporters faced with the prospect of what one parent called “trying to do the impossible with nothing.”

Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell called the day’s testimony “disheartening” but gave little indication that she and her colleagues are eager to move on meeting the Philadelphia School District’s request for $60 million in additional funding.

“The governor cut all this money,” said Blackwell, a co-chair of Council’s education committee, who along with Council President Darrell Clarke presided over the day’s testimony. “These people think that was our agenda, 

"My Resume is Ready": Losing Good Teachers!

by Lisa M

Not my words.  I live and breathe teaching. I really can't imagine doing anything else, well, except writing. These words were spoken by a teacher friend of mine. He sounded so down when he said it.:( He is overwhelmed, as are we all. The kids. The parents. The kids. And then all the crap from above. He put in four years so far, and doesn't know how many more he will do. He said his first

Teaching: A Pi Poem!

by Lisa M

Pi = 3.14159265 Love them dearly (3) Students (1) They drive me crazy!(4) Boisterous(1) Teaching them is a task(4) But I could not dream of doing anything else!(9)

Mixed Messages?

by antiqueteacher60

Reblogged from An Antique Teacher: Today, my inbox had two very interesting bits of information. 1. Commissioner King's "News and Notes" showed up telling me:  "As you know, the Common Core will not just arrive in the mail in a shiny, new box. (The truth is, the CCSS show up at schools in brown cardboard [...]

A Principal Retires on Principle

by Chris Cerrone

A colleague of mine shared this letter from her child’s beloved principal here in Western New York.  Kathleen Knauth’s “early retirement” is another example of how the current education reforms are driving dedicated, child-centered leaders out of our public schools. With Mrs. Kanuth’s permission, I would like to share the letter to the parents at [...]

Bonds would fund for business investment in schools under Steinberg proposal - by Kathryn Baron

by Kathryn Baron

The leader of the California State Senate says the way to encourage more and stronger bonds between industry and education is through, well, bonds. With California facing a shortage of qualified workers for 21st century jobs, Senate President pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg wants to entice businesses to become more involved in job training by asking them to invest in a new type of school bond that...

Video and news from our explosive Town Hall meeting on student privacy

by Leonie Haimson

Yesterday we held a Town hall meeting at Brooklyn Borough Hall about the state and city plan to share personally identifiable student information with a corporation called inBloom inc. and other third party vendors. 

About 150 people showed up, including  two Regents (Regent Kathleen Cashin of Brooklyn and Regent Betty Rosa of the Bronx),  and two representatives from the State Education Department (Dennis Tompkins, Chief of External Affairs and Nicolas Storelli-Castro, Director of Governmental Relations), who listened to the presentations and the passionate objections of parents. Adina Lopatin, Deputy Chief Academic Officer of NYC DOE spoke and answered questions.   I also gave a presentation about inBloom  and DOE provided a  FAQ here. Unfortunately,  inBloom and the Gates Foundation refused our invitation to attend.

Some of the disturbing revelations from Adina:  The city and state have already shared confidential student data with inBloom.  They don't know how much they will have to pay for 

Yes Men say “No”. An accreditor tells the truth

by educatedtodeath

Originally posted at educatedtodeath.com

I was asked to sit on a panel of teachers to represent my school district during the accreditation process. I assume I was chosen because I am eager to speak in meetings and apparently speak well. This makes me think my administration has only enjoyed the sound of my voice and not the content of my O so bold oration.

I noticed quickly that I was in a room full of yes men and women who teach in the more affluent schools in our district. They all smiled and sat nicely. They were there to be slaughtered like good little lambs. The team of teachers surrounding me, my co-teachers, were, not unlike me worse for wear and doubting. Lips pursed, eyebrows cocked, notepads out. We were prepared for whatever we were going to he expected to swallow without question. Of course, my group did not act in complete accord. One just parroted off whatever was 

Remainders: Technical difficulties stall Indiana state tests

by Geoff Decker

• Server problems halted the state’s computer-based tests for a second straight day. (State Impact)
• For a second straight year, Florida’s parent trigger bill died in dramatic fashion. (Miami Herald)
• A DOE official faced tough questions from parents over a student data-sharing plan. (Village Voice)
• A mother wonders how to deal with teachers who enable her underperforming son. (MotherLode)
• Obama covered a lot of ground at presser today. But he didn’t touch education. (Answer Sheet)
• Buffalo’s teachers union head says he’ll fight to win back an abandoned teacher eval side deal. (WGRZ)
• The Walton Foundation announced it was giving a $8 million donation to StudentsFirst (L.A. Now)
• Edward R. Murrow HS was evacuated while police investigated an abandoned backpack. (DNAInfo)
• New research suggests that math tutoring for some young students doesn’t improve learning. (Reuters)

12% cash reserve for our UW system? Radio callers say it’s “prudent”.

by bluecheddar

Right about now I really appreciate getting news that the common Wisconsinite still has common sense. Such came to me via the always pleasing blogger Tim Morrissey (Pleasing, I might add, even when he does not exactly see things my way. Could be it’s because this guy knows how to write.) Tim says he was listening to the radio on the way to the gym. Mitch Henck’s show to be exact. The topic on Mitch’s show turned to the supposedly outrageous 12% cash reserve that the University of Wisconsin System of colleges has set aside for various things. AM radio host Mitch was ranting against it in line with a certain right wing “CPA Caucus”. The callers, however, did not fall in line. “The next caller was a woman, who also said she thought it was prudent. Mitch said “well, you must not be the parent of a UW student, because the parents are the ones who are getting jabbed here”. The woman paused a beat, and then said “I put two kids through the UW. I had to take a second job to do it, but I did it. And I think they got a great education and I more »

Prince George’s school system forwards e-mail opposing overhaul

by Ovetta Wiggins

A government watchdog group says the Prince George’s County school system “crossed a line” when a schools official sent an e-mail late Monday that urged residents to join a petition drive that opposes the county’s new school governance structure.

Read full article >>

Duncan admits flaws in current standardized testing | EdSource Today

Duncan admits flaws in current standardized testing | EdSource Today:

Duncan admits flaws in current standardized testing - by Jane Meredith Adams

by Jane Meredith Adams

SAN FRANCISCO – Secretary of Education Arne Duncan acknowledged serious flaws in the standardized tests that currently drive American schools, telling an audience of education researchers on Tuesday that the tests are an inadequate gauge of student and teacher performance.

Speaking at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Duncan criticized “high-stakes testing where children’s lives or teachers’ careers are based on one test,” but he said that abandoning standardized testing was not the answer. He listed a series of misguided uses of standardized tests, mentioning a school in Florida that evaluated teachers in kindergarten through second grade based on how students performed in third and fourth grade, and a school in Memphis that evaluated art teachers based on student scores in math and English.

“The solution to mediocre tests is not to abandon assessment,” Duncan said. “Instead we’re 

Bonds would fund for business investment in schools under Steinberg proposal | EdSource Today

Bonds would fund for business investment in schools under Steinberg proposal | EdSource Today:

Bonds would fund for business investment in schools under Steinberg proposal

April 30th, 2013 | Add a Comment | 
By Kathryn Baron

The leader of the California State Senate says the way to encourage more and stronger bonds between industry and education is through, well, bonds.

With California facing a shortage of qualified workers for 21^st century jobs, Senate President pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg wants to entice businesses to become more involved in job training by asking them to invest in a new type of school bond that would fund programs that infuse career education into traditional academic courses. Businesses that invest would see a guaranteed return on their investment, Steinberg said.

Steinberg, D-Sacramento, has introduced Senate Bill 594, which would allow California to issue workforce development bonds to pay for these programs in high schools and community colleges. Businesses – especially those in high-growth job areas – would buy the bonds, and the rate of repayment would be tied to specific student outcomes, such as graduation rates, apprenticeships or jobs for students.

“The state will not only return your principal on the bond, but we will give you a rate of return higher than what you could earn if you invested that same million dollars or $5 million in a traditional Wall Street instrument,” Steinberg said during an interview in his Capitol office.

The bill, which comes up for its first hearing Wednesday, would represent a new direction in California’s efforts to build school-business partnerships. Still, significant questions remain about the proposal, such as specifics on how the program would work and how businesses would recoup their money. Supporters of SB 594 expect the bill will go through some major revisions before it’s 

Teacher Highlights Washington Post Conflict of Interest in Education Arena - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher

Teacher Highlights Washington Post Conflict of Interest in Education Arena - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher:

Teacher Highlights Washington Post Conflict of Interest in Education Arena

by Anthony Cody

A teacher who uses the name "chemtchr" has forwarded to me a column she had submitted in October of 2010 to Washington Post columnist Jay Mathews, who indicated he would publish it on his blog.
But it never ran. Six months later he wrote her saying "This has become not my story but a business story." He apparently sent it along to a reporter in the business section, and that was the last that was heard on the subject. The Washington Post Corporation has never made a disclosure of the extent of its financial involvement with corporate education reform. Although the corporate ties to Kaplan are well known to reform business interests, they are not considered relevant to coverage of education politics.
The Education Writers Association convenes at Stanford this week, with record attendance by journalists excited by the theme of "Creativity Counts: Innovation in Education and the Media." I hope there will be serious consideration given to the ethical dimensions of journalism, and the serious conflicts of interest when "innovations" intersect with our duty to report the news without favoring moneyed interests.
Here is the story as submitted more than two years ago. The broken links have been replaced with contemporary versions, and the Kaplan Virtual Education webpage is a screenshot. Given what we now know about the very weak coverage the Washington Post has given to the apparently rampant cheating that was unfolding under DC chancellor of schools Michelle Rhee at the time, one has to wonder if the financial interests of the Post had an impact on their coverage and editorial stance.

The Washington Post Corporation's For-Profit Involvement in the DC Public Schools

By chemtchr.
I am taking this opportunity to share my concern about the Washington Post Corporation's lack of disclosure of its heavy financial interest in elementary and secondary public schools, through its wholly-owned for-profit 

Report on how money in best spent to improve learning: MONEY STILL MATTERS by Bonnie Lesley

Money Matters:

MONEY MATTERS

INVESTING IN TEXAS CHILDREN AND OUR FUTURE Our Money Matters report aims to show what investing in Texas children can do. In classrooms across the state, schools are failing our children. Our report card on the state's performance shows that student performance is consistently related to the funding of the school they attend. Research confirms the importance of effective teachers, small classes, prekindergarten, interventions, rigorous curriculum, adequate instructional materials and technology. Texas schools educate 10% of our nation's children - their future is too important to ignore. “Wow! Compelling. Overwhelming.” ★ “It was too much to digest in one setting….but I couldn’t stop reading.” ★ “Really well done – lots of information in a concise format.” ★ “You are all to be commended!” ★ “So many gems in this document. I plan to read it again but slower.” ★ “I started highlighting but some pages had more text highlighted than not!” ★ “The comparison charts are incredibly powerful.” ★ “Loved the chapter on “Inequities…” comparing districts.” ★ “Undeniable realities.” ★ “Nice format — good overview at the beginning and the end, with strong data in between to support the premise.” ★ “Wow! Well done.” ★ “Money matters — because children matter. I like that.” ★ Download PDF InDepth Newsletter Recent Newsletters Spring 2012 InDepth Winter 2012 InDepth Holiday 2011 InDepth Fall 2011 InDepth Summer 2011 InDepth July 2008 News & Notes December 2008 News & Notes Money Matters Money Still Matters