6-11-13 @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER

@ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER:

It’s Time; Let’s Talk

by Kris Nielsen

The rally on June 8 kind of bothered me.  I’m not sure why. It made me realize that teachers and locals aren’t getting the full story.  That bugs me.  Professionals are smart, and they like to have the full facts so that they can make good, thoughtful judgments about things.  Things like Race to the […]

Anonymous, DefCon, and Young and Adult Hackers of the World: We Need Your Help

by Jim Horn

If you are a young person of school age or an adult with a child in public schools, you should be outraged that your education, or your son’s or daughter’s education, is in the process of being hijacked by Business Roundtable self-serving ideologues whose ignorance about education is matched only by their greed and hatred […]

Join the Tweetin’ Fun at #againstcommoncore

by Kris Nielsen

Tweet much? Thanks to Roseanne Eckert, I’m gonna start her idea up on Twitter. Using hashtag #againstcommoncore, fill in the blanks: I am a ________ and a _____________ and I’m #againstcommoncore. Example: I am a dad and an educator and I’m #againstcommoncore. No planned Twitter bombs or wars. Just an ongoing plug. Keep it up and […]

Ban Suspensions as Alternatives Are Implemented

by John Thompson

I very much respect Daniel Losen and the UCLA Civil Rights Project, so I was taken aback by his statement on NPR regarding the question of whether a single suspension could send a secondary student of color down the pipeline to prison. Losen replied that even one such incident is “associated” with a doubling of […]

Do We Need Another Edu-Proclamation, or Do We Need Resistance Strategies to End High Stakes Tests?

by Jim Horn

Every few weeks it seem that another group of luminaries signs on and circulates another proclamation or declaration making it clear what people who aren’t listening “must do” or “should do” to correct the corporate savaging of public education.  The latest appears today and is posted at Daily Kos and WaPo.  This one appears vetted […]

In Moving Beyond Repartee

by Kuhio Kane

A comment made to the blog, Cloaking Inequality: We need to move the conversation forward. There is nothing new in all the words I have read so far in the blog article nor the response / comment Dr. Thornburg put out there. The focus of an activist movement to maintain public education in America must […]

ExxonMobil sends Mafia-style Letter to PA?

by Kris Nielsen

Note: I have not yet verified the authenticity of the letter in this post.   But, if it is real, now we’re starting to feel some heat!  Because of opposition movements (like my friends and me), Governor Corbett of Pennsylvania put the brakes on the implementation of the Common Core State Standards (aka the Pennsylvania […]

You hear that #highered #teacherprep? It’s your clock, winding down.

by Chalk Face, PhD

Some very nice people worked at the GSE at Willamette U in Salem, OR. They recently found out that their entire school is closing. Why? The email, written by University President Steve Thorsett, said the Board of Trustees’ decision was based in large part on a state and national trend in licensing and accreditation that […]

#Commoncore supporters are butthurt #ESEA

by Chalk Face, PhD

Know your meme. CCSSO abandoning “efforts” to write social studies standards to instead focus on ELA/Math implementation, and to thwart opposition to CCSS, according to Education Weak [link excluded purposely, find it yourself if you want, or trust us]. CCSSO Executive Director Chris Minnich told me that the chiefs group wants and needs to focus […]

Just Acquired: Slide one from a USDE presentation on new accountability program #QUIZM

by Chalk Face, PhD

Does this slide not look oddly familiar? It must be some kind of really terrible government Powerpoint template. And to think, as a result of this initiative, schools are actually using Powerpoint presentations in real classrooms. All of this money spent on technology and it just gets us Powerpoints on DELL’s. Awful. In any event, […]

6-10-13 @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 9 hours ago

@ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER: [image: gears] #Commoncore defenders, own it! It is a curriculum, and that’s that. by Chalk Face, PhD I have no problem with unvarnished assent to the common core. That’s between you and your therapist. But let’s get some things very, very clear. Actually, might I suggest some close reading of all the press, research, and commentary on the subject, because I’m not sure you’d be such a fan? In any event, the […] Bill Gates and the Incubators by Jim Horn I know–it’s a great name for a band, but it is distinctly unmusical and no fun. It’s abou... more »

A Law To Hold Principals Accountable southbronxschool.com

http://www.southbronxschool.com:

A Law To Hold Principals Accountable

by noreply@blogger.com (Bronx Teacher)

Shouldn't principals who lie and falsify reality in the name of attempting to ruin a teacher's career be subject to this? 

N.Y. NYC. LAW § 1116 : NY Code - Section 1116: Fraud; neglect of duty; willful violation of law relative to office

a. Any council member or other officer or employee of the city who shall willfully 

   violate or evade any  provision of law relating tosuch officer's office or employment, 

   or commit any fraud upon the  city,
  or  convert  any of the public property to such officer's own use, or

Same special interests pay for voucher school research, GOP candidates | Green Bay Press Gazette | greenbaypressgazette.com

Same special interests pay for voucher school research, GOP candidates | Green Bay Press Gazette | greenbaypressgazette.com:

Same special interests pay for voucher school research, GOP candidates

Green Bay schools react to OK on voucher expansion: Wednesday, June 5: Green Bay school officials share their concerns about a plan approved by the state Joint Finance Committee that would create a statewide private school voucher plan.

Gov. Scott Walker and Republican legislators are using research paid for by the same special interest groups that support many GOP candidates to push for a statewide expansion of the school voucher program, campaign finance reports show.

The study cited by Republicans has come under fire by researchers who say it doesn’t meet academic standards or provide proof that the school voucher program gives students a better learning experience.

Republican lawmakers pushing the expansion have been citing research that claims students in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program graduate and attend college at higher rates than their public school counterparts.

The Joint Finance Committee last week approved a deal, worked out between Walker, Republican legislative leaders and school choice lobbyists, that would expand the voucher program statewide next year. Enrollment in the program would be capped at 500 low-income students in the first year, and 1,000 students in the second. Currently, the voucher 

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 6-11-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

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

Notes from a Teacher in Syracuse

by dianerav

A teacher sent this commentary about what’s happening in her city of Syracuse, New York.
She writes:
“As part of the teacher evaluation in Syracuse, our lovely union negotiated a student survey which would count as 6% of our evaluation. It’s called the Tripod survey, but I don’t know what that means. I’ve attached the directions we were given, which includes the questions for grades K-2. They have 40 questions, and when you get to 6-8, there are over 100.
While there are questions about the classroom, there are also questions about home life. How that pertains to 

Mayor Nutter Prefers Privatization to Public Schools

by dianerav

The irony of Philadelphia’s turn to privatization is that Philadelphia had the most extensive trial of privatization of any city in the nation about ten years ago. The district schools outperformed the privately managed schools, which lost their contracts. But that predated the charter movement, which is now hyped as having a secret formula to raise test scores at a lower cost.
This comment came from a retired teacher in Philadelphia.
He writes:
As a retired public school teacher, I have watched Mayor Nutter promote charters over public schools in the seven years he has been Mayor. He is current President of the U.S. conference of Mayors (Michelle Rhee’s 

Mike Petrilli: A Surprising and Welcome Offer

by dianerav

I always hold out hope that Mike Petrilli will be the conservative who one day leaves behind his brethren and realizes that the punitive policies of No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top were a huge and costly mistake. Why do I hold out hope for Mike? I know him, and I know he is a good man. He wasn’t born with a silver spoon in his mouth. He has young children, and he will soon see how the testing monster will try to devour them and destroy their love of learning.
In his last exchange with Deborah Meier at “Bridging Differences” at Education Week, I see the glimmer of hope that I have been waiting for. Mike describes himself as a “Whole Foods Republican,” and then asserts that we are helpless to do much about poverty because we don’t know what to do. That is not a glimmer of hope, as I 

Why I Did Not Attend the Rally in Albany Last Saturday

by dianerav

Several people have asked me why I did not join them in Albany for the big rally, which drew more than 10,000 people to protest the state’s overuse and misuse of high-stakes testing.
I was invited to speak, but I declined because of health reasons. In the past couple of years, I have had severe spinal pain due to arthritis. It comes and goes. It was especially bad in May when the invitation came, and I am dealing with it now with doctor’s visits, x-rays, MRI, medication.
I wish I could have joined you in Albany. I hope you understand why I did not.

North Carolina Plans Charters for Rural Areas

by dianerav

The pro-voucher group called Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina may be invited to open charter schools in rural areas, according to a budget bill in the legislature. The House has set aside $1 million for the group. The same House budget contains cuts for public schools.

Philadelphia Teacher: For Our Dedication, We Get Pink Slips

by dianerav

Harvey Scribner is a teacher in Philadelphia. He got his pink slip over the weekend. He was broken-hearted.
He knows that no one cares.
But he needed to say what he did in his four years as a teacher and why his school should not be destroyed:
“Since coming to the District I found equipment when there was none, I created curriculum when there was nothing, I did without when we needed supplies, I broke up fights, I sent kids to class when they wandered the halls, I worked two summer programs and took the extra step to complete training when the District did not think 

An Education Declaration to Rebuild America

by dianerav

A diverse group of individuals have joined to sign an Education Declaration to Rebuild America. Please read the statement and if you agree, send it to your friends, tweet it, add it to your Facebook page.
·
An Education Declaration to Rebuild America
Americans have long looked to our public schools to provide opportunities for individual advancement, promote social mobility, and share democratic values. We have built great universities, helped bring children out of factories and into classrooms, held open the college door for returning veterans, fought racial segregation, and 

Tucson Stores Student Data on Murdoch’s Other Site

by dianerav

Columnist David Safier of Tucson keeps close watch on the corporatization of education in Arizona.
He recently reported that the Tucson school district is outsourcing student data to a Murdoch owned site called mCLASS. This is different from the Murdoch data storage program called inBloom.
Safier is concerned about the security of student data, as we should all be. Why can’t schools respect student privacy?

Tucson Stores Student Data on Murdoch’s Other Site

by dianerav

Columnist David Safier of Tucson keeps close watch on the corporatization of education in Arizona.
He recently reported that the Tucson school district is outsourcing student data to a Murdoch owned site called 

Newark Regains Fiscal Control, But What Does That Mean?

by dianerav

Newark, New Jersey, has been under state control for 18 years, and many residents have sought a return of local control. Their demands have grown louder since the district became a playground for reformers after Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg gave the city $100 million for reform and the state appointed Broad-trained superintendent Cami Anderson.
In a surprise move, State Commissioner Chris Cerf gave the district’s powerless elected board “fiscal control” but 

Voucher Research Funded by Walton Favors Vouchers

by dianerav

Logan T. Carlson, an investigative journalist for the Gannett News Service, noticed that the School Choice Demonstration Project at the University of Arkansas is funded by pro-voucher foundations, including the Walton Family Foundation and the Bradley Foundation. A group of researchers at the Project have been responsible for the five-year evaluation of Milwaukee’s voucher program. They found that the voucher schools did not affect students’ test scores, but led to a high graduation rate. Critics point out that 56% of the students who enrolled in 

Teacher: Firing Everyone Did Not Make a Difference

by dianerav

A teacher read the discussion about the “parent trigger,” which assumes that schools improve when parents have the power to fire some or all of the staff, or to turn the school over to a private charter operator.
This teacher disagrees, based on direct experience:
I can add to this discussion. I am a teacher in a “failing” inner city school that was closed down and had its leadership and faculty changed. I came in a year after the new principal and have been there for several years 

Robert Shepherd:A Fundamental Question About Common Core

by dianerav

Robert Shepherd, author, textbook writer, curriculum designer, writes:
“How many different forms might the education of the young take? One of the problems with issuing a single set of standards for all is that those standards are INTENDED to reduce the amount of variation (synonym: innovativeness) in the system. But variation, innovation, competitive models, models with many, many different 

Gates Foundation Makes Nice with Teachers

by dianerav

Somehow the word has gotten through to the Gates Foundation that many teachers don’t like their agenda.
Teachers know that Bill Gates has told governors and the media that American public education is broken and obsolete. Teachers know he created the “blame-the-teacher” narrative. Teachers know he pushed the flawed idea that test scores of students should be used to judge teacher quality. Teachers know that Gates pumped $2 million into the anti-public school agitprop film “Waiting for Superman.”
Teachers are not dumb.
But now the Gates Foundation has launched a campaign to persuade teachers that the foundation cares.

Is Common Core Inevitable? Why?

by dianerav

Paul Thomas has a surprising and unusual habit of thinking. He doesn’t follow the crowd or the latest fashion. In this post, he notices how organizations are falling into line on the Common Core, even though they know that schools and teachers and children are not ready. Thomas taught English in high school for nearly twenty years; he now is a professor at Furman University. In his post cited here, he examines the issue of choice and inevitability.
Come to think of it, it’s interesting that the same people who insist that everyone needs to have a choice of schools (like Jeb Bush and Joel Klein), also insist that when it comes to Common Core, there should be no 

Diane in the Evening 6-10-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 3 hours ago

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: The Néw High School: Deja Vu All Over Again by dianerav Arne Duncan announced that he plans to hold a national competition for a redesign of the high school. He wants to dangle $300 million (if Congress agrees) for those who come up with the best redesign of the American high school. He is thinking STEM, technology, and other such big ideas. As I read of this idea, I couldn’t help but remember back to 1991 when the first President Bush assembled smart people like Lamar Alexander as secretary and David Kearns (CEO... more »

 

Reign of Error: The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to America's Public Schools eBook: Diane Ravitch: Kindle Store

It’s a deal: Brown, top lawmakers raise base funding in finance formula | EdSource Today

It’s a deal: Brown, top lawmakers raise base funding in finance formula | EdSource Today:

It’s a deal: Brown, top lawmakers raise base funding in finance formula - by John Fensterwald

by John Fensterwald

In a nod to suburban districts that argued they would be shortchanged, Gov. Jerry Brown and legislative leaders negotiated a new version of Brown’s plan for school finance reform that will increase the base funding level for all students and lower the extra dollars for some high-needs students.

Late Monday, the Joint Legislative Budget Conference Committee, made up of lawmakers from the Senate and the Assembly, approved a compromise version of Brown’s Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) with little discussion. The full Legislature is expected to take it up as part of the state budget later this week. Legislative leaders circulated only a one-page summary of the new version, along with a district-by-district breakdown that the state Department of Finance had prepared, but no other information on Monday.

The expected approval of the LCFF would hand Brown a huge victory for his top legislative initiative and lead to sweeping changes in how education money is distributed. Although the ratios in the final funding formula differ notably from what Brown had proposed, the essential framework, steering substantial dollars to low-income students and English learners and giving more authority over spending decisions to local districts, remains intact.

“The big picture is that this represents a huge win for kids who need it,” said Ted Lempert, 

Majority of California districts offer transitional kindergarten in first year of program - by Lillian Mongeau

by Lillian Mongeau

An estimated 39,000 students enrolled in transitional kindergarten this school year, the first year districts were required to offer the program, according to a new report. The report, released Tuesday by the American Institutes for Research, is the first in a series planned by the Institute on how the new grade level for children whose fifth birthdays fall between Sept. 1 and Dec. 1 is being...

UPDATE: Perdido Street School: Washington Post: Firing Teachers Hasn't Turned Around D.C. Schools

Perdido Street School: Washington Post: Firing Teachers Hasn't Turned Around D.C. Schools:

Bloomberg Administration Lies About The 911 System Problems

by reality-based educator

From Juan Gonzalez in the Daily News:

An Emergency Medical Service worker whom city officials blame for missing a 911 call that led to a four-minute delay in getting an ambulance to a child hit by an SUV insists no such call ever came over her computer screen.

City officials say “human error” by that lone dispatcher, and not glitches in the new 911 dispatch system, slowed the ambulance response after Ariel Russo, 4, was fatally struck June 4 on the upper West Side by an unlicensed teen fleeing police.

But EMS sources and internal logs obtained by the Daily News tell a different story, raising more 

Washington Post: Firing Teachers Hasn't Turned Around D.C. Schools

by reality-based educator

Here's something novel - the Washington Post reporting that school reform is more complicated than getting a broom and sweeping out all the so-called "bad teachers":

D.C. Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson called it a “fresh start” and a “momentum-shifter” for Cardozo Senior High last month when administrators removed nearly half the staff at the school.
Henderson had used her power to “reconstitute” the struggling school, requiring the entire staff to reapply for their positions. It is a dramatic response to chronically low achievement, built on a philosophy that has driven D.C. school restructuring in recent years, first under Michelle Rhee and now under Henderson: Clear out poor educators and handpick a set of new ones to transform a school’s culture and performance.

Federal policymakers also embraced this approach under No Child Left Behind, the sweeping 2002 law that named reconstitution as an option for turning around low-performing schools. But the 

The Washington Teacher: WTU 2013 Election- The Best Kept Secret in Town!!!

The Washington Teacher: WTU 2013 Election- The Best Kept Secret in Town!!!:

WTU 2013 Election- The Best Kept Secret in Town!!!

by noreply@blogger.com (Candi Peterson)

WTU's Secret 2013 Election

By Candi Peterson

Vote Davis Slate for WTU

 Liz Davis /Candi Peterson

WTU Can Be Better!

The recent Washington Teachers' Union (WTU)  2013 presidential election was the best kept secret in town. The current Teachers' union president, Saunders kept our union elections on the Down Low (D.L.)  as possible. Members weren't notified officially of this election and there was not any official notice on the WTU website of the first election. Even though the WTU's Constitution & By-Laws requires that the WTU provide a copy of the union's publication, "The Washington Teacher" magazine's Election Edition to members, this print edition did not arrive at members homes until well after ballots were mailed out. If you were not the curious type, and didn't dare to check out the contents, you wouldn't have noticed the candidates bio's buried within the magazine on page 5. Nothing on the front cover suggested that this was an "election edition" or that there was a union 

UPDATE: Declare Your Commitment to the Education Our Children Deserve Daily Kos: Eugene Robinson weighs in on Snowden & the NSA

Daily Kos: Eugene Robinson weighs in on Snowden & the NSA:

this was offered as a comment

by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken)

in response to someone who was insisting that violating one's oath - or what in my case would be an affirmation - is pretty much unacceptable under any circumstance.
I am not going to promote this post.
But I want to offer what I wrote in return, below the fold.
As I have engage in dialog over Snowden and related matters, my own thinking is becoming ever more clear.
It is not yet finished.
Perhaps what I offer below the squiggle is of some value to someone, and since the diary on which it was originally posted has long-since scrolled from view, I post it now in case it may be of interest to anyone.
Peace.

Welcome to the Human Race

by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken)

May I borrow about 4 minutes of your time?
I am going to ask you to watch a video to which I will only link.
I will say up front that the person you will encounter has meant a great deal to me, first through his writing, then through his friendship.
What he says in this brief video is also applicable to much of what and how I write.
I invite you to watch and listen to Parker Palmer
Peace.

Declare Your Commitment to the Education Our Children Deserve

by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken)

There is a new initiative, titled An Education Declaration to Rebuild America.
For too long, our policymakers have engaged the nation’s schoolchildren in a grand experiment, with frequent testing, incentive programs and top-down mandates that promised much but delivered little.
Today, leading academics, policymakers and educators come together to demand an education spring embodied in An Education Declaration to Rebuild America.
Those who’ve signed the Declaration include prominent progressives, such as Robert Reich; public officials, such as Florida State Senator Nan Rich; education experts Diane Ravitch and Linda Darling-Hammond; union leaders Randi Weingarten and Dennis Van Roekel; parent activists, such as Rita Solnet; authors Jonathan Kozol and Dave Eggers – and more than 40 other prominent leaders.
Two members of this community were present at the creation of this effort.  Jeff Bryant and I participated in a dinner discussion with several other people which led to this effort, and Jeff is playing a major role in it.
Please keep reading.

Eugene Robinson weighs in on Snowden & the NSA

by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken)

The important thing right now isn’t whether Edward Snowden should be labeled a hero or villain. First, let’s have the debate he sparked over surveillance and privacy. Then we can decide how history should remember him.

That's how Robinson begins a column titled Edward Snowden’s NSA leaks show we need a debate.He acknowledges that Snowden is an imperfect messenger,

But his message should not be ignored.

In case anyone lacks the background of the case, he goes through its background.He notes the President has said that he welcomes the debate that is now occurring, then asks

Why, then, didn’t he launch the discussion rather than wait for Snowden’s leaks?

And of course he asks how what he calls 'a mid-level computer guy working for a private contractor" have access