LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 7-2-13 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: Accountability Begins at the Top

In another great post, Anthony Cody explains why he is fed up with all the mud being thrown at teachers by politicians, foundation heads, corporations, and pundits. He asks, why no accountability for the banks and rating systems that lied and hid data and caused millions of people to lose their homes? Why no accountability for the big corporations that greedily soak up tax cuts while refusing to p

Diane Ravitch's blog / by dianerav / 

Bloomberg DOE Hurries to Privatize As Many Schools As Possible Before He Leaves Office

This is an alarming account of the frenzied efforts by Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s Department of Education to cement his “legacy” of opening privately managed charter schools while abandoning the public schools for which he is responsible. The high school named for the famed Socialist Norman Thomas will be closed and set aside as space for privately managed charters. This is a way of spitting on the

Diane Ravitch's blog / by dianerav / 0min

Letter from a Pennsylvania Student: Stop the Keystones!

A reader sent this letter written by her 14-year-old daughter. She should become active in the opt-out movement. She should contact Tim Slekar and Shaun Johnson “At the Chalkface.” Mother and daughter: resist. Join with others. Don’t let them destroy your education in the name of “accountability.” Hold the Mindless Testing Fanatics accountable. She writes: “Thank you for speaking up about these hi

by dianerav / 34min 

Susan Ohanian Joins the Honor Roll

Susan Ohanian has been speaking, blogging, and agitating against bad education ideas for many years. Her writing is informed by a finely tuned sense of humanism–that is, she cares about people, especially children, more than big ideas and grand policies that treat people like widgets. She speaks with honesty, candor, courage, and integrity. She is tireless. She is the real deal. She has taught ev

by dianerav / 54min 

TFA Wins Another $4.3 Million from Walton Family Foundation

Just when Teach for America was down to only $300 million in assets, the Walton Family Foundation awarded it another $4.3 million to send ill-trained young college graduates to spend two years teaching in the Delta. It seems like only yesterday, maybe two years ago, that the foundation gave TFA $49.5 million. Surely the brand new TFA recruits in the Delta will do no harm, and maybe do some good,

by dianerav / 1h 

Fairfax County Teacher: Why I Quit

Ron Maggiano taught history and social studies in the Fairfax County (Virginia) public schools for 33 years. Along the way, he picked up many awards for his excellent teaching. Here he reflects on why he quit a career he loved. “Now more than three decades later, I have just spent my last day as a teacher. I resigned my teaching position because I can no longer cooperate with the standardized test

by dianerav / 2h mark as read  //  save

The Onion: A Bold and Innovative Charter School

Please read this. THE ONION GETS IT! When you become a joke in THE ONION, the end of school deform is in sight. The article begins: “ATLANTA—One year into its founding as the purported “bold next step in education reform,” administrators on Monday sang the praises of Forest Gates Academy, a progressive new charter school that practices an innovative philosophy of not admitting any students. “We’v

by dianerav / 3h 

YESTERDAY

A BAT Teacher’s Dream

Want to know why the Badass Association of Teachers were created. It is because of stories like this one. Amanda wanted to be a teacher for as long as she can remember. She loved teaching. She was laid off. Thousands of other teachers could tell the same story. Does anyone care? Teachers care. They know that they could be next. That’s why the BAT gathered more than 20,000 members in only two we

by dianerav / 10h

Diane in the Evening 7-1-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: Louisiana’s Largest Voucher School Kicked Out of Programby dianeravLast year, when Governor Bobby Jindal persuaded the Louisiana legislature to pass the nation’s most sweeping voucher program, the school that was selected to receive the largest number of voucher students was the New Living Word Church school. Although it lacked the

by mike simpson / 3h 

7-2-13 @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER

@ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER:

Enduring Cartoon Versions Driving Education Reform

Writing about the Trayvon Martin murder case, Mychal Denzel Smith captures the ugly heart of why George Zimmerman’s account rings true even if it isn’t: Because it’s clear that, whoever instigated the altercation, Zimmerman followed Trayvon that night. He was instructed not to, but he did anyway. That Zimmerman fumbled for an answer when the lead investigator […]

by plthomasedd / 37min mark as read  //  save

Teacher as Journalist – Faces of the Layoffs

News updates from Philadelphia Ken have been a breath of fresh air while the biggest news story of the century is being played out in public schools all across the country, you would never know it if you get your news from the boob tube. With the latest 24 hour cycle, 7 days a week […]

by freetoteach / 56min 

AFT’s New Action Strategy: Write a Letter Begging Arne to Help Stop What His Policies Have Created

This morning my email box had a copy of a letter from AFT employee, Sabrina Stevens, on behalf of her boss, President Randi Weingarten: Hey, there! I hope this message finds you well. I think we’ve only met briefly (at the first SOS March), but I’m getting in touch to make sure you saw/could share […]

by Jim Horn / 

7-1-13 @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER

@ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER: Snappy Sound Bites, Lazy Journalists and Teacher Bashingby Activism in paradise - Voices from down underNew Zealand’s education minister, Hekia Parata, said this weekend four consecutive years of quality teaching eliminates any trace of socio-economic disadvantage for the student. In her now typical teacher-bashing way, she went on to say “In New Zealand we p

by mike simpson / 9h 

For-profit schools blamed for denigration of Sweden’s school system | The Raw Story

For-profit schools blamed for denigration of Sweden’s school system | The Raw Story:

For-profit schools blamed for denigration of Sweden’s school system

 Twenty years after Sweden’s school system opened the door for independent profit-making schools and expanded parents’ choice, sliding results have the leftist opposition saying the system is a textbook example of privatisation gone wrong.

In 1992, the Nordic country introduced school vouchers that parents can use to send their children to either state-run or private schools. Both types of schools are funded by the state, and a key condition for both is that tuition remains free.

The idea was to let primary and secondary education providers compete by allowing students to choose where they wanted to study, rather than allocating them a place at the nearest state-run school.

But though the Swedish model has garnered international attention, critics say that in an effort to attract students, for-profit schools are offering courses that don’t tally with the needs of the job 

UPDATE: Why Gary Chartrand and Tony Bennett’s School Grade Task Force May Be a Sham | Scathing Purple Musings

Why Gary Chartrand and Tony Bennett’s School Grade Task Force May Be a Sham | Scathing Purple Musings:

Why Gary Chartrand and Tony Bennett’s School Grade Task Force May Be a Sham

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ASK.com defines task force in its online dictionary thus:

a unit or formation established to work on a single defined task or activity. Originally introduced by the United States Navy, the term has now caught on for general usage and is a standard part of NATO terminology. Many non-military organizations now create “task forces” or task groups for temporary activities that might have once been performed by ad hoc committees.

The online site goes further and details how the term applies to government:

In government or business a task force is a temporary organization created to solve a particular problem. It is considered to be a more formal ad-hoccommittee.
A taskforce, or more-commonly task force, is a special committee, usually ofexperts, formed expressly for the purpose of studying a particular problem. The task force usually performs some sort of an audit to assess the current situation, then draws up a list of all the current problems present and evaluates 

Oklahoma – A Jeb Bush Chiefs For Change State – Drops Out of PARCC

Posted on July 2, 2013by Bob Sikes

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The first of Jeb Bush’s vaunted Chiefs for Change has made the decision to drop from the controversial PARCC testing consortium. Andrea Eger tells us this in Tulsa World:

State Superintendent Janet Barresi announced Monday that she is withdrawing Oklahoma from testing through a consortium of 20 or so other states to coincide with the new Common Core curriculum standards.

Instead of using new assessments developed through the group, called the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, or PARCC, Oklahoma will work with a testing company to develop its own new standardized tests for the 2014-15 academic year.

“We came to this decision after many months of deliberation, listening to 

Jersey Jazzman: Does DFER Support Pitbull-Zulueta Values?

Jersey Jazzman: Does DFER Support Pitbull-Zulueta Values?:

Does DFER Support Pitbull-Zulueta Values?

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Kevin P. Chavous is the board chair of Democrats For Education Reform and a staunch reformy-type, proudly working with politicians on both sides of the aisle to bring "choice" to public schools. Chavous has written before about how concerned he is with women's rights:

Every day in this country, scores of children persevere against incredibly negative odds. Their struggles are virtually unnoticed: their accomplishments are unheralded. But they survive and many succeed. In my new book,Voices of Determination I share the stories of ten young people who endured and overcame significant challenges in order to obtain their education. Each story is heart wrenching and inspiring. And each kid exemplifies that innate human 

Revenue. The gorilla in the room. | Fred Klonsky

Revenue. The gorilla in the room. | Fred Klonsky:

Linda Darling-Hammond at the NEA RA.

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 Short day.

Day two of the RA is a short one. At least in terms of formal meetings. I’m just back from the two-hour Illinois Caucus meeting. And that’s it for the day. The first general session isn’t until tomorrow at 10:30 AM. Apparently the big dogs have met to revisit what Dennis Van Roekel speechwriter Melinda Anderson calls the “intended messaging.” When the NEA Board of Directors’ member from New Jersey

by Fred Klonsky / 37min mark as read  //  save

Revenue. The gorilla in the room.

Subscriptions to Jim Broadway’s Update can be found here. Broadway wrote this as part of his report on last week’s Illinois General Assembly Pension Committee public meeting: Which brings us to the unspoken idea – the revenue side of the equation. Rep. Lou Lange (D-Chicago) broached the topic at last week’s committee meeting, suggesting that the temporary income tax increase of 2011 should be mad

by Fred Klonsky / 59min 

Differences emerging on the Common Core at the NEA RA.

I will be heading down to the second state caucus meeting of the Illinois delegation in a few minutes. NEA Board of Director Rainy Kaplan reminded me that when I said Bylaw Amendment #1 was presented to the caucus yesterday, that wasn’t precisely true. It was distributed, but the presentation of it will be today. So far the IEA steering committee takes no position on it and the caucus has yet to h

by Fred Klonsky / 4h 

Fire all the teachers.

  Which one is John Tillman, CEO of the Illinois Policy Institute? - By Todd Mertz Yes–fire all Illonois teachers and public employees.  I am not kidding.  More on that in a minute. The Illinois Policy Institute (IPI) calls themselves a “leading independent research organization.” Far from the truth. They are a right-wing, conservative group with very serious agendas to influence Illinois law and

by Fred Klonsky / 4h 

TRS board of trustee Bob Lyons on the first meeting of the Committee of Ten.

“As other reports on the first meeting of the conference committee on pensions have already been circulated, I will only add some personal observations.  First, I will agree with all of those that have said there is no reason to expect they will have a well thought-out bill to be introduced for possible passage on July 9, the date the Governor expects a special session to “at long last to solve th

by Fred Klonsky / 5h