UPDATE: Seattle Schools Community Forum: The Value of Connections

Seattle Schools Community Forum: The Value of Connections:

Ugh. The Seattle Times

Today's Seattle Times features this guest column: Education reforms for state students blocked by WEA by Liv Finne of the Washington Policy Center.In this one, brief guest column she manages to squeeze in nearly every single lie about public schools. It is a remarkable achievement."lawmakers passed a budget that will direct an additional $1 billion to the public schools"Hmm. Depends on what you ca

by Charlie Mas / 20min mark as read  //  save

Washington Charter School Doom and Gloom from the Washington Policy Center

Honestly, they have some of the most entertaining posts over at the WPC.  Omit details, pump up (to the point of near explosion) any point they feel they must - it's all good fun.So they have one post about how a Highline School Board director, Susan Goding,  wrote - on her education blog how she thinks charter schools will hurt districts.  I can only say that she is entitled to her own profession

by Melissa Westbrook / 20min 

Washington State Agencies Ask for Feedback on Charter School Regulations

Both the Board of Education and the Charter Commission are soliciting feedback for draft rules for charter schools. From the BOE:At its July 10-11 meeting, the State Board of Education approved for public hearing draft rules pertaining to annual reports by charter school authorizers under RCW 28A.710.100(4) - proposed WAC 180-19-210.We are seeking public comment on these draft rules. We encourage

by Melissa Westbrook / 2h 

KUOW Interviews with School Board Candidates

KUOW's Ann Dornfeld interviewed all the candidates and got some telling responses. The transcript of each interview is what you will see and not a recorded interview.I will also encourage those of you whose children enjoyed Glee to read the NPR story about Cory Monteith who was found dead in his hotel room early Saturday.  To anyone who watched Glee, Mr. Monteith was a fresh-faced talent and many

by Melissa Westbrook / 10min 

The Value of Connections

What is the value of having School Board Directors with connections to the Seattle Establishment and the ruling elites in Washington? How does it benefit the district and the schools for the Board to have positive relationships with the City Council, county officials, members of the State legislature, powerful non-profits, and corporate leaders? I think we have enough data to decide. In the last ten years we have seen four boards - two with good relations and two with poor relations with the Seattle Establishment. What does the evidence show?



I know that it has hurt the District to have poor relations with the established power structure.

The greatest trauma and expense to Seattle Public Schools in the past ten years has been caused by school closures. There was a round of closures in 2006 and another in 2009.

The closures in 2006 were driven entirely by opposition to the sitting board by the Seattle Establishment with their political and commercial forces. They were upset by the election of new, activist Board Directors in 2005 that they did not choose and could not control. They used their media outlets to slander the Board and 

Diane in the Evening 7-15-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

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

Andy Borowitz on the Next Big Idea in Florida

Andy Borowitz at his best today. He has figured out what ALEC really wants in Florida and everywhere else.

by dianerav / 1min 

The Appeal of Charters to Families Besieged by Fear and Want?

A reader explains the appeal of charters to communities fearful for their children in a world fraught with danger: “Perhaps this site can be a venue for discussing the manner in which racial segregation and military discipline are packaged so as to market charter schools to families legitimately concerned with the dangers their children face growing up in communities that lack good jobs, good heal

by dianerav / 16min 

Tom Torlakson Shows What Leadership Is

This comment just arrived in response to the post about California having the nerve to defy all-wise, all-powerful Arne Duncan: “State Superintendent Tom Torlakson is a former teacher. When he gathered a group of educators to hammer out the blueprint for the future of CA schools, he wisely selected classroom teachers to be on the task force. I was honored to be co-chair of the Teacher Evaluation c

by dianerav / 21min mark as read  //  save

NJ Teacher to Booker: Change Before It’s Too Late

A reader writes: yes, yes! As a black educator and unfortunately a TFA alum who has now been a teacher for 15 years, I don’t understand why Obama and Booker have embraced this corporate style of reform. I worked tirelessly to elect Obama but I continue to find his governance particularly his stance on education and civil rights disappointing. I will not do the same for Booker and I hope that the t

by dianerav / 1h 

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 7-15-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all:   The Failure of Market-Based “Reform”The Broader Bolder Approach to Education has steadfastly opposed the high-stakes testing and privatization “reforms” that have done so much to undermine public education. Now it has published a major analysis of the failure of these reforms. Here in clear, graphic images is a report card on dis

by mike simpson / 2h 

Bill Gates expands influence — and money — into higher education:

Bill Gates expands influence — and money — into higher education

By Valerie Strauss, Published: July 15 at 12:54 pmE-mail the writer

Bill Gates (Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty Images)

For years, Bill Gates has exercisedextraordinary influence in shaping modern K-12 school reform to his liking, leveraging cash from his vast Microsoft fortune to drive the public agenda — and taxpayer funds –  toward standardized test-based accountability.

Now, the Chronicle of Higher Educationhas exposed how he is doing the same thing in higher education: spending his own money to remake the system.

In a package of stories, the Chronicle makes clear how Gates has used his money to change higher education into one that is focused on getting more students degrees faster through technology and what is called “competency-based learning,” which in part rewards students for what they know rather than for how many credits they take in college. His vision includes ways to measure everything, largely through testing.

Critics say this vision of higher education is aimed at getting students ready for jobs rather than giving them a broad education; that it, along with other reform efforts he has funded, are not based in research but rather in his corporate-based idea of how schools should run; and that Gates has been so dominant in the reform debate that opponents have had difficulty getting their voices heard.

One story titled “The Gates Effect” reports that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has spent $472 million on higher education since 2006 — with the vast majority since 2008 — on this agenda, including money to media organizations “to keep its reform 

Sabrina Joy Stevens • Would there ever be a Trayvon's Law?

Sabrina Joy Stevens • Would there ever be a Trayvon's Law?:

Would there ever be a Trayvon’s Law?

Back when I was maybe 10 or 11 years old, I remember picking up a women’s magazine and reading one of the token “substance stories”— about health care horror stories—included amongst the articles and ads about fashion and cosmetics. In one of the stories, a Black woman described an outrageous experience of going to the hospital with a serious medical problem, yet being left to wait, unexamined and untreated, for hours. Later, when asked to explain why that happened, a hospital employee involved in the receiving process said something along the lines of, “Well, I just assumed that she was some welfare person who didn’t have insurance,” and so he just left her.

By then, I had some understanding that things had historically been unfair to people who looked like me. But until that moment, I hadn’t really understood what my parents meant when they said that, even in the present day, the world was different for me because I was Black. Until then, it hadn’t fully occurred to 

Cooper Union Occupation Ends With Administration Concessions After 65 Days |:

Cooper Union Occupation Ends With Administration Concessions After 65 Days

July 15, 2013 in Students

The students who have been occupying the office of the Cooper Union president in opposition to the college’s plan to impose tuition fees for the first time in more than a century have ended their occupation with a negotiated agreement.

The Cooper Union students announced the terms of that agreement this morning, and while they did not succeed in rolling back the tuition plan — yet — the concessions from the administration are significant. Here’s what they won:

• A working group of students, faculty, alumni, administrators, and trustees is to be established to “to explore ways in which Cooper Union may revert to providing full-tuition scholarships for all enrolled students.” Student and faculty representatives on the committee will be democratically elected, and will together make up seven of the committee’s sixteen members. (Alumni will account for another three of the members, but it has not yet been announced how they will be chosen.)

• The working group will, according to the students, “have access to all of 

NYC Public School Parents: The curious case of John White, Louisiana, Gates Foundation & inBloom: FOILed emails reveal clues to his involvement & decision to pull out

NYC Public School Parents: The curious case of John White, Louisiana, Gates Foundation & inBloom: FOILed emails reveal clues to his involvement & decision to pull out:

The curious case of John White, Louisiana, Gates Foundation & inBloom: FOILed emails reveal clues to his involvement & decision to pull out

Superintendent John White (credit: Shreveport Times)

Thanks to the inspired digging of bloggers like Jason France of Crazy Crawfishand Tom Aswell of Louisiana Voice, parent and student activists like Deborah and Rachael Sachs, and the FOILed emails obtained by Aswell and activist Lee Barrios, we now have a better picture about how John White, newly appointed Louisiana state Superintendent, went from knowing nothing in January 2012 about the student data-sharing project called the Shared Learning Collaborative, that soon morphed into inBloom Inc., to having decided to share the entire state’s student data less than a year later.

Then a mere four months after the decision was made to become a “Phase I” inBloom state, White suddenly announced he was withdrawing from the project, after parents and state board members had erupted in protest about the plan’s violation of student privacy.   How did this happen?  Some clues can be found below.

April 26, 2011:  Paul Pastorek, State Superintendent of Louisiana Department of Education (LDOE), appoints John White as head of the Recovery School District (RSD).  White is the former NYC Deputy Chancellor, controversial for his support for closing public schools and installing charter schools in their place.  Pastorek instead cites White’s “collaborative” work “with principals and teachers to design a teacher effectiveness program in New York City that effectively supports and evaluates their achievement.”

June 2011: The Gates Foundation gives the

California holds out against Obama's education vision - latimes.com

California holds out against Obama's education vision - latimes.com:

California holds out against Obama's education vision

The state has made a rare break with the administration, refusing to follow its lead on evaluating teachers, in a standoff that reflects a union's lasting influence.

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Education Secretary Arne Duncan visits a Louisville, Ky., school last month. "I actually use the California model, and not in a good way, as I travel the country," he said. (Angela Shoemaker / Courier-Journal / June 20, 2013)

By Evan Halper

July 15, 2013, 6:00 a.m.

WASHINGTON — California is almost always there to boost President Obama's policy agenda as he fights fierce headwinds in Congress, working with the executive branch to carry out the administration's vision on healthcare, renewable energy and clean air.

But when the topic shifts to overhauling education, the state has become one of the administration's biggest headaches.

California has defiantly refused to follow the administration's lead in grading the performance of teachers and using those measurements to reward the best teachers and punish the worst. The state is one of very few that have told Washington that under no conditions will it put in place the type of teacher evaluation system Obama has championed.

As a result, the administration has not given California a waiver from the requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind law, leaving thousands of local schools exposed to expensive federal sanctions.

California is one of the last holdouts in the country; the administration has succeeded in persuading 

SBE holds hardline on QEIA performance mandates SI&A Cabinet Report – News & Resources

SI&A Cabinet Report – News & Resources:

SBE holds hardline on QEIA performance mandates
By Kimberly Beltran
Monday, July 15, 2013

Despite reporting positive improvements as a result of receiving special funding, three Kern County high schools were denied state approval last week to remain in the Quality Education Investment Act program because they did not meet their academic growth targets.

In denying requests from the Kern Union High School District to waive the requirement that Bakersfield, Foothill and Arvin high schools meet Academic Performance Index targets, the California State Board of Education agreed with a staff recommendation that approval of the waiver would not address the educational needs of their pupils.

A staff report noted that “although Bakersfield HS has experienced gains in API, school year 2011-12 demonstrated negative growth; QEIA funding is expected to result in increased academic achievement over time; and EC Section 52055.760(c)(3) states that funded schools agree to comply with the alternative program requirements and be subject to the termination procedures specified in subdivision (c) of Section 52055.740,” CDE officials said.

“Funded schools with alternative programs shall also be required to exceed the API growth target for the school averaged over the first three fully funded years and annually thereafter,” the report stated.

The QEIA program was created in 2006, the result of a settlement agreement between the California Teachers Association and then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, to improve the quality of academic instruction and the level of 

FCMAT » Cali Education Headlines Monday, July 15, 2013

FCMAT » Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team:

Do Charter Schools Suck?: Ask the Office of Inspector General.

Education Headlines

Monday, July 15, 2013

Mom-and-pop operation

During a workshop last week to hone the skills of parent leaders in Stockton Unified, participants were asked to introduce themselves to their counterparts and to engage them in a series of one-on-one conversations.

Local schools eye more money in budgets

California's school financing system has been overhauled for the first time in 40 years, forcing Mother Lode districts to revise their budgets but promising to fill gaps left by the recession.

Greenfield's outgoing superintendent made a big impact on schools

With his blond hair and football-player swagger, it's difficult to see that Greenfield Union Superintendent Trevor McDonald has anything in common with the students in his mostly Latino school district. But as the only child of a single mother, McDonald said he did not grow up much differently than many of the students, who come from low-income families. 

Mongeau: Cramming for kindergarten - Summer program gives young students a jump on school

A shortage of publicly funded preschool spots means that not every eligible California child will attend a state preschool or Head Start program before enrolling in kindergarten. And the high cost of private preschool can be a barrier for many middle-class families. The summer bridge programs are often the only option for some families.

Got milk? Gross lunch cocktail source of mystery illness

It wasn’t norovirus, salmonella or tainted chicken nuggets. The mysterious illness that sickened 22 children — sending 18 of them to a hospital — at Audubon Elementary School this week was the result of a dare.

Districts learning about law on illegal fees

AB 1575 — signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown last year and implemented in January — guarantees a free education and holds the California Department of Education responsible for ensuring local school districts do not charge illegal fees. What makes a student fee illegal?

Security concerns Modesto City Schools board

The Modesto City Schools board will talk campus security at its next meeting, looking at hiring school guards or even forming a school security force.

California holds out against Obama's education vision

The state has made a rare break with the administration, refusing to follow its lead on evaluating teachers, in a standoff that reflects a union's lasting influence.

Former principal of Antioch's Mno Grant Elementary reassigned to teaching position

Leadership changes are on the way at the elementary school where alleged child abuse in a special education classroom earlier this year -- and failure to report it to police, as the law requires -- led to the accused teacher's resignation and prompted a criminal investigation and federal lawsuit.

Martinez council urges school board to stick to plan

The City Council is urging Martinez school board members to uphold their decision to build a new campus for Vicente Martinez High and Briones Independent Study schools.

Antioch schools look to energize education: Solar projects will be a learning tool and save money

The school district is going solar -- and it hopes to energize student learning in the process. Antioch Unified trustees agreed last week to a $28.7 million contract with San Jose-based SunPower for the design and installation of solar panels at 20 school sites.

Santa Clara County schools Superintendent Xavier De La Torre rated unsatisfactory

Heralded as a visionary, conciliatory leader when tapped last year to become Santa Clara County's top educator, Xavier De La Torre now is accused of creating an atmosphere of fear that has employees fleeing and his bosses unhappy enough to deny him extra pay.

State board says no to Chino Valley charter school petition

A petition for a new charter school in the Chino Valley Unified School District has been rejected by the state Board of Education.

L.A.'s Cortines arts high school loses another principal

One principal quit even before the flagship arts high school in downtown Los Angeles enrolled its first students in 2009. The school opened with two leaders, and both were gone by the end of the first year. The next principal lasted a year. Two high-profile principals from arts high schools elsewhere accepted the job twice — and backed out twice. Now it's happened again.

Friday, July 12, 2013

McElrath: Schools, districts need freedom to realize new funding system’s potential

As we start the task of implementing this significant reform, let’s work together to find the balance required between those who fear a lack of tight restrictions and those who would like no restriction at all. There needs to be clear direction, but please, no shackles.

District maintains it is not liable for teacher accused of molesting students

The Desert Sands Unified School District insists that it cannot be held legally responsible for a veteran teacher who is accused of molesting at least one student, despite claims that the teacher was kept in the classroom after a long history of questionable conduct.

New school nutrition rules prompt few changes at Fresno Unified

New federal guidelines handed down in late June will nix sugary beverages and sodium-filled snacks from public school vending machines by fall of 2014, an edict that Fresno Unified School District officials say is largely in line with current operations.

Wait, What? - Working to educate, persuade and mobilize through "perceptive and acerbic" observations about Connecticut Government and Politics

Wait, What? - Working to educate, persuade and mobilize through "perceptive and acerbic" observations about Connecticut Government and Politics:

State Board of Education (aka Keystone Cops) decide no Executive Session on Vallas Debacle

Categories: Bridgeport Carmen Lopez Malloy Paul Vallas State Board of Education Stefan Pryor Wendy LeckerTags: MalloyPaul VallasState Board of EducationStefan PryorClaiming that they could have gone into executive session if they had wanted to, the Connecticut State Board of Education decided to forgo a secret discussion on the Lopez v. Vallas case in favor of voting for a resolution asking the A

by jonpelto / 1h 

New studies prove failings of education reform industry…

Categories: Education Reform Wendy LeckerTags: Education ReformWendy LeckerFellow public school advocate and education columnist, Wendy Lecker, had a piece in this weekend’s Stamford Advocate that should be on the “must read” list for this week. In “Education fails on an assembly line” Wendy Lecker writes, As any parent knows, every child is different, with different strengths and challenges. The

by jonpelto / 42min 

First Up: Will the State Board of Education start the week by breaking the law (again)?

Categories: Bridgeport Carmen Lopez Freedom of Information Malloy Paul Vallas State Board of Education Stefan PryorTags: BridgeportCarmen LopezMalloyPaul VallasState Board of EducationStefan PryorThis week begins with Malloy’s Commissioner of Education, Stefan Pryor, and the State Board of Education holding their monthly meeting at 10:00 this morning.  Early on in the agenda is an Executive Sessi

by jonpelto / 42min 

Shanker Blog » DC School Growth Scores And Poverty

Shanker Blog » DC School Growth Scores And Poverty:

DC School Growth Scores And Poverty

Posted by Matthew Di Carlo on July 15, 2013

As noted in a nice little post over at Greater Greater Washington’s education blog, the District of Columbia Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) recently started releasing growth model scores for DC’s charter and regular public schools. These models, in a nutshell, assess schools by following their students over time and gauging their testing progress relative to similar students (they can also be used for individual teachers, but DCPS uses a different model in its teacher evaluations).

In my opinion, producing these estimates and making them available publicly is a good idea, and definitely preferable to the district’s previous reliance on changes in proficiency, which are truly awful measures (see here for more on this). It’s also, however, important to note that the model chosen by OSSE – a “median growth percentile,” or MGP model, produces estimates that have been shown to be at least somewhat more heavily associated with student characteristics than other types of models, such as value-added models proper. This does not necessarily mean the growth percentile models are “inaccurate” – there are good reasons, such as resources and more difficulty with teacher recruitment/retention, to believe that schools serving poorer students might be less effective, on average, and it’s tough to separate “real” effects from bias in the models.

That said, let’s take a quick look at this relationship using the DC MGP scores from 2011,