Jersey Jazzman: Marie Corfield For NJ Assembly: A Request For All Of My Readers

Jersey Jazzman: Marie Corfield For NJ Assembly: A Request For All Of My Readers:

Marie Corfield For NJ Assembly: A Request For All Of My Readers

Marie Corfield For NJ Assembly: A Request For All Of My Readers

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I don't ask for much from my readers: I've never held a blog fundraiser, I don't have any swag for you to buy, and I don't promote causes. But this one time, I am going to ask you to do something for yourself and every other person who supports public education:

On July 25th, please give what you can to support Marie Corfield For New Jersey Assembly by participating in her "Money Bomb."

Let's be clear: there is no greater threat to public education in New Jersey (and, I would suggest, the entire country) than Chris Christie. This bullying, blustering tool of wealthy interests has put a target on the back of every teacher in New Jersey. He has overseen a stunning, disgusting retreat from school funding adequacy and fairness, all while blaming teachers for his own failings as a leader.

I believe in Barbara Buono and will do whatever it takes to get her elected. But even if she beats Christie, she's going to need allies in the Assembly. And if she loses, public education needs someone in Trenton who will fight Christie's destructive rule and represent the interests of teachers, parents, and especially children.

There is no one in this state better qualified for that job than Marie Corfield. A mother, a teacher, and an activist, Marie has shown time and again that she has the smarts and the guts to go toe-to-toe with anyone who would threaten our children's schools.

Not only that: Marie has a plan for real property tax relief that helps the middle class, and not the super-rich. She'll promote real job growth, an area where Christie has utterly failed. She'll protect the environment, and she'll fight to bring marriage equity to a state where the majority of citizens want it.

Teachers in New Jersey are always asking me: "What can we do to fight back?" Here's your answer: pledge to support Marie Corfield's "Money Bomb" on July 25th.

It's this simple: go to Marie's Facebook page, and pledge to give support in any amount to her campaign when she drops her "Money Bomb" on July 25th. You'll get reminders to come back and make a donation on the big day,

If you'd rather just give right now, that's simple as well: go to Marie's donation page and give whatever you can. It will take less than two minutes, and you'll know you are an important part of the fight to save our public schools.

Many, many thanks to all of you for helping Marie Corfield stand up for the rest of us!

Marie Corfield for NJ Assembly!

7-17-13 Daily Kos: You might want to read Harold Meyerson today

Daily Kos: You might want to read Harold Meyerson today:

Good blog post on "Obamacare" by Krugman

titled Obamacare Is the Right’s Worst Nightmare.  It went live on the Times website within the hour. A few treats from this post: ... I agree with Matt Yglesias — unless the GOP finds even more ways to sabotage the plan, this thing is going to work, it’s going to be extremely popular, and it’s going to wreak havoc with conservative ideology. ...while a few people will be hurt — young, healthy indi

by rss@dailykos.com ... / 2min

Conservative former Senator supports Snowden

Republican Gordon Humphrey of New Hampshire, who served two terms as a United States Senator, has sent an email to Edward Snowden supporting him.  Glenn  Greenwald has the exchange, and a confirmation back to him (Greenwald) that the email was authentic, in this piece in The Guardian. Here is the text of the original email, with the emphasis as added by Greenwald: Mr. Snowden, Provided you have no

by rss@dailykos.com ... / 1min 

You might want to read Harold Meyerson today

His Washington Post column is titled D.C. Council stands for fair wages and against Wal-Mart and it provides lots of ammunition on the matter of Living Wages and Walmart. Meyerson 2nd paragraph set the frame: On average, Wal-Mart pays its workers $12.67 an hour — which means that a huge number of its 1.4 million U.S. employees make a good deal less than that. By paying so little, the Bentonville b

by rss@dailykos.com ... / 38min mark as read  //  save

Profits

I am becoming ever less enamored of the profit motivation, and would like to see it severely restricted. I understand that it plays a positive role in SOME economic endeavors, and thus CAN lead to new and better products, but those who are already profiting will often be ruthless against any competition that might reduce their profits. There are some areas of American life that imho simply should

by rss@dailykos.com ... / 38min 

7-17-13 SCHOOLS MATTER @ THE CHALK FACE

SCHOOLS MATTER @ THE CHALK FACE:

Any Bad-Ass Teachers Out There Want to Make Some Noise July 25?

Matt Taibbi described the Wall Street investment bank, Goldman Sachs, as  ”a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money.”  On July 25, some of Goldman’s fellow squid, along with another handful of New York City’s 70 billionaires and a few dozen of […]

by Jim Horn / 12min 

Peace Education and the #commoncore. Friends?

I was invited to speak on a panel at a Peace education summit at American University’s School of International Service. Along with two panelists from the Office of the State Superintendent of DC, who spoke about recent anti-bullying legislation, my role was to give a broader perspective on the Common Core State Standards. In order […]

by Chalk Face, PhD / 11min 

The “Best and the Brightest” Point the Way Toward Test-Driven Reform

It is hard to tell which is more revealing. Is it more shocking that 21st century school reform has degenerated into an un-funny knock-off of “Cheaper by the Dozen,” the spoof of the embarrassing scientific management policy known as “Taylorism?” Or is it more disturbing that the essence of accountability-driven reform is illuminated by “The […]

by John Thompson / 8min 

Class Size Matters Action Alert On Esea

No Excuses! Call your representatives.The message is here and it’s clear, concise andstrong. Action Alert Dear folks: For the first time in 12 years, a bill is expected to come to the floor of Congress to amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), currently known as NCLB.  The Student Success Act, introduced by Rep. Kline, […]

by freetoteach / 20min 

PAA DEMANDS End to High Stakes Testing and Privatization

***For Immediate Release*** July 17, 2013 Contacts Dora Taylor, (Seattle) President, PAA -206-841-9613 Pamela Grundy (Charlotte) -704-806-0410 Julie Woestehoff (Chicago) – 773-715-3989   It’s time for lawmakers to listen to parents! National parent group reaches out to Congress on ESEA, demanding less testing and privatization and more proven, effective reforms   As the U.S. House […]

by freetoteach / 18min 

“Disillusioned with Teach For America”

“It is difficult to identify exactly when I started to get disillusioned with Teach For America,” explains Wendy Heller Chovnick, a former Teach for America corp member and manager. ”I would say that it was a three-year long process that occurred while I was on staff.” What prompted her change of mind? Chovnick details how her […]

by plthomasedd / 22min 

7-16-13 Schools Matter @ The Chalk Face

SCHOOLS MATTER @ THE CHALK FACE: Great Op-Ed on the Common Opposition to Common Corp StandardsBy Rob Jenkins at the Newton Citizen in Newton County, GA: Any time conservatives and liberals in this country agree on anything, it’s time to stop the presses, glance up to see if pigs happen to be zooming by overhead, and check the temperature in you-know-where. It may also be time to pay attention. One

by mike simpson / 9h

UPDATE: Perdido Street School: Daily News: How Dare State Comptroller Hold Charter Schools Accountable?

Perdido Street School: Daily News: How Dare State Comptroller Hold Charter Schools Accountable?:


Good blog post on "Obamacare" by Krugman

titled Obamacare Is the Right’s Worst Nightmare.  It went live on the Times website within the hour. A few treats from this post: ... I agree with Matt Yglesias — unless the GOP finds even more ways to sabotage the plan, this thing is going to work, it’s going to be extremely popular, and it’s going to wreak havoc with conservative ideology. ...while a few people will be hurt — young, healthy indi

by rss@dailykos.com ... / 2min

Daily News: How Dare State Comptroller Hold Charter Schools Accountable?

The accountability mavens at the Daily News are very sad that state comptroller Tom Di Napoli wants to audit Eva Muoskowitz's charter school conglomerate and hold her accountable for the public funds she receives to run her schools.

They say Di Napoli is on a witch hunt against charter schools because he is anti-charter and pro-union.

They say it's unfair and unjust that charter schools be subject to audit by the state, that the results charters get with test scores and graduation rates speak for themselves and no other accountability measures are needed.

The accountability mavens at the DN say only public schools and public school teachers need accountability measures.

This is why only public school teachers are required by law to be 

Schooling in the Ownership Society: More problems with Rheeform

Schooling in the Ownership Society: More problems with Rheeform:

More problems with Rheeform

It was only a couple of years ago that Michelle Rhee was flying high on that broomstick of hers. Despite being booted by popular disdain, from her D.C. Supt. job, Rhee was being wined and toasted at N.Y. and Washington cocktail parties by both liberal and conservative elites as the new queen of corporate-style school reform. She even starred in a Hollywood movie, Waiting For Superman, before being hired as a union-busting consultant by Tea Part governors in Florida, Wisconsin, and Michigan.

Her rump Students First organization was promised a billion dollars by power-philanthropists like Eli Broad, Bill Gates, and the Koch Bros., the money to be used to bankroll anti-union political campaigns nationwide.

Lately however, some of the shine seems to be fading from Rhee's apple. Not only has Rhee been exposed for her role in a D.C. test-cheating scandal,  Politico reports that Rhee's group isn't even close to achieving its fund-raising goal.

Rhee’s group initially pledged to raise $1 billion in the group’s first 

Why our nation needs common standards | Hechinger Report

Why our nation needs common standards | Hechinger Report:

Why our nation needs common standards

By Jonah Edelman

Shane Cockrell’s father was in the military, and the family moved a lot when he was growing up. Cockrell specifically recalls starting middle school in Connecticut, and then enrolling in a middle school in South Carolina when the family moved. The decline in standards was shocking.

“My mom was so appalled by the difference that she ended up pulling me out of public school,” Cockrell recalls. Now, Cockrell is himself a former member of the military with a family, and he can understand his mother’s frustration. His son was in an excellent accelerated program in Springfield, Mo., but when the family moved to Oklahoma, the “accelerated program” Cockrell had researched turned out to consist of occasional library visits.

Jonah Edelman

“I’m angry with myself because I felt like I did him a disservice by moving,” Cockrell said. His son is bored, and his grades have slipped.

It makes no sense that standards for students vary dramatically from state to state. NPR recently reportedthat a fourth-grader in Arkansas might be rated “proficient” on his state test but could be deemed failing if he lived in Massachusetts. In 2009, 90 percent of Tennessee fourth-graders were on track in reading, according to the state’s assessment. But only 28 percent of them were up to muster on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, also known as the Nation’s 

Press release: Parents ask for significant changes to House ESEA bill | Parents Across America

Press release: Parents ask for significant changes to House ESEA bill | Parents Across America:

Parents ask for significant changes to House ESEA bill

Contacts

Dora Taylor, (Seattle) President, PAA -206-841-9613

Pamela Grundy (Charlotte) -704-806-0410

Julie Woestehoff (Chicago) – 773-715-3989

It’s time for lawmakers to listen to parents!

National parent group reaches out to Congress on ESEA,

demanding less testing and privatization and more proven, effective reforms

As the U.S. House of Representatives moves to considers H. R. 5, the Student Success Act, this week, representatives of Parents Across America (PAA), a national network of public school parents, are on Capitol Hill today calling on members of Congress to share our concerns about the direction of federal education policy, and offer our recommendations.

Here is a handy chart comparing H.R. 5 with PAA’s positions, which include less emphasis on failed strategies like excessive testing and expanding charter schools, and more successful reforms such as lower class size and authentic, democratic parent empowerment.

“It’s time to stop doing things that don’t work, like expanding charter schools and testing, and to start doing more of those things that improve education and student outcomes, like lowering class size and including parents in decision making,” said PAA President Dora Taylor, who lives in Seattle, WA.

PAA is holding its first formal annual meeting since incorporating as a non-profit organization in Illinois in July 2012. Representatives of PAA will meet from July 17-19 to share information, set priorities and discuss strategies for the coming year. Meetings with Congressmen and Senators on Capitol Hill are also on the agenda for the group, which formed in 2010 and has grown to include 50 chapters in 24 states.

While PAA members are pleased with some aspects of H.R. 5, they are concerned that most of its revisions to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA, aka No Child Left Behind), are going in the wrong direction, and eroding children’s opportunity to realize their potential.

“The explosion of new testing resulting from the Common Core standards and assessments is a huge unfunded mandate that will drain billions of dollars from cash-strapped states and districts, and further harm children. We must reverse course before it’s too late, said Charlotte, North Carolina parent Pamela Grundy, co-chair of the grass-roots MecklenburgACTS.org.

Specifically, PAA supports HR 5′s provisions to

• end the Adequate Yearly Progress accountability system, while maintaining disaggregated subgroup reporting,
• do away with the restricted choice of school interventions, and
• prohibit the Department of Education from requiring states to implement certain programs in order to gain funds.

However, we oppose the bill’s provisions that

• continue to require annual testing in grades 3 – 8,
• require the use of student test scores as significant parts of teacher evaluation,
• focus parent involvement on “choice,” particularly including charter schools,
• remove the requirement that teachers be highly qualified,
• reduce the amount of money available for class size reduction,
• require that a portion of “flexible” grant funds be used for privatization, and
• provide less funding overall.

The Senate Democratic proposal to reauthorize ESEA is not much better, according to PAA. That proposal also continues to overuse and misuse standardized tests, marginalize parents, and promote privatization. Unlike the House proposal, it continues to recommend ineffective, top-down interventions in struggling schools. Despite two decades of effort, none of these strategies has produced significant improvements in public schools.

PAA believes a new ESEA must include:

• a focus on providing sufficient and equitable resources in all public schools, so that every child can receive a high-quality education,
• improving schools rather than closing them, using evidence-based solutions backed by parents and other stakeholders,
• less standardized testing and more reliable accountability and assessment practices,
• programs that encourage the retention of professional, experienced teachers,
• a full range of parent involvement opportunities, including a stronger, democratically-elected parent voice in decision making at the school, district, state, and national levels, and
• the right of parents to opt their children out of standardized tests.

PAA co-founder Julie Woestehoff concluded, “It’s time for a more responsible federal education law that will strengthen our nation’s public schools and provide a high-quality education for all our children.”

Parents Across America (PAA) is a grassroots organization that connects parents and activists from across the U.S. to share ideas and work together on improving our nation’s public schools. We advocate for proven, progressive measures such as reducing class size and increasing parent involvement, and oppose high-stakes testing and corporate-style efforts to privatize our schools. PAA is committed to bringing the voice of public school parents – and common sense – to local, state, and national education debates. Visit our web site,www.parentsacrossamerica.org for more.

- See more at: http://parentsacrossamerica.org/press-release-parents-significant-house-esea-bill/?utm_source=feedly#sthash.vxLRFQTW.dpuf

NEA: How We Must Move Forward on ESEA/NCLB | NEA Today

NEA: How We Must Move Forward on ESEA/NCLB | NEA Today:

NEA: How We Must Move Forward on ESEA/NCLB

July 17, 2013 by twalker  
Filed under ESEA/NCLB Reform, Featured News, Top Stories

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By Tim Walker

This week, for the first time since 2001, a bill to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) is expected to hit the floor of the U.S. Congress. The House of Representatives will be debating and voting on the “Student Success Act” (H.R. 5) and the stakes for students across the nation couldn’t be higher. No one wants a repeat of the 2002 ESEA reauthorization commonly-known as No Child Left Behind (NCLB),which ushered in the era of high-stakes testing, micromanagement of schools at the federal level, and punitive measures for struggling schools. Now, finally, there is serious movement on Capitol Hill.

The arduous legislative process may seem distant to many classroom teachers and education support professionals, but what is being negotiated this week stands to affect every student and public school educator in the United States. Which is why, says NEA President Dennis Van Roekel, Congress has to get this right.

“We are accountable for student success, and we must ensure that ESEA changes its current focus from punishing students, schools and educators to helping those most in need,” Van Roekel says. “In order for the law to work, we must empower educators so they can focus on what’s important—student learning and achievement.”

NEA strongly believes the foundation of a new ESEA has to be strengthening the federal government’s 

7-17-13 Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher who is just looking at the data.

Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher who is just looking at the data.:

Road Trip

The in box. IEA joins the rally against ALEC.

http://www.ieanea.org/2013/07/17/be-part-of-the-alec-un-welcoming-committee-aug-8/   A national organization that helps develop and promote legislation attacking public education, middle class families and unions is meeting in Chicago next month. Attendees at the meeting of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) need to hear from you. ALEC is holding its 40th Anniversary Conference, brin

by Fred Klonsky / 6min 

The in box. “Fight Over Chicago School Closures Goes to Court This Week.”

Our team takes on their team. Go team. Fight Over Chicago School Closures Goes to Court This Week.

by Fred Klonsky / 39min 

In box. “My response to Chancellor Dennis Walcott’s email to NYC DOE staff.”

Great letter. Pass it on.   My response to Chancellor Dennis Walcott’s email to NYC DOE staff.

by Fred Klonsky / 45min 

Jim Broadway on prospects for COLA cut proposal.

Pension Update: Speaking of clips, the “We Are One Illinois Coalition” has posted a brief video explaining its position on public pension reform – and urging citizens to contact legislators on behalf of SB 2404 ”with no amendments.” Meanwhile, the conference committee on SB 1 – a horribly harsh model of pension reform favored by Quinn, Madigan and the Republican causes of the House and Senate – ha

by Fred Klonsky / 7min

  

Hearings Tuesday on lawsuits against CPS school closings.

Hearings begin today on two lawsuits seeking to block the Chicago school board’s decision to close 49 elementary schools and a high school program, with officials from the district and parents expected to testify over four days.   Hearings today on lawsuits against CPS school closings.

by Fred Klonsky / 3min 

Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher who is just looking at the data.

Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher who is just looking at the data.: We’re retired. Not dead. Bob Lyons responds.Bob Lyons is a retired teacher an member of the Illinois Teacher Retirement System (TRS) board of trustees. Yesterday a reader questioned the defined benefit retirement system with, among other arguments, the claim that old people don’t spend as much as acti

by mike simpson / 8h