Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Charter Expansion in Durham, NC Separates Children into Winners and Losers | janresseger

Charter Expansion in Durham, NC Separates Children into Winners and Losers | janresseger:



Charter Expansion in Durham, NC Separates Children into Winners and Losers

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Charter Schools - Dividing Communities since 1991
From Durham, North Carolina comes the story of the destabilization of an urban public school system by rapid expansion of charter schools.  Ned Barnett, the editorial page editor of the Durham News & Observer, and author of this guest post reprinted in Valerie Strauss’sWashington Post column, declares that Durham’s charter school “experiment is spinning out of control.”
Since the North Carolina General Assembly voted to lift the cap on authorization of charter schools across North Carolina, the number of the publicly funded but privately run charter schools has risen from 100 in 2011 to 127 this school year, with 26 projected to open in the fall of 2014 and 62 under consideration  for 2015.
The growth of charters has been faster in  North Carolina’s urban areas, where Barnett points out, the local per-pupil payments are higher.  Over 12 percent of Durham County’s students now attend charters.  “Durham County provides $3,086 per student… When a child enrolls in a charter school, that money goes with him or her.”
Not only is funding flowing out of  the traditional public schools that continue to educate more than 87 percent of Durham County’s children, but, according to Barnett, the rush to charters is resegregating the schools by economics and by race: “The charters’ effect on the district schools has been a loss of middle-class children of both races and a concentration of poor and 
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Grading As an Opportunity to Encourage Students - Teacher in a Strange Land - Education Week Teacher

Grading As an Opportunity to Encourage Students - Teacher in a Strange Land - Education Week Teacher:



Grading As an Opportunity to Encourage Students

By Nancy Flanagan on February 5, 2014 8:51 AM

Early in my teaching career, I had a conversation with a veteran math teacher, about grading. I greatly admired this teacher, a "mom"-type educator who spent hours and hours in voluntary after-school assistance for her ninth graders, patiently trying to find just the right way to get each of them to understand the abstraction of algebra.
"I always see the first grade that I give to a student as a kind of investment," she said. "I want them to know that I believe they can be successful, if they just persist." 
Although I hadn't given many grades at that point, I knew what she meant: How a very low grade feels to a student who's put good intellectual effort and time into a difficult subject. How it's better in the long run to nurture children's optimism around their own learning. How using a grading as a weapon can backfire on teachers. How immature students--and in ninth grade, immaturity is the default modus operandi--might respond to their first failing grade. 
You'd like to think that a low grade would be construed as a warning, a spur toward greater effort and focus. You'd like to think that--but not so much, at least for some kids. For them, a low grade feels like proof there's no reason to even try.
How do you reconcile that with  points gained, percentages achieved, assignments completed and comparatively evaluated--the traditional tools of grading? There's no such thing as a completely objective grade. Compiling, weighting and averaging numbers often leaves a good teacher 
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Sacramento area school districts resist push for smaller class sizes - Education - The Sacramento Bee

Sacramento area school districts resist push for smaller class sizes - Education - The Sacramento Bee:



Sacramento area school districts resist push for smaller class sizes

By Diana Lambert
dlambert@sacbee.com
Published: Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2014 - 12:00 am

  • GKM1HVMO6.3Staff Photographer


Randall Benton / RBenton@sacbee.com

Kindergarten teacher Peggy Watson handles 32 pupils in her class at Phoebe Hearst Elementary School in Sacramento on Friday, January 31, 2014. Class-size reduction - a promise of the governor's new funding plan for schools - may be more of a dream than reality at some local school districts. School districts like Sacramento City Unified say they have no intention of reducing class sizes from their current 32 students in kindergarten through third grades. Parents remain concerned, but the district says it has no money.


Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2014/02/05/6129136/sacramento-area-school-districts.html#storylink=cpy
Gov. Jerry Brown’s new school funding plan promises smaller class sizes, but that is more dream than reality at some California districts.
The mandate seems simple enough: Schools with crowded classrooms must begin reducing kindergarten to third-grade class sizes or face a roughly 10 percent reduction in funding. But one big loophole exists: Districts can keep the larger classes if their teachers unions agree.
Historically, unions have supported smaller class sizes, which generally require districts to hire more teachers. But after agreeing to reductions during the recession, some teachers may see restoring pay hikes and benefits for current employees as a priority.
Even if teachers want smaller class sizes, districts such as Sacramento City Unified School Districtsay they can’t afford them. The urban district stands to lose $7.1 million in state per-pupil

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2014/02/05/6129136/sacramento-area-school-districts.html#storylink=cpy
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Parents Can Opt Out United Opt Out National

United Opt Out National:





UOO LEAD







GAME ON. R U READY? CO + UOO MARCH 28TH – 30TH, 2014

In the spirit and perhaps mirth that is characteristic of our little organization, United Opt Out, we are creating a set of trade-able and collectible activism game cards of our admins and all of the guests for our spring action …MORE

DECEMBER 9TH –THE DAY FOR A SINGLE SPARK

December 9th is a day for reclaiming public education through community vision and action A Single Spark….ignites a fire of educational change. Because our children can’t wait. One classroom at a time, one school at a time, we can alter …MORE
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Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Newark at the boiling point. Cami Anderson is their Michelle Rhee

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Newark at the boiling point. Cami Anderson is their Michelle Rhee:



Newark at the boiling point. Cami Anderson is their Michelle Rhee

Mayoral candidate Ras Baraka, standing outside Weequahic High School in Newark, attacks Cami Anderson's "One Newark" plan. (Frances Micklow/The Star-Ledger)

Cami Anderson is Newark's Michelle Rhee. She's brought the city to the boiling point with the unveiling of  her “One Newark” plan for school closings and charter school proliferation in much the same way as Rhee did in D.C., before being run out of town by angry voters. Anderson is Gov. Christie's hand-picked schools chief and the community is demanding she be fired. She became notorious last month after suspending five school principals for speaking out against her plan.

Last week, AFT Pres. Randi Weingarten joined school and activists in protesting the plan, which will affect a quarter of the city’s schools. She addressed a packed board meeting promising AFT support for the fight against the plan [see video]. Anderson’s plan includes giving charter schools access to current district buildings, moving some schools to new 
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Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Not Everyone Is Able to Tweet and Post Who They Really Are | Connected Principals

Not Everyone Is Able to Tweet and Post Who They Really Are | Connected Principals:



Not Everyone Is Able to Tweet and Post Who They Really Are

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There is often much discussion around the separation of our professional and personal lives on social media.  Some districts strongly encourage this separation while others encourage the blending of both.  I have been a supporter of the latter as I believe that if we share who we are online we develop better relationships with others.  In December, I tweeted the following:



What I did not realize when I tweeted that, was that my view on the subject was coming from a lens of privilege – the lens of a middle class, white, heterosexual male.  Where I fell short in my tweet was that I failed to empathize with those whose lives are considered less acceptable to some.
When Royan brought this side to my attention… I stopped and thought about deleting the tweet, but then realized this is all part of the learning.  It was not my intention to be ignorant but by wearing my invisible napsack of privilege… I felt I 

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solidaridad

solidaridad:

















A Critical Look at Common Core with Dr. Stephen Krashen, hosted by UTLA Bilingual Education Committee
  A Critical Look at Common Core with Dr. Stephen Krashen by Robert D. SkeelsUTLA Bilingual Education CommitteeDr. Stephen Krashen Professor Emeritus University of Southern California A Critical Look at Common CoreWhat does it mean for our children? What are the implications for English Learners? and Dr. Katherine HayesChief Researcher LAUSD Best Practices for Organizing Classes with English Learn
by Robert D. Skeels ... / 2h hide  //  save
High-stakes standardized tests and CCSS, they're a great way to measure… profits
High-stakes standardized tests & #CCSS, they're a great way to measure… profits. #LAUSD #edreform @skrashen @susanoha pic.twitter.com/Gn4LXB9KHi— Robert D. Skeels (@rdsathene) February 4, 2014
by Robert D. Skeels ... / 2h 
SKrashen: A better way to deal with summer loss in reading: Libraries
SKrashen: A better way to deal with summer loss in reading: Libraries: Sent to the Seattle Times, Jan 31, 2014 There is a much cheaper and much more effective way to deal with summer learning loss than adding...
by Robert D. Skeels ... / 2h 


solidaridad: Help Student Organizers Travel to LA for EmpowerED 2014 Conference!
solidaridad: Help Student Organizers Travel to LA for EmpowerED 2014 Conference!: Help Student Organizers Travel to LA for EmpowerED 2014 Conference!On March 29th, student organizers from all over the country will converge upon Los Angeles to share their stories with the LA student community at a youth-led conference called EmpowerED: Los Angeles Student Power 2014. Pitch in to help get them here!
2 by mike simpson / 22h 
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New York legislators ready to put Common Core Standards and student data collecting on hold | Seattle Education

New York legislators ready to put Common Core Standards and student data collecting on hold | Seattle Education:



New York legislators ready to put Common Core Standards and student data collecting on hold

Common_Core_Standards_Gorc_t670
This just in:
The leaders of both houses of the New York State legislature have called for a two year moratorium on the Common Core. The Governor has also expressed concern with the implementation.  In addition the electeds shunned I Bloom – the data portal. The Board of Regents will hear a report from a Task Force on Monday.  
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Senate Co-Leaders Dean Skelos and Jeff Klein, and Senate Education Chair John Flanagan Call for Delay of Common Core and Sharing of Student Privacy Data
Senators Skelos, Klein and Flanagan issued the following statement:
     We continue to support the goals of an improved education curriculum
that increases standards and ensures that students are college and career
ready.
     However, after having spent months listening to parents, teachers,
administrators and educational professionals at public hearings conducted
throughout New York State, it is our belief that while the implementation
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DIARY OF A PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHER!: "Those Teachers Just Want a Day Off!": Are Teachers Ever "Off"?

DIARY OF A PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHER!: "Those Teachers Just Want a Day Off!": Are Teachers Ever "Off"?:



"Those Teachers Just Want a Day Off!": Are Teachers Ever "Off"?


"Those teachers just want a day off!"


She didn't know I was a teacher.She laughed it off when my husband and I told her. "Well, I guess I better 
watch what I say about teachers then, huh?"

Too late.

My hubby and I found ourselves in the emergency room before school closings were announced. (He's good now). The nurse did not know whether schools were closed. The above was her response after I informed her that her son's school was closed.

Of course, I had to school her. :)

1. It's not the teachers who decide to close schools due to the weather.

2. The schools are closed for the safety of your child.

3.  Multiple snow days become unbearable for us because our students are 
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Wish we could show this in every classroom. Great lesson that... | Get Schooled | www.ajc.com

Wish we could show this in every classroom. Great lesson that... | Get Schooled | www.ajc.com:



Get Schooled








Wish we could show this in every classroom. Great lesson that disability does not define a person. 

Previous Posts

By Maureen Downey
I have a new hero. He's 12. Wish all kids could see this video to hear Trenton Cochran explain so eloquently why his little sister Lindsay is neither defined nor limited by her disability.
"Just because she's different doesn't mean she doesn't fit in. Sometimes, people will stare at her," he says. "It's like, normal person here. Human being."





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Pressure Mounting to Halt Evaluations Tied to Common Core - WNYC

Pressure Mounting to Halt Evaluations Tied to Common Core - WNYC:



Pressure Mounting to Halt Evaluations Tied to Common Core

Tuesday, February 04, 2014 - 06:18 PM

By BETH FERTIG
Board of Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch, left, and Education Commissioner John King release 2013 state test scores. (Beth Fertig)
Legislative leaders are calling for a two-year break before the state uses its new exams to evaluate teachers or principals. In a bi-partisan push, lawmakers said the Board of Regents and the State Education Department should help local school districts develop curriculum materials adjusted to the new Common Core learning standards. 
But Gov. Andrew Cuomo urged patience. His communications director, Melissa DeRosa, issued a statement defending a "meaningful teacher evaluation system" and the Common Core learning standards adopted by many states.
However, she said Cuomo "believes that the way that Common Core has been managed by the Board of Regents is flawed, leading to too much uncertainty, confusion and anxiety among students and their parents. The strength of public education in New York is dependent on a rational system that is well administered."

Cuomo announced two weeks ago that he would assemble his own panel of experts and legislators to identify flaws in the roll-out and take corrective action by June. DeRosa 
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Choosing Democracy: Education Bill of Rights - James Meredith

Choosing Democracy: Education Bill of Rights - James Meredith:





Education Bill of Rights - James Meredith

James Meredith.
by Valerie Straus. The Answer Sheet.  Washington Post
Calling modern school reform “catastrophically misguided and ineffective,” civil rights icon James Meredith is launching what he calls the American Child’s Education Bill of Rights, a 12-point declaration of obligations that he says the nation owes every public school child.
The 80-year-old Meredith was the first black student to graduate from the University of Mississippi. The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. placed Meredith first on his own list of heroes in his 1963 Letter From a Birmingham Jail:
“Some day the South will recognize its real heroes. They will be the James Merediths, courageously and with a majestic sense of purpose facing jeering and hostile mobs and the agonizing loneliness that characterizes the life of the pioneer.”


In 1966 Meredith was  shot while leading a march that helped open the gates of voter registration to thousands of black citizens in the South. He later earned a law degree at Columbia University. In 2013, he was awarded the Harvard University Graduate School of Education’s Lifetime Achievement Award, the school’s highest honor, and he is the recipient of the 2014 winner of the Richard Wright Award for Literary Excellence.

Meredith, who now drives his grandchildren to public school in Jackson, Miss., every day said:
“We are losing millions of our children to inferior schools and catastrophically misguided and ineffective so-called education reforms. Our schools are being destroyed by politics, profit, greed and lies,” he adds. “Instead of evidence-based practices, money has become the engine of education policy, and our schools are being hijacked by politicians, non-educators and for-profit operators. Parents, teachers, citizens and community elders must arm ourselves with the best evidence and take back control of our children’s public education before it is too late. We all must work together to improve our public schools, not on the basis of profit or politics, but on the basis of evidence, and on the basis of love for America’s children.”
The Education Bill of Rights identifies 12 basic education rights for every American child, all based on his career as a social activist as well as discussions with thousands of students, parents, teachers and education experts across America. It was written with William Doyle, the co-author of  Meredith’s 2012 memoir, “A Mission from God: A Memoir and Challenge for America,” who was recently named to the Fulbright Scholars Program Specialist roster for 2013-2018.
Meredith said that billions of dollars now spent on standardized testing and “so-called education reforms” can be better spent to help children.
“If we do not commit to this course as a national emergency, America is headed for disaster.”
Meredith urges Americans to join a national debate on the American Child’s Education Bill of Rights, and to add their own ideas, on his Facebook page: www.facebook.com/jamesmeredithusa

The American Child’s Education Bill of Rights

Every American public school child has the right to: Choosing Democracy: Education Bill of Rights - James Meredith:
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