Latest News and Comment from Education

Friday, April 4, 2014

4-4-14 Perdido Street School

Perdido Street School:






Newark Star-Ledger Lays Off 25% Of Non-Unionized Newsroom Employees
Brutal:In a grim day of reckoning at the state’s largest newspaper, the owners of The Star-Ledger today said they were eliminating the jobs of approximately 167 people, including 25 percent of the newsroom. The sweeping job loss was part of a plan announced last week in an effort to greatly reduce costs and combine resources by consolidating the operations of The Star-Ledger, along with its sister

Cuomo Administration: Middle Class Is $300,000 A Year, Upper Middle Is $500,000
The Cuomo administration explaining its "middle class tax cuts":In defense of new regressive tax cuts in the most economically unequal state in America, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s top aide tonight told the Journal News that those making $500,000 a year are merely “upper middle class” and those making $300,000 a year are “middle class.” In fact, the median household income in New York i

De Blasio Says "Teacher Retention" Is Key Goal For Public Education Policy
From an interview with Chris Smith of New York:With pre-K and charters dominating the conversation, there’s been little attention to de Blasio’s fuzzier agenda for the million-plus kids already attending conventional public schools. “We’re going to focus on teacher retention, which I think is a huge difference-maker, because we’re hemorrhaging quality teachers,” he says. “Why is Finland so wonderf


UFT Contract Negotiations Update
Bill de Blasio in an interview with Chris Smith of New York:It’s obviously incredibly complicated, and there’s a lot on the line, and we want to get it right. So the conversations over the last weeks have been quite good, and substantive, and collegial. But it’s impossible at this moment to determine whether it’s enough to get us done by that point (June 30)."Collegial and substantive, but no
Common Core Contradictions
 From a commenter at NRO:Common Core is, itself, a contradiction: it professes to help get kids ready for college and careers while at the same time it destroys the very tools they need to learn to do just that. For English standards, Common Core favors informational texts over fiction while completely deleting poetry and art interpretation from the curriculum. In Math, Common Core seems blatantly
Will Oklahoma Be The Second State To "Ditch" The Common Core?
From National Review Online:The Oklahoma state senate passed a bill Tuesday to withdraw the state from the Common Core standards. If the bill is signed by Governor Mary Fallin, Oklahoma will become the second state to withdraw from the Common Core.Indiana withdrew last week, with Governor Mike Pence’s signature.The bill to get the Sooner State was hugely popular in both houses. House Bill 3399 was
4-3-14 Perdido Street School
Perdido Street School: Cuomo Was Behind The Organization Of The Eva Moskowitz/Success Charter School RallyThere have been some stories out that it was Governor Cuomo who pushed for the charter school giveaway rally in Albany - those stories are now confirmed in the NY Times:It was a frigid February day in Albany, and leaders of New York City’s charter school movement were anxious. They had gone to


Who is the right-wing American Federation for Children? | Larry Miller's Blog: Educate All Students!

Who is the right-wing American Federation for Children? | Larry Miller's Blog: Educate All Students!:



Who is the right-wing American Federation for Children?



Filed under: American Federation for Children,MMAC — millerlf @ 7:07 am 
Right-Wing Alert: “American Federation for Children” and MMAC Organizing for Elections
The American Federation for Children (AFC), led by Betty DeVos, is allying with the MMAC to run candidates for offices in upcoming elections. The American Federation for Children spent $1.5 million helping Republicans in the recall elections. That includes some $900,000 that it spent to help Scott Walker fend off Tom Barrett’s challenge.

Who is the American Federation for Children?
The American Federation for Children (AFC) is an organization with roots in Milwaukee that promotes public school privatization through “voucher programs.” It shares an address and leadership with its 501(c)(3) partner Alliance for School Choice (ASC).
AFC is chaired by Betsy DeVos, the billionaire wife of Amway founder Richard DeVos and former chair of the Michigan Republican Party. In recent years, she has funneled tens of millions of dollars into school privatization efforts and other right-wing initiatives.
AFC is an ALEC member and is represented by former Rep. Jensen on the ALEC Education Task Force. Jensen is the former Republican Wisconsin Assembly Speaker convicted in 2005 of three felonies for misuse of his office for political purposes, and banned from the state Capitol for five years (the charges were later reduced on appeal). Jensen is one of AFC’s registered lobbyists in Wisconsin.
Jensen has proposed bills to ALEC on behalf of AFC/ASC that were adopted as “model” legislation. For example, in March 2011, Jensen presented to the ALEC Education Task Force the “Education Savings Account Act,” which creates financial incentives for families to take their children out of the public school system and put them in for-profit primary and secondary Who is the right-wing American Federation for Children? | Larry Miller's Blog: Educate All Students!:

Newark, NJ Students Walk Out For Underserved Schools | PopularResistance Org #NPSWalkOut2014

Newark, NJ Students Walk Out For Underserved Schools | PopularResistance.Org:



Newark, NJ Students Walk Out For Underserved Schools



About 1,000 Newark, New Jersey public school students walked out of school for today in response to a number of issues, including what many say is insufficient funding and proposed plans to place charter schools in district buildings.
#NPSWalkOut2014 coincided with a state senate budget hearing on education. Besides demanding changes to funding, students are hoping legislators give control of Newark’s schools back to the city (managed by the state for 18 years).




The walkout began at various Newark schools and ended at the steps of Newark City Hall. As the demonstration grew, administrators reportedly tried to stop more students from joining.
However, many students still found their way to the rally. The picture below marked a point close to their final destination.
BkUAua_IEAAOEQZStudents soon reached Newark City Hall and joined forces.
Today’s protest followed a similar one that took place last year. The Stream covered those demonstrations as well.

OPTING OUT ALL OVER NEW YORK CITY...Coalition for Public Education/Coalición por la Educación Pública: OPTING OUT ALL OVER NEW YORK CITY...

Coalition for Public Education/Coalición por la Educación Pública: OPTING OUT ALL OVER NEW YORK CITY...:



OPTING OUT ALL OVER NEW YORK CITY...

Black Brooklyn School Teacher Opt Out Her Son
VIDEO: 





Takiema Bunche-Smith, the director of curriculum and instruction at Brooklyn Kindergarten Society, allowed her 8-year-old son to opt out of standardized tests based on new Common Core standards. Bunche-Smith joins Aljazeera's Consider This host Anotnio Mora to discuss why her family opposes the tests.

UPDATE: Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Hang tough Gresham! + The kids are alright

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: The kids are alright:



Hang tough Gresham!
A SmallTalk Salute goes out to Principal Diedrus Brown, Ald. Brookins and the Walter Gresham Elementary School community for having the courage to resist Byrd-Bennett's move to hand their school over to the private management company,  AUSL.They're standing on solid ground when they say the resource-starved schools has been making steady progress. In 2004, when Brown became principal,  34.7 percen


The kids are alright

Sam Spitz met Teddy Williams at a barber shop, and they documented their story in a film, "The Greens."
I couldn't be prouder of my friend Sam Spitz, a budding young film maker with a good camera eye and a strong social conscience. With film-making activist parents like Jeff and Jennifer Amdur Spitz, neither is any surprise. Sam's first independent, no-budget film, The Greens, is starting to get some play. If you put a camera in Sam's hand and turn him loose in Chicago, he's going to use it to tell some great stories. Here's one of them, picked up by CNN.

I know something about this kid also. Jennifer Klonsky is a wonderful Chicago elementary school teacher, mom, and local rock-and-roller who also created and directs Little Kids Rockat her school. She made a guest appearance Sunday on Live From The Heartland where she tells Katie Hogan how she integrates art and music in and out of her classroom.  Herinterview starts at 4:55.

GOOD READS...Just got my advanced copy of teacher/activistJose Vilson's book, This is Not a Test. Lots of great personal stories about Jose's baptism-under-fire as a New York public school teacher intertwined with his notions of race, class & social justice. I can't put it down.

Jose's book pulled me away (for a moment) from Gregg Kot's I'll 

Table for 3: The Story Behind Dinner with Linda Darling-Hammond and Diane Ravitch | Cloaking Inequity

Table for 3: The Story Behind Dinner with Linda Darling-Hammond and Diane Ravitch | Cloaking Inequity:



Table for 3: The Story Behind Dinner with Linda Darling-Hammond and Diane Ravitch

2014-04-03 20.51.34
This past Wednesday I hatched an idea. Why not invite Linda Darling-Hammond and Diane Ravitch to dinner, two of my mentors, and the most notable and influential voices in education? Let me first start with the academic part of today’s blog post. Reddick and Vasquez Heilig (2012) discussed mentoring in the peer-reviewed paper Constellations a Promising Strategy?
Mentoring is defined as the process in which a senior, experienced person (the mentor) engages with a junior, less-experienced person (the mentee, or protégé) in order to foster the psychosocial development of the junior person (Kram, 1988). The term ‘mentor’ comes from the Greek epic The Odyssey, in which the hero Odysseus placed his son, Telemachus, in his old friend Mentor’s care when he left for war.
Social Exchange Theory. Social exchange theory is a concept developed by Homans (1958) that posited that humans engage in relationships that provide benefits (in terms of outcomes and satisfaction). Simply put, relationships that are costly but provide little or no benefits are unsustainable. Mentoring can be understood through a social exchange theoretical construct: both mentors and mentees/protégés must find mutual benefit and satisfaction for the relationship to continue. Often the benefits to mentees are well-documented and articulated, but mentor benefits are rarely explicated. Essentially, mentors have to experience some benefit from the mentoring dynamic as well for the relationship to be enduring and ultimately, successful.
Mentoring Networks. Though mentoring is often understood (and exemplified) in one-on-one settings 
 Table for 3: The Story Behind Dinner with Linda Darling-Hammond and Diane Ravitch | Cloaking Inequity:

Charters seek compromise on governance transparency :: SI&A Cabinet Report :: The Essential Resource for Superintendents and the Cabinet

Charters seek compromise on governance transparency :: SI&A Cabinet Report :: The Essential Resource for Superintendents and the Cabinet:



Charters seek compromise on governance transparency

Charters seek compromise on governance transparency



(Calif.) Charter schools, which often operate as both a private non-profit and a publicly-funded agency, reside in a sort of legal no-man’s land as it relates to the state’s open meeting and good governance laws.
Efforts to simply extend the Brown Act, the Public Records Act and the Political Reform Act to charters has failed in the past – largely because the rigid requirements don’t mesh well with fundamental tenants of the charter movement that give the schools freedom and flexibility.
But there are signs that a pivotal confrontation may be nearing, as lawmakers consider once again whether to attempt to unilaterally impose existing requirements or embrace alternative legislation that charter advocates say will provide needed transparency but protect their cherished autonomous status.
“There’s been a lot of conversation over the past several legislative cycles around which conflict of interest laws apply to public charter schools – which are funded with taxpayer dollars,” explained Myrna Castrejon, senior vice president over government affairs at the California Charter Schools Association.
“We are now in an environment where there is little predictability about the local context in which charters operate,” she said. “We really feel like it is time to clearly define those parameters and Charters seek compromise on governance transparency :: SI&A Cabinet Report :: The Essential Resource for Superintendents and the Cabinet:

Florida considers ‘return on investment index’ for schools
(Fla.) Michelle Rhee's StudentsFirst is driving legislation in Florida that would establish a “return on investment” index comparing education spending with standardized test scores – something supporters say would help school administrators, parents and the public better recognize the most cost effective programs.

Thursday, April 3, 2014

Ms. Jablonski's Class Blog 4-3-14

Ms. Jablonski's Class Blog:








Brazil attempts to end childhood prostitution
The Brazilian government has allocated $3.3 million to implement new laws, in the attempt to end childhood prostitution and human trafficking. In preparation for the 2014 World Cup, Brazil is cracking down on childhood prostitution and teaming up with world class professional players David Luiz, Frank Lampard, and the coach of England's national team, Roy Hodgson to launch an anti- childhood prost








Ms. Jablonski's Class Blog 4-1-14
Ms. Jablonski's Class Blog: untitledResidents of a 12 mile zone in are being aloud to inhabit their homes after three years of recovery from Japanese nuclear power plant disaster that shook nearly three years ago. This decision to revitalize the zone affects nearly 117 households, and 357 people. It was decided that the radiation levels of the zone were low enough to be inhabitable, but many of th

NYC Public School Parents: NSA Snoops on ELA Test

NYC Public School Parents: NSA Snoops on ELA Test:



NSA Snoops on ELA Test

April 4, 2014 (GBN News): Pearson’s vaunted security was put to the test, so to speak, when the NSA reportedly spied on NY City schoolchildren taking this week's ELA exams. While Pearson, who designed theCommon Core tests, forbids teachers and principals from revealing any details, sources told GBN News that NSA agents have compiled a huge database of questions and answers, through the use of cameras hidden in students’ number 2 pencils.

It is unclear why the NSA, after revelations that it spied on everything from foreign embassies to German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cell phone, would feel a need to spy on schoolchildren’s standardized tests. J. Fredrick Mugson, a national security consultant and recognized expert on educational espionage, feels that the agency may actually be targeting the teachers.

“Knowing that the common core tests are supposed to evaluate the teachers even more than the kids,” he told GBN News in a phone interview, “the NSA is probably just trying to evaluate which teachers may pose a national security threat.

“But the ironic thing,” he went on to say, “is that it will likely backfire. From what I hear, the ELA questions on this exam were so NYC Public School Parents: NSA Snoops on ELA Test:

Teachers Cleared of Heroin in Fallsburg NY southbronxschool.com

http://www.southbronxschool.com:



Teachers Cleared of Heroin in Fallsburg NY

Last month we reported here on SBSB how 6 teachers and an aide in Fallsburg NY were accused of being heroin users while on school time.

On two separate occasions heroin was found in the teachers rest room at the Benjamin Cosor Elementary School. The teachers and aide were accused because the video surveillance equipment set up after the first discovery of the heroin revealed these 7 using using the rest room at the approximate time when it was speculated the heroin was being used in the bathroom.

These teachers and the aide were vilified across the nation in some of the most wing nut, bat s*** crazy places one can imagine. Worse, they were convicted, locked up, and the key thrown away in the very community they serve so honorably.

The police chief of Fallsburg NY, Simmie Williams proclaimed;
"If you got nothing to hide, give me some urine,"
Of course Chief Williams duty to uphold the laws and the Constitution of the United States means diddly as long as he can get pissed on.

Parents of the school and school district while rightly concerned, wanted to be judge, jury and prosecutor and deemed that the teachers were hiding behind the union and should either be fired or suspended without pay. But two interesting things happened along the way, only one of which was 

“Listen: The Movie” challenging the culture of standardized testing | Seattle Education

“Listen: The Movie” challenging the culture of standardized testing | Seattle Education:



“Listen: The Movie” challenging the culture of standardized testing

listen-the-movie
On TV, we have Bill Gates, Michelle Rhee, Arne Duncan and “Waiting for ‘Superman’” talking about failing schools, low standards, and China, but rarely do they ever talk about students.
Who is going to tell the story of public education? Is it going to be the corporate-education reformers who haven’t spent a day teaching, or is it going to be the students, teachers, and parents who live the realities of these policies every day in the classroom?
LISTEN is a documentary, created by a student, that attempts to tell those stories from the perspective of people most directly affected by education policy–the students.
Watch and listen.
Dora





Milwaukee: MMAC Uniting with Right-Wing to Run School Board Candidates | Larry Miller's Blog: Educate All Students!

Milwaukee: MMAC Uniting with Right-Wing to Run School Board Candidates | Larry Miller's Blog: Educate All Students!:



Milwaukee: MMAC Uniting with Right-Wing to Run School Board Candidates




Filed under: American Federation for Children,MMAC — millerlf @ 9:17 pm 
The MMAC and the right-wing American Federation for Children and Democrats for Education Reform are holding an all day training in an effort to run slates of candidates for political office including for MPS school board next Spring. Their intention is to make privatization of public education their central political theme.
The training will be held on Saturday April 12.
To see their advertisement go to:

Larry Miller I was part of a panel on April 1 at Marquette discussing  MPS and education in Milwaukee. (The panel starts at about the 2 hour mark.) To view the panel go to: http://law-media.marquette.edu/Mediasite/Play/1d46a0c949314bc8b9dcc01a0f6526a61d

Education Hackers: They’re Heeere | educationalchemy

Education Hackers: They’re Heeere | educationalchemy:



Education Hackers: They’re Heeere

Posted: April 3, 2014 in Uncategorized
IMG_0458
Here’s the basic rule of practice for reformers. When the truth is no longer is their favor, they resort to silencing and fear tactics to win their battle. After all, if you knew the truth, you might do something about it. Case in point: sometime over the weekend of March 29th-31st, during our Denver event, our United Opt Out website was hacked in such a wholesale fashion that every part of the website database was trashed,. Given that I need my nine year old to help me with my iPhone 6 you can imagine how much I understand about the world of hacking, but our tech savvy friends working on the problem have concluded that given the size and scope of the hacking job that “it is purely malicious…” The hacker crippled every single SQL table and left them unrepairable. The site is frozen more or less and inaccessible to administrate.
In spite of the headache this gives to us as the site administrators it does not deter us from our goals to take education back from the grips of federal and corporate interests, and to build a democratically-led effort for public education founded on human and civil rights for all children. When we started as a group three years ago, we had a simple goal in mind: Help parents opt their children out of high stakes standardized testing. As the political and educational landscapes became more rabid with harmful policies, bullying practices, and oppressive billionaire interests calling the shots, our movement has grown. We defined ourselves simply as “six pissed off radical educators with fifty dollars between us.” What we lacked in financial sponsorship, or political savvy, we made up for in knowledge and a passion for meaningful and sustainable education for all children. We still have little more than fifty dollars between us, Education Hackers: They’re Heeere | educationalchemy:

4-3-14 Seattle Schools Community Forum

Seattle Schools Community Forum:







Seattle Schools Work Session Wrap-up - Transportation
Bob Westgard, director of Logistics, gave the presentation.He said there had been 6,000 revisions in Transportation since day 117 of this school year.  He said they had given out 7,000 Orca cards and had to replace 3,000 of them.  (Sadly, no one asked what I was wondering which was, who paid for the second card?  That's a high rate of loss.)Booking and approving filed trips is almost completely el


Seattle Schools Work Sessions Wrap-Up - Athletics
I attended three Work Sessions last week and here are highlightsAthleticsI have to say this one seemed to be one of the less dry and more animated Work Sessions that I have attended in years. It had been two years since the last update from the Athletics department.  It was reported that SPS has the highest academic standards for its athletes in the state.  However, when asked about participation


Common Core Testing: How's that Going?
For some, not well.There's a new site, Testing Talk, that allows teachers and principals to talk about how it went and what they observed. (No, they don't give away any deep, dark test questions or secrets.)From the NYC Public School Parents blog:Liz Phillips, principal of PS 321 in Brooklyn, who was scathing about the 2012 exam as well, but says this one was as bad or worse. PS 321 PARENTS--Our 3




4-2-14 Seattle Schools Community Forum
Seattle Schools Community Forum: Portables; Here to Stay (and Preschool, What about That?)A hilarious article about portables in NYC by the NY Times.  We're not alone.But eight years later, Mr. Cosby, 46, is busier than ever as an all-around handyman for the seven timeworn trailers that house 283 students outside the crowded main school building.He has chased opossums, raccoons and turtles from th