“An Act of Conscience”: Teachers at New York’s Earth School boycott Common Core Tests! | I AM AN EDUCATOR

“An Act of Conscience”: Teachers at New York’s Earth School boycott Common Core Tests! | I AM AN EDUCATOR:

“An Act of Conscience”: Teachers at New York’s Earth School boycott Common Core Tests!

By I AM AN EDUCATOR on April 7, 2014

Teachers at the Earth School in NYC who protested in support of the Seattle MAP test boycott in 2013

Last spring I was invited to the Earth School in the East Village of New York City to speak at a forum about the lessons of the MAP test boycott that I helped to organize in Seattle. Earth School 4^th and 5^th grade teacher Jia Lee, along with insurgent teacher union activists in MORE and parents in Change The Stakes, helped organize the event and a powerful conversation about organizing test resistance ensued.

Now, a year later, you can imagine my elation when I received an email from Jia announcing that three teachers at the Earth School declared to their administration and public schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña that they will not proctor Common Core state standardized tests this year — or ever — saying in a letter that they “can no longer implement policies that seek to transform the broad promises of public education into a narrow obsession with the ranking and sorting of children.”

Flyer from my visit to the Earth School last year to talk about resisting standardized testing.

They go on to write, “As an act of conscience, we are declining the role of test administrators for the 2014 New York State Common Core Tests. We are acting in solidarity with countless public school teachers who have paved their own paths of resistance and spoken truthfully about the decay of their profession under market-based reforms. These acts of conscience have been necessary because we are  “An Act of Conscience”: Teachers at New York’s Earth School boycott Common Core Tests! | I AM AN EDUCATOR:

Bill De Blasio Is Actually More Helpful To Charter Schools Than Some Republicans, Report Says:

Bill De Blasio Is Actually More Helpful To Charter Schools Than Some Republicans, Report Says

Posted: 04/07/2014 12:00 pm EDT Updated: 04/07/2014 12:59 pm EDT

Pool via Getty Images

NEW YORK -- Last fall, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) waged his successful populist campaign in part on reversing his predecessor Michael Bloomberg's education policies -- particularly Bloomberg's dramatic expansion and preferential treatment of charter schools. In a move that pleased many voters, de Blasio threatened to start charging the charter schools rent.

But despite taking the rhetorical hatchet to those 183 schools, which are publicly funded but can be privately run, in the months since the election, de Blasio ultimately has helped charter schools -- even more than some Republicans, according to a new brief from Democrats for Education Reform, released on Monday.

"If you look at what [de Blasio] actually did as opposed to what he said, he did approve the opening of most of the charters," Charles Barone, DFER's policy director, told The Huffington Post. "He gave co-location space to most of the charters that wanted co-location space. We're not saying he had an ideological conversion, but regardless, he wound up doing a lot more on charters than one might have expected, given his campaign."

And after months of charter wars, Barone argued, the schools are now better off, at least in New York. "Now the situation for providing building space to charters is better than it was when he [de Blasio] started, as a result of negotiations with the governor [Andrew Cuomo]," Barone said.

DFER argues that while Republicans have been more outspoken on charters, de Blasio, who ran against them, ultimately has yielded more benefits for the schools. The group's brief points to a January speech House Majority Leader Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.) gave at the Brookings Institution, in which he chided de Blasio for his charter 

 Bill De Blasio Is Actually More Helpful To Charter Schools Than Some Republicans, Report Says:

UPDATE: Funds for Energy Efficiency Available - Year 2014 (CA Dept of Education)

Funds for Energy Efficiency Available - Year 2014 (CA Dept of Education):

State Schools Chief Tom Torlakson Announces Next Round of Energy Efficiency Funding Applications

SACRAMENTO—State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson today announced that local educational agencies (LEAs) that have Proposition 39 planning funds available–about $33 million—for energy efficiency projects can now submit their requests in the third round of applications.

"These funds help provide our districts with the resources they need to make sure our schools are both energy efficient and environmentally friendly," Torlakson said. "Not only does this give our students greater opportunities for future success, it helps strengthen the community through the creation of dependable jobs."

Approximately $145 million was distributed to LEAs during the first two rounds of funding to begin assessing needs and planning projects. This current phase will further assist LEAs striving to improve energy efficiency and create clean energy jobs.

The voter-approved Clean Energy Jobs Act (Proposition 39) generates revenue for LEAs to support energy efficiency and alternative energy projects, along with related improvements and repairs that contribute to reduced operating costs and improved health and safety conditions in public schools.

For additional details, visit the California Department of Education's Request for Applications, Proposition 39--California Energy Jobs Act Web page or the California Energy Commission's The California Clean Energy Jobs Act  Web page.

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Tom Torlakson — State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Communications Division, Room 5206, 916-319-0818, Fax 916-319-0100

State Schools Chief Tom Torlakson Announces Funding for School Construction and Modernization Projects

SACRAMENTO—The State Allocation Board  (SAB) today disbursed more than $372 million to be used for 105 school construction and modernization projects across 43 school districts, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson announced.
"These additional resources can go a long way toward creating facilities that meet today's needs and, in the process, help our schools save money and put Californians to work," Torlakson said. "Our students deserve every opportunity to learn in schools that are designed for the 21st century."
Torlakson's Schools of the Future Initiative (PDF; 1MB) outlined his approach to "21st century learning," including the construction and modernization of school facilities, utilization of new technology, energy efficiency, and facilities for science and career technology education.
The SAB, of which Torlakson is a member, meets monthly to allocate state matching funds for the construction of new classrooms, the modernization of existing schools, and other programs to improve learning environments, and adopts policies and regulations regarding SAB programs. The funds allocated by the SAB are from voter-approved general obligation bonds that cannot be used for school operational expenses.
For the complete list of allocations, go to the State Allocation Board's online agenda  (PDF) click on the "Consent" tab, and see page 9.

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Tom Torlakson — State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Communications Division, Room 5206, 916-319-0818, Fax 916-319-0100

Conspiracy Theories: Who Hacked the United Opt Out National Website

 Conspiracy Theories: Who Hacked the  United Opt Out National Website

Just a heads up - our website has been destroyed by hackers. If you are able to view the United Opt Out National website, you are currently viewing a cached site/ghost site. It could disappear at any moment - we don't know how long that will last. We will try to get the 50 state guides uploaded to this FB group over the next few days. And we will rebuild the website - however, this will take some time. We are currently retrieving all of our documents and we will have to rebuild manually. In the meantime, if folks cannot access the website, please send them here. All guides have been uploaded to our file section here on this FB page! Thank you. https://www.facebook.com/groups/unitedoptout/

Students Parents Teachers?

Not likely, Most Students, Parents and Teachers Hate the Test!

Rupert Murdoch?

Rupert Murdoch Wins Contract to Develop Common Core Tests?

Rupert Murdoch's phone-hacking scandal: A timeline

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation?

Privacy concerns grow over Gates-funded student database

Failed DC Chancellor Michelle Rhee?

Failed DC Chancellor Michelle Rhee still doesn’t get it

Arne Duncan?

NSA Built Stuxnet, but Real Trick Is Building Crew of Hackers

We will probably never know WHO hacked the  United Opt Out National Website but conspiracy theories are sometimes FUNNY!

4-7-14 LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD

LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District):

UTLA sends out ballots in runoff for president

Ballots were dropped in the mail today to the 35,000 members of the Los Angeles teachers union (UTLA), to decide who will win the top job of the second largest teachers union in the country, in a second-round runoff. It’s down to two candidates from the original field of ten: between current president Warren Fletcher, considered a moderate and left-leaning candidate Alex Caputo-Pearl. Pearl not on

by Aaron Stella / 10min 

Rallies at LAUSD for budget priorities and a student voice

More rallies at LA Unified With the LA Unified board meeting tomorrow, two rallies are taking place outside district headquarters that seek support for two different educational issues. Parents, education advocates and civil rights groups, who represent Communities for Los Angeles Student Success, or CLASS, are organizing a “silent protest” on behalf of low-income students, schools and communities

by Yana Gracile / 1h hide  //  save

6 LA Unified schools sharing grant for industry-related courses

Six LA Unified high schools are splitting a $7 million Youth CareerConnect grant to expand career pathways in health care, biotechnology, and business. The district is one of the first in the nation awarded funds from a collaboration between the U.S. Departments of Education and Labor. It is designed to help schools provide more industry-related knowledge and skills. “These pathways provide additi

1 by Vanessa Romo / 1h 

Garfield High opens doors to new Jamie Escalante Auditorium

Jamie Escalante Auditorium (Photo by Jesse Saucedo) Garfield High School held a ribbon-cutting ceremony last Saturday for the Jaime Escalante Auditorium, which appears as a radical improvement over the old theater set ablaze by an arsonist seven years ago. Construction of the new auditorium included the restoration of Memorial plaza, which connects the auditorium to a new three-story building that

1 by Aaron Stella / 22min 

Unions have lukewarm response to Deasy’s new budget proposal

LAUSD Supt. John Deasy unveiling budget The budget proposal LA Unified Superintendent John Deasy will present to the school board tomorrow has won lukewarm responses from three of the district’s biggest labor partners — the teachers union (UTLA), the principals union (AALA) and the support workers union (SEIU Local 99). After reviewing documents the district released on Friday, each group expresse

by Michael Janofsky / 6min 

Long-term impact of childhood trauma worse for low-income kids

A new study by the California Department of Public Health has found that childhood trauma has a long-term impact on a child’s life, and the consequences are far more prevalent among children from low-income families. It is an especially acute issue for LA Unified, which has among the highest concentrations of low-income students in the state, with more than 80 percent living at or below the povert

7min 

Morning Read: Less than 40% of Students are College Ready

College-Readiness not keeping up in California Fewer than 4 in 10 California high school students are completing the requirements to be eligible for the state’s public universities, fueling worries of a shortage of college-educated workers when the value of a bachelor’s degree has never been higher.To meet entrance requirements, high school students must complete 15 classes with a grade of C or be

2 4min 

4-5-14 This Week in LA - School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD

LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District):Deasy releases draft of LAUSD’s next budget, with new moneySuperintendent John Deasy LA Unified Superintendent John Deasy made public today the first draft of a $6.8 billion budget for the 2014-15 school year, a presentation that offered the first glimpse of how the new Local Control Funding Formula is goi

by mike simpson / 1d 

UPDATE: Common Core & Data Collection | Truth in American Education

Common Core & Data Collection | Truth in American Education:

MA School Superintendent: We are at a pivotal juncture in this country with respect to education

This piece from Todd Gazda, the superintendent of Ludlow Public Schools in Massachusetts,  is worth sharing here.  I wish more superintendents would speak up like this.  Here is an excerpt:We are at a pivotal juncture in this country with respect to education. Over the past decade, we have seen a dramatic escalation in the involvement of the Federal Government in education. There seems to be the b

by Shane Vander Hart / 19min 

Common Core & Data Collection

Filed in Privacy/SLDS by Jane Robbins on April 7, 2014 • 0 Comments

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A particularly troubling aspect of the Common Core scheme is the emphasis on massive data-collection on students, and the sharing of that data for various purposes essentially unrelated to genuine education. U. S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has said:

Hopefully, some day, we can track children from preschool to high school and from high school to college and college to career . . . . We want to see more states build comprehensive systems that track students from pre-K through college and then link school data to workforce data. We want to know know whether Johnny participated in an early learning program and then completed college on time and whether those things have any bearing on his earnings as an adult.

To know all this, of course, we have to know pretty much everything Johnny does, throughout his lifetime.

The underlying philosophy has its roots in early-20^th-century Progressivism. The Progressives believed that the modern world had become so much more complex than the world that existed at the time of the American founding, that the old principles of individual freedom and limited government were no longer sufficient. In the modern world, experts would be needed to address increasingly complex challenges. Experts – armed with sweeping data on the citizenry – offer the 

What If We Had a Test and Nobody Took It? | John Thompson

What If We Had a Test and Nobody Took It? | John Thompson:

What If We Had a Test and Nobody Took It?

Posted: 04/06/2014 4:16 pm EDT Updated: 04/07/2014 9:59 am EDT

In a rational world, the public school test prep season wouldn't heat up during the winter and the first of April wouldn't signify the beginning of the high-stakes test marathon, and the end of learning during the last quarter of the school year. Before NCLB, testing didn't distort instruction and it was done in the last couple of weeks of May. Now, for weeks after almost all students and teachers have completed their roles in the ordeal, testing make-up sessions disrupt school.

Why?

Testing drags on for so long for the same reason why so test prep is mandated. When stakes are attached to assessments, a cat and mouse game results. Schools seek quick and easy fixes to make accountability numbers look better and systems respond by tightening regulations. So, under-the-gun schools are required to test 95% of students or face sanctions. That is why teaching, learning, the completion of classroom projects, field trips, and the celebration of sharing the school year must take a backseat to rounding up the last test-takers.

The arcane 95% rule could be crucial in defeating test and punish malpractice, however. If only a student or two per class refuses to be tested, the entire school's results could be thrown out. And, the Buffalo News's Barbara O'Brien reports that up to 30,000 New York students may opt out of state tests. This boycott will prevent many districts from meeting their threshold. In one district, 28% of 8th graders refused to take the test. In another, there was a fourfold increase of opt-outers.

District administrators have a right to be alarmed, but there is no need for them to What If We Had a Test and Nobody Took It? | John Thompson:

Karen Magee elected as New York State United Teachers president - Newsday

Karen Magee elected as New York State United Teachers president - Newsday:

Karen Magee elected as New York State United Teachers president

Originally published: April 6, 2014 10:48 AM
Updated: April 6, 2014 9:23 PM
By EMILY NGO  emily.ngo@newsday.com

Karen Magee, the newly elected president of New York State United Teachers, addresses NYSUT members during the closing of the 42nd Annual Representative Assembly held at the Hilton Hotel on Sunday, April 05, 2014. Magee defeated incumbent president Richard Iannuzzi, who formerly taught in Central Islip. (Credit: Charles Eckert)

The New York State United Teachers Sunday voted in a new president, Karen Magee, head of the Harrison Association of Teachers in Westchester County and the federation's first female president.

She defeated Richard Iannuzzi, a former Central Islip teacher who led NYSUT since 2005.

She called for unity in the 600,000-member association, made up of teachers and school workers statewide, following the heavily contested election.

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DATA: Opt-out numbers by district
LI test scores - ENGLISH: Grade 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8
LI test scores - MATH: Grade 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8
MORE: BOCES proposes changes | Take a sample math test

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"It's easy to stay divided. It's easy to let our enemies know how to get to us, but it's not acceptable," she told about 3,000 members at the representative assembly at the Hilton New York in Manhattan. "And if we're going to create the strongest union in the state of New York . . . if there's a time to unite, you bet it is this minute and right now."

Magee will serve a three-year term. Iannuzzi called Magee when the vote results came in about 1 a.m., a federation spokesman said. He told her that they had "a shared vision for a strong NYSUT going forward," the spokesman, Carl Korn, said. Iannuzzi was not available for further comment Sunday.

Magee won by a "comfortable margin," Korn said.

The federation of about 1,200 unions voiced dissatisfaction with Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo for his teacher evaluation system and support of charter schools. It criticized the "failed" implementation of Common Core standards. It passed a no-confidence vote Saturday against state education Commissioner John B. King Jr.

Magee hailed the record voter participation and vowed the group under her leadership would emphasize rank-and-file members and Karen Magee elected as New York State United Teachers president - Newsday:

Videos

Protesters denounce Common Core standardsDeer Park school featured in Common Core instructional videoCommon Core videos