We Party Patriots » Going Postal: Mackinac Center’s Anti-Union Teacher Coercion Campaign Hits Michigan Mailboxes

We Party Patriots » Going Postal: Mackinac Center’s Anti-Union Teacher Coercion Campaign Hits Michigan Mailboxes:

Going Postal: Mackinac Center’s Anti-Union Teacher Coercion Campaign Hits Michigan Mailboxes

   

Teachers across the state of Michigan this week are receiving postcards from the anti-union Mackinac Center suggesting they use their summer vacation to opt out of the Michigan Education Association (MEA).  The move comes a week after the Mackinac Center sent emails to teachers in over 50 Michigan school districts informing them of their ability to opt out of the MEA and directing them to a website called AugustOptOut.org.  That move was scrutinized because of the manner in which the interest group acquired the emails, through a Freedom of Information Act request.

The August Opt Out campaign is the latest effort by the Mackinac Center, a major player in the state’s introduction of “Right-to-Work” legislation, to force a slow economic bleed of the MEA. But the bully tactics haven’t been terribly effective. Following the enactment of “Right-to-Work,” less than one percent of MEA members chose to quit paying union dues.  In the private sector, the impact has been similarly minimal.

As Eclectablog, who broke the story, explains, the language used in the mailer shows the distorted lens through which the Mackinac Center views the teaching profession:

The “handwritten” note at the bottom says, “At the lake and don’t want to look at your computer? Don’t worry, the site is mobile friendly!” The implication here is that teachers spend their summers lounging on the beach on an extended vacation the rest of us don’t enjoy. This, of course, is an absurd characterization since most teachers spend their summers doing school-related work like professional development or even working a second job to supplement the meager income they make.We Party Patriots » Going Postal: Mackinac Center’s Anti-Union Teacher Coercion Campaign Hits Michigan Mailboxes:

6-18-14 The Whole Child Blog — dentifying Technology to Support Differentiation

The Whole Child Blog — Whole Child Education:

THE WHOLE CHILD BLOG

Identifying Technology to Support Differentiation

June 18, 2014 by ASCD Whole Child Bloggers

Post written by Melinda Sota, Ben Clarke, Nancy Nelson, Christian Doabler, and Hank Fien

Educational technology is compelling, largely because of its promising capability in enabling differentiated instruction. In a classroom of 30 students with diverse abilities, technology can allow teachers to more effectively instruct students within this wide range. However, the promise of using technology for differentiation relies on a range of high-quality information used to (1) diagnose students' learning needs, (2) map those learning needs onto the program's objectives, and (3) evaluate the evidence for the program.

Read more »

6-17-14 The Whole Child Blog — Free Webinar - Read, Write, Lead: Breakthrough Strategies for Schoolwide Literacy Success — Whole Child Education

Free Webinar—Read, Write, Lead: Breakthrough Strategies for Schoolwide Literacy Success — Whole Child Education: THE WHOLE CHILD BLOGFree Webinar—Read, Write, Lead: Breakthrough Strategies for Schoolwide Literacy SuccessJune 17, 2014 by Klea ScharbergJoin respected educator and ASCD author Regie Routman for an exciting, free webinar to learn how to increase reading and writing achievemen

by mike simpson / 22h 

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit 6-18-14

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit:

Teacher in L.A. to Diane Ravitch: JOHN DEASY IS THE EDUCATIONAL EQUIVALENT OF DICK CHENEY + Karin Klein’s 2¢ …+ smf’s too!

  By dianeravitch from her blog |  http://bit.ly/1gya6D5 October 20, 2013   ::  This teacher, who requests anonymity for obvious reasons, has noticed a peculiar tendency on the part of editorial boards and business leaders to shower praise on educational leaders who act brusquely, with a maximum show of contempt for those they lead.  He calls this the “Dick Cheney” style of leadership.

2 by smf / 2h 

FAMILY LITERACY PROGRAM SAVED, but few other changes to LA schools' $7.3 billion budget

Annie Gilbertson | Pass / Fail | 89.3 KPCC http://bit.ly/1nifIiq Matt Cardy/Getty Images June 17th, 2014, 8:20pm  ::  Despite a smattering of demonstrations and long hours of public comment, Los Angeles Unified Superintendent John Deasy's $7.3 billion budget proposal was almost entirely unchanged by the school board during its Tuesday meeting - the last before a vote. The biggest debate

by smf / 19min hide  //  save

THE LAUSD BUDGET? “Forget it, Scott. It’s Chinatown….”

A 4LAKids reader writes: Hell might freeze over since the LASchoolReport got it right: But in all likelihood, the budget presented last week by Superintendent John Deasy and the spending plan that reflects the new revenue from the state’s Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) will not change significantly after parents, students and community leaders have their say. In fact, there’s very little

by smf / 32min 

THE LAUSD BUDGET: The Superintendent’s “Final” Version

It says “FINAL” in capital letters – why even have a meeting on June 24th to approve it? …and look, stock photos of smiling children!  You know it must be good! 2014-15 FINAL BUDGET

by smf / 1h 

LAUSD BOARD REAPPOINTS MAGRUDER TO BOND OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE: 3 stories+2¢

LAUSD reappoints member of bond oversight panel after uproar Stuart Magruder, reappointed to LAUSD bond panel, was accused of intruding on instructional decisions Howard Blume | LA Times http://lat.ms/1phTm56 Students at a Los Angeles Unified school are seen playing with their district-issued Apple iPads. (

by smf / 26min 

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit 6-16-14

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: Trusting Tax ExpendituresWritten by Red Queen in L.A., from her blog | http://bit.ly/U3CCmz Monday, 16 Jun 2014  ::  As an LAUSD parent of just four-years’ standing, there is a vast, murky gulf of incomprehension regarding this school system, yawning not only to the fore, but way, way into the dim, if recent, past of my own pre-LAUSD-involvement. When L

by mike simpson / 18h 

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Chicago's 'School Deserts'

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Chicago's 'School Deserts':

Chicago's 'School Deserts'

Brandon Johnson is deputy political director of the Chicago Teachers Union, and heads its Black Caucus. He posts this solid piece on Labor Notes, "‘School Deserts’ Hit Chicago’s Black Neighborhoods".

Black students and Black educators have shouldered the weight of nearly 20 years of school closings, as many of our neighborhoods turn into “school deserts,” with no traditional neighborhood schools left. 

There are schools in Chicago whose student body is overwhelmingly Black but which have few to no Black teachers. This is because Black teachers are more likely to work in high-poverty schools with high percentages of Black students: exactly the schools most likely to be closed or “turned around” and to fire their staffs. Black teachers made up almost half of Chicago’s teaching force in 1995. But by 2011, Black teachers were down to 26 percent. That year they made up 65 percent of teachers in the schools that were closed and 40 percent of the tenured teachers who were laid off.

AND THE ASSHOLE OF THE YEAR AWARD GOES TO...Jon Stewart's take on the Rahm/Trump dust up.

“I gotta say, Chicago, this is on you. Did you not realize he was gonna put his name on a building you Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Chicago's 'School Deserts':

Vergara v. California: Concerns Beyond Teachers |:

Vergara v. California: Concerns Beyond Teachers

 I received this “public letter” via email and felt compelled to share it with you all. It is written by Ed Johnson, “Advocate for Quality in Public Education” and devotee of W. Edwards Deming. It is about the quite honestly shameful testimony of Harvard Economics Professor Raj Chetty (the source of prior posts here and here), his testimony’s impact on the Vergara v. California decision last week (see two recent posts about this court decision here and here), and the deleterious implications of the ways that Chetty and those whom he advises (including Obama’s key leaders) think about educational measurement — implications that unfortunately span well beyond the teachers at the center of what is now so many similar VAM-based measurement systems.

June 17, 2014

Thanks mainly to Raj Chetty’s testimony, corporate school reformers won, or bought, the Vergara v. California case.  Now, in consequence, there should be grave concern.  California Superior Court’s ruling and Chetty’s cheerful and gleeful testimony offer insight into the kind of intelligence-without-wisdom that can only lead to hastening the demise of democratic ideals along with the rise of plutocratic ideals and attendant morally and ethically corrupt and corrupting ways of social life legitimized in public law.  It is worth spending nearly two hours to watch and listen to Chetty’s testimony, so one may disallow oneself ever being able to claim, as some in Germany once claimed, “I didn’t know.”  Be sure to listen to Chetty explain President Obama’s and the White House’s involvement.

Chetty based his testimony on having posed and answered for himself the question: “Are teachers’ impacts on students’ test scores (“value-added”) a good measure of their quality?”  He testified that his research findings brought him to answer the question in the affirmative.  As if nothing much beyond test scores matter, Chetty concluded that Vergara v. California: Concerns Beyond Teachers |:

6-18-14 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):

Parent Revolution holding a forum to spread the ‘trigger’ word

Emboldened by the Vergara v. California ruling, which struck down state teacher tenure and seniority protections last week, Parent Revolution is trying to expand its reach. The advocacy group, which pushes for Parent Trigger laws across the country, plans to hold a one-day “Parent Power Convention” in October, the first meeting of its kind. It’s timed to coincide with the countdown to the fall ele

by Vanessa Romo / 10min 

LAUSD honors 22 educators as ‘Teachers of the Year’

Click to view slideshow. The Los Angeles Unified School District honored 22 educators yesterday as the first step in competing for National Teacher of the Year honors in the coming school year. The LA Unified teachers now compete in a county-wide competition in September, with the winners there going on to the state competition. The nationals follow that. Among the LA Unified honorees are the winn

by Aaron Stella / 1h 

Kennedy High’s new principal moving on from Blake era

John F Kennedy High School Campus As the incoming principal for John F. Kennedy High School in Granada Hills, Richard Chavez said he is only vaguely aware of the volatile situation he will be facing on campus when school begins on August 12. Despite walking into the unknown, he says he will stay focused on his main priority which is doing what’s best for the students. “If it’s good for kids, we’ll

by Yana Gracile / 5min 

Morning Read: Legislature votes on school bond bill today

State school bond faces critical vote today With a key committee vote set for today on legislation that would place a $9 billion, statewide school facilities bond on the November ballot, one group backing the proposal is already nearly a third of the way toward reaching its campaign finance goal of $1.6 million. The fate of AB 2235 is far from certain inside the Legislature. It also would need app

5min 

6-17-14 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): CA budget deal has some major changes for public educationGov. Jerry Brown and the the California legislature reached a deal on a $108 billion budget for the 2014-2015 fiscal year. Here, as examined by John Fensterwald of EdSource, are some of the major education components: Proposition 98: $60.8 billion

by mike simpson / 21h

Opinion: Blaming Tenure May Be Free But it's a Cheap Shot - WNYC

Opinion: Blaming Tenure May Be Free But it's a Cheap Shot - WNYC:

Opinion: Blaming Tenure May Be Free But it's a Cheap Shot

Wednesday, June 18, 2014 - 12:18 PM

By TIM CLIFFORD

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  (cybrarian77/flickr)

The big buzz in education circles is the recent decision in California by Judge Treu eviscerating tenure for teachers on the grounds that it is discriminatory for poor and underprivileged students.

It got me thinking about what else the esteemed judge could have struck down.

For example, he might have decreed that since poverty is the single greatest detriment to a student’s educational achievement, the wealthy would have to shell out new tax dollars to even the score. He also could have ruled that poor students would receive free healthcare and increased SNAP benefits to ensure they are well and well fed enough to take full advantage of the educational opportunities afforded them.

But Treu didn’t do any of those things to  improve the lot of children in California. He struck down teacher tenure. Why was tenure singled out when so many other societal factors weigh so much more heavily on educational outcomes for impoverished students?

The highly varnished version from the group Students Matter is that nine students, none of whom look older than 14, decided on their own that tenure was the bane of teaching, and battled those nasty teachers’ unions to secure their right to a fair education. The truth is that these kids appear to be pawns in an attempt by millionaire David Welch, founder of Student Matters, to snatch away the Holy Grail of education reform: teacher tenure.

Tenure is widely misunderstood. It is a right that teachers earn, and that is conferred upon us after a lengthy period of at-will employment. Once Opinion: Blaming Tenure May Be Free But it's a Cheap Shot - WNYC:

6-18-14 Seattle Schools Community Forum

Seattle Schools Community Forum:

Louisiana Drops Common Core and its Assessment Group

From Deutsch29 blog:Jindal just finished a press conference. His words, summarized: PARCC selection did not comply with La state law requiring a bidding process– this voids PARCC agreement. Jindal has asked for a financial audit of PARCC spending and an open, competitive bidding process for assessment. He said that suspending PARCC is what he was able to do immediately via executive order. He also

by Melissa Westbrook / 8min 

Corrections and Updates

Corrections I misspoke when I said that Jackie Bezos was Jeff Bezos' wife.  She is his mother.  She is the president of his family foundation.  I reported that two members of the Advanced Learning Committee were at the C&I meeting last week but I missed the name of one person.  That was Jeanne Thompson, the chair, who spoke at the meeting.UpdatesThe district is following other districts' in dr

by Melissa Westbrook / 26min 

6-17-14 Seattle Schools Community Forum

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Tuesday Open ThreadGreat article at Publicola on the McCleary ruling (with slide from the Office of Financial Management).  Meanwhile, over at the Times, the editorial board is saying that the Supreme Court is "menacing" the Legislature.  They say that "so far" the Legislature has done everything the Court has asked.  Except fully fund education

by mike simpson / 22h

The ‘common’ in Common Core fractures as state support falters | Hechinger Report

The ‘common’ in Common Core fractures as state support falters | Hechinger Report:

The ‘common’ in Common Core fractures as state support falters

By Alexandria Neason

The Common Core’s main selling point was that new, shared standards would ensure American students were learning at the same rates across state lines. Common standards – linked to common tests – would tell schools in Illinois how they stacked up against schools in Massachusetts or California.

Now, as more states back out of the tests, the “common” in Common Core is threatened.

In 2010, 45 states adopted the Common Core State Standards, a set of skills in math and English students should master in each grade. By 2012, they had all signed up for at least one of two federally funded, multi-state consortia charged with developing new online tests that would match the standards and be shared among the states. Today, that number is down to 36, as states have pulled out to design their own exams or dropped out of the Common Core altogether.

Fewer than half of states that signed up to share exams will administer those tests next year.Seventeen states are planning to use their own tests or other versions, including one created by ACT, the college testing giant. And other states are wavering about whether to adopt the shared tests, including New York and Michigan.

An Education Week analysis found that now just 42 percent of K-12 students will take the tests designed by the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium or the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Career (PARCC) if loyalties stick in 2015 and beyond.

A deadline is looming. States must administer a test matched to high standards – for most states, that means the Common Core – by next spring or risk losing federal funding (Race to the Top) or violating No Child Left Behind waivers.

“Are leaders going to feel comfortable sticking with the assessments when the scores drop so dramatically?” -Kathleen Porter-Magee, Fordham Institute

At stake is the ultimate goal of Common Core – consistent expectations for students across American classrooms. Multiple exams may jeopardize that goal, says Kathleen Porter-Magee, an education policy fellow at the Fordham Institute, a conservative education think tank. But she says states are still moving in the right direction.

“We had 51 standards and 51 tests. Now that we’ve moved to Common Core we’re talking about five or six testing options,” she said. “We’ve moved to more comparability.”

She said it’s good to develop multiple test options in order to see what is and isn’t working. But too many choices might be counterproductive.

“As we see more states peel off, if we go back to one set of standards and 50 tests, we would really The ‘common’ in Common Core fractures as state support falters | Hechinger Report: