7-26-14 the becoming radical EMPATHYEDUCATES! | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness by P. L. Thomas, EdD

THE BECOMING RADICAL

EMPATHYEDUCATES!

the becoming radical 

 A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness 

by 

Kristof, How Much Inequity Is the Right Balance?

I started simply to ignore Nicholas Kristof’s An Idiot’s Guide to Inequality, but I was pulled back into it by Russ Walsh’s Hope, Poverty, and Grit. First, the rush to celebrate Kristof’s acknowledgement of Thomas Picketty, inequality, and (gasp) the implication that capitalism is failing seems easy to accept. But that urge to pat Kristof on the back feels too much like the concurrent eagerness to

11 by plthomasedd / 22h 

JUL 24

Evidence Must Trump Idealism: A Reader

Many of us are compelled by idealism, and I certainly entered education as a career over 30 years ago because of my faith in the power of learning (specifically literacy), especially as it has enriched my own life. But evidence must trump idealism, or we are destined to remain trapped in the corrosive patterns of inequity that keep us from achieving the American Dream. As disheartening as the fact

11 by plthomasedd / 1d 

What ‘No New Federal Spending’ Really Means | Alternet

What ‘No New Federal Spending’ Really Means | Alternet

1 by plthomasedd / 2d 

The Charter Sham Formula: Billionaires + Flawed “Reports” + Press Release Media = Misled Public

Late in 2013, I shared my own experience with the disaster capitalism tactics employed by the Walton-funded Department of Education Reform (University of Arkansas), asking: For the Record: Should We Trust Advocates of “No Excuses”? I detailed reasons why the answer is clearly “No”: the funding determines the claims in the so-called reports (see Pulling a Greene: Why Advocacy and Market Forces Fail

37 by plthomasedd / 2d 

JUL 23

The Real “Low Expectations” Problem

I have asked this about the U.S. Secretary of Education: Why Is Arne Duncan Still Pushing the Dangerous Myth of Low Expectations? And a large part of the answer may be because the uncritical mainstream media not only buy that message, but actively perpetuate it. For example, David Leonhardt beats that drum in Principals in U.S. Are More Likely to Consider Their Students Poor: The phrase “soft big

11 by plthomasedd / 2d 

NCTE 2014: “Why do we need the things in books?”: The Enduring Power of Libraries and Literature

[At the 2014 National Council of Teachers of English Annual convention—themed Story As the Landscape of Knowing and held November 20-23, 2014, in Washington DC—Renita Schmidt (University of Iowa), Sean Connors (University of Arkansas), and I will be presenting as detailed below; I offer our proposal as a preview and hope you can join us as we need to raise our voices for both libraries and literat

12 by plthomasedd / 3d 

JUL 21

Papa

As Steve Paul explains, July is an important month for Ernest Hemingway: The month of July brings the anniversary of three defining Hemingway moments: He was born on July 21, 1899, in Oak Park, Illinois; he took his own life on July 2, 1961, in Ketchum, Idaho. And on July 8, 1918, while he was serving in the Red Cross ambulance service attached to the Italian army, he was wounded by the explosion

11 by plthomasedd / 4d 

“No new federal spending” Equals “This really doesn’t matter”

Mykoto Rich’s lede sounds promising: President Obama will announce on Monday that 60 of the nation’s largest school districts are joining his initiative to improve the educational futures of young African-American and Hispanic boys, beginning in preschool and extending through high school graduation. But the most important point comes in the fourth paragraph: No new federal spending is attached to

16 by plthomasedd / 5d 

JUL 19

A Brief Meditation on What Has Failed

What has failed in the U.S.? Democracy? No. We have failed democracy. Public education ? No. We have failed public education. The free press? No. We have failed the free press. Capitalism? No. This is exactly how capitalism works–consuming all and laying waste to democracy, human dignity, and equity. Of all that is the U.S., capitalism is working as it is designed to work. And that is our gre

5 by plthomasedd / 6d 

On the Journey For Justice Newark Parents Cheer Federal Investigation Into Controversial School Plan

Parents and advocates gather at Newark City Hall after U.S. Department of Education opened a civil rights investigation into the city’s school reorganization plan. By Peggy McGlone | Originally Published at New Jersey Dot Com. – The Star-Ledger. July 24, 2014 at 6:00 AM, updated July 24, […]

by empathy / 1d hide  //  save

What Happens When a City’s Public Schools Vanish? Colonialism Lives

Photograph; Lafayette Academy, the experience of a charter group with the profit-making company it hired to manage instruction offers a cautionary tale of how well-meaning trustees can easily stumble, and of how privatizing management is often far from a panacea | Tim Mueller for The New York […]

by empathy / 1d 

JUL 16

It’s Not Race, It’s Class…And Other Stories Folks Now Tell

By Black&Smart, AKAdemic | Originally Published at Black&Smart July 10, 2014 I have been studying race, racism and its damaging effects for most of my adult life. And I have witnessed the “racial fatigue” of people who don’t have to consciously deal with race. They tell me […]

100+ by empathy / 9d 

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit 7-26-14

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

4LAKIDS - SOME OF THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT

  

Union Invites Teachers, Parents And The Public To The Bargaining Table With Lausd

By Thomas Himes, Los Angeles Daily News | http://bit.ly/1ou6N2a 7/24/14, 11:22 PM PDT  ::  After meeting with Los Angeles Unified officials for the first round of face-to-face contract negotiations Thursday, United Teachers Los Angeles announced plans to change its bargaining tactics. The 35,000 or so member teachers union initiated those changes Thursday, bringing all seven union officers to

by smf / 37min hide  //  save

FEDS BACK ENGLISH LEARNER LAWSUIT AGAINST STATE OF CALIFORNIA, allegation is that 2% of qualified kids slip through the cracks

By John Fensterwald, EdSource today | http://bit.ly/1ntTFtB July 24, 2014 | The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California has found an ally in the U.S. Department of Justice for its lawsuit charging that the state abdicated its obligation to ensure all students classified as English learners get extra instructional services to become fluent in English. The lawsuit, filed in April

by smf / 46min 

Judge Finds “Evidence Establishing Financial Mismanagement” …But Allows Magnolia Charters To Remain Open

…either LAUSD staff overreacted or the Board of Ed underreacted. Whichever it was the charter schools get out of jail free. by Vanessa Romo, LA SCHOOL REPORT | http://bit.ly/WIrpJO Posted on July 25, 2014 11:26 am  ::  A California Superior Court judge today ruled that two Magnolia Public Schools (MPS) charters can remain open, blocking LA Unified’s effort to shut them down over

by smf / 3min hide  //  save

Censored. Censored. Censored. + Soulvine Unchained

The L.A. Wave’s always outspoken “Soulvine” columnist Betty Pleasant  has never been afraid of going one step too far, that is how the game of agent provocateur is played, no matter the ‘hood. Her last two columns for the Wave have not been published, withheld for reasons unstated. Maybe because they speak for Dr. George McKenna – or against Mark Ridley Thomas? Or both?  Maybe. Censored.

by smf / 1h 

District One Race Now Also A Referendum On Dirty Politics

Ridley-Thomas/Alex Johnson’s smear tactics are a disservice not only to George McKenna, but to the children, parents and residents of District 1, who deserve the opposite, i.e., strong, caring and ethical leadership.  Opinion by Larry Aubry in the L.A. Sentinel |  http://bit.ly/1othFNP             Published on Friday, 25 July 2014 01:12  ::  The runoff election to fill the unexpired term of

by smf / 1h 

GEORGE McKENNA CAMPAIGN UNDER ATTACK: Community Outraged over lies, innuendo and propaganda

by Danny J. Bakewell, Jr. – Executive Editor of the Los Angles Sentinel | this article also appears in the LA Watts Times of July 24 |  http://bit.ly/WIl3KD Published on Thursday, 24 July 2014 19:24  ::  Long time educator and child advocate George McKenna didn’t know his over 40 years of service on the front lines and in the trenches of education in some of California’s poorest and most

by smf / 1h

NEW POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE FORMS IN L.A. SCHOOL BOARD RACE: PAC is controlled by Dan Chang, who headed Deasy’s nonprofit foundation created to raise money for LAUSD

By Howard Blume, LA Times | http://lat.ms/1poPXOz George McKenna, left, is running to fill the LAUSD seat vacated when Trustee Marguerite Poindexter LaMotte died in December. Supervisor Mark Ridley Thomas, whose backing has contributed to a huge financial advantage for Alex Johnson, on the right. (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times) July 22, 2014  ::  A new political action committee has

2 by smf / 1h 

An appeal for support from Dr. McKenna

smf writes: 4LAKids is not political organization. While I plead guilty to the practice of politics, no one could ever allege organization! Even when I have been a candidate myself I have not appealed for funds on these pages.  But the political fundraising and spending being done by – and on behalf of – Dr. McKenna’s opponent is horrific. And the negative campaigning being done by the other

10 by smf / 1d 

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN JOHNSON AND McKENNA

Written by The Red Queen in L.A. in her blog | http://bit.ly/1jXu8JB "The most curious part of the thing was, that the trees and the other things round them never changed their places at all: however fast they went, they never seemed to pass anything." Thursday,  24 Jul 2014  ::  DID YOU KNOW THERE’S AN ELECTION IN THREE WEEKS? If you do not live in LAUSD’s first district, you might be

3 by smf / 1d 

JUL 23

FIRE BURNS GREEN DOT CHARTER SCHOOL CAMPUS …as ‘Mystery Drone’ hovers overhead

Fire has Animo South Los Angeles Charter High looking for a new location before school starts Aug.12   -   School called total loss after massive fire. By Howard Blume and Veronica Rocha, Los Angeles Times | http://lat.ms/1A7SRzM Antwan Shepard sprays his house with water as smoke rises from a fire at nearby Animo South Los Angeles Charter High School on Tuesday afternoon. (Wally Skalij,

2 by smf / 2d 

JUL 19

VERGARA RULING BECOMES A CAMPAIGN ISSUE …at least in Tuck’s mind + smf’s 2¢

By John Fensterwald | EdSource Today | http://bit.ly/1rdYjNb July 17, 2014 |State Superintendent of Public Instruction candidate Marshall Tuck this week launched a petition calling on his opponent, incumbent Superintendent Tom Torlakson, not to appeal a lawsuit ruling that struck down statutes giving California teachers firing protections and rights to tenure and seniority. The move indicates

1 by smf / 6d 

JUL 18

Because right-wing talk-radio hosts have all the answers: MAKE THE BORDER KIDS AMERICANS + smf’s 2¢

By HUGH HEWITT, from Politico Magazine | http://politi.co/1mYCd0a July 17, 2014  ::  Approximately 90,000 minors have entered the country in the two years since President Obama, whether out of the best of intentions, cynical political calculation or as another of his serial expressions of incompetence, allowed the idea to take hold abroad that kids who were brought to the country would be

by smf / 7d