8-2-14 Scathing Purple Musings | Color me purple in Florida

Scathing Purple Musings | Color me purple in Florida

Scathing Purple Musings

Color me purple in Florida, red in Washington, dark sky-blue in Israel and public school in Education

Charter Schools USA Savage Public Relations Campaign to Sheild Them From Scrutiny

The Tampa Bay Times has now begun reporting on Charter Schools USA Hillsborough problem. Writes reporter Marlene Sokol: Frustrated by answers her staff was getting to questions about school governance, superintendent MaryEllen Elia dispatched letters this week to the boards of three schools, saying she’ll soon move to terminate their charters. The reaction? Unlike other community leaders who often

by Bob Sikes / 41min 

Hillsborough: A Fight Like No Other For Charter Schools USA

Mary Ellen Elia is no ordinary superintendent. Her Hillsborough district is the state’s 8th largest and no Florida superintendent is as positioned politically as she.  Elia was the  only representative from the state’s traditional public schools in newly elected governor Rick Scott’s education transition team. There was a reason for that. It was Elia’s district which in 2009 accepted a $100 millio

by Bob Sikes / 23h 

JUL 31

BREAKING! Three Charter Schools USA Facilities Marked For Closure For Illegal Oversight Practices in Tampa

Well, well. The Hillsborough School District versus Charter Schools USA battle just got more intense. From WTSP reporter Noah Pransky: Hillsborough County, Florida — 10 Investigates has confirmed Mary Ellen Elia, the superintendent for the School District of Hillsborough County (SDHC), will attempt to close three schools this fall operated by for-profit company Charter Schools USA. Elia sent 90-da

by Bob Sikes / 1d 

Charter Schools USA Resubmits MacDill AFB Application, Includes Sketchy Survey Data

So Charter Schools USA is back in trying to bag a facility on MacDill AFB. In spite of lots of showboating and aggrieved hand wringing by CSUSA mouthpieces, Hillsborough school district rejected their application because it wasn’t clear if local folks would make up the controlling board. They’ve taken care of that this time, but CSUSA may have been a little too cute in their application by includi

by Bob Sikes / 1d 

Florida School Board Member Opts-Out His Children From High-Stakes Testing

In a press release from three Florida parents organizations and Lee County School Board member Don Armstrong: Lee County School Board Member, Don H. Armstrong, announced at Tuesday night’s Board meeting that he intends to ‘opt his children out’ of high stakes testing this school year. Armstrong is the father of twins enrolled in fourth grade at a Lee County Public School. After much review of the

by Bob Sikes / 1d 

Jeb Bush’s Common Core Website Goes Silent

For two months, nothing. No more TV spots. No more teacher Tweets. No more press releases. What happened? Scathing Purple Musings wrote in March about the Common Core initiative from Jeb Bush’s Foundation for Florida’s future. Learn More. Go Further was designed to end all debate and educate the public on Common Core’s benefits and superiority. So why did they pull the plug? There are two possible

by Bob Sikes / 1d 

Step Up For Students’ Shameless False Narrative on SB 850 Lawsuit

None of the hacks from Step Up for Students put their name on this morning’s post regarding a group of special needs children’s parents who are “taking on” the Florida Education Association for filing a lawsuit against SB 850. Obviously following the lead of Sen. Andy Gardiner’s opinion piece, SUFS is intentionally misleading Floridians about the nature of FEA’s suit. Parents of students with sign

by Bob Sikes / 1d 

JUL 30

About Those Terrific School Grade Improvements for Charter Schools USA

Charter Schools USA boss Jonathan Hage bragged last month in his blog about some remarkable improvements his schools made in the past year: Every single one of our “D” and “F” schools from 2013 improved to an “A”, “B”, or “C” this year.  This evidence further proves that Charter Schools USA, one of the nation’s leading providers of education management, is making a positive difference in our child

by Bob Sikes / 3d 

JUL 29

Inauthentic Conservatism At Work in Alan Hays’ Mandate to See D’Souza Movie

It’s not hard to sense that Tampa Bay Times reporter Jeff Solochek doesn’t think much of Sen. Alan Hays (R-Umatilla) bill which would mandate Florida students see what the editors describe in the headline as a “conservative, patriotic” movie. During the 2014 legislative session, Florida Sen. Alan Hays looked to remove the state from the process of reviewing and selecting textbooks. The decisions,

by Bob Sikes / 4d 

JUL 27

What Bobby Jindal Says That Rick Scott Won’t and Charlie Crist Can’t

Make no mistake. Bobby Jindal never met a piece of school choice legislation he didn’t like. And he is no friend of his state’s teachers union. But it is his position against Common Core Standards which separates him from Republican governors like Rick Scott and political opportunists like Charlie Crist. Jindal’s rhetoric against Common Core is becoming more forceful and persuasive. Consider his r

by Bob Sikes / 5d 

Andy Gardiner’s Demogoguery Misleads Floridians on FEA Lawsuit

The incoming president of the Florida Senate cannot be trusted on education policy. Not if he’s going to deliberately mislead Floridians while  misrepresenting the position of the state’s teachers. Senator Andy Gardiner (R-Orlando) writes in the Tampa Tribune that “union bosses, union politics or union lawyers, ” filed a lawsuit earlier this month to block families of students with disabilities fr

by Bob Sikes / 6d 

JUL 26

Florida Law Firm Requests More Cash From Indiana for Florida-Based Charter Schools USA

Charter Schools USA executive Sherry Hage boasted last month about “opening schools in areas of highest need,” but all isn’t going so well in three Indiana schools she and her husband took over in 2012. From reporters Eric Weddle and Scott Elliott in the Indianapolis Star: The four takeover schools in Indianapolis lost huge numbers of students — between 35 and 60 percent at each school — between t

by Bob Sikes / 6d 

Charter Schools USA $2.9 Haul For Two Louisiana Schools

Small wonder the wife of Charter Schools USA CEO Jonathan Hage was touting their test scores in an Orlando Sentinel opinion piece last month. Sherry Hage and her husband take in a lot of taxpayer money to run schools. Consider this story from Marsha Sills in The Advocate LAFAYETTE — Two new charter schools opening on opposite sides of Lafayette Parish in two weeks together will pay nearly $1.2 mil

by Bob Sikes / 6d 

Mouthpieces Jeb Bush Launch Transparent Political Attack on Teacher Unions

It’s doubtful that two state education chiefs wrote the recent Washington Post column which claimed that teacher unions were “sacrificing higher standards to avoid accountability.”What’s more of a political hit piece was most likely crafted by the hacks at Jeb Bush’s Foundation for Excellence in Education. The two ed chiefs – New Mexico’s Hanna Skandera and Tennessee’s Kevin Huffman are both among

by Bob Sikes / 7d 

8-2-14 Wag The Dog Week

WagTheDog | Everyone has been made for some particular work, and the desire for that work has been put in every heart. ~ Rumi: 

WagTheDog Week

Just Have Coffee

Earlier this year Becca Bracy Knight , Executive Director of The Broad Center, threw down a positive challenge she called @justhavecoffee .. “I need your help with a maybe dumb idea that could also maybe make a difference. Earlier this week I met up with someone for coffee and we talked about the latest happenings in Newark, education policy, and the slippery slope of putting heavy cream into hot

by getwhatugive / 0min 

The Cookie Thief

A woman was waiting at an airport one nightWith several long hours before her flightShe hunted for a book in the airport shopBought a bag of cookies and found a place to dropShe was engrossed in her book but happened to seeThat the man beside her as bold as could beGrabbed a cookie or two from the bag betweenWhich she tried to ignore to avoid a sceneShe munched cookies and watched the clockAs this

by getwhatugive / 17min 

YESTERDAY

Common Core For An Uncommon Nation

Expecting students to spend countless hours trying to solve Common Core math word problems is not the same as helping them to become more effective problem solvers. Insisting students think critically about text that they must stay “connected to” is not the same as helping them to develop critical thinking skills.  That explains how students in China and other authoritarian nations may excel at c

by getwhatugive / 10h 

JUL 31

Common Core: A Matter of Perspective

Part of the reason there has been such strong disagreement and debate regarding the Common Core is people “see” ed reform and the new Standards very differently, depending on their perspective. When talking about ed reform with someone you may not agree with, it is very important to pay close attention to the words they use and don’t hesitate to ask for clarification rather than just assume you k

by getwhatugive / 1d 

JUL 30

What Makes A Good Teacher?

One looks back with appreciation to the brilliant teachers, but with gratitude to those who touched our human feelings. The curriculum is so much necessary raw material, but warmth is the vital element for the growing plant and for the soul of the child.  ~ Carl Jung

by getwhatugive / 2d 

Learning To Care

If you just learn a single trick, Scout, you’ll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view…Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it. ~ Atticus Finch, ( Gregory Peck) “To Kill A Mockingbird”    

by getwhatugive / 2d 

Teacher Appreciation

by getwhatugive / 2d 

Standards Are Expectations of Learning

Many people who are not educators don’t understand that The Common Core State Standards are cognitive goals and expectations of student learning or “growth”. They demand cognitive skills and abilities that must be acquired by students, rather than imparted by teachers. Our students are not standardized, they possess a wide range of cognitive capabilities and disabilities. These abilities and skil

by getwhatugive / 3d 

JUL 28

Common Core’s A-Team

Blogger Mercedes Schneider has well researched and documented here and here that the initial working group tasked to develop and draft the Common Core State Standards was an exclusive and elite team of mostly inexperienced (classroom teaching) education experts. As Coleman’s A-Team was expanded, it is clear that new members outside the “inner circle” would play a supporting, rather than active ro

by getwhatugive / 4d 

JUL 27

Would You Believe…?

As data-driven and evidence-based challenges to the efficacy of the untested Common Core State Standards grow stronger and louder, it appears CCSS supporters are growing desperate and resorting to Maxwell Smart’s catchphrase and tactic of backpedaling from unconvincing and unsubstantiated claims. This “Would you believe…” survival strategy is apparent in a new report from the New America Foundati

by getwhatugive / 5d 

JUL 26

Knowledge vs. Wisdom: A Common Core Lesson

Many people have expressed concern regarding David Coleman’s lack of experience in the classroom. Coleman himself has acknowledged his lack of qualifications for serving as the lead author and architect of the Common Core State Standards. There is a big difference between being knowledgeable in a subject matter and having wisdom. Knowledge can be obtained through education, while wisdom is most o

by getwhatugive / 6d 

8-2-14 With A Brooklyn Accent: Love Letters to the BATS

With A Brooklyn Accent:

Education Reforms and Sociopathy- Guest Post By Wilma DeSoto

It is no secret that American Society has recently suffered from a spate of Anti-Social Corporate Reforms which have contributed to the wide-spread suffering of the American people at large. Sociopathy is becoming more common than ever with one out of every seven people exhibiting some sort of sociopathic behaviors.Individuals with anti-social tendencies have infiltrated every segment of American

by Mark Naison / 1min 

The Link Between School Closings and Gentrification- A Chicago Story

The single story that will remain with me longest from Washington was told by Badass Mom founder and Chicago parent leader Rousemary Vega at the workshop on Community Organizing the day before the March. After sharing heartbreaking stories of the harassment she and her family experience fighting the closing of neighborhood schools her children attended, Rousemary said the following. " I live

9 by Mark Naison / 1d hide  //  save

JUL 31

Two Bronx Students Talk About Their Schools and the School To Prison Pipeline

   Yesterday, I met with more than an hour with two Bronx high school students in a great Fordham program called "The History Makers" to answer their questions about the School to Prison Pipeline.  After I answered several questions they posed about drug policies, school discipline, race and class biases in law enforcement,  and Michell Alexander's book "The New Jim Crow" the c

1 by Mark Naison / 2d 

JUL 29

Arne Duncan Drops in Unexpectedly on Meeting With BATS at US Department of Education Office of Civil Rights and Gets an Earful!

   On July 28, 2014, following the  BAT Rally outside the US Department of Education, a delegation of BATS went up to  the Education Department’s Office of Civil Rights to share some of the main issues that BATS had with  Department Policy.  Representing the BATS were Marla Kilfoyle, General Manager of BATS. Dr Yohuru Williams of Fairfield University, Chicago BAM (Badass Moms) leader  Shoneice Rey

by Mark Naison / 3d