9-26-14 Hemlock on the Rocks

Hemlock on the Rocks:

Why Didn’t LAUSD Perform A Tech Review Before iPad/MiSiS Purchase?

http://thewire.k12newsnetwork.com/2014/09/26/why-didnt-lausd-perform-a-tech-review-before-ipadmisis-purchase/ Why Didn't LAUSD Perform A Tech Review Before iPad/MiSiS Purchase?Bad ed tech deals continue to plague LAUSD — currently starting its second month of meltdown, the MiSiS student tracking and class scheduling software mandated by a court-ordered consent decree is a ticking time bomb for hi

by Rene Diedrich / 32min hide  //  save

Is it Okay for YOUR UTLA Reps, Chairs and Officers to "CARRY ON" with LAUSD Superintendent Deasy ?

Ms. Schwab and rank-and-file UTLA Members, I too am disheartened at being attacked on this message board - not by fellow members, but by utla leadership representatives Scott Mandel and Mike Fuoroli.I'm someone who was initially excited for the "new" leadership - hoping they would turn things around - but then folks started telling me they aren't really new at all. And actually the oppos

1 by Rene Diedrich / 47min 

From the Frustration & Chaos a New UFT Group Emerges - Educator Fights Back

SEPTEMBER 20, 2014 There are roughly 200,000 members in the United Federation of Teachers. If you were to ask those members what a "caucus" in their union is, I bet 90% would not know or be able to name them. I know I certainly didn't just two and a half years ago. In fact, not only did I not know what a caucus was, but I routinely missed UFT meetings in my school entirely. "Am I

by Rene Diedrich / 1h 

Did Lausd Pressure Staffer To Change Her Testimony In Miramonte Investigation?

Lawyers representing the plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the Los Angeles Unified School District are accusing district officials of "forcing" an employee to change her declaration regarding the handling of newly discovered child abuse reports. The charge comes in a motion filed Friday by the Law Offices of Luis Carrillo and the Henrichs Law Firm, which are among plaintiffs' co-counsels i

1 by Rene Diedrich / 2h 

The Los Angeles school district's bond oversight panel rejected a move Thursday by officials to spend an additional $42 ...

The Los Angeles school district's bond oversight panel rejected a move Thursday by officials to spend an additional $42 million on new computers, including purchases under a controversial — and recently suspended — technology contract.The district's proposal was discussed for the first time in a meeting of the independent School Construction Bond Citizens' Oversight Committee, which reviews the us

by Rene Diedrich / 38min 

Education majors need more time in classroom

http://www.thetowntalk.com/story/news/local/2014/09/24/education-majors-need-time-classroom/16187811/ Education majors need more time in classroomBATON ROUGE – A state Department of Education survey has found that most newly graduated teachers did not receive adequate preparation for what they would face in classrooms and should have spent more time with qualified teachers before they graduated.

by Rene Diedrich / 1h 

Attention LA Board of Education: More Nails for Deasy Coffin

http://citywatchla.com/8br-hidden/7614-attention-la-board-of-education-more-nails-for-deasy-coffin Attention LA Board of Education: More Nails for Deasy Coffin LA SCHOOLS-As the LAUSD Board of Education nears the target date for renewing the contract of Superintendent John Deasy, there are many things they must consider.  Here are a DIRTY DOZEN issues which most teachers and UTLA recognize and re

by Rene Diedrich / 49min 

WORKERS' COMP CLAIMS SURGE AT LAUSD. - tribe.net

http://kentucky.tribe.net/template/pub,oc,Detail.vm?topicid=42246e34-c1b8-472f-a632-eebd04ee9e7c&plugin=blog&inst=41953348 WORKERS' COMP CLAIMS SURGE AT LAUSD.    Thu, September 25, 2014 - 12:17 PM An additional part of the problem is that the district fell short for many years to carry out workers' settlement with appropriate economic oversight. Youthful notes that the district has bee

by Rene Diedrich / 6h hide  //  save

YESTERDAY

LAUSD knew of misconduct by Miramonte teacher in 1983, records show - LA Times

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-lausd-miramonte-teacher-1983-20140925-story.htmlwww.hemlockontherocks.com

by Rene Diedrich / 7h 

9-25-14 Hemlock on the Rocks

Hemlock on the Rocks: In the Public Interest : Useful Info about Privatization Coming to a School Near you!http://www.inthepublicinterest.org/about-usMore Sharing ServicesShare on emailIn the Public Interest is a comprehensive resource center on privatization and responsible contracting.  It is committed to equipping citizens, public officials, advocacy groups, and researchers with the information

by mike simpson / 8h 

9-26-14 Perdido Street School

Perdido Street School:

Cuomo: No Shift In Treatment Of Teachers In Second Term

From State of Politics:Asked about whether he’s shifting his tactics post-primary, Cuomo said he wouldn’t change his approach to public workers and teachers labor organizations. “I knew what I was doing when I did not cater to the teachers union. I didn’t have to take the endorsement of the teachers union the first time, by the way.”This is the man that Randi Weingarten engineered a putsch for at

by reality-based edu... / 33min 

Cuomo: Not Every Teacher Can Get An A Rating - But Every Student Had Better Get One

A commenter points out a core contradiction in Governor Cuomo's assertion that his APPR teacher evaluation system needs to be redone to rate more teachers "ineffective":Cuomo's OWN WORDS:"...not everybody can get an ‘A,’ it can’t be – I think it’s going to be a very valuable tool..."Now, of course, he is speaking about teachers--but can't this argument be used to undermine the

by reality-based edu... / 35min 

Cuomo Will Start A Witch Hunt Of "Failing" Teachers In His Second Term

Here's a preview of the second term shenanigans we can expect from Governor Andrew Cuomo on his vaunted APPR teacher evaluation system:Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said Tuesday the state’s new teacher evaluation system will need to be refined, but he said he would like to see more data before pushing for any changes to the state law.Cuomo said he sees value in the teacher rankings, but said critics who qu

2 by reality-based edu... / 1h 

9-25-14 Perdido Street School

Perdido Street School: Center For Unions Facts Is Right - Randi Weingarten Is Ruining Public EducationLyndsey Layton reports the Center for Union Facts is attacking AFT President Randi Weingarten again:The 11-page mailing, on expensive paper stock, was sent first class to 125,000 households across the country this week. “I’m writing to you about Randi,” the letter began. “You probably don’t know w

by mike simpson / 8h 

Columbus Dispatch: Ohio School District Rankings Correlate with Family Income | janresseger

Columbus Dispatch: Ohio School District Rankings Correlate with Family Income | janresseger:



Columbus Dispatch: Ohio School District Rankings Correlate with Family Income

Posted on September 26, 2014 by janresseger

Back in 2005, the Committee on Public Education and Literacy of the National Council of Churches released a statement, Ten Moral Concerns in No Child Left Behind.  As number 9 on its list of concerns, the Committee wrote:

“The No Child Left Behind Act exacerbates racial and economic segregation in metropolitan areas by rating homogeneous, wealthier school districts as excellent, while labeling urban districts with far more subgroups and more complex demands made by the law as ‘in need of improvement.’ Such labeling of schools and districts encourages families with means to move to wealthy, homogeneous school districts.”

This blog, commenting on Ohio’s recent release of 2013 state report cards for its over 600 school districts, described how the editors of Rethinking Schools frame the very same observation—that school accountability based on high-stakes standardized tests merely disguises class and race privilege as merit.  When the state calls some districts “excellent” and others “academic failure,” or when it awards grades of A, B, C, D, and F to its school districts, it is telling parents that if they want their children to be well educated, they should move (if they can afford it) to one of the “excellent” or “A-rated” school districts.  This blog’s recent post on the state’s ratings of school districts compared school lunch data identifying the number of children living at or below 130% of the federal poverty level attending school in several greater Cleveland school districts with the state’s “performance index” rating for the same school districts and pointed out that the top-rated districts are wealthy, often outer-ring school districts, while the low-rated districts serve masses of children in poverty and include the city and many of the suburbs located in the inner ring.

Earlier this week one of Ohio’s major newspapers, the Columbus Dispatch, published an articleabout  expert research that reached the same conclusion. It is heartening to see the press drawing attention to this very significant issue.  Jim Siegel, the reporter cites research conducted by Howard Fleeter of the Education Tax Policy Institute for the Ohio School Boards Association, the Ohio Association of Business Officials, and the Buckeye Association of School Administrators (The research report itself has not been made publicly available.) that demonstrates the correlation between the economic level of each school district’s families and scores on standardized tests:

“A recent study found that on the performance index, a weighted average that measures how well students do on state tests in grades 3-10, districts scoring below 90 have an average 83 percent poverty rate, compared with 14 percent for districts that score above 105.  In between, results show that the higher the scores, the lower the poverty.  No school district with more Columbus Dispatch: Ohio School District Rankings Correlate with Family Income | janresseger:

Rabble Rouser | EduShyster

Rabble Rouser | EduShyster:



Rabble Rouser

Lily Eskelsen Garcia is the new president of the NEA and she’s got something to say…

EduShyster: You recently met with President Obama. I’ll ask this next question on behalf of all of my readers: did you set him straight?

Eskelsen Garcia: I can tell you that I had an amazing opportunity to have a very short conversation with the President. I got to ride in the Presidential limo on the way to a labor rally in Milwaukee and I was able to tell him a little about the back-to-school tour I’ve been on and what I’m hearing from teachers. I told him that the constant testing is the number one issue and that teachers tell me again and again: *I’m so excited for school to start and I love my job. Now if I could just get these idiot tests out of the way so that I can actually teach.* I had a chance to express what I think are very honest, passionate and heartfelt responses of educators all over the country. I could see that the President’s wheels were turning.

EduShyster: You have such a remarkable personal story. You started your career as a cafeteria lunch lady and are now heading up the largest union in the country. 

Lily Eskelsen Garcia: Let me qualify that. I wasn’t actually a lunch lady—I was a salad girl. I didn’t have the status to work with the hot foods. Folks want to know what brought me here. That’s how it all started—in the cafeteria. I used to joke with my kids that they’d better be careful because I’d be the one picking who got to play them in the made-for-TV-movie. But everyone has a story. Everyone has joys and tragedies and disappointments in their lives. I think what’s unusual about my story is that, by all stereotypes, I’m not supposed to be here. I come from Utah!

EduShyster: Your passion, along with the sharp way you’re talking about these issues, is winning you some serious admirers. My sister, a teacher in southern Illinois and an AFT member, keeps texting me: *you won’t believe what Lily just said :)*

Eskelsen Garcia: I try to be as clear as I need to be. That’s how I’ve always been, but when you have a title, all of a sudden people pay a different kind of attention to you. All I know is that I have a responsibility to express that this is really important, and express it in a way that people can understand. That’s something I learned how to do when I was teaching 6thRabble Rouser | EduShyster:

GUEST BLOG: Christie’s ruthless ambition–a report from a victim | Bob Braun's Ledger

GUEST BLOG: Christie’s ruthless ambition–a report from a victim | Bob Braun's Ledger:

GUEST BLOG: Christie’s ruthless ambition–a report from a victim

Lou Manzo, a former assemblyman and Jersey City mayoral candidate, was indicted by Christie’s cronies in the US Attorney’s office but the case was dismissed–after ruining his reputation and finances. He writes a blog and has published a book, “Ruthless Ambition: The Rise and Fall of Chris Christie.”

By Louis Manzo

Governor Chris Christie gave the appearance of a cat who swallowed a canary as he chastised and taunted members of the legislative committee investigating him last Thursday [September 18, 2014]. “They’ve been irresponsible,” Christie charged. “These are people who are addicted to MSNBC and the front pages of your newspapers,” he further declared to a gallery full of media.

The Governor’s remarks mysteriously coincided with the song of another canary, this one chirping inside the offices of federal prosecutors in New Jersey, which later in the day let the cat out of the bag regarding information about the United States Attorney’s Office’s [USAO] supposedly surreptitious investigation of Bridgegate and other matters. The news that Christie would not be charged in the probe might be considered a sort of in-kind contribution to the Governor’s stealth presidential campaign from prosecutors in his former office.

Based on my experience with the New Jersey U.S. attorney’s office, it was totally predictable that it would bag the case out of institutional loyalty and self-seeking career incentives. I outlined the general process in my book “Ruthless Ambition: The Rise and Fall of Chris Christie.”

Now let’s examine how his ruthless methods, greed and other misconduct as New Jersey’s U.S. attorney during the GOP years from 2001 to 2008 found a parallel in the actions of his Democratic successor, Paul Fishman.The Chief Judge for a United States Circuit Court cited some of these same types of prosecutorial misconduct in a recent opinion, depicting them as an “epidemic” in prosecutor’s officesthroughout the country.

This federal prosecutor’s office has a rich history of leaks if not “floods.” Just ask Senator Robert Menendez. During the Christie era as U.S. attorney, he endured GUEST BLOG: Christie’s ruthless ambition–a report from a victim | Bob Braun's Ledger:

NYC Educator: In the Darkest Times

NYC Educator: In the Darkest Times:

In the Darkest Times

Reforminess is everywhere. Every place you turn there's a Campbell Brown or Mona Davids crawling out from under a rock and blaming you for every ill in creation. The solution, they say, is for you to be summarily fired if the principal doesn't like your haircut. The proof, they say, is for kids to pass some test that is not only utterly inappropriate, but for which they are totally unprepared. The only way you should get a raise is if you are a miracle worker, overcoming poverty and special needs solely by means of your radiant smile.

The politicians are available to the highest bidder, and your union can't compete with the Koch Brothers. Were that even possible, the leadership can't wait to jump on the reformy bandwagon to show how flexible and reasonable they are. So what if everyone else got an 8% raise four years ago with no concessions? We can not only wait ten years for the money, but also throw our ATR brethren under the bus, seriously diminishing their due process. Our nominal leader, elected by a sliver of active membership, states publicly they can be fired if they shout in the hall twice. Your school is so overcrowded you can't envision communication during passing without shouting in the hall on a daily basis.

But in the classroom are dozens of kids who depend on you. They may or may not have role models in their homes, but you're their second best bet. And you can show them that life has beauty, humor, depth and possibility. You can do this even as you teach them English, math, history, music and show them the greatness of which people are capable. You are subversive, because the likes of David Coleman would have you read scripted nonsense and be nobody. But they haven't yet been NYC Educator: In the Darkest Times:

To La.’s Accountability Commission, As They ReVAMp Teacher Evals | deutsch29

To La.’s Accountability Commission, As They ReVAMp Teacher Evals | deutsch29:

To La.’s Accountability Commission, As They ReVAMp Teacher Evals

September 25, 2014

In 2010, Louisiana Representative Frank Hoffman authored the bill to include student test scores as part of teacher evaluations.

Hoffman said that he “would never do anything that would hurt good teachers”– an irony, since via his bill, Hoffman had decided that the definition of a “good teacher” is one whose value can be assessed via value-added modeling (VAM), a procedure with results shown to be highly erratic in piloting done after the bill was signed into law in May 2010.

Hoffman’s words in May 2010, as recorded in the Times-Picayune:

Hoffman replied that if the plan doesn’t work after two years, “I’ll be the first and the loudest arguing to do away with it.”

Well. It’s 2014; the pilot test results have been largely ignored, VAM was shelved in 2013-14 because (lo and behold), it did not magically and surgically separate the “bad” teachers from the “good,” and on September 25, 2014, Hoffman is quoted in the Baton Rouge Advocate as follows:

State Rep. Frank Hoffmann, a West Monroe Republican and sponsor of the 2010 law that overhauled the annual reviews, noted that he vowed four years ago to try to change the process again if problems surfaced.

“I’m not wanting to do away with it,” Hoffmann said. “I want to get it right.”

Uh huh.

The truth is that trying to tie any student test scores to teacher performance– whether via VAM or “student learning targets”– amounts to nothing more than a crap shoot.

Roll the dice, teachers. Your career is on the line, and all that you *control* is the toss of the dice. The outcome– how the dice *should* land– is set by those who haven’t a clue what they are doing.

Teachers cannot directly control student test scores except via unethical and dehumanizing tactics, yet we are being told that we must control the scores or be declared *ineffective.*

The September 25, 2014, Advocate article focuses on “the Accountability Commission, an influential, 17-member panel that includes teacher and other educators, school group leaders and parents.”

So, if we get a group of professionals together, we will (a John White favorite word) *tweak* this teacher-performance-as-gauged-by-student-test-scores issue in order to clearly separate the *ineffective* teachers from all who are *effective*; purge them from the classroom, and keep only the *effective* teachers, who will know they are valued and not flee the profession.

It cannot work.

Any incorporation of student test scores into teacher evaluations only introduces imprecision into the evaluation process. A (dare I write) *close reading* of the VAM study presented to legislators in February 2011 is evidence enough of the folly that this committee continues to pursue in the name of *effective* teaching if it insists upon including student test scores to gauge teacher value.

Test-driven “reform” likes to state that it is also “data driven” in its decisions.

I say to this committee: prove it.

Operationalize your definitions of “teacher effectiveness”– which, by the way, must be done by human beings using their human judgment– and then pilot test over time (I’m talking years) and varied teaching situations any and all proposed evaluation To La.’s Accountability Commission, As They ReVAMp Teacher Evals | deutsch29:

Barresi Is the Gift That Keeps on Giving for Anti-reform Education Activists | Life at the Intersections

Barresi Is the Gift That Keeps on Giving for Anti-reform Education Activists | Life at the Intersections:



BARRESI IS THE GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING FOR ANTI-REFORM EDUCATION ACTIVISTS

Janet Barresi, Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction

 Activism becomes easier if there is a big figure who is openly defiant and antagonistic toward the position of the activists. Think Lyndon Johnson during the Vietnam War or Richard Nixon during the end of the anti-war protests and the Watergate hearings.



State Superintendent for Public Instruction Janet Barresi has been that bigger-than-life, openly hostile, antagonistic figure for anti-reform education activists in Oklahoma. Rather than coming from some experience of education in her background, she is a dentist who suspended her practice to run for the position.



Barresi’s campaign rhetoric during 2010 was strident and openly disrespectful of anyone who was an education professional at the time. It was as if education professionals, especially teachers, were her opponents rather than her actual opponent. Her tone hasn’t varied much in the last four years even though the position is designed as the top education leader of education leaders. Instead she has defined her position more as hostile cop.



For instance, at one training event she told listeners who she believed to be sympathetic to what she defines as “reform” to tell their detractors to “go to hell”. Of course someone shared the video of that. Oops.



A new genre of blogging was created in Oklahoma in direct response to her leadership at the SDE. Early in her administration, an activist writer who claims to work inside of the SDE started writing anonymously on their blog “OKEducationTruths” leveling harsh criticisms of Barresi’s policies and politics. The blog has garnered a large number of fans and followers.



Another education blogger of note is the well-known, accomplished Jenks Middle School Principal Rob Miller. Even though he identifies himself as being Republican, his personal blog, “A View From the Edge” has also captured a large following due to his straightforward criticisms of Barresi and the problems of the “reform” testing regime that captures much needed time and money of public schools.



Due to the many controversies of her “reform” administration, education has become it’s own active beat for Tulsa World and The Oklahoman reporters, normally being paired with religion writing and other topics considered to be not political.



Her abrasive style has led to some interesting personal encounters on the Board o f Education even after Governor Fallin installed her own hand-picked members that she thought would be more Janet Barresi, Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction http://bit.ly/1roMrsr

Thomas Kane On Educational Reform |

Thomas Kane On Educational Reform |:



Thomas Kane On Educational Reform

 You might recall from a prior post, the name of Thomas Kane, an economics professor from Harvard University who also directed the $45 million worth of Measures of Effective Teaching (MET) studies for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Not surprisingly as a VAM advocate, he advanced then, and continues to advance now, a series of highly false claims about the wonderful potentials of VAMs.

As highlighted in the piece Kane wrote, and Brookings released on its website on “The Case for Combining Teacher Evaluation and the Common Core,” Kane continues to advance a series of highly false claims and assumptions in terms of how “better teacher evaluation systems will be vital for any broad [educational] reform effort, such as implementing the Common Core.” Exerting series of “heroic assumptions” without evidence seems to be a recurring theme, which I cannot myself figure out knowing Kane’s an academic and quite honestly should know better.

Here are some examples of what I speak (and protest):

• Educational reform is “a massive adult behavior change exercise…[U]nless we change what adults do every day inside their classrooms, we cannot expect student outcomes to improve.” Enter teachers as the new and popular (thanks to folks like Kane) sources of blame. We are to accept Kane’s assumption, here, that teachers have not been motivated prior to change their adult behaviors and teach their students well, help their students learn, improve their students’ outcomes, and the like.
• Hence, when “current attempts to implement new teacher evaluations fall short—as they certainly will, given the long history of box-checking—we must improve them.” We are to accept Kane’s assumption here, despite the fact that little to no research evidence exists supporting that teacher evaluation systems improve much of anything including “improved student outcomes,” that new teacher evaluation systems based on carrot and stick measures are going to do this.
• Positioning new and improved teacher evaluation systems against another Thomas Kane On Educational Reform |:

Nashville Public Radio | Survey Says Common Core Support Drops Drastically Among Tennessee Teachers

Nashville Public Radio | Survey Says Common Core Support Drops Drastically Among Tennessee Teachers:



Survey Says Common Core Support Drops Drastically Among Tennessee Teachers

 Last year, 60 percent of Tennessee teachers thought Common Core standards would improve student learning.  This year, that number has dropped to 39 percent.

The First to the Top survey conducted by Vanderbilt found that almost 40 percent now oppose the standards. Thirteen percent want to see implementation delayed.

The survey places teachers into three categories: those who are in favor; those who like the standards, but want them delayed; and those who want them gone completely.

Lucianna Sanson is one of those teachers who wants to see Common Core out of her classroom. She’s used the standards in her honors and AP English classes at Franklin County High School for two years.

“What you’re seeing in that survey is the difference between what we were told it was and a year of implementation,” Sanson says. “And that is why you have that drastic, drastic change. Because you start implementing it, and you’re like, ‘What is this?’”

Sanson is also the frustrated parent of a new kindergartener, who is being asked to write full sentences. She says this approach is not ideal.

“They are not teaching skill sets, they are teaching abstract concepts,” Sanson says. “Obviously, you need to learn concrete before you learn abstract.”

But state education commissioner Kevin Huffman says he’s found that most both legislators and educators have been calling for higher standards. Teachers who have received the most Common Core training are more comfortable in the classrooms.

“I think that if you talk to teachers and principals around the state, you find that most think their Nashville Public Radio | Survey Says Common Core Support Drops Drastically Among Tennessee Teachers: