Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 3/7/16

CORPORATE ED REFORM

CURMUDGUCATION: Howard Fuller, Ed Reform, and New Orleans

CURMUDGUCATION: Howard Fuller, Ed Reform, and New Orleans: Howard Fuller, Ed Reform, and New OrleansJennifer "Edushyster" Berkshire and Aaron "Need a New Twitter Handle" French have released the second of their Have You Heard podcasts, and it further cements Berkshire's standing as the number one interviewer in the education blogosphere.This time Berkshire has headed to talk to

by mike simpson / 2min 

Alabama’s “New” Accountability System: Part II | VAMboozled!

Alabama’s “New” Accountability System: Part II | VAMboozled!: Alabama’s “New” Accountability System: Part IIIn a prior post, about whether the state of “Alabama is the New, New Mexico,” I wrote about a draft bill in Alabama to be called the Rewarding Advancement in Instruction and Student Excellence (RAISE) Act of 2016. This has since been renamed the Preparing and Rewarding Educational Profession

by mike simpson / 7min 

Clinton and Sanders Debate Education - Living in Dialogue

Clinton and Sanders Debate Education - Living in Dialogue: Clinton and Sanders Debate EducationBy Anthony Cody.Last night at the Democratic presidential debate, attention turned to K12 education. Both candidates addressed two questions. The first came from a Detroit parent. Here is the transcript (thank you to the New York Times):COOPER: I want to bring in Shoniqua Kemp. She’s right here — Ms. Kem

by mike simpson / 8min 

Oregon charter schools underperform, serve too few poor and minority students, study says | OregonLive.com

Oregon charter schools underperform, serve too few poor and minority students, study says | OregonLive.com: Oregon charter schools underperform, serve too few poor and minority students, study saysOregon's charter school movement is on life support, ranking worst among 18 states where at least 2 percent of students attend charter schools, a report by a pro-charter school group says.One of the bigg

by mike simpson / 8h 

There Is No FDA For Education. Maybe There Should Be : NPR

Q and A : NPR Ed : NPR:There Is No FDA For Education. Maybe There Should BeHas American education research mostly languished in an echo chamber for much of the last half century?Harvard's Thomas Kane thinks so.Why have the medical and pharmaceutical industries and Silicon Valley all created clear paths to turn top research into game-changing innovations, he asks, while education research mostly re

by mike simpson / 8h 

The Absence of Teachers of Color, isn’t Just a Problem for Non-White students; It's a Problem for All Students - Lily's Blackboard

The Absence of Teachers of Color, isn’t Just a Problem for Non-White students; It's a Problem for All Students - Lily's Blackboard: The Absence of Teachers of Color, isn’t Just a Problem for Non-White students; It’s a Problem for All StudentsThis week at SXSW@edu, an annual conference of innovators and educators in Austin, Tex., I’m speaking on a subject I’m passionate about: the shortage of teach

by mike simpson / 8h 

With A Brooklyn Accent: We Are All "Illegals"

With A Brooklyn Accent: We Are All "Illegals": We Are All "Illegals" One of the things that perplexes me most in the current political landscape is the use of the term "illegals" to refer to undocumented immigrants. If there is ever an example of the pot calling the kettle black, this is it. There are very few working class, and even middle class Americans, who can su

by mike simpson / 9h 

As Malloy Admin seeks massive new powers to take over local schools, two Windham parents explain what takeover actually means - Wait What?

As Malloy Admin seeks massive new powers to take over local schools, two Windham parents explain what takeover actually means - Wait What?: As Malloy Admin seeks massive new powers to take over local schools, two Windham parents explain what takeover actually means Yesterday’s Wait, What Post — WARNING Connecticut – They are coming for your schools and your democratic rights! — was A Breaking News

by mike simpson / 9h 

Presidential Candidate John Kasich: Delusional about Public Education Issues | janresseger

Presidential Candidate John Kasich: Delusional about Public Education Issues | janresseger: Presidential Candidate John Kasich: Delusional about Public Education Issues Republicans have hardly been discussing education policy at all in this bizarre Presidential race, but last week in the Thursday night debate, Ohio’s governor, John Kasich lavished praise upon himself for what he believes are his a

by mike simpson / 9h 

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: WEEKEND QUOTABLES

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: WEEKEND QUOTABLES:  WEEKEND QUOTABLES Louis C.K. “Do you think they saw that s--- coming? Hitler was just some hilarious and refreshing dude with a weird combover who would say anything at all.” -- Daily NewsMichael “Quess” Moore, a founder of Take ’em Down NOLA“He came to the heart and the bottom of the South, and he’s not welcome here.”  --New Orleans AdvocateTrump

by mike simpson / 9h 

Boston Public School students plan to walk out of class Monday to protest budget cuts - Education - Boston.com

Boston Public School students plan to walk out of class Monday to protest budget cuts - Education - Boston.com: Boston Public School students plan to walk out of class Monday to protest budget cutsThe city’s public schools are facing a multi-million-dollar budget deficit in the coming year.Nico Bruno, 5, a kindergarten student in Boston Public Schools, attended a budget cut protest in February.Joh

by mike simpson / 9h 

Black Lives Matter wants to 'shut down' Como High

Black Lives Matter wants to 'shut down' Como High: Black Lives Matter wants to ‘shut down’ Como high schoolBlack Lives Matter St. Paul is preparing to “shut down” Como Park Senior High School unless a teacher is fired for Facebook comments criticizing the school district’s discipline practices.Organizer Rashad Turner said the group met Friday evening to plan its protest of Theo Olson, a special-ed

by mike simpson / 9h 

Idaho superintendents tell foundation to stop lying about public schools - The Washington Post

Idaho superintendents tell foundation to stop lying about public schools - The Washington Post: Idaho superintendents tell foundation to stop lying about public schools For years now, private foundations run by the very, very wealthy have been pouring money into their pet school reform efforts, many of them taking the view that traditional public education is broken and that it should be privatize

by mike simpson / 9h 

Donald Trump's Education Plan: Several Experts Fearful, Curious ... and Baffled - Politics K-12 - Education Week

Donald Trump's Education Plan: Several Experts Fearful, Curious ... and Baffled - Politics K-12 - Education Week: Donald Trump's Education Plan: Several Experts Fearful, Curious ... and Baffled Donald Trump's thoughts about education policy are mostly a black box. We know he doesn't like the Common Core State Standards. And he thinks American students produce lousy test scores. But the real estate

by mike simpson / 9h 

Spring state testing season brings changes, unknowns and pushback - Chicago Tribune

Spring state testing season brings changes, unknowns and pushback - Chicago Tribune: Spring state testing season brings changes, unknowns and pushback e spring state testing season launches this week in Illinois, amid unknowns, dramatic changes for students and continued pushback by parents who don't want their kids tested.The lengthy PARCC exams that debuted last year will be streamlined, a nod t

by mike simpson / 9h 

Solving the Mystery of the Schools by Diane Ravitch | The New York Review of Books

Solving the Mystery of the Schools by Diane Ravitch | The New York Review of Books: Solving the Mystery of the SchoolsDiane RavitchThe Prize: Who’s in Charge of America’s Schools?by Dale RussakoffHoughton Mifflin Harcourt, 246 pp., $27.00Mission High: One School, How Experts Tried to Fail It, and the Students and Teachers Who Made It Triumphby Kristina RizgaNation Books, 295 pp., $26.99Cory Booker

by mike simpson / 10h 

Ohio Lawmakers Consider Weakening Charter-School Reform | WKSU

Ohio Lawmakers Consider Weakening Charter-School Reform | WKSU: Ohio Lawmakers Consider Weakening Charter-School Reform Just months after state lawmakers passed a sweeping reform of Ohio’s charter school system, they could soon be considering a proposal that could weaken one of the measures.ListenListening...0:50Andy Chow on charter-school reformThe House might consider a provision that would dela

by mike simpson / 10h 

Chicago's War With its Teachers Union Is the Sign of a Bigger Problem - Fortune

Chicago's War With its Teachers Union Is the Sign of a Bigger Problem - Fortune: Why Chicago's Fight With Teachers Is the Sign of a Much Bigger ProblemChicago public schools want concessions to patch a busted budget, and teachers are angry.Simmering tensions at Chicago public schools rose a notch last week with the announcement that school employees would have to take three unpaid days off this sc

by mike simpson / 10h 

Overwhelming Majority of Voters Want To Rein In Charter Schools

Overwhelming Majority of Voters Want To Rein In Charter Schools: Overwhelming Majority of Voters Want To Rein In Charter Schools A new nationwide poll shows the American people overwhelmingly agree that public education should not exist to enrich and profit the charter school privatization movement and they are demanding strong regulatory laws to “rein in documented fiscal malfeasance by private c

by mike simpson / 10h 

Advocates voice 'grave concern' over LAUSD's review process for new charter schools | 89.3 KPCC

Advocates voice 'grave concern' over LAUSD's review process for new charter schools | 89.3 KPCC: Advocates voice 'grave concern' over LAUSD's review process for new charter schools Charter school leaders are rallying behind applicants who hope to open a new charter high school, intensifying their accusation that Los Angeles Unified School District officials are playing politics with charter applic

by mike simpson / 10h 

YESTERDAY

The Strange Future of the Teaching Profession – Save Maine Schools

The Strange Future of the Teaching Profession – Save Maine Schools: The Strange Future of the Teaching ProfessionIn 1991, just after stepping into his new role as secretary of education, Lamar Alexander envisioned a system of public educationwhere school districts would not have an “exclusive monopoly” to operate public schools.   Instead, a public school “could be redefined as a school that recei

2 by mike simpson / 22h hide  //  save

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 3/6/16

CORPORATE ED REFORMJohn White Is Subsidizing Voucher Schools– and Being Called Out by BESE | deutsch29John White Is Subsidizing Voucher Schools– and Being Called Out by BESE | deutsch29: John White Is Subsidizing Voucher Schools– and Being Called Out by BESEOn September 01, 2014, the Baton Rouge Advocate published an article entitled, “Cristo Rey Considers Starting School in Baton Rouge.”Cristo Re

25 by mike simpson / 1d 

CURMUDGUCATION: Howard Fuller, Ed Reform, and New Orleans

CURMUDGUCATION: Howard Fuller, Ed Reform, and New Orleans:

Howard Fuller, Ed Reform, and New Orleans

Jennifer "Edushyster" Berkshire and Aaron "Need a New Twitter Handle" French have released the second of their Have You Heard podcasts, and it further cements Berkshire's standing as the number one interviewer in the education blogosphere.

This time Berkshire has headed to talk to Howard Fuller for a conversation that underlines the degree to which Fuller is-- well, I don't want to say complicated. He has the quality I most admire in anyone working in a troublesome and contentious arena-- he manages to follow the issues and his values without getting sidetracked by labels, tribes and affiliations. Which means, of course, that he manages to piss off a wide variety of people (you can get a quick picture by looking at Lyndsey Layton's profile.from 2014 entitled "A civil rights warrior, or a billionaire's tool?")

Fuller has spent a lot of time on the reformster side of the street, so that is why it's extra interesting to find him explaining to Berkshire the many failures of ed reform in New Orleans.

It began, he says, with conversations over sixteen months with African-Americans in the community, asking two questions: 1) What do you think about education reform in New Orleans and 2) What do you think about black peoples' role in it?

The overriding theme that he heard? "This has been done to us, not with us."

Fuller asserts that some students are now far better off than before, and many are not. But even if there are good outcomes from the complete charterization of NOLA, if African-Americans have not had a significant role, and if this is all more disempowerment of blacks in the community, the reform is a fail. It is unsustainable, because there is no broad support in the black community.

Berkshire observes that New Orleans seems richer and whiter, and Fuller acknowledges that schools CURMUDGUCATION: Howard Fuller, Ed Reform, and New Orleans:

Alabama’s “New” Accountability System: Part II | VAMboozled!

Alabama’s “New” Accountability System: Part II | VAMboozled!:

Alabama’s “New” Accountability System: Part II

In a prior post, about whether the state of “Alabama is the New, New Mexico,” I wrote about a draft bill in Alabama to be called the Rewarding Advancement in Instruction and Student Excellence (RAISE) Act of 2016. This has since been renamed the Preparing and Rewarding Educational Professionals (PREP) Bill (to be Act) of 2016. The bill was introduced by its sponsoring Republican Senator Marsh last Tuesday, and its public hearing is scheduled for tomorrow. I review the bill below, and attach it here for others who are interested in reading it in full.

First, the bill is to “provide a procedure for observing and evaluating teachers, principals, and assistant principals on performance and student achievement…[using student growth]…to isolate the effect and impact of a teacher on student learning, controlling for pre-existing characteristics of a student including, but not limited to, prior achievement.” Student growth is still one of the bill’s key components, with growth set at a 25% weight, and this is still written into this bill regardless of the fact that the new federal Elementary Student Success Act (ESSA) no longer requires teacher-level growth as a component of states’ educational reform legislation. In other words, states are no longer required to do this, but apparently the state/Senator Marsh still wants to move forward in this regard, regardless (and regardless of the research evidence). The student growth model is to be selected by October 1, 2016. On this my offer (as per my prior post) still stands. I would  be more than happy to help the state negotiate this contract, pro bono, and much more wisely than so many other states and districts have negotiated similar contracts thus far (e.g., without asking for empirical evidence as a continuous contractual deliverable).

Second, and related, nothing is written about the ongoing research and evaluation of the state system, that is absolutely necessary in order to ensure the system is working as Alabama’s “New” Accountability System: Part II | VAMboozled!:

Clinton and Sanders Debate Education - Living in Dialogue

Clinton and Sanders Debate Education - Living in Dialogue:

Clinton and Sanders Debate Education

By Anthony Cody.

Last night at the Democratic presidential debate, attention turned to K12 education. Both candidates addressed two questions. The first came from a Detroit parent. Here is the transcript (thank you to the New York Times):

COOPER: I want to bring in Shoniqua Kemp. She’s right here — Ms. Kemp. Her 14-year-old daughter Imani is a student in Detroit. Shoniqua is one of ten parents suing Detroit public schools — not for money, she says, but to improve conditions.

She says she’s currently leaning towards Senator Sanders. Her question will go to both of you, but we’ll start with Senator Sanders. Ms. Kemp?

QUESTION: Thank you. Speaking of opportunities for success, in Detroit, schools open and close with no accountability to — or transparency to the communities that it — they service. Not only that — in our schools, as you’ve stated, we have issues with rats, mold, no working water fountains, not to mention non- certified teachers, lack of accountability around transportation and special education, and so much more. With that said, our students can no longer suffer due to lack of these things, or having these dilapidated issues take place. So, my question is who’s going to step up? Who’s going to ensure that the policies procedures are put in place that will ensure, and bring forth a successful future for our students because my daughter cannot wait eight more years for success to take place at your hands. At the leader’s hands.

COOPER: Senator Sanders, let’s start with you.

SANDERS: Well, thank you very much for not being resigned to that horrendous situation, but being prepared to stand up and fight back…

QUESTION: … Thank you…

(APPLAUSE)

SANDERS: … That’s what we need all over this country.

And, let me be very honest with you, hard thing to say, but it is true. A great nation is judged not by how many millionaires and billionaires it has, but by how it treats 

Clinton and Sanders Debate Education - Living in Dialogue:

Oregon charter schools underperform, serve too few poor and minority students, study says | OregonLive.com

Oregon charter schools underperform, serve too few poor and minority students, study says | OregonLive.com:

Oregon charter schools underperform, serve too few poor and minority students, study says

Oregon's charter school movement is on life support, ranking worst among 18 states where at least 2 percent of students attend charter schools, a report by a pro-charter school group says.

One of the biggest problems: Oregon's nearly 30,000 charter school students made less progress in reading and much less in math than students in traditional public schools from 2008 to 2011, the report found.

Oregon's 100-plus charter schools also serve a more heavily white and much more heavily middle-class population than other public schools, it said. Charter schools by their nature strive to reach students poorly served by traditional schools, so charter schools ideally should serve more minority and low-income students than regular public schools, the study's authors said.

The study, by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, recommends that Oregon policymakers do more to encourage school boards to close poor-performing charters. Over several years, an average of just 2 percent of charter schools closed per year, the study said.

Results suggest more charters should have closed, the report said. From 2008 to 2011, the average charter school student in Oregon made 22 days less progress in reading and 50 days less progress in math than the average student in a regular public school.

The report also said recommended that the state look into why charters are serving so few low-income and minority students.

Kaaren Heikes, long a champion of charter schools in Oregon and a founder and board member of Portland charter Kairos PDX, said she agrees with the report's authors that Oregon should do more to put poor-performing charter schools out of business.

"We don't want charters just for charters," she said. "We want good ones."

But Heikes questioned the accuracy of some statistics in the report. More than 10 percent of charter schools are online schools that don't serve lunch, so they don't check students' eligibility for free- and reduced-price lunches – the factor the report's authors used to determine how many low-income students a charter school enrolls.

She conceded that the state's decision not to cover transportation costs for charter schools, even though the state picks up most of the tab to bus students to and from regular public schools, makes it harder for charters to attract low-income students.

Some of Oregon's charter schools came into existence expressly to do a better job of serving students of color, Heikes said. Those include SEI Academy, Siletz Valley Early College Academy, Four Rivers Charter School, Nixya'awii Community School and her school, Kairos PDX.

But in a state in which 63 percent of public school students are white, many charter schools are more than 80 percent white. They include Bethany ChartOregon charter schools underperform, serve too few poor and minority students, study says | OregonLive.com:

There Is No FDA For Education. Maybe There Should Be : NPR

Q and A : NPR Ed : NPR:

There Is No FDA For Education. Maybe There Should Be

Has American education research mostly languished in an echo chamber for much of the last half century?

Harvard's Thomas Kane thinks so.

Why have the medical and pharmaceutical industries and Silicon Valley all created clear paths to turn top research into game-changing innovations, he asks, while education research mostly remains trapped in glossy journals?

Kane, a professor of education at Harvard's Graduate School of Education, points out that there is no effective educational equivalent of the Food and Drug Administration, where medical research is rigorously vetted and translated into solutions. Maybe, he says, there should be.

It's been 50 years since the publication of the highly influential "Equality of Educational Opportunity" study — better known as The Coleman Report, after its author James Coleman. And after half a century, Kane writes in a new article, we should have made much more progress towards closing the achievement gap: the educational equivalent of the fight against cancer.

Failure to do more, Kane argues, underscores the deep shortcomings of education research.

The Coleman Report drew national attention to chronic educational inequality and achievement gaps by race. And while scholarship and research since 1966 have challenged some of his conclusions as misleading, even wrong, many of the core problems he highlighted remain.

I spoke with Kane about this recently — here's a version of our conversation, edited for length.

Give us a snapshot of how important the Coleman Report was in terms of looking at the achievement gap.

The Coleman Report was extremely important. It was authorized as part of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. They were given two years to do a nationally representative study just documenting the magnitude of the achievement gap and differences in access to quality education.

As you can imagine, the technology for collecting and analyzing data back in 1964-65 was very different from what we have today, so it was a remarkable feat, and has a lasting legacy to this day.

The tools he had were limited, his methods and conclusions were flawed. But he was nonetheless on to something. Is that a fair characterization?

I would say my main complaint is not with what Coleman did, although, as you say, there are some weaknesses to it. My main complaint is what we've done since then.

We have spent the last 50 years essentially recapitulating the same descriptive work that Coleman and his colleagues did, and not finding solutions and spreading information about solutions.

The point of education research is to identify effective interventions for closing the achievement gaps that Coleman observed and ensuring that that information is usable.

And by that metric — by our ability to build consensus around a set of interventions that work for closing the achievement gap — I would have to say that the last 50 years have been a near complete failure.

Let's drill down on that. That's a pretty scathing and strong indictment.

Yes. I don't point fingers at the school officials out there. We just have not organized ourselves and organized the research function in a way that we're actually informing decision makers with the type of evidence, and on the timeline they need, to make decisions.

Have education experts been writing and researching for these glossy journals in a kind of eco-chamber? It's mostly produced for each other and not for the actual practice that's implemented?

I would say for the first 35 of those 50 years, we were primarily writing for academic Q and A : NPR Ed : NPR: 

The Absence of Teachers of Color, isn’t Just a Problem for Non-White students; It's a Problem for All Students - Lily's Blackboard

The Absence of Teachers of Color, isn’t Just a Problem for Non-White students; It's a Problem for All Students - Lily's Blackboard:

The Absence of Teachers of Color, isn’t Just a Problem for Non-White students; It’s a Problem for All Students

This week at SXSW@edu, an annual conference of innovators and educators in Austin, Tex., I’m speaking on a subject I’m passionate about: the shortage of teachers, particularly teachers of color, and ensuring that all students have the caring, qualified, and committed educators they deserve.

The research shows that teachers of color have a positive impact on the academic achievement of racially, ethnically, and linguistically diverse students. This impact is especially pronounced in students who are struggling. 

But the absence of teachers of color – some refer to it as a “disappearance crisis” – isn’t just a problem for non-white students; it is a problem for all students. Teachers of color “can help disrupt what are often one-sided portrayals of the world and offer invaluable insight to students from different backgrounds,” says a recent article in The Atlantic.  

There’s no question that something must change – and quickly. Baby boomers are retiring and the candidates who could fill their jobs are simply not there. More than 50 percent of public school students are African American, Hispanic, Asian Pacific Islander, or Native American. Yet, fewer than 20 percent of teachers are non-White. We need to talk about the dire need to recruit and retain more teachers and the importance of ensuring that they represent the richness and diversity of our students and nation.

But it’s not as if we need to pull the Scooby Doo gang back together and solve a mystery. We understand the problem and the answers are pretty straightforward. All we need is the commitment to deal with it.

via GIPHY

Here’s what we need:

Increase pay for teachers and all educators. Make college affordable and improve federal student loan forgiveness programs so that if you go into education, you won’t still be paying off your student loans when it’s time to retire. Provide more high-quality professional development and mentoring programs to support and retain teachers.

As teachers, most of us can’t imagine doing anything else. We consider what we do for a living our calling. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be paid and treated as the professionals we are.

If everyone in our schools, from bus drivers to paraeducators and lunch ladies, was paid what they were worth, educators would be at the top of the salary food chain. Unfortunately, our nation says this work is The Absence of Teachers of Color, isn’t Just a Problem for Non-White students; It's a Problem for All Students - Lily's Blackboard:

With A Brooklyn Accent: We Are All "Illegals"

With A Brooklyn Accent: We Are All "Illegals":

We Are All "Illegals"

 One of the things that perplexes me most in the current political landscape is the use of the term "illegals" to refer to undocumented immigrants. If there is ever an example of the pot calling the kettle black, this is it. There are very few working class, and even middle class Americans, who can support themselves strictly through legal means, especially now that wages have plummeted and many available jobs have become part time. To get by,and support their families, almost everyone has an off the books source of income, ranging from painting houses, to fixing cars, to tutoring or styling hair, to producing or selling iilegal substances, and huge numbers of families rent out rooms, and in some cases portions of rooms, to help meet mortgage payments or pay the rent. This isn't accidental, it is institutionalized The economic system would collapse without these supplementary sources of income. You can't live on Wal- Mart or K-Mart wages.or by driving for Uber.

But though wage compression and the arrival of the "gig economy" have made participation in underground/off the books economies an essential part of most peoples lives, these activities have always been a part of American working class history. I have often argued that few working class Americans were able to pull themselves out of poverty strictly by legal means, and my own family is a great example of this. My mother's side of the family, Jews from various parts of Eastern Europe, included bootleggers, gamblers, and,enforcers for the mob along with people who worked in retail outlets, sold food from pushcarts,, worked in the garment district, drove trucks and taught school. More than that, the mob was an integral part of With A Brooklyn Accent: We Are All "Illegals":

As Malloy Admin seeks massive new powers to take over local schools, two Windham parents explain what takeover actually means - Wait What?

As Malloy Admin seeks massive new powers to take over local schools, two Windham parents explain what takeover actually means - Wait What?:

As Malloy Admin seeks massive new powers to take over local schools, two Windham parents explain what takeover actually means

 Yesterday’s Wait, What Post — WARNING Connecticut – They are coming for your schools and your democratic rights! — was A Breaking News Alert from Jonathan Pelto and Wendy Lecker.

Please Read if you haven’t already at http://jonathanpelto.com/2016/03/06/warning-connecticut-coming-schools-democratic-rights/

Today  – Monday, March 7, 2016 the Education Committee will be holding a public hearing on HB 5551, a new proposed bill that would grant Governor Malloy and his administration unprecedented and far-reaching powers to take over local public schools, undermine democratically elected school boards, suspend existing Connecticut laws and union contracts and unilaterally institute policies without the input from parents, teachers, school administrators, local elected officials and citizens.

Such a measure should be unconstitutional.  It certainly violates the most basic principle of democracy and local control of education.

In response to this new proposal, two Windham, Connecticut parents speak out and explain what happened when the state of Connecticut took over the Windham Public Schools.

This is a MUST READ for every legislator and voter in Connecticut

Testimony of Dr. Mary Gallucci, Windham Parent;

As a parent of two children attending Windham Public Schools, I wish to testify regarding the negative effects of the Commissioner’s Network.  One of my sons was at Windham Middle School when it was admitted into the Network.  My husband was on the Turnaround Committee that completed a plan for the school, tailored to the As Malloy Admin seeks massive new powers to take over local schools, two Windham parents explain what takeover actually means - Wait What?:

Presidential Candidate John Kasich: Delusional about Public Education Issues | janresseger

Presidential Candidate John Kasich: Delusional about Public Education Issues | janresseger:

Presidential Candidate John Kasich: Delusional about Public Education Issues

 Republicans have hardly been discussing education policy at all in this bizarre Presidential race, but last week in the Thursday night debate, Ohio’s governor, John Kasich lavished praise upon himself for what he believes are his accomplishments in reforming education. He also addressed something he clearly knows little about—the plight of Detroit’s schools.  Kudos to two reporters who jumped right in to expose the flaws in his arguments.

Kasich bragged about how school reform has led to the rebirth of Cleveland.  Many people would be surprised to view Cleveland as reborn.  It was  described in the NY Times last week by a new group of researchers to be the poorest large city in the United States. Whether one slices and dices the statistics the way these researchers do—calling Cleveland or Detroit the poorest—one thing is clear: neither Cleveland nor its school district has had a rebirth.

Plain Dealer education reporter, Patrick O’Donnell notes in his report on the Republican debate that Kasich bragged: “The African American Democrat mayor, the union, and business leaders came to see me and said, ‘Would you help us to pass legislation to really create a CEO environment so that we can take control of the schools?'” O’Donnell corrects Kasich’s memory of his own central role: “Cleveland has had a CEO—not a superintendent—as head of the district since 1998.  That’s when former mayor Mike White hired Barbara Byrd-Bennett (recently indicted in Chicago after heading the schools there) as the first CEO, following the state legislature voting in 1997 to place the district under mayoral control.  Kasich was chairman of the U.S. House Budget Committee at the time.'”

O’Donnell explains that the Cleveland Teachers Union was not involved in the implementation of a “portfolio school reform” transformation plan in 2012 for the Cleveland District—a plan designed by the Boston Consulting Group and underwritten with a grant from the Cleveland Presidential Candidate John Kasich: Delusional about Public Education Issues | janresseger:

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: WEEKEND QUOTABLES

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: WEEKEND QUOTABLES:

 WEEKEND QUOTABLES

 

Louis C.K. 

“Do you think they saw that s--- coming? Hitler was just some hilarious and refreshing dude with a weird combover who would say anything at all.” -- Daily News

Michael “Quess” Moore, a founder of Take ’em Down NOLA

“He came to the heart and the bottom of the South, and he’s not welcome here.”  --New Orleans Advocate

Trump Supporter, Lola Butler

 “There’s nothing short of Trump shooting my daughter in the street and my grandchildren — there is nothing and nobody that’s going to dissuade me from Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: WEEKEND QUOTABLES:

Boston Public School students plan to walk out of class Monday to protest budget cuts - Education - Boston.com

Boston Public School students plan to walk out of class Monday to protest budget cuts - Education - Boston.com:

Boston Public School students plan to walk out of class Monday to protest budget cuts

The city’s public schools are facing a multi-million-dollar budget deficit in the coming year.

Nico Bruno, 5, a kindergarten student in Boston Public Schools, attended a budget cut protest in February.

John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe

Jailyn Lopez is worried. The sophomore at Snowden International High School in Boston heard about the multi-million-dollar budget deficit facing Boston Public Schools next year, and felt that even if she and her classmates wrote letters to city officials or attended budget hearings, they wouldn’t truly be expressing how terrified they feel.

“We want as many students as possible to speak up,” she said. “We want to give others courage to take a stand and help stop these budget cuts.”

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• Hundreds march through Boston to protest public school budget cuts

That’s why she and two other students organized a district-wide walk-out that will take place Monday at 11:30 am. In a letter posted to Twitter, Lopez said students at any and all Boston Public Schools are encouraged to walk out of their classrooms and head toward Beacon Hill, where they’ll hold a rally in front of the State House to protest the budget cuts.

“The education you are going to be provided with would be an education which will make it difficult and maybe even impossible to get into the college of your dreams,” she wrote in the letter. “You won’t be able to learn at full capacity if you don’t have the classes you need. If students are engaged in school then there would be less cracks for our youth to even look towards violence. We have lost too many young lives already.”

The city’s public schools are facing the deficit due to rising expenses and a decline in state and federal aid.

The exact amount of the deficit, however, has yet to be determined. Theinitial budget shortfall was estimated at about $50 million, though the mayor’s office has said the total figure will be lower when the school committee votes on the final budget March 23.

This isn’t the first public protest regarding the budget cuts. During February vacation week, several hundred parents, teachers and studentsheld a rally in downtown Boston. Many parents also protested outside of Mayor Marty’s Walsh’s “State of the City” address in January.

But this is the first student-organized demonstration. In a letter sent to school leaders Wednesday, Superintendent Tommy Chang said the district hopes teachers will use the event as an opportunity to discuss the role of advocacy in bringing about social change.

“Please remind students that if they do walk out, we expect them to act respectfully and safely at all times,” he said in the letter. “We also remind students that they are expected to adhere to school policies on being in class during instructional time. Please remind staff that in the event of a walkout, keeping our students safe is always a top priority, and we would expect all adults to help us in this effort.”

Friday night, however, the district sent out robocalls and emails to Boston Public School parents to encourage them to tell their children to remain in school.

“While we encourage our students to become leaders in the community Boston Public School students plan to walk out of class Monday to protest budget cuts - Education - Boston.com: