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Sunday, April 16, 2017

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 4/16/17


Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 4/16/17
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Dept of Ed Hires Anti-Civil Rights Crusader to Protect Student’s Nonexistent Civil Rights | gadflyonthewallblog




NYC Public School Parents: The push for privatization continues at the state and federal level
by mike simpson / 4h
NYC Public School Parents: The push for privatization continues at the state and federal level : The push for privatization continues at the state and federal level The NY budget was signed, sealed and delivered last Monday - eight days past the deadline. We dodged one bullet in that the Assembly managed to block lifting the charter school cap, which would have been disastrous for NYC. Yet Founda
Schools Matter: Indiana, Personalized Learning, Smart Drugs, and the KnowledgeWorks Foundation
by mike simpson / 5h
Schools Matter: Indiana, Personalized Learning, Smart Drugs, and the KnowledgeWorks Foundation : Indiana, Personalized Learning, Smart Drugs, and the KnowledgeWorks Foundation By Doug Martin (for a background on what edtech is up to, please see Alison McDowell’s post here —and all of her posts. If you want to witness the frightening scenario many like the KnowledgeWorks Foundation have in mind fo
Piecemeal Privatization of Arts and Music in Public Schools
by mike simpson / 5h
Piecemeal Privatization of Arts and Music in Public Schools : Piecemeal Privatization of Arts and Music in Public Schools So you think you saw the Easter Bunny this morning? But you’re not sure. The current status of the arts and music are like that in our public schools. One might think these subjects are returning, they’re back…or, not really . Just like the hippity-hoppity bunny that moves in
Speaking of Revolution. | BustED Pencils
by mike simpson / 6h
Speaking of Revolution. | BustED Pencils : Speaking of Revolution Last week I was following a few Facebook strands. As I often do, when I find a quote that sparks me to think, I like to repost it to my Facebook page. Typically I get a decent amount of “likes” with the occasional comment. However, when I took Alison Hawyer McDowell’s quote below I had no idea of what would follow. Take a read and
Colorado U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet: Betsy DeVos is an ideologue, not the face of education reform | Chalkbeat
by mike simpson / 7h
Colorado U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet: Betsy DeVos is an ideologue, not the face of education reform | Chalkbeat : Colorado U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet: Betsy DeVos is an ideologue, not the face of education reform U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet on Friday visited a Denver school with a large immigrant population to quiz students about the current political climate, field their questions and calm their fears.
Joe Biden Has Some Strong Words For Betsy DeVos | The Huffington Post
by mike simpson / 7h
Joe Biden Has Some Strong Words For Betsy DeVos | The Huffington Post : Joe Biden Has Some Strong Words For Betsy DeVos The former VP thinks DeVos’ handling of Title IX sends a “frightening message.” Former Vice President Joe Biden did not mince words about U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos in a recent interview with Teen Vogue . In the interview, published Friday afternoon , Biden discusse
Toolkit: Every Student Will Succeed - The Chronicle of Social Change
by mike simpson / 7h
Toolkit: Every Student Will Succeed - The Chronicle of Social Change : Toolkit: Every Student Will Succeed SOURCE: National Center for Youth Law SUBJECT: Education TYPE: Toolkit/Guide YEAR PRODUCED: 2017 Download file The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) was signed by President Obama on December 10, 2015, and a new toolkit released by the Legal Center for Foster Care and Education can help juris
Ten questions for Seattle Public Schools’ IT Lead John Krull | Seattle Education
by mike simpson / 8h
Ten questions for Seattle Public Schools’ IT Lead John Krull | Seattle Education : Ten questions for Seattle Public Schools’ IT Lead John Krull John Krull has agreed to answer some questions about what is happening in terms of technology and software programs planned for Seattle Public Schools. As Krull states in his letter of application for the position within Seattle Public Schools, “I impleme
Congress is on recess: Time for your rep to "get schooled" - Network For Public Education
by mike simpson / 8h
Congress is on recess: Time for your rep to "get schooled" - Network For Public Education : Congress is on recess: Time for your rep to “get schooled” Congress Pumping Because Congress is on recess until April 25, this week presents the perfect opportunity to talk to your representatives about public education. Here is the best way to do that. Take a moment today or tomorrow to find their local o
Easter 2017 Reader: Grit, Poetry, Educational Rankings, Poverty | radical eyes for equity
by mike simpson / 8h
Easter 2017 Reader: Grit, Poetry, Educational Rankings, Poverty | radical eyes for equity : Easter 2017 Reader: Grit, Poetry, Educational Rankings, Poverty Forget Grit. Focus on Inequality , Christine Yeh ( Education Week ) Grit is an easy concept to fall in love with because it represents hope and perseverance, and conjures up images of working-class individuals living the “American dream.” Howe
Easter Sunday links. | Fred Klonsky
by mike simpson / 8h
Easter Sunday links. | Fred Klonsky : Easter Sunday links. Of the top 100 US newspapers, 47 ran editorials on President Donald Trump’s Syria airstrikes last week: 39 in favor, seven ambiguous and only one opposed to the military attack. In other words, 83 percent of editorials on the Syria attack supported Trump’s bombing, 15 percent took an ambivalent position and 2 percent said the attack shoul
CURMUDGUCATION: ICYMI: Easter Edition
by mike simpson / 8h
CURMUDGUCATION: ICYMI: Easter Edition : ICYMI: Easter Edition It's easter Sunday and I'm a huge fan. But just in case you have some time to pass today, here's an assortment of worthwhile reads from the week. A Tale of Two Schools Mitchell Robinson takes us to two schools, only twenty miles apart, that illustrate some of the inequity in education today. Apparently Diversity Is Still Nor Innovative
An Easter and Passover Joke | Diane Ravitch's blog
by mike simpson / 9h
An Easter and Passover Joke | Diane Ravitch's blog : An Easter and Passover Joke Happy Easter! Here’s a smile for your holidays. I think you should spend today reading something other than this blog. If you are Christian, go to church or do whatever you usually do. If you are Jewish or Muslim or atheist or anything else, read and enjoy the day. I would say I’m going fishing, but where I live, it’
Russ on Reading: Comprehending Non-Fiction: Setting Kids Up for Success
by mike simpson / 9h
Russ on Reading: Comprehending Non-Fiction: Setting Kids Up for Success : Comprehending Non-Fiction: Setting Kids Up for Success In a discussion about students and reading content text yesterday, I heard a familiar refrain from a group of elementary teachers. While some readers were highly successful in reading non-fiction, many others struggled to comprehend content text even when that text for
Easter 2017: Sometimes You Just Have to Leave Your Water Pot | deutsch29
by mike simpson / 9h
Easter 2017: Sometimes You Just Have to Leave Your Water Pot | deutsch29 : Easter 2017: Sometimes You Just Have to Leave Your Water Pot Today is Easter. Most of the posts that I write concern education reform. However, a handful are holiday posts– like this one. Since it is Easter, in this post, I focus on Jesus Christ. It is certainly up to you to decide to continue reading. No coercion here. I
Postmodern History and Geo Politics
by mike simpson / 9h
Postmodern History and Geo Politics : Postmodern History and Geo Politics Pleas e join Internet radio host Dr. James Avington Miller Jr. and special guest Brian Crowell for a deep look into postmodern history, global politics, and public school curriculum. The issue for teachers and public education is what is allowed into curriculum and what is not. The discussion will delve deeply into public e
Dept of Ed Hires Anti-Civil Rights Crusader to Protect Student’s Nonexistent Civil Rights | gadflyonthewallblog
by mike simpson / 10h
Dept of Ed Hires Anti-Civil Rights Crusader to Protect Student’s Nonexistent Civil Rights | gadflyonthewallblog : Dept of Ed Hires Anti-Civil Rights Crusader to Protect Student’s Nonexistent Civil Rights Candice Jackson is a victim of oppression. When she was attending Stanford University in the mid-1990s, a minority calculus tutoring group refused to help her because she was white. Sure she coul

YESTERDAY



Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 4/15/17
by mike simpson / 22h
Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 4/15/17 Featured Post Charter School Builds Wall of Shame to Hide the Truth Record Numbers Of Charter Schools Teachers Are Organizing Unions | PopularResistance.Org by mike simpson / 23min Record Numbers Of Charter Schools Teachers Are Organizing Unions | PopularResistance.Org : Sorry, Charter Boosters: Record Numbers Of Teachers At Chicago Charter Schoo

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NYC Public School Parents: The push for privatization continues at the state and federal level

NYC Public School Parents: The push for privatization continues at the state and federal level:

The push for privatization continues at the state and federal level



The NY budget was signed, sealed and delivered last Monday - eight days past the deadline.

We dodged one bullet in that the Assembly managed to block lifting the charter school cap, which would have been disastrous for NYC.  Yet Foundation aid, designed to go primarily to  high-needs public schools, was short-changed once again -- with a mere $700 million added statewide.  This was less than the $900 million proposed by the Republican/IDC-led Senate, and far less than either the $1.4 billion put forward by the Democratic-led Assembly or the $1.8 billion increase recommended by the Board of Regents.  

Foundation aid was established after the Campaign for Fiscal Equity lawsuit was settled, requiring that NY funds public schools equitably.  Yet Governor Cuomo has refused to do so, and again, he apparently won out in last week's budget agreement. 
At the same time, funding for charter schools was increased by $50 million, while the supplement that NYC must pay to charters to pay for their rent in private space was boosted to 30% per charter student -- which will cost the DOE an estimated $8 million above what they currently must spend on charter leases.  

This is evidence yet again of preferential treatment for NYC charters, where we have the most overcrowded public schools in the state.  There seems to be little or no concern about the fact that currently 550,000 NYC public school students are jammed into overcrowded facilities, according to DOE data. 

Why the insistence on guaranteeing more funding and space to NYC charter schools by the Governor and the Republican-led Senate?  Is it the huge financial contributions made to these politicians from pro-charter groups such as New Yorkers for a Balanced Albany, which spent $5.2 million electing Republican State Senators,  or the vast amounts received by Cuomo from the same bunch of pro-charter hedge funders ? 

Fred LeBrun of the Times-Union said it best in explaining the influence of the charter lobby in Albany and elsewhere: 

It's not the charter schools I referenced above that hold the power, and certainly not the 122,000 or so young New Yorkers who attend them, predominantly in New York City. It's the relative few billionaire hedge fund investors in charters looking for the return on their investment who would have the ability to hold up our budget until they get theirs. Because they in turn have become generous contributors to the governor and the Republican Senate. Again, the political donors benefit directly from the actions the governor and senators take on their behalf.....  
I can hear the charter crowd screaming that they are also public schools, because it says so in the legislation creating them. That's a lot of hooey.... They are 
NYC Public School Parents: The push for privatization continues at the state and federal level:
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Schools Matter: Indiana, Personalized Learning, Smart Drugs, and the KnowledgeWorks Foundation

Schools Matter: Indiana, Personalized Learning, Smart Drugs, and the KnowledgeWorks Foundation:

Indiana, Personalized Learning, Smart Drugs, and the KnowledgeWorks Foundation


By Doug Martin 

(for a background on what edtech is up to, please see Alison McDowell’s post here—and all of her posts.  If you want to witness the frightening scenario many like the KnowledgeWorks Foundation have in mind for American education and the workforce, watch this video.)  

Although I’m deep into writing a new book on ed tech to follow Hoosier School Heist and haven’t blogged for a while, I want to take the time to warn Hoosiers about so-called “personalized learning” (also referred to as competency-based learning) not only because of the absurd idea to use online learning to teach pre-schoolers here, but also because Robert Behning’s House Bill 1386 offers a personalized learning pilot program. Thankfully, Bill 1386  died recently in a House Education Committee vote of 8-3, but don’t expect the personalized learning movement to go away, which is not just about using technology in the classroom, which, done well, can be a good thing.  People need to understand what is lurching inside this movement, which is now a major national force.

THE EDTECH FUTURISTS AT THE STATEHOUSE

Speaking edtech and corporate school reform clichés, the KnowledgeWorks Foundation’s Matt Williamstestified in favor of Behning’s personalized learning bill before the Indiana House Education Committee in February, stressing the need for Indiana to become “a leader” nationally by creating a personalized learning system where “formative assessments ….measure student mastery of academic knowledge and social and emotional competencies”  and students “master the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in college and career,” which is “an essential step” for “our country’s education system.”

Personalized or competency-based learning glues students to computers, allows students to learn at their own pace, and sometimes even does away with grade levels altogether.  But, as even the Gates Foundation-funded iNACOL(International Association for K12 Online Learning), which promotes ALEC’s online learning model legislation, has publicly admitted, this is a Trojan Horse for more harmful things the billionaires have in mind.

To promote the online learning agenda, the Ohio-based KnowledgeWorks paints futuristic scenarios focusing on training workers for the gig economy via online personalized learning (K-university level) in the event that tech titans’ dreams will be eventually fulfilled when one day students will no longer go to real buildings or real jobs, since all education will be done online merely for credentials, and job gigs (like Fiverr, TaskRabbit, the Global Survey Group, etc.) will be done online to earn literally a couple of dollars (yes, literally) an hour, since these will be the only jobs left because of the quick expansion of technology (for an excellent outing of Schools Matter: Indiana, Personalized Learning, Smart Drugs, and the KnowledgeWorks Foundation:



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Piecemeal Privatization of Arts and Music in Public Schools

Piecemeal Privatization of Arts and Music in Public Schools:

Piecemeal Privatization of Arts and Music in Public Schools


So you think you saw the Easter Bunny this morning? But you’re not sure.
The current status of the arts and music are like that in our public schools. One might think these subjects are returning, they’re back…or, not really. Just like the hippity-hoppity bunny that moves in lightning speed, privatization of public schools is sneaky that way.
The April issue of Phi Delta Kappan (PDK) is titled Arts & Music in School. I couldn’t wait to read my copy. But my hopes were dashed. Every article leads to partnerships—not school funding directly for arts and music classes. The issue is also about integrating these subjects into other classes and alludes to a technology takeover (no surprise there).
There’s no mention of bringing back qualified arts and music teachers. There’s little talk of reviving these classes as subjects, without integrating them into math or language arts, to make the school curriculum whole again.
First, Destruction
It was catastrophic to defund the arts and music in schools. Mostly, under NCLB, these Piecemeal Privatization of Arts and Music in Public Schools:

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Speaking of Revolution. | BustED Pencils

Speaking of Revolution. | BustED Pencils:

Speaking of Revolution



Last week I was following a few Facebook strands.  As I often do, when I find a quote that sparks me to think, I like to repost it to my Facebook page.  Typically I get a decent amount of “likes” with the occasional comment.  However, when I took Alison Hawyer McDowell’s quote below I had no idea of what would follow.
Take a read and then keep the conversation going.  Is Alison right?  Without a revolution is the teaching profession doomed?
[I]f people don’t rise up en masse there likely will not be a teaching profession as we traditionally think of it in 5-7 years. Alison Hawver McDowell
Margaret Benson Who do you want to have rise up en masse?
Tim Slekar The 88.95% of of the population that send their children to public schools and all the employees that work at those schools and all the pointy headed academics (like me and you) that think we will get a pass when public schools are dismantled.
_______________________________________________________________
Don Jo I believe this to be true
Alison Hawver McDowell This is where we are headed if people don’t speak up. There really isn’t that much time. Much of the infrastructure to make this transition happen is already in place. http://www.knowledgeworks.org/…/future-ed-workforce…
Alison Hawver McDowell I am busy mapping Nellie Mae grants all over New England. This threat is very real. “Personalized” learning is not what people think. Tim Slekar-You’re in WI, right? What’s the deal with the CESU-1 Innovative Learning Program? It’s right near Speaking of Revolution. | BustED Pencils:


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