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Sunday, June 4, 2017

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 6/4/17


Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 6/4/17
Featured Post

Parents outraged by LGBTQ page in high school yearbook / Queerty




Mitchell Robinson: Some unpopular thoughts on teacher evaluation | Eclectablog
by mike simpson / 59min
Some unpopular thoughts on teacher evaluation | Eclectablog : Some unpopular thoughts on teacher evaluation I’ve been working on teacher evaluation for most of my career as a teacher, administrator, and teacher educator; first being evaluated, then doing the evaluation as an assistant principal and subject area coordinator, then helping design a state-wide beginning teacher evaluation initiative.
Bigfoot and Public Education | Reclaim Reform
by mike simpson / 52min
Bigfoot and Public Education | Reclaim Reform : Bigfoot and Public Education Approximately 35% of Americans believe that President Trump is doing an acceptable job. The same percentage, though not necessarily the same people, believes in Bigfoot . Betsey DeVos is Secretary of Education. Rick Perry is Secretary of Energy. Jeff Sessions is Attorney General. Ben Carson is Secretary of Housing & Urba
Was the most expensive school board race in history all about the money? — PS connect
by mike simpson / 1h
Was the most expensive school board race in history all about the money? — PS connect : Was the most expensive school board race in history all about the money? When New York billionaire Michael Bloomberg spent half a million dollars to kick Steve Zimmer off the LA School Board, he picked up the phone. In a departure from his self-described “conflict averse” nature, Zimmer wanted to pitch his ver
Parents and Educators Reject NY State Education Department’s Flawed ESSA Proposal & Process NYC Public School Parents
by mike simpson / 3h
NYC Public School Parents: Parents and Educators Reject NY State Education Department’s Flawed ESSA Proposal & Process in Advance of Brooklyn Hearing : Parents and Educators Reject NY State Education Department’s Flawed ESSA Proposal & Process in Advance of Brooklyn Hearing Parents and Educators Reject NY State Education Department’s Flawed ESSA Proposal & Process in Advance of Brooklyn Hearing W
Parents outraged by LGBTQ page in high school yearbook / Queerty
by mike simpson / 5h
Parents outraged by LGBTQ page in high school yearbook / Queerty : Parents outraged by LGBTQ page in high school yearbook Ealier this month, several parents were furious and disgusted to discover a yearbook page dedicated to Atasocita High School’s LGBTQ students. In order to be more inclusive, yearbook editors profiled four queer youngsters, who shared their experiences coming out over a rainbow
How a ‘shadow’ universe of charities joined with political warriors to fuel Trump’s rise - The Washington Post
by mike simpson / 5h
How a ‘shadow’ universe of charities joined with political warriors to fuel Trump’s rise - The Washington Post : How a ‘shadow’ universe of charities joined with political warriors to fuel Trump’s rise In August, Horowitz took advantage of his ties to the campaign to offer a proposal for spending billions on school vouchers for poor, largely minority children — who Horowitz said had been underser
DeVos shows us what vouchers are | Voices | nuvo.net
by mike simpson / 6h
DeVos shows us what vouchers are | Voices | nuvo.net : DeVos shows us what vouchers are U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos rendered a valuable public service. She lifted the curtain on school vouchers and made clear exactly what this system of using taxpayer funds to pay for private and religious schools is. It’s a way for some parents, particularly bigots, to get taxpayers to subsidize their a
Education Reform Law and the American Education Wars
by mike simpson / 7h
Education Reform Law and the American Education Wars : Education Reform Law and the American Education Wars Pleas e join Internet radio host Dr. James Avington Miller Jr. and special guest Dr. Victoria M. Young for an in-depth discussion of education reform law and the American Education Wars. Dr. Young's focus has become education reform law because that is what the “transformers,” “deformers,”
CURMUDGUCATION: ICYMI: + Catch up with CURMUDGUCATION
by mike simpson / 7h
CURMUDGUCATION : CURMUDGUCATION: ICYMI Graduation Day Edition ICYMI: Graduation Day Edition (6/4) Here is my neck of the woods, we're just a few hours away from high school graduation. It's definitely that time of year. Here's your assorted pieces of reading from the week. Remember to pass on the ones that speak to you. These Activists Want Greater Home School Monitoring In the background, as oth
6 Ways to Prepare for Next Year Before Students Leave - Teacher Habits
by mike simpson / 7h
6 Ways to Prepare for Next Year Before Students Leave - Teacher Habits : 6 Ways to Prepare for Next Year Before Students Leave Because summer vacation should actually feel like a vacation, add these six items to your end-of-the-year to-do list and check them off before students leave. Getting them done will make your summer more enjoyable, and they’ll make the transition to a new year in the fall
Betsy deVos Stands Tall for Segregated Schools
by mike simpson / 7h
Betsy deVos Stands Tall for Segregated Schools : Betsy deVos Stands Tall for Segregated Schools O n May 24th, Secretary of Education Betsy deVos was questioned by a House committee. She was asked whether schools that discriminate should be given taxpayer dollars to help them succeed with discriminating. She said yes. She said that she believes that parents who don’t want their children going to s
Change and Stability in A Four Decade Career in Teaching (Part 1) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice
by mike simpson / 7h
Change and Stability in A Four Decade Career in Teaching (Part 1) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice : Change and Stability in A Four Decade Career in Teaching (Part 1) I began teaching history in 1956 in an urban high school and ended my career of full-time teaching at Stanford University in 2001 when I retired (I did teach a graduate seminar every other year as an emeritus pr
The Sunday Times. | Fred Klonsky
by mike simpson / 8h
The Sunday Times. | Fred Klonsky : The Sunday Times. . The school funding mess in Illinois is a result of bi-partisan mendacity, which is another way of saying elected officials lie whenever they talk about education funding. While they talk about freezing property taxes, they say nothing about adequately funding the state’s public schools. Relying on property taxes to finance education means the
Selfie Sunday Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all
by mike simpson / 8h
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all : Selfie Sunday Diane Ravitch's blog A site to discuss better education for all Harold Meyerson: Why Do Billionaires Care So Much About Charter Schools? 5 by dianeravitch / 36min Harold Meyerson, editor of The American Prospect, raised a question that I have heard dozens of times: Why do billionaires care so much about charter scho
NYC Educator: Educational Leadership--The Right Person for the Job
by mike simpson / 9h
NYC Educator: Educational Leadership--The Right Person for the Job : Educational Leadership--The Right Person for the Job Every day I read the education stories and some days they are simply amazing. Here's the story of an assistant principal who's a serial liar , scamming teachers for cash with various sob stories, getting caught, and then moving up to a better gig on Long Island. Long Island, e
Examining The CCSA Juggernaut: Who Bought Nick Melvoin? – redqueeninla
by mike simpson / 9h
Examining The CCSA Juggernaut: Who Bought Nick Melvoin? – redqueeninla : Examining The CCSA Juggernaut: Who Bought Nick Melvoin? The following graph shows relative voter turnout at the polls (“At-poll”) and via mail (“VBM” == Vote By Mail). Please refer back and forth to it while reading slowly through the text. It’s not always intuitive what it shows and what it means, but there’s a lot to deriv

YESTERDAY

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 6/3/17
by mike simpson / 23h
Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 6/3/17 Featured Post School's Out Schools Matter: Ferebee, Edtech Billionaires, and Indianapolis by mike simpson / 10min Schools Matter: Ferebee, Edtech Billionaires, and Indianapolis : Ferebee, 

Top Posts This Week


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Mitchell Robinson: Some unpopular thoughts on teacher evaluation | Eclectablog

Some unpopular thoughts on teacher evaluation | Eclectablog:

Some unpopular thoughts on teacher evaluation


I’ve been working on teacher evaluation for most of my career as a teacher, administrator, and teacher educator; first being evaluated, then doing the evaluation as an assistant principal and subject area coordinator, then helping design a state-wide beginning teacher evaluation initiative. After nearly 40 years in education, all I can say is that the current system is the worst I’ve ever seen.
If the goal of these systems was to get rid of the so-called “bad teachers” that supposedly exist in great numbers in our schools, it has been spectacularly ineffective. Every form of teacher evaluation winds up identifying only between 1-3% of teachers as “ineffective”–yet we continue to spend precious money and time in the vain attempt to purge the system of these “bad teachers”.
Here’s the truth–it’s a colossal waste of time to keep pouring good money after bad in this attempt. Why?
Not because there are zero weak teachers–there are some, though as most will acknowledge, a surprisingly small number.
Because bad teachers self-select, and weed themselves out of the classroom well before any evaluation system “catches” them. Why?
Because the job is too hard to do it without finding any level of satisfaction or fulfillment–and the Some unpopular thoughts on teacher evaluation | Eclectablog:
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Bigfoot and Public Education | Reclaim Reform

Bigfoot and Public Education | Reclaim Reform:

Bigfoot and Public Education

Approximately 35% of Americans believe that President Trump is doing an acceptable job. The same percentage, though not necessarily the same people, believes in Bigfoot.


Betsey DeVos is Secretary of Education. Rick Perry is Secretary of Energy. Jeff Sessions is Attorney General. Ben Carson is Secretary of Housing & Urban Development. Rex Tillerson is Secretary of State. Steven Mnuchin is Secretary of the Treasury. Sonny Purdue is Secretary of Agriculture. Ryan Zinke is Secretary of the Interior. Scott Pruitt heads the Environmental Protection Agency. The American leadership list goes on. All of these people have the same responsibility which is to dismantle their respective agencies as they exist for their given purposes. Yes, President Trump appointed them, but they were all corporate-chosen and approved by both houses of Congress – nearly all were granted approval with votes from both political parties.
Yet, approximately 35% of Americans believe that President Trump is doing an acceptable job.
Why?
Mass propaganda presented by mass media sponsored by immense corporate wealth has defeated actual public education.
Ask Bigfoot.
(At this point we must do all we can to resist the corruption called government. Do it locally and at-large. Do whatever you are are capable of doing as you see fit. We have each other – no more, no less. #RESISTANCE #resist.)
 Bigfoot and Public Education | Reclaim Reform:
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Was the most expensive school board race in history all about the money? — PS connect

Was the most expensive school board race in history all about the money? — PS connect:

Was the most expensive school board race in history all about the money?

Image result for big education ape bloomberg
When New York billionaire Michael Bloomberg spent half a million dollars to kick Steve Zimmer off the LA School Board, he picked up the phone. In a departure from his self-described “conflict averse” nature, Zimmer wanted to pitch his version of collaborative school reform to the “education mayor”.
The staffer screening the call told Zimmer that Bloomberg didn’t know who he was.
Sure he did. He just donated half a million dollars to beat me, Zimmer explained.
But the aide insisted.
Bloomberg, along with other billionaires, were disrupting public education. Anybody who wasn’t with them was facelessly labeled as the status quo.
That was four years ago. With the help of the teachers union and a small army of grassroots activists, the massive infusions of cash were understood as attacks on their community. Zimmer prevailed.
Last month, in a redo of the most expensive school board race in history, Zimmer lost to a candidate backed by the billionaire boys club, Nick Melvoin.
What changed in four years? That's an important question to anyone hoping to beat the deep pocketed privatizers in future elections.
Los Angeles is the biggest school district in the country that still elects its school board. That makes it harder to control by so-called education reformers, who seek to dismantle the public school system in order to create a marketplace of school choices, shifting billions of dollars in public moneys into private hands. Investment in elections here can pay huge dividends.
But the lessons to learn from Zimmer's defeat and the sweeping takeover of the LAUSD school board by charter school backers can apply anywhere.

“If all politics are local, then maybe public schools are micro-climates, being such an integral part of a family’s daily existence.”
Public Schools Are Micro-Climates
Los Angeles has been described, not so much as a city, but a collection of communities, each with its own unique identity. Its schools are sprawled across 700 square miles: urban pockets of extreme poverty, areas of extreme wealth, and a lot in between.
Of the seven school board seats, none encompasses as diverse a range of Was the most expensive school board race in history all about the money? — PS connect:


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Parents and Educators Reject NY State Education Department’s Flawed ESSA Proposal & Process NYC Public School Parents

NYC Public School Parents: Parents and Educators Reject NY State Education Department’s Flawed ESSA Proposal & Process in Advance of Brooklyn Hearing:
Parents and Educators Reject NY State Education Department’s Flawed ESSA Proposal & Process in Advance of Brooklyn Hearing



Parents and Educators Reject NY State Education Department’s Flawed ESSA Proposal & Process in Advance of Brooklyn Hearing

WHEN: Tuesday, June 6, 5:30 PM

WHERE: In front of the Prospect Heights Educational Campus, 883 Classon Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11225. (2/3 trains to Eastern Parkway station, near Brooklyn Museum)

WHAT: The federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) is the successor legislation to the Bush-era No Child Left Behind (NCLB) bill. Because ESSA gives states more latitude in defining their school accountability systems than did NCLB, New York’s families and educators were looking forward to the state creating an accountability system that incentivized schools to provide children with a high quality, well-rounded education. Instead, the New York State Education Department, under Commissioner MaryEllen Elia, is proposing that the Board of Regents adopt a system that doubles down on testing, counts opt out students as having failed the exams for the purpose of school accountability, and guarantees the continuation of narrowed test-prep curriculum that has spurred the nation’s largest test refusal movement.

WHY: To let the public and Board of Regents know that parents and educators reject NYSED’s proposal and the flawed process which led to it, including a “think tank” composed of working groups where NYSED controlled the discussion and pre-ordained the damaging outcome.   

WHO: Speakers to include public school parents Lisa Rudley, Executive Director and founding member of New York State Allies for Public Education (NYSAPE); Jeanette Deutermann, founder of Long Island Opt Out and NYSAPE; Leonie Haimson, Executive Director of Class Size Matters; Kemala Karmen, NYC Opt Out.  Both Haimson and Karmen were members of the NYSED ESSA Think Tank working groups.

VISUALS: Parents and educators, signs, banners, giant keys

Class-Size-Matters-Logo-Transparent.png
nysapelogo.jpeg
NYSAPE is a grassroots coalition with over 50 parent and educator groups across the state.
Class Size Matters is a non-profit organization that advocates for smaller classes in NYC’s public schools and the nation as a whole.


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Parents outraged by LGBTQ page in high school yearbook / Queerty

Parents outraged by LGBTQ page in high school yearbook / Queerty:

Parents outraged by LGBTQ page in high school yearbook

Ealier this month, several parents were furious and disgusted to discover a yearbook page dedicated to Atasocita High School’s LGBTQ students.
In order to be more inclusive, yearbook editors profiled four queer youngsters, who shared their experiences coming out over a rainbow-hued background.
Now, irate parents have been writing into Atascocita.com to threaten and insult the yearbook’s Editor-in-Chief, recent graduate Kyle Armour.
“People were saying he was dumb, not smart, that I should not be proud of who he is,” said Kyle’s mom, Kimblerly Hicks Armour.
“I’m very proud of who he is. He did take a stand and make something diverse for the community and to our school,” she told the Houston Chronicle. 
One user named SteelerNation argued the section was insulting, and that LGBTQ students were “jamming their crap down our throats!”
“We can’t pray in school,” lynnsgirl said, “but now we have a section strictly dedicated to the gay community explaining how, when and why they came ‘out.’ I’m honestly disgusted and embarrassed.”
View image on TwitterView image on TwitterView image on TwitterView image on Twitter
Katherine Kay @KatEliKay
In light of recent events, I wanted to give people the chance to put a face with on the back end of hurtful comments made against LGBTQ+
9:23 AM - 23 May 2017
Twitter Ads info and privacy
Natalie Mendoza is one of the students featured on the yearbook page, and she’s upset by parents’ comments. Users were critical of both her coming out story and her chosen quote: “I can turn your girl.”


“My friends know my sexual orientation and love and respect me regardless,” she said. “There was Parents outraged by LGBTQ page in high school yearbook / Queerty:
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How a ‘shadow’ universe of charities joined with political warriors to fuel Trump’s rise - The Washington Post

How a ‘shadow’ universe of charities joined with political warriors to fuel Trump’s rise - The Washington Post:

How a ‘shadow’ universe of charities joined with political warriors to fuel Trump’s rise 


In August, Horowitz took advantage of his ties to the campaign to offer a proposal for spending billions on school vouchers for poor, largely minority children — who Horowitz said had been underserved by Democrats. Miller made sure it became part of Trump’s platform — along with a proposed ban on Muslims, a border wall and other ideas long supported by the Freedom Center and its ideological allies.
The crowd rose to its feet and roared its approval as Sen. Jeff Sessions bounded onto the stage at the Breakers, an exclusive resort in Palm Beach, Fla. Stephen Miller, an aide to the Alabama Republican, handed him a glass trophy honoring his bravery as a lawmaker.
“Heyyyy!” Sessions yelled out to the crowd.
The ceremony that day, in November 2014, turned out to be a harbinger: It brought together an array of hard-right activists and a little-known charity whose ideas would soon move from the fringes of the conservative movement into the heart of the nation’s government.
The man behind the event was David Horowitz, a former ’60s radical who became an intellectual godfather to the far right through his writings and his work at a charity, the David Horowitz Freedom Center. Since its formation in 1988, the Freedom Center has helped cultivate a generation of political warriors seeking to upend the Washington establishment. These warriors include some of the most powerful and influential figures in the Trump administration: Attorney General Sessions, senior policy adviser Miller and White House chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon.


Long before Trump promised to build a wall, ban Muslims and abandon the Paris climate accord, Horowitz used his tax-exempt group to rail against illegal immigrants, the spread of Islam and global warming. Center officials described Hillary Clinton as evil, President Barack Obama as a secret communist and the Democratic Party as a front for enemies of 
How a ‘shadow’ universe of charities joined with political warriors to fuel Trump’s rise - The Washington Post:




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DeVos shows us what vouchers are | Voices | nuvo.net

DeVos shows us what vouchers are | Voices | nuvo.net:

DeVos shows us what vouchers are


U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos rendered a valuable public service.
She lifted the curtain on school vouchers and made clear exactly what this system of using taxpayer funds to pay for private and religious schools is.
It’s a way for some parents, particularly bigots, to get taxpayers to subsidize their attempts to evade or break the law.
The revelation came during DeVos’s testimony before Congress about President Donald Trump’s proposed new federal budget and that budget’s effect on education.
DeVos found herself questioned by U.S. Rep. Katharine Clark, D-Massachusetts. Clark inquired about Lighthouse Christian Academy, a voucher school here in Indiana — Bloomington, in fact — that boasts that it will deny admission to students who might be lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. The school also will deny admission to students who come from homes in which homosexuality or bisexuality is practiced.
(An aside: Don’t schools and people like this — who go out of their way to demean vulnerable children — really make you proud to be a Hoosier?)
Clark asked if DeVos would prevent federal funds from going to schools that violate federal law by discriminating against people based on sexual orientation. DeVos tried to duck the question, but, after considerable hemming, hawing and throat-clearing, finally said this was really a parent’s decision, not hers.
Clark corrected her.
This really isn’t about parents’ choices, the congresswoman said. It was about whether federal tax money would be used to subsidize policies that violate federal — and, in some cases, basic constitutional — law.
DeVos stood by her answer.
Clark then asked her if there was any form of discrimination against which DeVos would take a stand. Would the education secretary, for instance, funnel federal tax dollars to a voucher school that discriminated against African-American students?
DeVos again tried to evade the question.
Clark pressed.
DeVos finally uttered a series of non-sequiturs about parents caring about their children andDeVos shows us what vouchers are | Voices | nuvo.net: 
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Education Reform Law and the American Education Wars

Education Reform Law and the American Education Wars:

Education Reform Law and the American Education Wars
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Pleas e join Internet radio host Dr. James Avington Miller Jr. and special guest Dr. Victoria M. Young for an in-depth discussion of education reform law and the American Education Wars.

Dr. Young's focus has become education reform law because that is what the “transformers,” “deformers,” pseudo-reformers,” “privatizers” —whatever we want to call them— it is what they have done that has given them victories in the American Education Wars. 

These people have taken the underlying tension about public education — the always-existing need to improve it — and used that platform of public frustration to present their transformational ideas but always, always, with the goal of getting their political agenda into law. That is how they have taken this country so far off the course envisioned by President Kennedy and put into law by President Johnson.

The only way we get this country back on track is to focus on the very same law the “privatizers” control.

Please listen this Sunday and learn how we can start a true Education Revolution that serves the children, not the “transformers,” “deformers,” pseudo-reformers,” and “privatizers”.

Knowledge is power !

RESISTANCE MATTERS
RESISTANCE IS NOT FUTILE
RESISTANCE IS THE HIGHEST FORM OF EXPRESSION OF DEMOCRACY
RESISTANCE IS SURVIVAL

Please click on the website below to listen live:

http://bbsradio.com/thewarreport

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