Monday, June 19, 2017

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 6/19/17

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 6/19/17

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A Charter School Violates Student Privacy to Shame Parents Into Volunteering

Seattle educators demand justice for Charleena Lyles; pledge to rally and wear “Black Lives Matter” shirts to school on Tuesday | I AM AN EDUCATOR

by mike simpson / 10min

Seattle educators demand justice for Charleena Lyles; pledge to rally and wear “Black Lives Matter” shirts to school on Tuesday | I AM AN EDUCATOR : Seattle educators demand justice for Charleena Lyles; pledge to rally and wear “Black Lives Matter” shirts to school on Tuesday Seattle educators demand justice for Charleena Lyles; pledge to wear “Black Lives Matter” shirts to school on Tuesday, joi

American Teachers Slam Israel’s Classroom Ban On Political Opinions – The Forward

by mike simpson / 6min

American Teachers Slam Israel’s Classroom Ban On Political Opinions – The Forward : American Teachers Slam Israel’s Classroom Ban On Political Opinions NEW YORK ( JTA ) — The heads of the American Federation of Teachers and the American Association of University Professors jointly condemned a law proposed by Israel’s education minister that would bar the expression of political views in classroom

CURMUDGUCATION: PA: Islamophobes, Real Estate, and Scam Artists

by mike simpson / 4h

CURMUDGUCATION: PA: Islamophobes, Real Estate, and Scam Artists : PA: Islamophobes, Real Estate, and Scam Artists I'll tell you right up front that this story raises more questions than it answers, but many of them are questions about just what comes through the door when you invite privatization in, and others are questions about how people react when they discover what an open door actually mea

The Best Way to Thank Your Child's Teacher - Teacher Habits

by mike simpson / 5h

The Best Way to Thank Your Child's Teacher - Teacher Habits : The Best Way to Thank Your Child’s Teacher School is out for the year in most places. Teachers are sleeping in. Parents have arranged for child care. Students are spinning fidgets or playing video games or getting in my way at the zoo (I don’t really know what students do with their free time anymore. I used to watch Matlock in the sum

NYC Public School Parents: Arne Duncan still arguing for mayoral control -- when the trend is in the opposite direction

by mike simpson / 5h

NYC Public School Parents: Arne Duncan still arguing for mayoral control -- when the trend is in the opposite direction : Arne Duncan still arguing for mayoral control -- when the trend is in the opposite direction In the Sunday Daily News , former Secretary of Education Arne Duncan argued for the extension of Mayoral control. The official legislative session is supposed to end Wednesday and Mayo

Mom shaming or constructive criticism? Perspectives of mothers | National Poll on Children’s Health

by mike simpson / 5h

Mom shaming or constructive criticism? Perspectives of mothers | National Poll on Children’s Health : Mom shaming or constructive criticism? Perspectives of mothers Mothers of young children face numerous parenting decisions, starting with choices about infant feeding methods and sleep position, to daily decisions about toddler diet, discipline and health/safety. Some mothers have a support syste

How to Go the Resistance Distance: Pop-Up Schools for Novice Activists

by mike simpson / 9h

How to Go the Resistance Distance: Pop-Up Schools for Novice Activists : How to Go the Resistance Distance: Pop-Up Schools for Novice Activists Modeled after the civil rights era’s citizenship and freedom schools, the new Sojourner Truth School for Social Change Leadership teaches skills for the Trump era. This post originally appeared at Yes! Magazine . More than 200 people crammed into a meetin

Genius | Teach for America Tricks Young People into Being Scabs | Benjamin Studebaker

by mike simpson / 9h

Genius | Teach for America Tricks Young People into Being Scabs | Benjamin Studebaker : Teach for America Tricks Young People into Being Scabs Last month, we talked about how and creating a massive teacher shortage as good teachers defected to neighboring states and fewer Hoosiers elected to go into education. Today I want to talk about the pivotal role programs likes Teach for America play in ai

Randi Weingarten: A Free-Market Failure In The Heartland | HuffPost

by mike simpson / 9h

A Free-Market Failure In The Heartland | HuffPost : A Free-Market Failure In The Heartland Trickle down economics didn’t work in Kansas. It never has. Not anywhere. It was every supply-side economist’s dream: the promise of achieving economic nirvana by slashing taxes for the wealthy and corporations, and shrinking government. Except it became a nightmare for the people of Kansas, and now the Kan

Confederate monuments, real heroes and Fathers Day. | Fred Klonsky

by mike simpson / 10h

Confederate monuments, real heroes and Fathers Day. | Fred Klonsky : Confederate monuments, real heroes and Fathers Day My Dad’s house on Howard Avenue in Brooklyn with Lucy. Fathers Day was a day with our kids, grandkids and friends at Belmont Race Track in New York. I was sure that Cosi Bella was the horse to put my hopes on in the 7th. My hopes were dashed. Cosi Bella finished out of the money

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: WEEKEND QUOTABLES

by mike simpson / 10h

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: WEEKEND QUOTABLES : WEEKEND QUOTABLES ‘Taking action is the best cure for despair.’ Rebecca Solnit A crisis, says one dictionary, is “the point in the progress of a disease when a change takes place which is decisive of recovery or death; also, any marked or sudden change of symptoms, etc.” This crisis could be the death or the recovery of a more democratic, more in

An Evidence-Based Indictment of Inaction | LucidWitness.com

by mike simpson / 10h

An Evidence-Based Indictment of Inaction | LucidWitness.com : An Evidence-Based Indictment of Inaction …Children’s lives hang in the balance As edited at WHYY / NewsWorks here : Powerful and surprisingly prevalent horrors are blocking access to education and ravaging children’s lives. Sadly, they remain “the elephant in the classroom”: Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). ACEs include physical,

Intersections and Disjunctures: Scholars, Teachers, and Writers | radical eyes for equity

by mike simpson / 10h

Intersections and Disjunctures: Scholars, Teachers, and Writers | radical eyes for equity : Intersections and Disjunctures: Scholars, Teachers, and Writers Discussing scholars as writers, Michael C. Munger explains , “We train people in methods, and theory, but we don’t tell them that writing is something you have to practice.” And that practice, Munger argues, must be “like you exercise: at leas

Teacher shortage restricts training of new instructors :: SI&A Cabinet Report

by mike simpson / 10h

Teacher shortage restricts training of new instructors :: SI&A Cabinet Report :: The Essential Teacher shortage restricts training of new instructors (Calif.) With districts forced to rely on higher numbers of non-fully credentialed teachers to staff classrooms, educator preparation programs are finding fewer placements for student teachers who require the mentorship of fully credentialed instruc

DeVos breaks ranks with GOP, wants changes in ESSA plan :: SI&A Cabinet Report

by mike simpson / 10h

DeVos breaks ranks with GOP, wants changes in ESSA plan :: SI&A Cabinet Report :: The Essential Resource for Superintendents and the Cabinet : DeVos breaks ranks with GOP, wants changes in ESSA plan (District of Columbia) In a muddled if not contrarian response to a state plan for implementing the Every Student Succeeds Act, the U.S. Department of Education has suggested, among other things, that

Education department still weighing fate of 11 poorly rated charter sponsors

by mike simpson / 10h

Education department still weighing fate of 11 poorly rated charter sponsors : Education department still weighing fate of 11 poorly rated charter sponsors When the state rated 21 Ohio charter-school sponsors as “poor” in October, those sponsors were to permanently lose their authority to oversee charter schools. Eight months later, with this year’s evaluations about to begin again, the Ohio Depa

Baltimore teachers launch first-ever campaign to stem tide of enrollment decline - Baltimore Sun

by mike simpson / 11h

Baltimore teachers launch first-ever campaign to stem tide of enrollment decline - Baltimore Sun : Baltimore teachers launch first-ever campaign to stem tide of enrollment decline aced with a shrinking student population and decreased state funding, Baltimore teachers are launching a city-wide enrollment drive. The teachers union has enlisted its members for a five-week campaign starting Monday e

Indiana Christian school at center of LGBT voucher debate - ABC News

by mike simpson / 11h

Indiana Christian school at center of LGBT voucher debate - ABC News : Indiana Christian school at center of LGBT voucher debate The Lighthouse Christian Academy promises to provide an exemplary education, a caring atmosphere and service to God — but not for everyone. The school says in its admissions brochure that it reserves the right to deny admission to LGBT students because their lifestyle i

Oregon ranked best in country for educating homeless students | OregonLive.com

by mike simpson / 11h

Oregon ranked best in country for educating homeless students | OregonLive.com : Oregon ranked best in country for educating homeless students Homeless children in Oregon have a better chance of succeeding in school than their counterparts in any other state, according to a new ranking released Friday. The report by the New York City-based Institute for Children, Poverty and Homelessness found th

National Charter School Teacher of the Year: “I realized that my education had occurred within a racist system that privileged Eurocentric achievements” - The Hechinger Report

by mike simpson / 11h

TEACHER VOICE: “I realized that my education had occurred within a racist system that privileged Eurocentric achievements” - The Hechinger Report : TEACHER VOICE: “I realized that my education had occurred within a racist system that privileged Eurocentric achievements” National Teacher of the Year’s Boston-area battle to level the playing field Sydney Chaffee: National Charter School Teacher of

Rush Hour Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

by mike simpson / 12h

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all : Rush Hour Diane Ravitch's blog A site to discuss better education for all Gary Rubinstein: What TFA Tells New Recruits About “the System” 2 by dianeravitch / 20min Gary Rubinstein received a training film that Teach for America uses to prepare new recruits during their five-week preparation period for teaching. He found it very d

Managing Crowds: ClassDojo (Part 2) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

by mike simpson / 12h

Managing Crowds: ClassDojo (Part 2) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice : Managing Crowds: ClassDojo (Part 2) ClassDojo is a recently-developed software platform (2011) that, according to the founders of the company, is used in 90 percent of schools in the U.S (see here ). In the past five years, however, ClassDojo has become much more than a free digital tool to motivate studen

NYC Educator: FMPR Stands Tall in the Bronx

by mike simpson / 13h

NYC Educator: FMPR Stands Tall in the Bronx : FMPR Stands Tall in the Bronx If you've been following the news about Puerto Rico, even a little bit, you know it's in an economic mess. They're 72 billion dollars in debt, and controlled by a board that pretty much doesn't give a crap about the people who live there. Pensions have been eliminated for most public workers. Though teachers have somehow

A Charter School Violates Student Privacy to Shame Parents Into Volunteering

by mike simpson / 13h

A Charter School Violates Student Privacy to Shame Parents Into Volunteering : A Charter School Violates Student Privacy to Shame Parents Into Volunteering When work is required, it’s not voluntary. It’s wrong and unlawful to punish a child for what his or her parents can’t or won’t do. ” – Hilary Hammell, Public Advocates attorney In return for their receipt of public funding, charter organizati

Badass Teachers Association: The Role of a School Board Member by Gregory Sampson

by mike simpson / 13h

Badass Teachers Association: The Role of a School Board Member by Gregory Sampson : The Role of a School Board Member by Gregory Sampson Stone Eggs: Thoughts about world events, education, and theology Originally Posted at: http://stoneeggs.blogspot.com/2017/06/the-role-of-school-board-member.html The Role of a School Board Member This morning brings news from California that a school board membe

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Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 6/18/17

by mike simpson / 1d

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 6/18/17 Featured Post Florida leads the states who are testing worksite charter schools for company kids Rethinking the parent-teacher conference: Meeting more often, working as a team - The

Seattle educators demand justice for Charleena Lyles; pledge to rally and wear “Black Lives Matter” shirts to school on Tuesday

Image may contain: 1 person, smiling, standing, text and outdoor

Seattle educators demand justice for Charleena Lyles; pledge to wear “Black Lives Matter” shirts to school on Tuesday, join 5pm rally

Charleena, a pregnant mother of four, was shot and killed by Seattle police in front of her kids
Educators say a Seattle Public Schools parent was killed & they will stand by her family
Some 3,000 teachers wore Black Lives Matter shirts on Oct. 19^th—now they will wear them to school for Charleena.

What/Where: Seattle teachers and educators will wear Black Lives Matter shirts to A vigil for Charleena Lyles, who was shot and killed Sunday.

school, hold lunchtime speak-outs, and rally at 5pm at Magnuson Park. Then Educators will march to a 6pm press conference at the Brettler Family Place apartments where Charleena lived: 6850 62^nd Ave NE, Seattle, WA 98115.

When: Tuesday June 20^th, 5:00pm educator rally, march to 6pm press conference with Charleena’s family.

Who: All Seattle teachers, educators, and families are being encouraged to wear the Black Lives Matter shirts on Tuesday in solidarity with Charleena’s children and family.

RSVP on the Facebook event page now!

Seattle, WA—On Sunday, June 18th, Charleena Lyles, a pregnant mother of four, was killed by Seattle police after she called them to her home for help. Police alleged she had a knife. She was killed in front of her kids, who had to be carried over her body to leave the apartment. Chrleena had children who attended two different Seattle Public Elementary Schools. Educators from those schools have been contacted

“As a Seattle Public Schools parent, Charleena Lyles was part of our education family,” said Garfield High School teacher Jesse Hagopian. “We are wearing Black Lives Matter shirts to school on Tuesday to show her children and her family that we grieve with them, we support them, and we will stand with them in Solidarity.”

Earlier this school year on October 19th, some 3,000 educators wore shirts to school that said, “Black Lives Matter: We Stand Together.” Hundreds is families and students did too. Many of the shirts also included the message “#SayHerName,” a campaign to raise awareness about the often invisible state violence and assault of women in our country.

On Tuesday, June 20th we are calling on all educators throughout Seattle to put those Black Lives Matter t-shirts back on, have a lunch time photo and speak out in every school, and then join an after school rally. Hamilton Middle School teacher Sarah Arvey, one of the organizers of the October Black Lives Matter At School event, said, “Charleena’s death impacts the entire Seattle Public Schools community. We wore the Black Lives Matter shirts in October that read, ‘We Stand together.’ Well, now it’s time to stand to stand together for a Black family that has been torn apart.”

The educator rally for justice for Image result for black lives matter at school

Charleena Lyles will start at 5pm in Magnuson park and then march to the 6pm press conference being held by Charleena’s family.

American Teachers Slam Israel’s Classroom Ban On Political Opinions – The Forward

American Teachers Slam Israel’s Classroom Ban On Political Opinions – The Forward:

American Teachers Slam Israel’s Classroom Ban On Political Opinions

NEW YORK (JTA) — The heads of the American Federation of Teachers and the American Association of University Professors jointly condemned a law proposed by Israel’s education minister that would bar the expression of political views in classrooms.

“The ‘code of ethics’ that the government of Israel is considering for the country’s academic institutions is a threat not only to academic freedom in Israel, but to Israel’s standing as a democracy,” said AFT President Randi Weingarten and AAUP President Rudy Fichtenbaum in a joint statement Monday. Both Weingarten and Fichtenbaum are Jewish.

The proposed code of ethics for institutes of higher education, spearheaded by Israel’s education minister, Naftali Bennett, has spurred a fierce debate in Israel about the role of politics in the classroom. An organization of Israel’s university chiefs has rejected the code as governmental overreach.

Weingarten and Fichtenbaum’s statement noted that they oppose the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel but believe any group has the right to free speech.

“While we have opposed efforts to boycott Israeli universities, we also oppose stifling discussion of boycott proposals,” they wrote. “No one convinces anyone of the merits of their position by preventing free speech.”

American Teachers Slam Israel’s Classroom Ban On Political Opinions – The Forward:

CURMUDGUCATION: PA: Islamophobes, Real Estate, and Scam Artists

CURMUDGUCATION: PA: Islamophobes, Real Estate, and Scam Artists:

PA: Islamophobes, Real Estate, and Scam Artists

I'll tell you right up front that this story raises more questions than it answers, but many of them are questions about just what comes through the door when you invite privatization in, and others are questions about how people react when they discover what an open door actually means.

The New Castle Youth Development Center was set up in about 1967 as a facility for dealing with "felonious youth." It was on almost 150 acres in rural Shenango Township, and it didn't attract a lot of attention (except for that time, back in the 1987-1988 season when its high school won the Western PA basketball championship).

In 2013, the state announced that the facility was closing. There were reasons given, but the math was pretty obvious. 210 employees. 100 beds. $19.4 million annual budget. 31 youths being held there. The end came quickly and local folks kicked, but the state-- which owned the facility-- was unmoved.

The state's intent was to sell the facility, but like many starry-eyed investment-minded homeowners, the state didn't read the market for fifty-year-old juvenile justice facilities in the middle of nowhere very well. They set an asking price of four million. Absolutely nobody bid. The property sat there, presumably getting no more attractive, the state's aspirations decreasing. A local coalition looked at buying the place with an eye to some sort of private-public partnership develop thing. That didn't happen, either.

Finally, this year, three bids came in. The top bid was $400,000, and the state said, "Sold!!"

And then local folks found out who the buyers were.

The top bid came from Hira Educational Services of North America, a New Jersey educational consulting group. That specializes in consulting work with Islamic schools. They look like a typical CURMUDGUCATION: PA: Islamophobes, Real Estate, and Scam Artists:

The Best Way to Thank Your Child's Teacher - Teacher Habits

The Best Way to Thank Your Child's Teacher - Teacher Habits:

The Best Way to Thank Your Child’s Teacher

School is out for the year in most places. Teachers are sleeping in. Parents have arranged for child care. Students are spinning fidgets or playing video games or getting in my way at the zoo (I don’t really know what students do with their free time anymore. I used to watch Matlock in the summer). Many teachers received gifts from the parents of their students during that last week of school. I saw them on Facebook, and I don’t know a single teacher who doesn’t greatly appreciate them. In a world where genuine appreciation is as rare as political bipartisanship, even a token thank you stands out.

Gift cards, coffee mugs, thematic baskets, chocolate, and thank you cards are all great, but there is one way parents can thank their children’s teachers that beats them all. Few teachers receive this gift, even though it costs nothing, takes only a few minutes to put together, has lasting positive effects, and you can do it at any point of the school year, even now, when it’s over.

What is this wonderful, simple gift?

An email to the teacher’s principal.

Teachers Get Evaluated

Many parents may not be aware that teachers are evaluated yearly now. This is a relatively new thing, at least in practice. While there have always been teacher evaluation systems, the old ones were mostly formalities. The principal would let the teacher know he was coming, the teacher would teach, the principal would fill out a quick form that usually lacked teeth, and they’d all go on their merry ways.

Then, for lots of mostly bad reasons, politicians decided teachers were the main cause of society’s failures. They decided to weed out the bad ones. To do that, they needed some kind of system to identify the bad The Best Way to Thank Your Child's Teacher - Teacher Habits:

NYC Public School Parents: Arne Duncan still arguing for mayoral control -- when the trend is in the opposite direction

NYC Public School Parents: Arne Duncan still arguing for mayoral control -- when the trend is in the opposite direction:

Arne Duncan still arguing for mayoral control -- when the trend is in the opposite direction

In the Sunday Daily News , former Secretary of Education Arne Duncan argued for the extension of Mayoral control. The official legislative session is supposed to end Wednesday and Mayoral control expires at the end of the month. Yet considering Arne's unpopular and controversial policies this probably is not the most effective endorsement. He wrote:

"Mayors who are in control of their schools are directly accountable for the success of those schools. Education becomes a key to the Mayors' success. To put it another way, parents are hard to fool and parents vote."

Really? This certainly is a change of tone from Duncan’s earlier condescending remarks that parents only opposed the Common Core standards after finding out that “their child isn’t as brilliant as they thought they were, and their school isn’t quite as good as they thought they were.”

If NYC parents are so hard to fool, one wonders why can't they have the right to elect a school board as voters do in most of the country?

Mayor de Blasio and Chancellor Farina have offered their own unconvincing arguments. The Mayor has said an era of “corruption and chaos” would return if mayoral control is not renewed:

“Unfortunately a lot of chaos went with that. A lot of corruption went with that. A lot of patronage ... a lot of people went to jail, we’ve got to make sure we never go back to those days.”

Chancellor Farina’s hand-wringing is even more extreme:

Managers, appointed by the local school boards, inflated the price of contracts to generate lucrative kickbacks that took money directly away from NYC Public School Parents: Arne Duncan still arguing for mayoral control -- when the trend is in the opposite direction:

Image result for big education ape duncan

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Monday, June 19, 2017

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 6/19/17

A Charter School Violates Student Privacy to Shame Parents Into Volunteering

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