Big Education Ape

Saturday, July 15, 2017

Catch up with CURMUDGUCATION Rural Schools and Phauxlanthropy

Catch up with CURMUDGUCATION

9by Peter Greene / 1h

Over at Philanthropy Roundtable, Andy Smarick has contributed a piece entitled "Don't Forget Rural Schools." which immediately attracted my attention because forgetting rural schools is something that pretty much everybody does, except for those of us who live and work in those areas. While I disagree with some of what Smarick has to say, he also raises some important points that folks on all side

YESTERDAY

Librarians Take Reading Level Stand

300+by Peter Greene / 1d

One of the weird little sideshows of modern ed reform has been an unhealthy preoccupation with reading levels. What lots of folks heard Common Core say was that we had to lock students in to their lexile reading score level (whether the Core said exactly that or not is another debate, That in turn has triggered a resurgence in programs like Renaissance Learning's dreadful Accelerated Reader incent

JUL 13

NY: Warm Bodies for Charters

29by Peter Greene / 1d

Travel with me to a board meeting at Giant Imaginary Hospital. Board Member #1: We are still unable to fill several openings in the surgical department. What shall we do? Board Member #2: We'll just have to offer a more competitive package, with better pay and better perks. I mean, that's how the free market works, right? Board Member #3: I have a better idea. Let's just promote Sven. Board Member

A Very Special Busted Pencils

12by Peter Greene / 1d

I find it extraordinary difficult to find time to take in podcasts. I'm a text guy; I want to consume information through words that I see (I say very Awful Things when a news site tries to make me watch a video). But there are two education podcasts that I try to listen to regularly. Have You Heard I've plugged before, but I am also a fan of BustED Pencils, a podcast that has been around for a fe

JUL 12

Collective Freedom

38by Peter Greene / 3d

The tension between individual freedom and collective action, between what the individual wants and what the community wants, between the needs of the many and the needs of the few-- that tension has been with us since Day One. Puritans came here to declare,"This will be a place where people are free to worship as they please-- as long as it's a form of worship we agree with." Southern colonists a

JUL 10

Meet the New Boss

16by Peter Greene / 4d

If there was one thing that was going to be a hallmark of the Betsy DeVos Depatrment of Education, it was going to be their studious hands-off approach. Previous departments may have used all manner of extra-legislative legerdemain to impose their will on the states (Common Core arm-twisting, Race to the Top bribery, waiver-based extortion). ESSA was born out of bipartisan grumpiness over USED's l

What About Flat Earthers?

38by Peter Greene / 5d

This week the Denver Post ran an.... intriguing? unexpected? gob-smacking? piece about the Flat Earther community in the US , which is, for some reason, centered in Colorado. And these folks are committed. You might think that this is some sort of hipster irony thing, like the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster . But take a stroll through just one flat earther youtube channel-- Globebusters- -

JUL 09

ICYMI: Stuff To Read Edition (7/9)

28by Peter Greene / 6d

Yeah, I'm short a clever title this week, but I'm not short worthwhile pieces for you to read. Here we go. On Global Teacher Prize Winner Maggie MacDonnell and What Humility Looks Like Jose Luis Vilson talks to prize-winner MacDonnell, and we're all a little better for it. This will make you feel a little better about the work. Utica Charter School Allegedly Required Salary Tithe How about yet ano

JUL 08

What They Deserve

37by Peter Greene / 7d

Before we get started, let me be clear-- this is not ALL conservatives, and in many cases not ONLY conservatives. But there is a thread that runs through current aspects of conservatism that ties many issues, from education to health

CURMUDGUCATION:

California Can't Duck Hindu Students' Claim of Educational Bias

California Can't Duck Hindu Students' Claim of Educational Bias:

California Can’t Duck Hindu Students’ Claim of Educational Bias

Image result for California Can’t Duck Hindu Students

SAN FRANCISCO (CN) – A federal judge on Thursday refused to dismiss a lawsuit claiming California treats Hinduism unfavorably compared to other religions in its public education standards and framework.

In refusing to dismiss one of four claims against the state, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer cited a student’s letter detailing how sixth graders were divided into castes and told the unfair system was derived from Hinduism.

“[W]e know that social hierarchies have existed in all societies, so why is Hinduism singled out with such [a] negative portrayal?” the student asked in her letter, submitted as a public comment when the state was drafting new standards last year.

California Parents for the Equalization of Educational Materials, a group that promotes the accurate portrayal of Hinduism in schools, and three Hindu parents suing on behalf of their children filed their lawsuit in February.

They claim the state Board of Education adopted recommendations from an anti-Hindu group of history teachers called the South Asia Faculty Group when it drafted new education standards and frameworks in July 2016.

Breyer refused to dismiss a claim that the educational standards violate the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution, but he dismissed three other claims alleging violations of due process, free exercise of religion, and equal protection under the law.

“I’m pleased that the Establishment Clause claim has survived because it’s actually kind of the heart of what we’re fighting over,” plaintiffs’ attorney Glenn Katon said in an interview. “The California Can't Duck Hindu Students' Claim of Educational Bias:

McCleary: Changes for teachers, students in new schools budget plan | The News Tribune

McCleary: Changes for teachers, students in new schools budget plan | The News Tribune:

What teachers and students get out of the state’s school overhaul

Image result for mccleary washington education

Much of the discussion about Washington’s new K-12 school reform has focused on how it might affect taxpayers.

But the state’s plan to pour about $7.3 billion of new state money into public schools over the next four years will also bring big changes for teachers and students.

Among the changes planned: More money for special education, career and technical education and highly capable programs, and tutoring in high-poverty schools.

And, for teachers, a new minimum salary of $40,000 (up from $35,700), plus a mandatory 10 percent salary increase after five years on the job.

“This represents a huge change in how teachers are paid — probably the biggest change in 30 years,” said Rich Wood, a spokesman for the statewide teachers union, about the plan Gov. Jay Inslee signed into law earlier this month.

“There’s still more work to do, but certainly it is progress, no doubt about it.”

Overall, the state is significantly increasing what it pays to hire teachers and other school employees as part of its effort to comply with a court order to fix how it pays for schools.

In the McCleary case, the state Supreme Court said Washington needs to stop relying on local school district property tax levies to pay teachers, school administrators and classified staff.

For years, school districts have used their local levies to make up the difference between what the state pays and what it actually costs to hire teachers and other employees.

To help move the full cost of salaries to the state budget, the Legislature recently approved a new system that will allocate an average of at least $64,000 per teacher. Previously, the state allocated an average of about $54,000 per teacher.

The state also will give school districts a new average allocation of at least $95,000 per administrator and nearly $46,000 for classified staff — up from an average of $61,752 for administrators and $33,300 for classified staff under the old system.

Those minimum allocations will be increased for school districts in areas with high property values. Districts with home values that exceed the statewide average will get an extra 6 percent, 12 percent or 18 percent, depending on the cost of local real estate.

“The regional factor is really important, recognizing the fact that the cost of living is higher McCleary: Changes for teachers, students in new schools budget plan | The News Tribune:

Pennsylvania Charter Schools - The Morning Call

Pennsylvania Charter Schools - The Morning Call:
Pennsylvania Charter Schools

My column Thursday pointed out some shortcomings of state House Bill 97, a purported charter school reform bill that has passed the House and the Senate in slightly different forms and now awaits House action to reconcile the differences.

As I wrote in the column, the bill has been heavily criticized by various statewide groups concerned with public education, because it doesn’t address some of the most serious problems with the state’s 20-year-old charter school law.

Among other things, reform groups want to change the funding formula so it reflects the actual cost of educating those students and want to make charter schools subject to the same financial, academic and ethic accountability standards that all public schools must follow.

One of the sources I looked at as I was writing the column was a report issued by state. Rep. James Roebuck, D-Philadelphia, Democratic chairman of the House Education Committee. It does a good job of laying out some of the problems with the current law and documenting the academic performances of charter and cyber charter schools.

Here’s an excerpt from the press release that accompanied release of the report.

“One highlight is an update on the performance of charter and cyber charter schools in Pennsylvania, including:

For 2015-16, based on a scale of 100, the average School Performance Profile, or SPP, score for traditional public schools was 70.3; for charter schools, 58.4; and for cyber charter schools, 50.9.
As was the case in 2012-13 and 2013-14, charter schools, particularly cyber charter schools, still performed academically worse than other traditional public schools. For the 2015-16 school year, 54 percent of traditional public schools had SPP scores at or above 70, while only 24 percent of brick-and-mortar charter schools had SPP scores at or above 70 in 2015-16.
Since the enactment of the charter school law in 1997, 38 charter and cyber charter schools have closed – with two more in process in Philadelphia -- or about 18 percent of all the charter and cyber charter schools opened in Pennsylvania.

If you’re interested in reading the entire report, you can find it here.

Pennsylvania Charter Schools - The Morning Call:

DeVos’ New Cause: The Rights of Those Accused of Raping Women on Campus | Alternet

DeVos’ New Cause: The Rights of Those Accused of Raping Women on Campus | Alternet:

DeVos’ New Cause: The Rights of Those Accused of Raping Women on Campus
The alleged perpetrators of rape, according to the Trump administration, are the real victims.

DeVos’ world gets stranger by the day.

After hearing from rape victims, DeVos and her top civil rights official have decided to champion the rights of those accused of raping the women.

The New York Times calls this “a new look” at the issue of campus rape.

Indeed.

The letters have come into her office by the hundreds, heartfelt missives from college students, mostly men, who had been accused of rape or sexual assault. Some had lost scholarships. Some had been expelled. A mother stumbled upon her son trying to take his own life, recalled Candice E. Jackson, the top civil rights official at the Department of Education.

“Listening to her talk about walking in and finding him in the middle of trying to kill himself because his life and his future were gone, and he was forever branded a rapist — that’s haunting,” said Ms. Jackson, describing a meeting with the mother of a young man who had been accused of sexual assault three months after his first sexual encounter.

The young man, who maintained he was innocent, had hoped to become a doctor.

In recent years, on campus after campus, from the University of Virginia to Columbia University, from Duke to Stanford, higher education has been roiled by high-profile cases of sexual assault accusations. Now Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is stepping into that maelstrom. On Thursday, she will meet in private with women who say they were assaulted, accused students and their families, advocates for both sides and higher education officials, the first step in a contentious effort to re-examine policies of President Barack Obama, who made expansive use of his powers to investigate the way universities and colleges handle sexual violence.

How university and college administrations have dealt with campus sexual DeVos’ New Cause: The Rights of Those Accused of Raping Women on Campus | Alternet:

Franken introduces bill to fight teacher shortage | Brainerd Dispatch

Franken introduces bill to fight teacher shortage | Brainerd Dispatch:

Franken introduces bill to fight teacher shortage

WASHINGTON—In what he called a major push to ensure children receive the best possible education, U.S. Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., introduced new legislation to address nationwide teacher shortages.

The Supporting Future Educators Act would help to prepare and retain outstanding teachers, increase teacher diversity and support communities and schools that are facing teacher shortages. Franken's bill would give schools in both rural and urban districts the tools to hire and support the qualified teachers they need, a news release from his office said Thursday.

"Last year, my office met with education leaders in every region of the state, and we heard time and again that teacher shortages not only hurt their ability to educate students, but also take a toll on them financially," said Franken, a member of the Senate Education Committee, in a news release. "Now, I believe that every child should have access to a world-class education—no matter where they live. But right now, there are too many communities that struggle to hire and retain qualified teachers. I'm going to be working to pass my bill into law so that we can get more teachers to enter and stay in the profession. We need to ensure that all children—in Minnesota and across the country—receive the high-quality education they deserve."

The Supporting Future Educators Act would support training for both new and current teachers, authorize the Education Department to create a national database to help teacher preparation programs better support their student teachers, and encourage an earlier start to pathways for becoming a teacher.

More specifically, the bill would:

Create a Strengthen-Our-Schools grant program—a portion of which would be specifically designated for addressing teacher shortage challenges in rural school Franken introduces bill to fight teacher shortage | Brainerd Dispatch:

Registration still open for 3rd annual Better Together: California Teachers Summit on July 28 - InlandEmpire.us

Registration still open for 3rd annual Better Together: California Teachers Summit on July 28 - InlandEmpire.us:

Registration still open for 3rd annual Better Together: California Teachers Summit on July 28

Palm Desert, CA – Registration is open for the third annual Better Together: California Teachers Summit, set for Friday, July 28 at Cal State San Bernardino, the CSUSB Palm Desert Campus and other venues throughout the state.

The free, all-day teachers summit will feature Jill Biden as the keynote speaker. The event is open to all California educators. Registration is now open and can be done online at the event web page: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/better-together-california-teachers-summit-at-csu-san-bernardino-tickets-33571688825.

“The Better Together: California Teachers Summit provides teachers in the Inland Empire the opportunity to meet and discuss the best practices for teaching, practices that have been tested in the experiences of teachers in our region,” said Todd Jennings, an assistant dean in CSUSB’s College of Education, which is hosting the event at the university. “The daily demands of teaching often leave teachers unable to share ideas and strategies with teachers not in their districts or schools. Better Together provides that opportunity to learn from each other in ways that benefit the region’s youth, and indeed our collective future.”

Jill BidenBiden, wife of former Vice President Joe Biden, is a lifelong educator who has taught at community colleges, a public high school and a psychiatric hospital for adolescents over her 30-year teaching career.

As Second Lady, she worked to highlight the importance of community colleges to America’s future while continuing to teach as a full-time English professor at a community college in Northern Virginia. With the February 2017 launch of the Biden Foundation, Biden and her husband will continue their commitment to public education.

“Dr. Biden is an inspiration for all California teachers,” said Leslee Milch of Carl E. Gilbert Elementary School in the Buena Park School District. “We can’t wait to hear her insights from the classroom and her vision to better support all of our students.”

The theme of this year’s summit is “Now More Than Ever,” which reflects the importance of bringing teachers together to listen and learn from one another. Sessions will focus on timely topics ranging from addressing bullying in the classroom to celebrating diversity to teaching students to be open-minded, critical thinkers.

By bringing California teachers together, the summit will empower teachers to support our students, protect our values as educators and set an example for the nation. Biden will speak at the headquarters site of Saint Mary’s College of California, and her remarks will be simulcast to 34 other sites across the state.

“We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Biden to campus,” said Christopher Sindt, dean of Saint Mary’s Kalmanovitz School of Education. “Over her three decades in education and during her time as Second Lady, Dr. Biden has served as a role model for teachers across the country.”

The Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities, the California State University and NewTeacher Center are organizing the third annual summit.

The event is free to all California pre-K-12 teachers, teacher candidates, school administrators and other educators.

For more information, visit www.cateacherssummit.com, and follow on Facebook and Twitter for updates.Registration still open for 3rd annual Better Together: California Teachers Summit on July 28 - InlandEmpire.us:

New indictment yields white collar crime, fraud, theft chargers for charter school companies | Jacksonville

New indictment yields white collar crime, fraud, theft chargers for charter school companies | Jacksonville News, Sports and Entertainment | jacksonville.com:

New indictment yields white collar crime, fraud, theft chargers for charter school companies

A charter school management company and two of its vendor companies face newly filed white collar crime charges, based on three indictments a grand jury handed down this week.

Newpoint Education, which had managed two San Jose charter schools in Jacksonville and 13 more charter schools across the state, is charged now with aggravated white collar crime and organized fraud. The new charges cover more counties in Florida than prior charges filed last year in the case.

Newpoint, a for-profit charter management company, was founded by Marcus May, who faces his own criminal charges along with an associate, Steven Kunkemoeller.

Authorities say May and Kunkemoeller funneled public money from the charter schools to themselves using the vendor companies Red Ignition Inc. and School Warehouse Inc., which they owned or had ties to. Those companies also face new white collar crime charges.

Betsy DeVos’ plan to sell out public schools is a Koch Brothers dream come true - Salon.com

Betsy DeVos’ plan to sell out public schools is a Koch Brothers dream come true - Salon.com:

Betsy DeVos’ plan to sell out public schools is a Koch Brothers dream come true
The plutocratic policies pushed by DeVos and the Kochs reject our country's one-for-all, all-for-one egalitarianism

Where are Charlie and Dave, Mrs. Koch’s two mischievous boys?

While the Koch brothers have stayed out of the national limelight since the White House was acquired by Trump and Company, that doesn’t mean the two right-wing billionaire brats are any less active in trying to supplant American democracy with their little laissez-fairyland plutocracy. In fact, in late June, you could’ve found them in one of their favorite hideaways with about 400 other uber-wealthy rascals, plotting some political hijinks for next year’s elections.

This is the Koch Boys’ Billionaire Club, which meets annually at some luxury resort to schmooze, strategize, hear a select group of GOP elected officials kiss up to them — then throw money into a big pot to finance the Koch’s planned takeover of America. It costs $100,000 per person just to attend the three-day Koch Fest, but participants are also expected to give generously to the brothers’ goal of dumping $400 million into buying the 2018 elections.

This year, the group gathered in Colorado Springs at the ultra-lux Broadmoor Hotel and resort, owned by the brothers’ billionaire pal and right-wing co-conspirator, Philip Anschutz. Among the recent political triumphs that these elites celebrated in the Broadmoor’s posh ballroom was the defeat this year of the Colorado tax hike to fix the states crumbling roads. After all, who needs adequate roads when you can arrive in private jets? This attitude of the Koch’s privileged cohorts explains why the public is shut out of these candid sessions. A staffer for the Koch confab hailed such no-tax, no-roads policies as a “renaissance of freedom.” For the privileged, that is — freedom to prosper at the expense of everyone else.

This self-absorbed cabal of spoiled plutocratic brats intends to abandon our nation’s core democratic principle of “We’re all in this together.” If they kill that uniting concept, they kill America itself. Their agenda includes killing such working class needs as minimum wage and Social Security and privatizing everything from health care to public education.

For example, Betsy DeVos and her hubby are part of the Koch brother’s coterie. They are lucky enough to have inherited a big chunk of the multibillion-dollar fortune that Daddy DeVos amassed through his shady Amway corporation. But what they’ve done with their Amway inheritance is certainly not the American Way.

The DeVos couple are pushing plutocratic policies that reject our country’s one-for-all, all-for-one egalitarianism. In particular, Betsy DeVos has spent years and millions of dollars Betsy DeVos’ plan to sell out public schools is a Koch Brothers dream come true - Salon.com:

Latest News and Comment from Education