CURMUDGUCATION: ICYMI: Hello, April Edition (4/7)

CURMUDGUCATION: ICYMI: Hello, April Edition (4/7)

ICYMI: Hello, April Edition (4/7)

It's practically like spring here in Northwest PA, but I still have some-- well, many-- choice items to share this week. Remember, these writers depend on you to boost their work, so if something here speaks to you, help push it out into the world!

I Asked USED Three Questions

Jeff Bryant just had three questions for the Betsy DeVos Department of Education, but they "created havoc" for the staff.

Fact-Checking DeVos's $5 Billion Tweet    

DeVos tweeted that her new voucher plan will not take any money from public education. Valerie Strauss fact checks that assertion.

A Truckload of Fraud-hopping

The indispensable Mercedes Schneider tries to run down all the problems facing the New Beginnings School Foundation.

21 States Vs. DeVos 

21 states are trying to crack down on student loan companies; the Department of Education has quietly started to stand in their way.

NC School Supply Sham   

NC wants to give $400 to each teacher for classroom supplies. Well, no. Not really.

Every Incident of a Mishandled Gun in School

Gabby Giffords' website has compiled this sobering list of in-school gun mishaps, from accidental firings to guns stripped from teachers by students who were being disciplined.

State Tosses Out MCAS Question on Underground Railroad

Massachusetts enters the annals of bone-headed test questions with this bit of racist idiocy.

They Had It Coming   

You probably didn't miss this, but just in case, here's the article about the college admissions scandal that you need to read. Loaded with sharp insights and instantly quotable, this is a great piece of work by Caitlin Flanagan.

The Real Motive Behind Gov. Bill Lee's Voucher Plan

Bill Smith in Tennessee peels back the layers of anti-public ed nonsense behind Lee's voucher plan.

2 Students Accused of Crashing School Wi-Fi To Avoid Tests 

Example #43,276 of why running your whole school over a computer network might not be a great idea. On the other hand, if you're looking for signs of ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit among students, well, here ya go.

What To Do With Cafeteria Waste

Here's a good idea you probably ought to be doing in your school. Read about a school that packages its leftovers and sends them home to families in need.

Gunfire  

Short. Not sweet.

The Unfair Way These Democrats Will Lose on Schools in 2020   

A look at how the charter school landscape has shifted under the feet of some prominent Democrats.

Defining "Educator" During a Teacher Shortage and the Privatization of Public Education 

Nancy Bailey takes a look at how redefining the term has become a useful tool of corporate reform.

The Cure for Boring Curriculum

Nancy Flanagan looks at a recent study of boredom in school. Direct from the "you could have saved a bunch of money and just asked teachers" file.

Teaching Intolerance

Jose Luis Vilson, on seeing one of NYC's infamous out and about.

LA Times VAM Reporters-- Where Are They Now    

Remember those reporters who just had to compute and publish teachers' VAM scores? Audrey Amrein-Beardsley not only remembers them, but she knows what they're up to these days.

CURMUDGUCATION: ICYMI: Hello, April Edition (4/7)

Don't Be Fooled By This Proposal To End Testing

50by Peter Greene / 21h

Tom Vander Ark has a long and checkered past in the ed reform biz , and he is ready to cash in on the next big thing (he's been ready for a while), which is why we find him at Forbes proposing an end to standardized testing . Just to be clear from the jump-- that's not a good thing. The article comes in two parts-- a pretty good take-down of the Big Standardized Test, and a pretty weak argument fo

APR 05

MO: Bipartisan Fight Against Charter Expansion

21by Peter Greene / 1d

Rep. Rebecca Roeber (R) of Lee's Summit, Missouri has proposed a bill to expand charter reach ; the state has basically confined charter schools to the Kansas City and St. Louis districts. But response to the bill has not been exactly a slam dunk. The bill would allow charters to open in communities of greater than 30,000 people or an accredited-without-provisions school district. The feelings abo

APR 04

College Board's AP Rate Hike Backlash

58by Peter Greene / 3d

The College Board, the company behind the dreaded SAT and popular AP courses has made changes to the registration for the AP exams . AP courses and the exams that go with them are supposed to provide students with a leg up on college applications. Though the changes, which amount to an increase in cost, were announced over a month ago, they now add to the conversation the nation is suddenly havin

APR 02

MT: Meat Widgets And Personalized Learning

22by Peter Greene / 4d

In Montana, the connection between Personalized [sic] Learning and vocational training has been made pretty explicit. There, some leaders are throwing support to PL not because it would be good for students or would solve educational problems, but because it would solve workforce development problem s. Solving workforce shortages one widget at a time. State Rep. Llew Jones, R-Conrad, recently show

APR 01

Accountability Beyond the Bubble

by Peter Greene / 5d

Accountability has always been an educational buzzword, and the modern reformy era has put accountability on a high, if somewhat cockeyed pedestal. Testing? Not testing? Running test scores through models soaked in magic VAM sauce? Regular school visits, inspections and audits? Administrators and school boards that actually pay attention? A big fat stack of state and federal regulations and report

MAR 31

DeVos, Class Size, and the Reformistan Bubble

200+by Peter Greene / 6d

I almost feel sorry for Betsy DeVos. Her two big news breaks this week are not entirely her fault. First, there's the Special Olympics fiasco. It appears that the budget office made the hugely unpopular cut, and DeVos stood by it like a good soldier, right until Donald Trump threw her under the bus and canceled the cuts (that were never going to get past Congress). But now DeVos is the one who get

ICYMI: Snowy Relapse Edition (3/31)

by Peter Greene / 6d

The weather outside is, in fact, frightful. So here's a list of things to read inside today. Teen Boys Ranked Their Female Classmates Based On Looks, And The Girls Weren't Having It It's a great story, in part because it's about working the issue out, not just getting somebody in trouble. Small District Reaps Big Profits With Chart Fees There are a lot of things wrong with California's charter sys

MAR 30

Is CTE Good News Or Bad News

30by Peter Greene / 8d

In the last two decades of education reform, a great deal of emphasis has been put on sending high school graduates to college. President Obama in his 2009 State of the Union address proclaimed that by 2020 America would " once again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world" (though he hedged that a bit by later saying simply that everyone would need some kind of post high sc

Squeezing the Clock

200+by Peter Greene / 8d

Put this on my list of Things I've Noticed Since Retiring From The Classroom. In a teaching day, every single second counts. Teachers squeeze the clock till it screams. Five minutes left in the period? Just enough time to review the main concept from yesterday. Three minutes between classes? More than enough time to pee and swing by the office to pick up my mail. Twenty-five minute lunch period? I

MAR 29

What Did We Learn From DeVos Hearings This Week?

400+by Peter Greene / 8d

So during Betsy DeVos's terrible horrible no-good very bad week of hearings, what did we learn? Opposition Parties Matter This is the third budget in which DeVos tried to zero out Special Olympics. The third. So why so much fuss this time around? Perhaps because somebody made her go before Congress and explain herself (or not) in some exchanges that made for insta-viral hits. Just imagine what it

MAR 28

What To Look For In A Teacher School

38by Peter Greene / 10d

Robert Pondiscio just reviewed a new NCTQ book for high school students about how to become a teacher. I haven't seen the book, so I'm in no position to comment on it, but it does remind me that we don't spend nearly enough time talking about teacher prep, not from a policy point of view, but the point of view of high school students who want to end up teaching some day. I am not the person to co

MAR 26

The Red Flags In Kamala Harris's Pay Raise Proposal

50by Peter Greene / 11d

I was so determined not to get into the 2020 election this early, dammit. But the Kamala Harris teacher pay raise proposal hit my screen this morning, and there I was on twitter. I've addressed the larger concerns with the proposal here , but there are other concerns that are less interesting to the Forbes audience. When I read the Harris op-ed in the Washington Post, I thought, "Hmmm. Well...." W

Education Scholarship Tax Credits and Undercover Boss: Feeling Good While Fixing Nothing

48by Peter Greene / 11d

You remember Undercover Boss. The mostly-reality show shows a high-level executive putting on a disguise and going out into the trenches of the company. There, they'll meet real employees--often employees with touching hard luck 

CURMUDGUCATION - http://curmudgucation.blogspot.com/

The College Cheating Scheme and the Broken Mirror of Philanthropy | Schott Foundation for Public Education

The College Cheating Scheme and the Broken Mirror of Philanthropy | Schott Foundation for Public Education

The College Cheating Scheme and the Broken Mirror of Philanthropy

You would be hard-pressed to pick up a newspaper, scroll through an online media platform, or check social media without being bombarded with stories on the U.S. college admissions scandal. It’s been fodder for daytime and late-night television, grist for comedic satire, and a source of anger and frustration.

For millions of students who have gone out of their way to prove, often to a skeptical and disbelieving audience, that they earned their spot on campus, the scandal is a hard slap in the face. While some buy their way into college, others—especially students of color—have paid in blood, sweat, and tears.

Many people are wondering how those with so much would work so hard to game a system to which they were already advantaged. Yet we see this phenomenon playing out every day in many sectors, including the one in which I work—philanthropy.

Often, the people who enter philanthropy do so to help others. They espouse lofty goals of wanting to advance economic, racial, social, and climate justice. Here’s the problem: funders, like many others, often fail to see how their own behavior contributes to injustice. They often fail to do their own inner work. Most of the time they’re only comfortable with change that doesn’t compromise their positions of power.

Those managing philanthropic resources, including those who determine the process for accessing those resources, all too often lack deep relationships with the communities closest to the pain of social, racial, and economic isolation. This is evident when funders tell the community what it needs rather than listening to the community and acting on its recommendations.

While acting as good stewards of resources, funders can become gatekeepers of wealth—wealth accumulated off the backs of Indigenous and enslaved people, and their descendants. The college cheating scandal is disappointing—but it is just the latest CONTINUE READING: The College Cheating Scheme and the Broken Mirror of Philanthropy | Schott Foundation for Public Education

Dana Goldstein: Is the U.S. a Democracy? A Social Studies Battle Turns on the Nation’s Values - The New York Times

Is the U.S. a Democracy? A Social Studies Battle Turns on the Nation’s Values - The New York Times

Is the U.S. a Democracy? A Social Studies Battle Turns on the Nation’s Values
Michigan spent five years debating how to teach American history. One of the biggest questions was how to describe the nation’s government.

LANSING, Mich. — Bruising political fights are usual business in Becky Debowski’s eighth-grade social studies classroom. From a model Constitutional Convention to a bare-knuckle debate in Congress over slavery, she regularly has students assume roles of partisans throughout American history, like Abraham Lincoln and John C. Calhoun.

After the exercises, the class comes back together to debate whether the nation lived up to what the state of Michigan calls “core democratic values,” such as equality, liberty and diversity.

For decades, the values have been the heart of the state learning standards in social studies, a doorstop of a document that guides what teachers of history, civics, economics and geography cover in their lesson plans.

“I’m really proud of my students,” Ms. Debowski said. “They can handle the complexity.” So she was angry last year when she learned of a proposed revision of the state standards, in which the word “democratic” was dropped from “core democratic values,” and the use of the word “democracy” was reduced.

The changes were made after a group of prominent conservatives helped revise the standards. They drew attention to a long-simmering debate over whether “republic” is a better term than “democracy” to describe the American form of government.

That the two sides in that tussle tend to fall along party lines, each preferring the term that resembles their party name, plays no small part in the debate. But members of the conservative group also brought to the table the argument that K-12 social studies should be based on a close, originalist reading of the United States’ founding documents.

They contended that the curriculum ought to focus more on the nation’s triumphs than its sins. And they pushed for revisions that eliminated “climate change,” “Roe v. Wade” and references to gay and lesbian civil rights.

After a local publication, Bridge Magazine, reported the changes, the CONTINUE READING: Is the U.S. a Democracy? A Social Studies Battle Turns on the Nation’s Values - The New York Times

Chaz's School Daze: Long Island Students Continue To "Opt Out"

Chaz's School Daze: Long Island Students Continue To "Opt Out"

Long Island Students Continue To "Opt Out"

The New York State Education Department (NYSED) had hoped that by eliminating the time limit and to make the high-stakes tests shorter, more students would take the tests.  However, when it came to Long Island, a hotbed of the "opt out" movement, almost half of the students (45%) refused to take the State English Language Arts test.

On Long Island the demographics continues to show that the mainly White, middle class school districts have the highest "opt out" rates, while the majority poor and minority (Blacks and Latinos) school districts have the lowest "opt out" rates.  Interestingly, the high income and East Asian school districts in Nassau County also has relatively low "opt out" rates.  This is probably because East Asian parents support testing and send their children to after-school academic programs and Saturday school.

The table below shows the top school districts with the highest "opt out" rates.

School District............................"Opt Out"  

Comsewoque................................85.8%
Rocky Point...................................79.4%
Shoreham-Wading River................77.0%
Patchogue-Medford.......................75.9% 
Bayport-Blupoint..........................73.8% 
Sayville.......................................72.8%
East Islip.....................................71.4% 
Greenport....................................71.4%
Lindenhurst..................................69.6%
Eastport-South Manor...................68.8% 
Malverine.....................................68.0% 
Lynnbrook....................................68.0%
Bellmore-Merrick..........................67.1%
Miller Place...................................66.1%
Levittown.....................................63.0%


By contrast, here are the school districts with the lowest "opt out" CONTINUE READING: Chaz's School Daze: Long Island Students Continue To "Opt Out"

New Beginnings Charter CEO Under Investigation for Grade Changes, Unapproved Contract, Forged Docs to Cover Tracks | deutsch29

New Beginnings Charter CEO Under Investigation for Grade Changes, Unapproved Contract, Forged Docs to Cover Tracks | deutsch29

New Beginnings Charter CEO Under Investigation for Grade Changes, Unapproved Contract, Forged Docs to Cover Tracks

The New Beginnings Schools Foundation (NBSF), which operates three charter schools in New Orleans: Pierre Capdau (preK – 8), Medard Nelson (preK – 8), and John F. Kennedy High School (9 – 12).

On April 04, 2019, the NBSF board issued the following statement for parents on its website:

April 4, 2019

Dear NBSF Families,

The Board of Directors of New Beginnings Schools Foundation takes seriously the recent allegations that have been made against our administration and staff. In light of these actions, and out of an abundance of caution, we are taking decisive action. We have retained Adams and Reese to conduct an independent review of these allegations. Effective immediately, and for the duration of this investigation, Michelle Blouin-Williams will be on paid leave, and the executive team at New Beginnings will jointly lead the organization until the independent investigation is completed. This will ensure a smooth transition of responsibilities and provide our staff, families, and students with the stability they deserve. Finally, we have been in regular contact with the Orleans Parish School Board and thank Superintendent Henderson Lewis Jr. and his team for their wise counsel and support. The Board of Directors looks forward to the results of the independent review and will continue our commitment to the teachers, students, and families and ultimately to our mission of providing an excellent education for every student in our schools.

In partnership,

NBSF Board of Directors

Now, there’s a lot to unpack.

Let’s get to it.

On March 22, 2019, the Lens published a piece, entitled, “F to D Grade Changes at Kennedy High School Are Suspicious, Former Administrator Says.”

In short, in January 2019, the NBSF data director, Runell King, noticed that some CONTINUE READING: New Beginnings Charter CEO Under Investigation for Grade Changes, Unapproved Contract, Forged Docs to Cover Tracks | deutsch29

Apartheid Education and Segrenomics | tultican

Apartheid Education and Segrenomics | tultican

Apartheid Education and Segrenomics

By T. Ultican 4/7/2019

Noliwe Rooks new book Cutting School: Privatization, Segregation and the End of Public Education, her fourth, is a commanding account of the century’s long trend toward under-educating America’s Black and Brown children. Rooks is Director of American Studies at Cornell University where she is a Professor in Africana Studies and Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. The book is an illuminating peek inside the heart-breaking education experience of black and brown families.

Professor Noliwe Rooks

Well meaning white liberals are often blind to the true nature of the injustices they are inclined to fight. Here, a Black scholar elucidates the history of Black and Brown education in ways that edify. I grew up in rural Idaho and never met an African-American until I was 17 years-old. I saw public education through the lens of my almost all white school. Big cultural events in my home were school performances, high school sports and rodeos.  The few Mexican kids in our school were popular so I thought that was solid evidence that we were not racists. It was beyond my scope of understanding how different the American experience was for children being brutalized by racism. This book helps create that needed understanding.

Martin Luther King and his non-violent fight against racism absolutely moved my soul. However, I did not have a clue about how deep, vicious and sustained racist ideology was. I saw Bo Connor as an ignorant aberration not a representative of a widely held view. Most of all, it was not believable to me that people would purposely work to ensure that Black children were not educated even if they did not want them in the same school with their own children. More unbelievable is that today Black and Brown children are as segregated as they were in the 1970’s and their schools are monetized.

This book also answers the question, “Why are Black and Brown communities so vulnerable to the billionaire funded destroy public education (DPE) movement?”

Segrenomics

Rooks introduction begins by quoting John F. Kennedy,

“Simple justice requires that public funds, to which all taxpayers of all races contribute, not be spent in any fashion which encourages, entrenches, subsidizes, or results in … discrimination.”

She tells us that to lift all children up requires racial and economic integration and encourages us to educate poor students with wealthy students; not falling for the separate but equal fallacy. Unfortunately, today, poor children experience a CONTINUE READING: Apartheid Education and Segrenomics | tultican