CATCH UP WITH CURMUDGUCATION + ICYMI: Spousal Back To School Edition (8/18)

CURMUDGUCATION: ICYMI: Spousal Back To School Edition (8/18)

ICYMI: Spousal Back To School Edition (8/18)

This  week my wife heads back to it, with a new grade assignment. I am excited for her and putting on my supportive pants. In the meantime, here's some reading from the week. Remember to share the good stuff-- that's how the word gets  around!

S.C. teacher files class action lawsuit demanding pay for after school work, classroom supplies 

A long overdue step in fighting back in South Carolina. 

Why is union membership bleeding in the red teacher revolt states?   

Fred Klonsky and what may be a troubling, or obvious, trend.

Children Don't Need Adults To Give Their Play a Purpose    

Teacher Tom reminds us that the littles can manage their own play, thank you very much.

In God We Trust   

Kentucky decided to force schools to post "In God We Trust" in some prominent place. So one school framed a dollar bill...The AP reports.

The 1619 Project   

The New York Times has launched a massive project looking at slavery in America.

Data Leviathan 

Not specifically about education, but once again, if you want to see the future of the surveillance state, look to China.

Keeping the Why of Writing Instruction in Mind   

It's been too long since I passed along a Paul Thomas piece. Here's a thoughtful post about writing instruction.

Zuckerberg's 200 Year Old Mistake  

As the last of the Zuckerbooker ed reform package is washed away in New Jersey, I Love You But You're Going To Hell looks at who could have warned the Facebook chief that it wouldn't work (spoiler: everybody) and a historical antecedent for the failure.


CURMUDGUCATION: ICYMI: Spousal Back To School Edition (8/18)

CATCH UP WITH CURMUDGUCATION

AND DON'T FORGET PETER GREENE ON FORBES CLICK HERE 

Feed A Teacher For A Year

200+by Peter Greene / 1d

I get plenty of pitches--news releases from folks who want to help me come up with some content (and who frequently have never actually read what I write) and mostly I ignore them, but this one caught my attention because it involves free food for a teacher for a year. The company involved is Sun Basket , which touts itself as "the leading healthy eating service"-- another one of those outfits whe

AUG 15

The Problem With Comparisons In Education

24by Peter Greene / 3d

Which is the best movie: Ghostbusters , Singin' In The Rain , Casablanca , or Avengers: Endgame ? It depends, of course, on how we choose to compare them. Based on level of romance? On the happiest ending? Best dancing? Most money made? Best use of Sigourney Weaver? Criteria make all the difference. But it's not just the criteria; it's the problems with criteria that naturally emerge from the man

AUG 14

FL: Educational Hypocrisy On Display

21by Peter Greene / 4d

Oh, Florida. Maybe it was the principal who wasn't sure the Holocaust was a thing . Maybe it was the latest round of teaching mandates passed down, like the last minute mental health mandate. Or maybe he's just still cranky from his ongoing fight with Duval County Schools . But Florida's education czar Richard Corcoran has had enough . This guy. Florida school districts had better fall in line. Th

AUG 13

PA: Governor Puts Charters On Notice

200+by Peter Greene / 4d

It was not so long ago that Pennsylvania's Governor Tom Wolf made charter supporters sad by rejecting the claim that charters are public schools . Today, he took another step and put charters in PA on notice. At a news conference at a school in Allentown, Wolf said he would take executive action to change state regulations for charters, including tightening ethics standards. He also said he would

AUG 12

MI: Rural Charters, Warm Bodies, and the Effects of the Teacher "Shortage"

65by Peter Greene / 5d

St. Helen, Michigan , has its share of problems. Founded as a logging community, it's Up North in Michigan. It's at least near the interstate, but the population is under 3,000, with a median family income of $30,268. They do have an annual bluegill festival , and Charlton Heston spent part of his childhood there. On the other hand, they're Number Two on the Roadsnacks list of Worst Small Towns i

AUG 11

ICYMI: Just A Quiet Day Edition (8/11)

by Peter Greene / 6d

Buying office supplies. Fretting about getting up in the morning. School must be getting closer-- but not too close yet. Have a cup of whatever you have cups of to relax, and take in some of the education reading from the last week. Don't forget to share the good stuff. How much knowledge is necessary for comprehension? You need some background knowledge in order to get better at reading (regardle

AUG 10

Reed Hastings: Stars In Every Position

35by Peter Greene / 8d

We’re like a pro sports team, not a kid’s recreational team. Netflix leaders hire, develop and cut smartly, so we have stars in every position . That's Reed Hastings in a 2009 interview about his then-juggernaut business, Netflix. I came across it recently and, because Hastings has approached education and charter schools with the same business attitude, hoping to turn charter schools into a Netf

What Does "Personalized Learning" Even Mean?

90by Peter Greene / 8d

Personalized learning is all over the educational landscape these days, even though nobody can offer a clear and consistent explanation for what it might be. The field encompasses everyone from teachers designing more effective methods to businesses with a new edu-product to sell. Assuming for the moment that there is no solid, universal definition, let's consider the different aspects of instruc

AUG 09

Guest Post: Please Treat Teachers Like Dirt

400+by Peter Greene / 9d

Last week I posted a blog on Forbes.com about the Phi Delta Kappa annual report on education. This year it features a focus on teacher morale, and I pulled the quote " Tired of being treated like dirt. " A reader-- Stacey Miller Chester-- wrote a reply on Facebook I just love, because I'm a sucker for good analogies and metaphors, and so I'm reprinting it here, with her permission: May I be hones

AUG 08

Indian Hill, Free To Teach, And How To Bust A Union

38by Peter Greene / 9d

If you are a teacher in Pennsylvania, you have probably heard from the folks at Free To Teach (I'm sure there are at least two of them) about how much better your life could be without a union. Their most recent letter includes an example of a district where teachers are happily existing without any connection to the state or national unions. Free To Teach has been around for a while . It's an ope

Ed Reform vs. Democracy

100+by Peter Greene / 10d

It was not that long ago that I wrote a piece about how school choice, by shifting the locus of control for the education purse strings, tends to undermine democractic processes . After all, if only parents of school age children, or only 

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

PETER GREENE: It's A New School Year. What Should Be The Big Education Policy Issues?

It's A New School Year. What Should Be The Big Education Policy Issues?

It's A New School Year. What Should Be The Big Education Policy Issues?

It's the beginning of a new school year, and a good moment to take stock of the major policy issues, controversies and problems that we can expect to be (or ought to be) wrestling with in the coming year. Which issues are on the rise, which have lost a little steam and which should we be addressing?

Common Core

For years, the Common Core Standards were the hot button issue. Widespread pushback, from both left and right, changed that. The original Common Core dream was that every student in every school in every city in every state would be studying essentially the same things at roughly the same time. That dream is dead.

But the standards themselves live on. Some states have modified them lightly and given them an assumed name to hide under, but they're still there. Other states have promised to stamp them out, but it remains to be seen if they can really accomplish the task. Much of the discussion of standards is still held in plain sight, under the phrase "college and career ready." But on the school and classroom level, many teachers have long since adapted the standards to fit their own professional judgment.

The standards are still a presence in education, but not the hot-button issue they once were.

High Stakes Testing

High stakes standardized tests have been with us for a while, but the federal push for Common Core gave HST a tremendous boost. Education reform advocates leaned hard on the notion that test results could be used to make staffing and salary decisions for teachers, or even evaluate college teacher programs. None of that CONTINUE READING: It's A New School Year. What Should Be The Big Education Policy Issues?

Trump White House tried to stop immigrant kids from attending public schools – Raw Story

Trump White House tried to stop immigrant kids from attending public schools – Raw Story

Trump White House tried to stop immigrant kids from attending public schools

Led by President Donald Trump’s xenophobic top adviser Stephen Miller, the White House reportedly spent months attempting to devise a way to stop undocumented immigrant children from attending public schools in the United States.

According to Bloomberg, which first reported on the effort on Saturday, top Trump aides sought to hand states the “power to block undocumented immigrant children from enrolling in public schools.”

“Using children like this as political pawns is another low point for the Trump administration.”

—Randi Weingarten, American Federation of Teachers

Though the effort was eventually abandoned after Trump officials were “told repeatedly that any such effort ran afoul of a 1982 Supreme Court case guaranteeing access to public schools,” Bloomberg reported, “the consideration of denying hundreds of thousands of children access to education illustrates the breadth of the White House’s push to crack down on undocumented immigrants.”

News of the White House’s effort comes just days after the Trump administration unveiled a so-called “public charge” rule that aims to deny permanent residency—or green cards—to immigrants who have used public programs such as Medicaid or housing assistance.

The rule, which is set to take effect in October, sparked widespread outrage and legal action, with advocates warning the measure would CONTINUE READING: Trump White House tried to stop immigrant kids from attending public schools – Raw Story

Medley #15: A Poisoned Environment – A Side-Effect of Poverty | Live Long and Prosper

Medley #15: A Poisoned Environment – A Side-Effect of Poverty | Live Long and Prosper

Medley #15: A Poisoned Environment – A Side-Effect of Poverty

Let’s review.

Lead in the environment damages children…permanently. It lowers their school achievement, causes behavior and growth problems, and can increase criminal behavior.

Educational Researcher David C. Berliner discussed the impact of environmental toxins such as lead in his 2009 paper, Poverty and Potential: Out-of-School Factors and School Success. He wrote,

It is now understood that there is no safe level of lead in the human body, and that lead at any level has an impact on IQ. Small doses from paint on toys or in cosmetics have the power to subtly harm children. The present-day cut off for concern about toxic effects is usually a measured lead level of 10 micrograms per deciliter of blood (10 μg/dl). Anything higher than this is considered unsafe by the U.S. government. However, a five-year study of 172 children indicates that lead causes intellectual impairment even at much lower levels…

Now, in 2019, ten years later, we’re still discussing the damage that lead poisoning does to our children…and we’re still blaming the low achievement of lead-damaged children on schools, teachers, and parents through our reliance on test scores and our underfunding of those schools serving children who need the most help.

[The following is from the Environmental Protection Agency. I reccomend that CONTINUE READING: Medley #15: A Poisoned Environment – A Side-Effect of Poverty | Live Long and Prosper

NYC Educator: Blithering Baloney from Politico on MORE

NYC Educator: Blithering Baloney from Politico on MORE

Blithering Baloney from Politico on MORE

 was in Texas, heading toward a detention center when someone emailed me this piece from Politico. The headline blares, "Democratic Socialists look to take over New York's powerful labor unions." I found that pretty interesting. I'm not all that familiar with Democratic Socialists, but I know quite a bit about MORE, having run twice and won once with their backing.

The first time was all about making connections. People I respected wanted to make inroads into the state union,  None of those people are any longer affiliated with MORE, but they were then.  I ran around the whole state like a bloody lunatic trying to become Executive VP of NYSUT.

I got a lot of guidance and support from small locals in Long Island, but almost none whatsoever from what's now left of MORE. In fact, they argued against even trying, saying that winning brought a possibility of corruption. I can't really argue with that, but not trying to win brings a 100% likelihood of getting nothing done.

It was a few years later that a bunch of us, none of whom are now affiliated with MORE, decided we would make a run to win the UFT HIgh School Executive Board seats. It seemed less quixotic than the NYSUT run, perhaps even viable, so I was all in. We published and distributed a newsletter, at our own expense. (After the election, current MORE leadership appropriated the newsletter and rapidly allowed it to drop dead. Writing and distributing newsletters citywide is, you know, work.)

I was beyond thrilled when New Action offered to run with us. This was the element, I thought, that would bring us over the edge. The people currently associated with MORE argued against it. Would we compromise our principals by running with them? There was a vote, they lost, so we ran together and won the seats.

For the last three years I've been going to Executive Board meetings twice a month. A prominent member of what's left of MORE told me she'd be at every meeting. Actually, she showed up twice in three years, and didn't stay long either time. Others showed once, twice, but mostly not at all. One of our Executive Board members, who may or may not be CONTINUE READING: NYC Educator: Blithering Baloney from Politico on MORE

Chaz's School Daze: Chancellor Carranza's Cronies Grab Salary Raises As High As 35%

Chaz's School Daze: Chancellor Carranza's Cronies Grab Salary Raises As High As 35%

Chancellor Carranza's Cronies Grab Salary Raises As High As 35%

Chancellor Richard Carranza approved raises as high as 35% for his cronies while the teachers negotiated raises of a messily 2% this year.  How can the Chancellor justify such outrageous raises when he shortchanges school budgets by only funding 90% of their fair student funding?

Susan Edelman has an article that tells all and is a must read Here. The only question I have is that quoting Eric Nadelstern is questionable since he, as Deputy Chancellor under the infamous Joel Klein, implemented some of the more anti-teacher policies that still exist

What Chancellor Richard Carranza needs to do is eliminate the bloat at the DOE something which he has failed to do since taking charge.  In fact, he actually added an extra layer of Bureaucracy by appointing executive superintendents to oversee the 31 District superintendents.  Many of then political appointees from the Joel Klein/Carmen Farina days..

Chaz's School Daze: Chancellor Carranza's Cronies Grab Salary Raises As High As 35%

La. BESE Member Kira Orange Jones: Sloppy at Best; Deceptive at Worst. | deutsch29

La. BESE Member Kira Orange Jones: Sloppy at Best; Deceptive at Worst. | deutsch29

La. BESE Member Kira Orange Jones: Sloppy at Best; Deceptive at Worst.

On August 11, 2019, I posted about Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) District 2 member, Teach for America executive director, Kira Orange-Jones, who does not file timely annual disclosure reports with Louisiana’s ethics board.

As of my August 11, 2019, writing, Orange-Jones had yet to file annual disclosures for 2017 and 2018. Too, her physical residence was in question, and she has been chronically absent from BESE meetings, missing 38 percent of the time since January 2016.

Since Orange-Jones declared her intention to run for a third BESE term, she had to file her extremely delinquent annual forms (due May 15th of subsequent year), which she did on August 12, 2019.

In filing her annual financial disclosures long after they were due, Orange-Jones is at best sloppy and at worst, deceptive, for her delinquent filings serve to keep the public in the dark regarding her physical address (a qualifying factor for her BESE seat) and any connections that she might have with other organizations and that could pose conflicts of interest.

Let’s consider Orange-Jones’ physical address, which she has inconsistently reported.

When viewing Orange-Jones’ most recent campaign finance filings (dated February and July 2019 and going back to 2016), one sees that Orange-Jones reports the same Laurel Street address from 2016 and right up to April 05, 2019, with the latest usage of the Laurel Street address being on a filing dated April 15, 2019.

Then, for the most recent campaign finance report as of this writing, covering CONTINUE READING: La. BESE Member Kira Orange Jones: Sloppy at Best; Deceptive at Worst. | deutsch29

NYC Chancellor Richard Carranza: Assessing His Performance in a Mayoral Control Environment | Ed In The Apple

NYC Chancellor Richard Carranza: Assessing His Performance in a Mayoral Control Environment | Ed In The Apple

NYC Chancellor Richard Carranza: Assessing His Performance in a Mayoral Control Environment

Richard Carranza, the New York City school chancellor walks a tightrope; the leader of a 1.1 million student school district in a mayoral control city in which the mayor is running for president as the candidate furthest to the left. The mayor is appealing to Afro-American voters and the most progressive voters on the Democratic spectrum, his education policies, he hopes, are appealing to his potential voters.

Carranza has to juggle satisfying the political needs of his boss with his own educational philosophy.

CityandStateNY, a website reporting news online on a daily basis hosts an Education Summit every August, a keynote speaker, usually the city chancellor or the state commissioner and a number of panels that confront the issues expected in the upcoming year.

Last year Carranza, who had only been on the job a few months, gave a typical speech: Who am I? What do I believe? And, “I’m one of you;” a speech trying to connect with tens of thousands of school personnel and parents. A year later:  the agenda of the mayor has dominated the chancellor’s first year.

On Thursday Carranza returned to the Education Summit, reflected on his first year and laid out his agenda for the upcoming year, a mixture of continuing the mayor’s progressive agenda and his ideas; structural changes that I find troubling.

Listen to the chancellor speech here – about 35 minutes – I urge you to listen.

The dominant education issue last year was the segregated nature of the CONTINUE READING: NYC Chancellor Richard Carranza: Assessing His Performance in a Mayoral Control Environment | Ed In The Apple