Courage
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Courage
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Courage
I'm so moved, overwhelmed by the courage and spirit of the Egyptians, I can't even begin to focus on our own school politics today. Maybe later when I'm done plowing. Best eye-witness accounts are coming on
On Teachers: Let’s Stop Bashing and Get Proactive | Taking Note
On Teachers: Let’s Stop Bashing and Get Proactive | Taking Note
On Teachers: Let’s Stop Bashing and Get Proactive
Last week in this space I wondered why the President had singled out for high praise a school in Denver where the teachers had taken on their own union to get work rules relaxed. Was he, I asked, sending a not-very-subtle message to teacher unions, “Put kids’ interests first. Stop with the trade union behavior”?
I asked Peter Cunningham, the Department’s uber-capable Assistant Secretary for Communications and Outreach, how that particular school was selected. He responded in an email that he had had nothing to do with it.
So if it wasn’t the Department of Education, then who? The likely suspects are on the President’s White
Kicking off Black History Month, the Reformies whine that desegregation is too hard. « Fred Klonsky's blog
Kicking off Black History Month, the Reformies whine that desegregation is too hard. « Fred Klonsky's blog
Kicking off Black History Month, the Reformies whine that desegregation is too hard.
February is Black History Month.
Since our public schools are more segregated now than they have been in a quarter century, it is clearly the proper time for the Reformy types, EdSec Arne Duncan included, to complain that it turns out that desegregation is too hard.
I believe that was the wording of Brown v Board of Education. “Separate but equal schools are unlawful unless it is too difficult and complicated to desegregate them.” Uh huh. That was it.
The Reformy Kevin Carey in the Chronicle of Higher Ed:
So it’s not that Arne Duncan and education reformers don’t care about
Democurmudgeon: Americans Blame Parents and Elected Officials for Poor Student and School Performance. Civil Rights Groups Take Action Against Texas Board Curriculum.
Democurmudgeon: Americans Blame Parents and Elected Officials for Poor Student and School Performance. Civil Rights Groups Take Action Against Texas Board Curriculum.
Americans Blame Parents and Elected Officials for Poor Student and School Performance. Civil Rights Groups Take Action Against Texas Board Curriculum.
In an AP-Stanford University poll, 78 percent of respondents think it should be easier to fire bad teachers, 57 percent say teachers are paid too little, and more than half are more critical of parents and federal, state, and local education officials. Fewer than 1 in 5 say salaries should be based only on how well students do on statewide testing.
From the "It's about time" department:
From e-School: Two civil-rights groups are seeking a federal review of public school education in Texas, accusing state administrators of violating federal civil-rights laws as a result of social studies curriculum changes approved last year by the Texas Board of Education. The request
Bloomberg: NYC Should Have a Facebook Page, Right? | The Atlantic Wire
Bloomberg: NYC Should Have a Facebook Page, Right? | The Atlantic Wire
Bloomberg: NYC Should Have a Facebook Page, Right?
By | February 03, 2011 10:06am
Everything else has an (ever-evolving) Facebook strategy, so why not New York City? Perhaps because mayor Bloomberg was a little skeptical of the social-networking juggernaut: "Where do they get the time to do it?" he asked in October. "Shouldn't, aren't--there have got to be other things in life to do." Skip ahead a couple months and it seems that the city will potentially be giving Facebook another go.
Rather than simply meeting with a few social media consultants to discuss strategy, he went to the Zuck himself. Scheduled after the Facebook founder's savvy PR appearance on SNL, the mayor
Rather than simply meeting with a few social media consultants to discuss strategy, he went to the Zuck himself. Scheduled after the Facebook founder's savvy PR appearance on SNL, the mayor
This Week In Education: Reform: DFER, Stand For Children -- Now "50CAN"
This Week In Education: Reform: DFER, Stand For Children -- Now "50CAN"
Reform: DFER, Stand For Children -- Now "50CAN"
Once limited to lowly Connecticut, Marc Porter Magee's "CAN" organization (Campaign for Achievement Now) is spreading quickly though it still has a long way to go. The newish organization colonized to Rhode Island last year and most recently snuck into Minnesota (Puzzling out the achievement gap Star Tribune). They've recently hired Ellen Winn, of EEP, to help the expansion (Ellen Winn) and are looking to staff up. As with the other organizations, the
Quote: States Need Washington To Set "Stretch" Goals
The Answer Sheet - Why aren't public school parents protesting?
The Answer Sheet - Why aren't public school parents protesting?
Why aren't public school parents protesting?
This was written by Rebecca Levey, a writer who maintains a blog called Beccarama. She has written for the Silicon Valley Moms Group, and her posts have been nationally syndicated by McClatchy/Tribune and appeared online in publications including the Miami Herald and The Chicago Sun Times. She is part of the Yahoo! Mother Board, a community of over 50 mom-bloggers, and is the social media editor for Mom Blog Magazine, the latest e-publication from the Mom Bloggers Club. She also does a weekly podcast called the Blogging Angels with three co-hosts to discuss women and social media. A longer version of this post appeared on Beccarama. By Rebecca Levey Why aren’t parents rioting in the streets? This is the question an educator asked me Tuesday. A private school educator in New York City. We were among over 200 people invited to Barry Diller’s IAC headquarters in Chelsea to have lunch
Schools Matter: Joel Klein Steps Into Role as Oligarchs' Bomb Thrower
Schools Matter: Joel Klein Steps Into Role as Oligarchs' Bomb Thrower
While Joel Klein was Chancellor of NYC Schools, there was no one besides Bloomberg that teachers hated more within the five boroughs. With his saccharine smirk that elevates an arrogance born of ignorance and an utter disdain for educators, Klein played McChoakumchild to Bloomberg's Gradgrind with true Dickensian authenticity.
Now that Klein is spending more time with his family in the wake of the great New York test score fraud, he has yet ascended to the boardroom of News Corp, where he gets his marching orders from Murdoch's top
Joel Klein Steps Into Role as Oligarchs' Bomb Thrower
Now that Klein is spending more time with his family in the wake of the great New York test score fraud, he has yet ascended to the boardroom of News Corp, where he gets his marching orders from Murdoch's top
Welcome to Chicago, Rahm. You must be new around here. « Fred Klonsky's blog
Welcome to Chicago, Rahm. You must be new around here. « Fred Klonsky's blog
Welcome to Chicago, Rahm. You must be new around here.
Popout
The Illinois Supreme Court may have declared Rahm Emanuel a Chicagoan, but I have my doubts.
Not after I received the email from his campaign.
It warned of the snow. He gave us a half a dozen tips on what to do.
Billionaires’ School Reform: What It Means for Teachers and Students | Labor Notes
Billionaires’ School Reform: What It Means for Teachers and Students | Labor Notes
Billionaires’ School Reform: What It Means for Teachers and Students
Julie Cavanagh
| February 1, 2011
Education “reform” is dominated by a privileged few who seek to change schooling from a public service to a lucrative business. Photo: Jim West.
The public conversation around education “reform” is dominated by a privileged few who seek to change schooling from a public service to a lucrative business.
Millionaires and billionaires, such as Bill Gates, Eli Broad, and the Walton family, owners of Wal-Mart, have spent years pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into think tanks and political campaigns.
They have captured the media through projects like the movie “Waiting for Superman” and NBC’s “Education Nation.” Their intent is clear: to gain control of public opinion and public policy and open up access to what they refer to as the K-12 “market,” namely, our schools.
Sadly, the Obama administration, led by Education Secretary Arne Duncan, has the
Los Pediatras Emiten Nuevas Recomendaciones Sobre Vacunas - Hispanically Speaking News
Los Pediatras Emiten Nuevas Recomendaciones Sobre Vacunas - Hispanically Speaking News
Los Pediatras Emiten Nuevas Recomendaciones Sobre Vacunas
En la nueva programación se incluyen la tos ferina y la meningitis
Los adolescentes necesitan un refuerzo para protegerse de la meningitis meningocócica, una infección potencialmente mortal del tejido que rodea el cerebro, mientras que los niños deberían tener sus vacunas contra la tos ferina al día, teniendo en cuenta las nuevas recomendaciones de los expertos en pediatría.
La Academia Estadounidense de Pediatría emite directrices actualizadas sobre vacunación cada año. Su nueva programación, publicada el 1 de febrero en la revista Pediatrics, es muy similar a las recomendaciones del año pasado.
Pero incluso sin cambios de consideración, los pediatras aseguran que la programación revisada es una buena oportunidad para recordarles a los padres que deben asegurarse de que todas las vacunas de sus hijos estén al
NYC Educator: Cathie Black Does Not Get It, to Put it Mildly
NYC Educator: Cathie Black Does Not Get It, to Put it Mildly
Cathie, Cathie, Cathie. Where do I begin?
Cathie Black Does Not Get It, to Put it Mildly
Cathie, Cathie, Cathie. Where do I begin?You have to know that there were a lot of people--myself included--who were willing to give you a chance as Chancellor. You failing at being Chancellor would no doubt damage schools and kids, something none of us wants. As much as we were skeptical of a total outsider coming in and running the schools, a lot of us hoped (perhaps against hope) that you would nevertheless have a successful and productive run at the job, for the good of everyone involved.
But you don't seem to understand that you are now a public servant, just like everyone you now supervise at the DOE. You are not accountable to stockholders, but to stakeholders, for whom the issues to which you were (maybe?) listening at the PEP meeting on Tuesday night are matters of, if not quite life and death, certainly life itself. Your sarcastic response to a crowd, even one which, I'll grant, was pretty unruly at that point, was not becoming of a professional of your stature. Teachers are frequently warned
Eduflack: Is Parental Engagement So Wrong?
Eduflack: Is Parental Engagement So Wrong?
Is Parental Engagement So Wrong?
Blogging can often be a lonely sport. One man, one computer. If you are fortunate, you get folks who will comment on your posts or engage via email. But it can be a very wordy game of electronic solitaire.
But it doesn't necessarily have to be that way. Over at www.onlineschools.org, they've launched "Education Debate," an electronic town hall that brings together authors to debate and engage on a range of issues in the areas of K-12, politics and policy, higher education, and
The Answer Sheet - The VIVA Project: What teachers told Duncan
The Answer Sheet - The VIVA Project: What teachers told Duncan
The VIVA Project: What teachers told Duncan
More than 150 public school teachers from 27 states, seeking to get their voices heard by education policymakers in this let’s-bash-teachers era, collaborated to devise solutions to problems that most affect their profession. They wrote their conclusions in a paper called "Voices From the Classroom," and then, in a town where such reports are constantly released and then forgotten, they got to do something unusual: present them to Education Secretary Arne Duncan. The effort is called the VIVA Project -- Voices, Ideas, Vision, Action -- which was created to give classroom teachers a chance to share ideas and take a role in making state and national policy decisions involving public schools. The project's aim is to connect teachers with public officials so that the latter can better understand what reallly goes on in classrooms. The project was launched last fall with an on-line discussion that led to the report that
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