On the beating of a former student of mine by the NYPD… « Outside the Cave

On the beating of a former student of mine by the NYPD… « Outside the Cave:

On the beating of a former student of mine by the NYPD…

by Stephen Lazar

If you’re in New York, you’ve undoubtedly heard by now about two cases of police brutality in the Bronx in the past couple weeks. In one incident, an 18 year old was shot while unarmed in his home. The other, is captured in the video below:

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The young man that was savagely beaten by four Bronx cops was a student of mine for three years, and my advisee last year. The student who was killed also attended my old school, but I did not know him.

I’ve been trying to come up with something thoughtful or intelligent to say about this for a week now, and I just have nothing coherent to offer, probably because I’m of many minds here. The remaining parts of this writing are somewhat disconnected:

Do I share the outrage of these protestors? I do. Like them, I also know that neither are isolated incidents, but

Modern School: Jerry Brown: Friend to Teachers Dumb Enough to Believe It

Modern School: Jerry Brown: Friend to Teachers Dumb Enough to Believe It:

Jerry Brown: Friend to Teachers Dumb Enough to Believe It

by Michael Dunn

Despite ample evidence to the contrary, Jerry Brown continues to be called a friend of labor. This is probably because big unions like the California Teachers Association invested so much money into his campaign for governor that they can’t afford to criticize him out of fear that he won’t pay them back in kind (as if this were ever a possibility).

Some will say that Brown’s attempt to raise taxes and funnel the bulk of the new revenue into K-12 education is a form of payback. However, his plan, even if it is approved by voters, will not restore the more than $21 billion that has been slashed from K-12 education in California over the past three years, let alone bring annual revenues up to the level necessary to hire more teachers, reduce class sizes, offer raises, or rehire counselors, librarians and nurses.

At the same time, Brown has quietly been pushing a pension reform plan that will raise costs and slash benefits for thousands of public sector workers. He has joined the growing chorus of

The Story of PS161: The Crown School & How to Fail/Fix NYC Public Schools « EdVox

The Story of PS161: The Crown School & How to Fail/Fix NYC Public Schools « EdVox:

The Story of PS161: The Crown School & How to Fail/Fix NYC Public Schools

by edvoxny

by Fred Baptiste, PTA Vice-President of PS 161

As a parent of children at PS 161 – The Crown School, a resident of Crown Heights, and a taxpayer, I am strongly against the proposal to truncate of the 6-8th grades at the Crown School and the policy of school closures in general, because it hasn’t shown be a policy that improves student outcomes. As parents and taxpayers we are entitled to access to a quality education right here in our community. I believe as many other parents do, that PS 161 is a good school and that given the appropriate resources our children can achieve and the school can give them the education they need to succeed. This is an issue not specific to just the Crown School.

For many years, PS 161 was considered the ‘Jewel of Crown Heights’ and was a top-rated school. But in recent years there has been a steady decline in test scores. The question that has to be asked is why did the school fall so precipitously? The DOE has presented data to rationalize its decision but to truly understand what is at work, we must take a holistic look at how the school came to this position. It is only by looking at this big

Teacher pensions and the two plans. « Fred Klonsky

Teacher pensions and the two plans. « Fred Klonsky:

Teacher pensions and the two plans.

by Fred Klonsky

The last session of the General Assembly there was just one plan for screwing teachers. That was Senate Bill 512. It was the brainchild of the Civic Committee, which is headed by millionaire corporate lawyer Ty Fahner. The plan was pushed by GOP House Leader Tom Cross and the Chairman of the Illinois Democratic Party who is also Speaker of the House, Michael Madigan. He of the special table at Saputo’s in Springfield.

SB512 would create a three-tier pension plan in which teachers would have to choose between a private plan, a reduced benefit plan or a more expensive plan. It is designed to bankrupt the TRS system, forcing it to be privatized altogether.

There were not enough votes in Madigan’s House to pass it. And the Democrats in the Senate, let by John

Hechinger Report | Q&A with Deborah Gist: Involving teachers in evaluation policy

Hechinger Report | Q&A with Deborah Gist: Involving teachers in evaluation policy:

Q&A with Deborah Gist: Involving teachers in evaluation policy

by Nick Pandolfo

Deborah Gist (Photo by Frank Curran)

Deborah Gist, Rhode Island’s Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education, has implemented some major reforms since assuming her role in 2009. She has raised the score required to pass teacher-certification tests and allowed a superintendent to fire all of the teachers at a school that was resisting reforms. Perhaps most notably, she has overseen the implementation of a new teacher-evaluation system. The Hechinger Reportrecently interviewed Gist about her state’s new approach to evaluating teachers.

Since changing your teacher-evaluation process in 2009 to include students’ standardized test-scores and

Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top Early Afternoon Posts 2-7 #ows #edreform

Secretary of Education Calls for Comprehensive Reform | News | The Harvard Crimson

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Secretary of Education Calls for Comprehensive Reform | News | The Harvard Crimson:Secretary of Education Calls for Comprehensive ReformBy ELIZABETH S. AURITT, CRIMSON STAFF WRITERPublished: Tuesday, February 07, 2012COMMENTEMAILPRINT During a speech at the Graduate School of Education on Monday, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne S. Duncan ’86 said that schools should not limit the scope of their focus and support to a child’s life within the classroom.“Educators should be attacking both in-school and out-of-school problems,” said Duncan to an ... more »

Who's in charge here? A look at the companies behind charter schools | MLive.com #edchat

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Who's in charge here? A look at the companies behind charter schools | MLive.com:Who's in charge here? A look at the companies behind charter schoolsPublished: Tuesday, February 07, 2012, 5:00 AM By Blake Thorne | bthorne1@mlive.com GENESEE COUNTY, Michigan — Your local charter school is most likely not really locally operated.Most are for-profit companies based in far-off locales, operating behind-the-scenes and calling the shots on everything from teacher pay to school policy to pencil purchases.View full sizeHere's a look at ... more »

Budget overshadows push for local control over schools | UTSanDiego.com

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Budget overshadows push for local control over schools | UTSanDiego.com:Budget overshadows push for local control over schoolsEducators like Brown's focus, but worry about the money Gov. Jerry Brown’s education agenda is framed by an underlying commitment to hand off more control to local school officials, whether it’s over budgets or tests.“To me, we should set broad goals and have a good accountability system, leaving the real work to those closest to the students,” Brown told Californians in his State of ... more »

Schools Matter: Nobody objects to teachers being evaluated on their effectiveness. Using gains on standardized tests is a bad way to do it.

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Schools Matter: Nobody objects to teachers being evaluated on their effectiveness. Using gains on standardized tests is a bad way to do it.:Nobody objects to teachers being evaluated on their effectiveness. Using gains on standardized tests is a bad way to do it.by skrashenNeed for better evaluation systemPublished in USA Today, Feb. 7, 2012The article "States weaken tenure rights for teachers" emphasizes the importance of evaluating teacher effectiveness. A major problem is that these evaluations are often based on students' ... more »

Tuesday is Virtual Lobby Day. The Illinois General Assembly is back. The Civic Committee is back. So are we. « Fred Klonsky

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Tuesday is Virtual Lobby Day. The Illinois General Assembly is back. The Civic Committee is back. So are we. « Fred Klonsky:Tuesday is Virtual Lobby Day. The Illinois General Assembly is back. The Civic Committee is back. So are we.by Fred KlonskyTRS Trustee Bob Lyons’ report, published here yesterday, pretty much lays out what is going to happen this year.Another assault on teacher pensions in Illinois.The IEA leadership has decided not to have teachers go to Springfield this May for ... more »

The Lives and Dreams of Our Children « City School Stories

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The Lives and Dreams of Our Children « City School Stories:The Lives and Dreams of Our Childrenby fmurphyTeacher StoriesSubmitted by Angela Chan on February 7, 2012As a classroom teacher, my position would likely not be among those eliminated within the next weeks to close the $61 million budget gap by June. Still, it was painful to read the list of items on the SRC’s “Options Menu” during that Thursday, January 19th meeting. How many more colleagues’ lives will be affected ... more »

Will the real Transitional Kindergarten stand up | Thoughts on Public Education

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Will the real Transitional Kindergarten stand up | Thoughts on Public Education:Will the real Transitional Kindergarten stand up - by Kathryn Baronby Kathryn BaronIt’s getting so that understanding the budgetary machinations of Transitional Kindergarten requires a master’s degree, or maybe a Little Orphan Annie Secret Decoder Pin. In the month since Gov. Brown released his 2012-13 budget plan and recommended canceling Transitional Kindergarten (TK), supporters have found it hard to keep track of what the administration is proposing and [...]LAO ... more »

How New Technologies Can End Age-Graded Schools (Part 3) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

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How New Technologies Can End Age-Graded Schools (Part 3) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice:How New Technologies Can End Age-Graded Schools (Part 3)by larrycubanUsing high-tech devices smartly can customize the age-graded school out of existence. But it won’t happen.Nowhere in Parts 1 and 2 on age-graded schools did I mention the uses of technology. I have claimed in those two posts that, first, as a mid-19th century reform the K-12 organization has been a resounding success. It ... more »

School Tech Connect: Books Before Bytes

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School Tech Connect: Books Before Bytes:Books Before Bytesby noreply@blogger.com (Tim)I don't disagree with this, and I'm a huge tech fan. There's no reason why we can't have both. This blog is written on a $300 netbook running open source software; if anything in the world were ever scalable, it's this kind of thing.I hate that word, by the way. Scalable. You know you're talking to someone who isn't actually working with kids when you hear the word scalable. Except when ... more »

NYC Public School Parents: NO more school closings: IT'S TIME TO OCCUPY THE PEP!

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NYC Public School Parents: NO more school closings: IT'S TIME TO OCCUPY THE PEP!:NO more school closings: IT'S TIME TO OCCUPY THE PEP!by Leonie HaimsonIT'S TIME TO OCCUPY THE PEP THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 9TH, 5:30PMBrooklyn Technical High School, 29 Fort Greene Pl (between Fulton and Dekalb) in BrooklynNear the Nevins 2/3/4/5 or the Dekalb B/D/N/Q/R BackgroundOn Thursday, February 9th, the Panel for Educational Policy (PEP) will hold an open meeting and then a vote to close down dozens more schools. The ... more »

Background on the Exhibits, Students and Competitions at the White House Science Fair | The White House

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Background on the Exhibits, Students and Competitions at the White House Science Fair | The White House:Background on the Exhibits, Students and Competitions at the White House Science Fairby The White House Background on the Exhibits, Students and Competitions at the White House Science FairThe second White House Science Fair celebrates over 100 students from over 45 states, representing over 40 different competitions and organizations that work with students and inspire them to excel in STEM. A subset of the ... more »

Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top Late Nite Posts 2-6 #edreform #ows

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California Honors Teachers of the Year « InterACTBig Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All)-6 minutes agoCalifornia Honors Teachers of the Year « InterACT:California Honors Teachers of the YearFEBRUARY 6, 2012tags: CATOY, CDE, teacher of the yearby David B. CohenIn my work with Accomplished California Teachers, it has been my good fortune to collaborate with some true leaders in our field, who found their way to the spotlight by being named California Teachers of the Year. Alex Kajitani was the first: ... more »

Write On! My Kids WANT to Write! « Diary of a Public School Teacher!

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Write On! My Kids WANT to Write! « Diary of a Public School Teacher!:Write On! My Kids WANT to Write!Posted February 6, 2012 by Oldschoolteach in Integrating Technology in the Classroom, Student Issues, Teacher Resources. Tagged: Daily Writing prompts, how to get kids to write, writing daily, writing in the classroom, writing that kids enjoy. Leave a CommentI have to admit, as much as I love to write, trying to squeeze it into my school day for my kids, was ... more »

School Tech Connect: Cussing at the Key

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School Tech Connect: Cussing at the Key:Cussing at the Keyby noreply@blogger.com (Tim)I have some wonderful writers on my blogroll. Did you see The Dayton Street Shuffle over at Science Teacher? She's writing about the shut-er-down mentality that's taken hold there in Newark, as it has everywhere poor people are congregated.I don't know enough about the specifics today to comment cogently, so I won't. We'd all be better off if others would abide the same advice.I do know enough that some ... more »

Texas Ed Chief Calls Testing “a Perversion of its Original Intent” and Testing Corporations a “Military Industrial Complex” | Scathing Purple Musings

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Texas Ed Chief Calls Testing “a Perversion of its Original Intent” and Testing Corporations a “Military Industrial Complex” | Scathing Purple Musings:Texas Ed Chief Calls Testing “a Perversion of its Original Intent” and Testing Corporations a “Military Industrial Complex”by Bob SikesTexas Education Commissioner Robert Scott sure wandered off the ed reform reservation. A link this morning from Gradebook’s Jeff Solocheck pointed to a NY Times article which attributed this to Scott:“In a high-level turnaround, Robert Scott, the commissioner of the ... more »

California Honors Teachers of the Year « InterACT

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California Honors Teachers of the Year « InterACT:California Honors Teachers of the YearFEBRUARY 6, 2012tags: CATOY, CDE, teacher of the yearby David B. CohenIn my work with Accomplished California Teachers, it has been my good fortune to collaborate with some true leaders in our field, who found their way to the spotlight by being named California Teachers of the Year. Alex Kajitani was the first: a rappin’ mathematician from San Diego, Alex represented our state in the national Teacher of ... more »

Jack Hassard: We Have Low Expectations for American Students in Math & Science - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher

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Jack Hassard: We Have Low Expectations for American Students in Math Science - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher:Jack Hassard: We Have Low Expectations for American Students in Math Scienceby Anthony CodyGuest post by Jack HassardWho the #@!% would make such a statement? Why would such a statement be made about America's youth?If you go the Broad Foundation Education page you will find the answer to the first question. This is the first of four statements about American youth, ... more »

Model Continuation High Schools for 2012 - Year 2012 (CA Dept of Education)

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Model Continuation High Schools for 2012 - Year 2012 (CA Dept of Education):State Schools Chief Tom Torlakson Selects 25 CaliforniaContinuation High Schools for Model StatusSACRAMENTO—Twenty-five outstanding California schools were named today by State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson as 2012 Model Continuation High Schools for their programs designed to help struggling students stay in school."Every student comes to school with a different set of needs, and our job is to provide them with the best chance to succeed," said ... more »

Parents: make your voice heard on your state’s NCLB waiver! « Parents Across America

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Parents: make your voice heard on your state’s NCLB waiver! « Parents Across America:Parents: make your voice heard on your state’s NCLB waiver!by leoniehaimsonDear all:As you know, the U.S. Department of Education is offering a “waiver” of NCLB requirements (ESEA flexibility) to those states that agree to specific requirements.Unfortunately, these new requirements may be as onerous and expensive, if not more so, than NCLB itself. States must adopt new curricula, new tests, new sanctions/supports for the 15 percent lowest scoring ... more »

New legislation seeks to lessen FHSAA's power, allow charter schools to operate like private schools

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Florida high school sports | New legislation seeks to lessen FHSAA's power, allow charter schools to operate like private schools:New legislation seeks to lessen FHSAA's power, allow charter schools to operate like private schoolsTALLAHASSEE — Lawmakers last week battled over a pair of proposals that would make sweeping changes to the Florida High School Athletic Association, which has governed public and private school sports for nearly a century.The most dramatic — allowing private and charter schools to have their own ... more »