The Future of Our Education as Illustrated from the Tucson Book Ban (Guest Post by Youth Leader Kalila Bohsali) « Cooperative Catalyst

The Future of Our Education as Illustrated from the Tucson Book Ban (Guest Post by Youth Leader Kalila Bohsali) « Cooperative Catalyst:

The Future of Our Education as Illustrated from the Tucson Book Ban (Guest Post by Youth Leader Kalila Bohsali)

by dloitz

“]Photo By Lalo Alcaraz

I, as a student with a strong belief that our education shapes our lives, ideals and the way we view our peers and equals, am completely appalled with the recent education feud in Tucson, Arizona.
Somehow, our learning process has become embroiled with deeply biased political catastrophes led by  greed mongering corporate monsters who are using education as a pawn in the game of scheming personal agenda. Throwing schools and school programs away and never looking back as though we are, but a small sacrifice. A mistake of preposterous proportions because they forget that education is a key player, tied into almost every modern day issue.
In order to understand the magnitude education has on our populous ability to cohesively live in harmony and appropriately uphold society’s modern set of morals we have to ask ourselves, “What would the world look 

Being a Teacher-Parent : What Should We Expect From Our Own Children? « Diary of a Public School Teacher!

Being a Teacher-Parent : What Should We Expect From Our Own Children? « Diary of a Public School Teacher!:

Being a Teacher-Parent : What Should We Expect From Our Own Children?

by Oldschoolteach

“Hi, my name is Lisa, and I am a teacher-parent”.  Sigh. I remember when I started teaching in 1984, my principal had a son that was in Special Ed. I recall all too well my reaction,

“How could her son be in Special Ed, she is a principal of the gifted program?” I, (in my naivety),was quick to judge this woman, who had probably done all she could to help her child. I assumed that because she was an educator, that her children should be, not just smart, but supersmart! Able to leap academic standards in a single bound because Mom was a TEACHER! How many times, before I had my own kids, did I judge teacher-parent kids (Pssstt…did you know her Mom’s a teacher?)

Fast forward, and  children of my own, and my view has changed drastically! I have come t

Flunking the Test | American Journalism Review

Flunking the Test  | American Journalism Review:

Flunking the Test   

The American education system has never been better, several important measures show. But you’d never know that from reading overheated media reports about “failing” schools and enthusiastic pieces on unproven “reform” efforts. Fri., March 30, 2012.

By Paul Farhi
Senior contributing writer Paul Farhi (farhip@washpost.com) is a reporter for the Washington Post.     

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Fareed Zakaria is worried about the state of American education. To hear the CNN host and commentator tell it, the nation's schools are broken and must be "fixed" to "restore the American dream." In fact, that was the title of Zakaria's primetime special in January, "Restoring the American Dream: Fixing Education." Zakaria spent an hour thumbing through a catalog of perceived educational woes: high dropout rates, mediocre scores by American students on international tests, inadequate time spent in classrooms, unmotivated teachers and their obstructionist labor unions. "Part of the reason we're in this crisis is that we have slacked off and allowed our education system to get rigid and sclerotic," he declared.

This is odd. By many important measures – high school completion rates, college graduation, overall performance on standardized tests – America's educational attainment has never been higher. Moreover, when it comes to education, sweeping generalizations ("rigid and sclerotic") are more dangerous than usual. How could they not be? With nearly 100,000 public schools, 55 million elementary and secondary students and 2.5 million public scho

Shot Across my Boomer Bow | Lefty Parent

Shot Across my Boomer Bow | Lefty Parent:

Shot Across my Boomer Bow

by Cooper Zale

I think there are way too few conversations going on between us Baby Boomers and our kids’ generation about our commonalities and areas of divergence and friction. Given that, when our young adult son Eric posted a link on Facebook the other day with the following intro…

Everyone should read (and share) this. Everyone.

Followed by posting a provocative quote from the linked piece…

“From every corner of the institutional spectrum, the whole of American society has been rearranged so that the limits of vision coincide exactly with the death of the Boomers.”

I took notice!
Eric, now 26, has emerged from his youth into adulthood as a thoughtful person not prone to hyperbole, and someone I (biased perhaps) would consider a thoughtful spokesperson for his circle of young adult peers and his 

Parent Engagement: Do you have a policy on that?:

Parent Engagement: Do you have a policy on that?

By Myrdin Thompson

As parents we don't often rigidly define what "engagement" in our child's educational experience looks like. For some, parent engagement is making sure that their child has been fed, clothed, and made it to school on time. For others, being engaged means spending time in our child's school or classroom, attending a field trip, or volunteering to serve on a PTA/PTO/parent board or be the dedicated "band booster" fundraising officer. 

While many states and school districts have policies that encourage and support parents as partners in public education, there are some states that don't have a specific policy. Perhaps they aren't quite sure what "engagement" means either. According to Kentucky Revised Statutes, Chapter 158, Section 158.645 "[t]he General Assembly recognizes that public education involves shared responsibilities. State government, local communities, parents, students, and school employees must work together to create an efficient public school system. Parents and students must assist schools with efforts to assure student attendance, preparation for school, and involvement in learning. The cooperation of all is 

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Opportunity Scholarships

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Opportunity Scholarships:

Opportunity Scholarships

by Melissa Westbrook

This came to me via State Rep. Tim Probst:

New scholarship program for the middle class taking applications now

Probst’s Opportunity Scholarships will help 3,000 families afford college

OLYMPIA – Washington state high school seniors and college students may apply immediately for a new college scholarship program that reaches far into the middle class.  The Opportunity Scholarships program is accepting applications online, from now until April 16.

The Opportunity Scholarships Act was sponsored by Rep. Tim Probst, D-Vancouver, and passed the Legislature with bipartisan support in 2011. The program will award 3,000 scholarships for $1,000 per year, renewable for up to five years.  It is the first program of its kind in the nation, and is funded through a public-private partnership. The state allocated $5 million in seed money for the program and Boeing and Microsoft have already committed $50 million, combined.

"This is what can happen when Americans focus on serving our neighbors instead of dividing our country,” Probst said. “Companies and government, Democrats and Republicans, we all put our heads together and found a completely new answer. This is how American democracy was supposed to work in the first place."

Called “a G.I. Bill for our middle class students” by its supporters, the program creates Opportunity Scholarships for students studying for bachelor’s degrees in high-demand fields.  The scholarships are designed to address the fact that tuition increases are making college harder to afford for middle income families.  Students from families with earnings up to 125% of the state's average income can apply.

Here are income eligibility limits for the current round of applications (based on 2011 family income)

• Family of 1 - $53,200
• Family of 2 - $69,500
• Family of 3 - $85,900
• Family of 4 - $102,200
• Family of 5 - $118,600
• Family of 6 - $134,900
• Family of 7 - $138,000
• Family of 8 - $141,000
• Family of more than 8 - Add $3,000 more per person

To apply online, students should go to www.collegesuccessfoundation.org. 

High school seniors through college seniors who plan to attend colleges and universities in Washington state for the entire 2012-13 academic year are eligible to apply. A student must be a Washington state resident, have a 2.75 GPA or higher and have completed a 2012-2013 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) to submit an application.

ROCKFORD TEACHERS VICTORIOUS ? « Teachers Fight Back

ROCKFORD TEACHERS VICTORIOUS ? « Teachers Fight Back:

ROCKFORD TEACHERS VICTORIOUS ?

by alkleen

Rockford teachers and the school district have reached a tentative deal.  The negotiations went on for almost a year and the teachers worked without a contract for many months. What couldn’t be settled in a year, was magically settled after a two-day strike. Isn’t that amazing ? I will wait to see if both sides ratify and to read the details of the contract before we can declare a major victory for the teachers.
The fact that the deal was reached almost immediately after the strike began, shows once again the importance of teachers and public employees keeping the right to collective bargaining and the right to strike. The average salary and benefits of teachers today are a direct result of the power of collective bargaining and the ability to strike. Anti-union forces have been pushing hard to do away with the power of public unions to bargain collectively and especially the power to  strike. These people understand that without the power to strike, public employees would be almost completely impotent when it comes to negotiations.
Just 23 of the Rockford teachers 1,850 members crossed the picket lines on the first day of the strike, and 14 

School Tech Connect: Kathleen Falk in Chicago

School Tech Connect: Kathleen Falk in Chicago:

Kathleen Falk in Chicago

by noreply@blogger.com (Tim Furman)

I asked Bob Haisman, former president of the IEA, why teachers in Illinois should care about and be involved with the Kathleen Falk campaign in Wisconsin. Falk is running in the Democratic primary for governor, and she was a major player in organizing the 1m signatures that recalled the odious Scott Walker. This is what he had to say (over the background noise):



 Kathleen Falk is a candidate who talks about labor and public education as if those things were not the root of all evil in our society. If she wins, it will be a watershed moment for those of us who are pushing back against the toxic Koch-Broad-Rhee-Duncan-Emanuel axis that has somehow taken root in the Democratic party. Listen to her.

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Mind you, the mayor of Milwaukee just jumped into the race, even though he's already running for re-election in Milwaukee, and he's been defeated before as a gubernatorial candidate, and his involvement in the recall petition 

FROM WTF FILE: ICE Reports Deporting Nearly 47,000 Parents of US Citizen Children - Hispanically Speaking News

ICE Reports Deporting Nearly 47,000 Parents of US Citizen Children - Hispanically Speaking News:

ICE Reports Deporting Nearly 47,000 Parents of U.S. Citizen Children

Published at 11:08 am EST, March 31, 2012

Photo: Deportations Shatter families

Click Here to Enlarge Photo

Troubling New Report Revealing Deportations Data for First Half of 2011

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the first half of 2011 deported 46,686 parents who had at least one U.S. citizen child, says an ICE report made public on Monday.

“If deportations continued at that rate for the rest of 2011, we can assume that over 100,000 kids who are U.S. citizens saw parents deported,” said Stacy Martin, vice president for external relations of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS).

“LIRS, the national organization established by Lutheran churches in the United States to serve uprooted people, is deeply troubled by this report,” said Martin. “It shows that the U.S. immigration system is tearing apart so many families.”

“The United States prides itself on being a country that honors and upholds family values, yet 

Seattle Schools Community Forum: This and That And Good News in our District

Seattle Schools Community Forum: This and That And Good News in our District:

This and That And Good News in our District

by Melissa Westbrook

Tomorrow, Sunday, April 1, Seattle Children's Hospital will be giving away bike helmets on a first-com, first-serve basis.  They have 400 helmets to give away and your child must be present to be fitted properly.  This is happening at the Ballard Commons Park from 10 am to 1 p.m.

Salmon Bay's Leo Pfeifer won first place in C-Span's documentary video contest.  He won $3,000 and his video will be aired on C-Span on April 25th.  This is the second year in a row Leo has placed in the top tier of this competition.  Students in grades 6-12 created videos with the theme, "The Constitution and You."  They had to select any provision of the Constitution to work on.  Over 1200 videos were submitted. 

Congrats to Leo, his parents and his teachers at Salmon Bay.

In the Global Reading Challenge competition, two Seattle teams have advanced to the next round: Alki Elementary and Adams Elementary.  Those two teams will compete against a Canadian team in video conference competition on April 13th.

Adams was the city winner with Alki also qualifying.   The competition is between teams made up of 4th and 5th 

Missouri Education Watchdog: Special Needs Schooling Especially Challenging

Missouri Education Watchdog: Special Needs Schooling Especially Challenging:

Special Needs Schooling Especially Challenging

by Anngie

The assault on parental responsibility and parental rights just keeps getting notched up. Parents of special needs children may have been in the trenches longer than anyone else, and the battle there is very fierce.  They know they need to be their child's advocate, but finding the line between being an advocate and being a pain in the b*** seems to be very difficult.  Unfortunately, at the end of the day the decisions appear to be made on the basis of money.  With falling school budgets and the tight economy, the battle for money has become intense, and the children are the ones losing.

Take the case of Chuka Chibuogwu and the Alief Independent School District in Houston, TX. Chuka has autism and was in middle school when his parents, immigrants to this country, began asking the district to give him the 

Children are more than test scores: Race To The Top the new religion of fear, punishment, and false hope.

Children are more than test scores: Race To The Top the new religion of fear, punishment, and false hope.:

Race To The Top the new religion of fear, punishment, and false hope.

Albert Einstein said: “A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death.”

Reflecting on an article by Gary Scharrer in Chron.com on the Education Accountability Project’s critical report on public education’s financial accountability
He writes, “Mark Hurley the person who organized the project states, “that minimally, school district financial reports should show:

• What people are paid to do
• What classes are being taught by grade and how many students are completing them
• What contractors are providing what services and whether they are 

This Week's Answers from Valerie Strauss at The Answer Sheet

The Answer Sheet - A School Survival Guide for parents (and everyone else). - The Washington Post:

‘A statement of our just grievances’

Valerie Strauss at The Answer Sheet - 5 minutes ago

This speech was delivered at a recent Save Texas Schools rally in Austin by John Kuhn, superintendent of the Perrin-Whitt Consolidated Independent School District. There is something of a revolt against standardized testing occurring in Texas, which I wrote about here. It is in that climate that Kuhn gave this speech, which was first published on Anthony Cody’s *Education Week Teacher *blog, Living in Dialogue. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]

Mega Millions: Do lotteries really benefit public schools?

Valerie Strauss at The Answer Sheet - 23 hours ago

State lotteries that participate in games such as Mega Millions were sold to the public as enterprises that would benefit schools with millions of dollars in proceeds a year. So has public education really received a windfall? Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]

A blow-by-blow account of fight over charter school bill

Valerie Strauss at The Answer Sheet - 1 day ago

This was* written by Mike Sayer, senior organizer and training coordinator for * * Southern Echo, Inc * *., in Jackson, Mississippi. Southern Echo is a grassroots leadership education, training and development organization that is based in Jackson and works with grassroots communities and organizations throughout Mississippi as well as in the South and Southwest to, among other things, build and sustain a quality, first rate education accessible to all families regardless of race, ethnicity, class, gender, national origin, status, disability or language.* Read full article >> [im... more »

A modern history lesson (or, there’s nothing new under the sun)

Valerie Strauss at The Answer Sheet - 1 day ago

This w*as written by Fred Smith, a retired Board of Education senior analyst, worked for the city public school system in test research and development. This first appeared on the City Limits website *. By Fred Smith Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]

50-plus banned words on standardized tests

Valerie Strauss at The Answer Sheet - 1 day ago

You might expect a standardized test to avoid using profane words but, it turns out, other words are banned too and they may surprise you: dinosaur and Halloween, rock ‘n roll and rap music, just to name a few. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]

Study: Historical inaccuracies in films can hinder learning

Valerie Strauss at The Answer Sheet - 1 day ago

Historical inaccuracies in popular movies that are used by teachers as learning tools can end up confusing students, a study by Duke University researchers concludes. The researchers asked 36 undergraduates to look at nine texts of 800 words each about a historical figure or event, and also had them watch nine five-minute clips from popular movies that had related content. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]

High school that monitors students’ tweets expels senior

Valerie Strauss at The Answer Sheet - 2 days ago

A high school in Indiana that tracks students’ tweets made through the school’s computer system — even if it is done from a teen’s home — expelled a senior close to graduation for what it said was a message with foul language. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]

Give me charters or give me....

Valerie Strauss at The Answer Sheet - 2 days ago

This was* written by Jack Hassard, professor emeritus of science education at Georgia State University and a former high school teacher. He is the author of these books: “The Whole Cosmos Catalog of Science, Science Experiences , Adventures in Geology, The Art of Teaching Science” (2009), and most recently, “Science As Inquiry.” Specialities include science teaching and learning, global thinking and education, geology, web publishing, blogging, writing, and antiquing. A version of this was originally posted at his blog, The Art of Teaching Science *. Read full article >> [image: ... more »

Questions about NAEP benchmarks

Valerie Strauss at The Answer Sheet - 2 days ago

This *was written by James Harvey, executive director of the National Superintendents Roundtable, and is part of a discussion on this blog about the National Assessment of Educational Progress. It started with a * * post by Harvey * *that was critical of NAEP’s achievement benchmarks. Then I * * published a response * *from David Driscoll, chairman of the National Assessment Governing Board, which adminsters NAEP, and which took issue with Harvey’s post. And now, here is Harvey, in response to Driscoll.* Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [imag... more »

Researchers blast Chicago teacher evaluation reform

Valerie Strauss at The Answer Sheet - 2 days ago

Scores of professors and researchers from 16 universities throughout the Chicago metropolitan area have signed an open letter to the city’s mayor, Rahm Emanuel, and Chicago school officials warning against implementing a teacher evaluation system that is based on standardized test scores. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]

Ravitch: The toll of school reform on public education

Valerie Strauss at The Answer Sheet - 3 days ago

*This* *was written by education historian Diane Ravitch for her Bridging Differences blog, which she co-authors with Deborah Meier on the Education Week website. The item was first published on March 6. In their blog, Ravitch and Meier exchange letters about what matters most in education. Ravitch, a research professor at New York University, is author of “The Death and Life of the Great American School System,” a critique of the flaws in the modern school reform movement that she just updated.* Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to ... more »

The Answer Sheet - 3 days ago

The longest task force name in history?

Valerie Strauss at The Answer Sheet - 3 days ago

“The name of a man,” Marshall McLuhan once said, “is a numbing blow from which he never recovers.” The same might be said for a task force that the American Psychological Association appointed to look into how to reduce prejudice and discrimination against marginalized populations. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]

How to remake the Education Department (or, it’s time to give teachers a chance)

Valerie Strauss at The Answer Sheet - 3 days ago

This *was written by Peter Smagorinsky, Distinguished Research Professor of English Education at The University of Georgia.* By Peter Smagorinsky Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]

‘Bully’ film highlights cockeyed rating system

Valerie Strauss at The Answer Sheet - 3 days ago

It’s not only the rating of public school teachers that we are getting so wrong these days. A documentary called “Bully,” which follows a handful of students who were bullied at school by their classmates over the course of a year, is at the center of a ridiculous battle over under what conditions teens can see it. There is, in fact, precedent for a change in rating that makes this especially aggravating — along with the fact that a lot of young people who should see “Bully” now probably won’t. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Red... more »

Largest charter network in U.S.: Schools tied to Turkey

Valerie Strauss at The Answer Sheet - 4 days ago

This *was written by Sharon Higgins, an independent researcher and bloggerbased in California. She is also a founding member of Parents Across America.* By Sharon Higgins The largest charter school network in the United States is operated by people in and associated with the Gulen Movement (GM), a secretive and controversial Turkish religious sect. With 135 schools enrolling more than 45,000 students, this network is substantially larger than KIPP, the well-known charter management organization with only 109 schools. A lack of awareness about this situation persists despite it... more »

Education Department’s own Etch-a-Sketch

Valerie Strauss at The Answer Sheet - 4 days ago

This *was written by Elaine Weiss, national coordinator of the campaign for a * * Broader Bolder Approach to Education * * . * By Elaine Weiss Policy is complicated, and context-sensitive, so policymakers and other influential actors who change their positions should be excused, even congratulated, when it’s clear they’ve learned from prior mistakes. This does not apply, however, in instances in which the change of heart seems motivated by political calculations. Unfortunately, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan’s recent statement in* Education Week * criticizing New York City... more »

Secrets of ‘miraculous’ charter management organizations

Valerie Strauss at The Answer Sheet - 4 days ago

This* was written by Lance Hill, executive director of the Southern Institute for Education and Research in New Orleans and a member of the New Orleans Education Equity Roundtable . In this post Hill writes about thefinal report from The National Study of CMO Effectiveness,a four-year effort aimed at assessing the impact of charter management organizations on student achievement and identifying practices and structure that are effective at raising achievement. The study was done by researchers from Mathematica Policy Research and the Center on Reinventing Public Education.* Read f... more »

South Korea’s surprising stand-down on digital textbooks

Valerie Strauss at The Answer Sheet - 5 days ago

South Korea. one of the world’s most digitized nations, has for years equated the advance of technology with societal progress, including in the area of education. Now, it seems, the country is taking a fascinating breather from its obsession. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]

20 questions for parents about K-12 school reform

Valerie Strauss at The Answer Sheet - 5 days ago

This *was written by Ronald Willett, a former university professor, researcher and administrator, and former corporate executive, entrepreneur and CEO. For the last decade, as an avocation, he has tracked and researched U.S. K-12, and advocated its legitimate reform and pursuit of innovation.* Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]