Animal Lover Alert « Diane Ravitch's blog

Animal Lover Alert « Diane Ravitch's blog:

Animal Lover Alert

by dianerav

This is my blog, and there’s no rule that says I’m only allowed to write about education. Right now, I want to write about the animals I lost in the past three years. It’s been really hard because I miss them. I miss them every day.
Molly, a Tibetan terrier, died in 2010 at the age of 13. Molly had lymphoma for three long, hard years. What a wonderful, funny dog she was. She was a clown, and her last few years were so hard. Traditional western medicine didn’t work for her. The traditional vets said “put her down.” She survived on Chinese herbs after we found a vet whose specialty that was.
Lady, a cocker spaniel, died in 2011, at the age of 14. She had diabetes for three years. We got her in 2001 as a rescue dog. We wanted Molly to have a companion. Molly was depressed for six months after Lady arrived, but then they became fast friends. What a great dog she was. Lady never learned how to play when she was a puppy. Her strong point was loyalty. She made you love her. There was no escaping her fierce love.
Schatzie, the cat, arrived in 2006. She adored the dogs. She cuddled up next to them on their dog beds. They 

A Whole Month Left (A Freewrite) | The Jose Vilson

A Whole Month Left (A Freewrite) | The Jose Vilson:

A Whole Month Left (A Freewrite)

by Jose

“You’re going to miss us!”
“Yes, I’m going to miss bothering the heck out of you!”
I mean, why do students think we’re actually going to spend our off time thinking about them? Except when we do. Like now.
There’s only a month left before we usher them on to their next stations in life (most of them anyways). They’re going to take new trips to school, new friends, different uniforms (if at all), and new teachers. The last one is probably of most concern to me because I at least like to know that the math teacher after me is actually betterthan me. Maybe he or she will have a little more rigor with collecting work, better feedback, more quiet in the classroom, and their own room for children to really explore math. They’ll have the time to do integrated projects without the compromise of other duties in and out of school. They’ll be patient where I should have been, vociferous where I wasn’t, and kind earlier than I was.
Maybe their home situations will settle down more, and a different environment will help rattle them out of some of their wayward routines, like eating in class and tossing things at each other when they think I’m not looking. Maybe they’ll actually get to school on time and come prepared with all necessary materials, well-clothed, fresh, 

Daily Kos: a thought about the Florida voter purge

Daily Kos: a thought about the Florida voter purge:

a thought about the Florida voter purge

by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken)

let's presume I am a US Citizen who has been voting regularly and legally.
Let's further presume I receive one of the notices informing me that the state has been informed I might not be a citizen and I have to prove my right to vote by filing paperwork.
Should not the state be required to provide me with the name of the person making that charge so I can sue that person for defamation?
After all, asserting that I am not a citizen is tantamount of accusing me of having committed a felony by voting falsely.
And is not the state REMOVING me from the voting roles when I have already been voting not tantamount to denying me the equal protection of the law, unless it similarly demands that every registered voter in Florida similarly provide the state with documentation that their previous voting has not been fraudulent.
This is a separate issue than being required to show government issued picture id, itself problematic for someone with a documented history of voting.
I acknowledge I am not a lawyer.
I would suspect there might be some lawyers who could make a could deal of money by successfully filing and carrying forth some law suits on these issues.
Just a thought - or so - on the topic.
And if I might add one more, one perhaps worth pushing as a meme -
the only people the Republicans suspect of illegally or fraudulently voting are those who might vote Democratic.
The real frauds, like Ann Coulter (and one could argue Richard Lugar) never seem to get prosecuted.

Seattle Schools Community Forum: RTTT - District-Style

Seattle Schools Community Forum: RTTT - District-Style:

RTTT - District-Style

by Melissa Westbrook

Secretary Arne Duncan and the Department of Education recently announced RTTT grants that allow districts, not just states, to apply for funds.  From the Ed Week article:

The department anticipates giving out about 15 to 20 four-year grants, of up to $25 million each. Districts will be able to apply for the funds individually, or as part of consortia with other districts, even those in other states. And charter schools—as well as other organizations that are defined as a "local education agency" by their states—can compete, too.

Yes, you can be a single charter school and apply.  That sure makes it a whole lot easier than it would for a full-fledged district like say, Detroit or LA.   Because, yes, charters get to be LEAs all by themselves.  The caveat here is that they have to serve at least 2500 students and there aren't as many single charters with that 

“…..Start By Demanding Resignations From Those on the BOE Responsible for the FCAT Debacle” | Scathing Purple Musings

“…..Start By Demanding Resignations From Those on the BOE Responsible for the FCAT Debacle” | Scathing Purple Musings:

“…..Start By Demanding Resignations From Those on the BOE Responsible for the FCAT Debacle”

by Bob Sikes

Yowza. The Fort Meade Leader of Polk County sure isn’t buying the spin from Florida policy-makers on the recent FCAT Writes scoring disaster:

Among the changes to the test grading this year was an increased emphasis on writing fundamentals such as capitalization, punctuation and grammar. In addition, a second reviewer was added. Thirdly, the pool of test takers was increased to include lower performing students, according to a report by the News Service of Florida.
But the real kicker was raising the passing grade to 4 from 3 on a 6-point scale. It’s hard to imagine the people charged with running our state education system couldn’t fathom the impact on 

Parents United for Responsible Education » Blog Archive » Diane Ravitch calls charter test passage “a new low”

Parents United for Responsible Education » Blog Archive » Diane Ravitch calls charter test passage “a new low”:

Diane Ravitch calls charter test passage “a new low”

by admin

 largest price drop for PEARSON stock

Diane Ravitch’s blog today is about the Scantron charter school test passage PURE exposed on PURE Thoughts. She writes:

The fake charters-are-best question is an even bigger scandal than Pearson’s pineapple question. The pineapple story (which by the way was given to Illinois students in the past) was at worst idiotic, not insidious. It was in some way typical of the sanitized, vacuous reading passages that often appear on standardized tests, which explains how it got past the test review panels that 

Pass / Fail : Former state Superintendent of Public Instruction weighs in on budget | 89.3 KPCC

Pass / Fail : Former state Superintendent of Public Instruction weighs in on budget | 89.3 KPCC:

Former state Superintendent of Public Instruction weighs in on budget

California’s former Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell has been traveling the state to brief school districts on the governor’s proposed budget and its potential effects on education. He now works for the educational consulting firm School Innovations & Advocacy.

Here's an excerpt of a brief Q & A with him:

Q: Whats the good and the bad of this budget? 

A: The good news for this is we know the budget’s going to pass on time, we know it’s going to be signed, we certainly believe. And I think that might remove some uncertainty. But that uncertainty is going to continue, it’s going to because of the triggeres, the potential reductions, based upon the November election.

Q: What does this budget look like compared to others you've seen? 

A: This budget contains more major policy initiatives in it than any that I’ve ever seen and I’ve been working on 

Seattle Schools Community Forum: News Roundup

Seattle Schools Community Forum: News Roundup:

News Roundup

by Melissa Westbrook

Of possible interest to our readers:

• From Education Week - an article about "a new breed of national education advocacy organizations" and the debate "about whether they can play a grassroots 'ground game' comparable to that of labor.

• Another article on these groups, this one from Education Next, about Fight Club for ERAOs (Education reform advocacy organizations) in D.C.  You remember the first rule of Fight Club?  There is NO Fight Club.  Why this emergence of these groups?  This article links it to charter operation frustration.  This is possibly the best article I have read in summing up these groups, how they interact and their growing influence.

Many of the groups talk to one another frequently,, through a regular conference call organized by the Education Trust, at meetings organized by funders such as the Walton Family Foundation, and at conferences convened by groups such as the NewSchools Venture Fund.  


The 34 organizations in the network operate in 23 states and Washington, D.C. Network members include affiliates of Stand for Children and 50CAN, business groups like the Massachusetts Business Alliance for 

Open Letter to Georgia Teachers « Diane Ravitch's blog

Open Letter to Georgia Teachers « Diane Ravitch's blog:

Open Letter to Georgia Teachers

by dianerav

In my experience, if you want to find a sympathetic ear in the media for public education, find someone who has a relative who teaches. Jon Stewart never fell for the teacher-bashing mania because his mother was a teacher. I have been interviewed on several occasions by talk show hosts who confessed that their mother or father was a teacher. They know how hard teachers work, and they share my outrage at the negative treatment of teachers and public schools today.
Yesterday someone sent me an article by Dick Yarbrough, a columnist in Georgia, thanking teachers for making it through another year. I immediately sensed that he had teachers in the family. Towards the end of his article, he mentions that four members of his family are teachers. That’s why he can’t stomach the absurd claims by

These Folks Love Their School

by dianerav

What happens to a small town in Idaho whose residents loves their public school, support it, paint the building, fix it up, tax themselves to pay for it, but is suffering because of state budget cuts? Raise taxes? Well, they are already paying 17 times the rate of the state’s wealthy districts. Because of its low property values, it can’t squeeze out enough to keep up with expenses. Meanwhile, the state wants to put everyone in online classes. That won’t help this school. It will still have the same bills to pay.
This is one of the saddest stories I read this week.
Why do so-called reformers avoid any discussion of how to help districts that don’t have a big enough tax base to support the school they love?
Diane

Daily Kos: Class of 1967 - reflections on a reunion

Daily Kos: Class of 1967 - reflections on a reunion:

Class of 1967 - reflections on a reunion

by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken)

I write this sitting in a Starbucks near my home, having driven the 158 miles from Haverford College late morning.
The formal part of the reunion, the 45th of our class, ended with dinner last night, that coming  after several other events
- one of our lass getting an award for helping the College in fundraising
- having a session with a number of faculty members from our time at Haverford, only one of which is still teaching
- getting together with the parallel class at Bryn Mawr  (there were a number of marriages, and in some cases, subsequent divorces, between the two classes)
- a reception and then the class dinner.
Throughout the weekend there were conversations, and reflections.
And at dinner, some people got up and offered some thoughts, no one being required to speak, but more than a dozen of us did, in some cases continuing the reflections from  our session with the faculty earlier that day.  It ended as it usually does, singing a couple of songs, for us traditional -  So Long, It's Been Good to Know You, and Irene, Goodnight -  after all, our time in college overlapped with the folk revival, and more than a few of us played and sang then, and some still do.
Those of us still on campus filled a long table for brunch this morning, with conversation still continuing.
As I drove home, and since I arrived, my mind has been reflecting on the weekend.

The Itty Bitty Voucher Plan « Diane Ravitch's blog

The Itty Bitty Voucher Plan « Diane Ravitch's blog:

The Itty Bitty Voucher Plan

by dianerav

According to a story in today’s Alexandria (La.) “Daily Town Talk,” large parts of Louisiana have no private schools taking part in the voucher program. They prefer to wait and see or just keep their distance. Some say they have no seats available; in one case, a school principal said her board members were “philosophically opposed” to using government money to pay for private school tuition.
With so few seats available for voucher applicants in Louisiana, I am beginning to wonder whether the voucher proposal was a diversion.
Maybe the point all along was to create hundreds of new charter schools across the state, which could siphon away public school students and cut the funding for public schools.
The unfolding of the voucher story is pretty intriguing, because this one is the big demonstration of vouchers, the one that voucher advocates have been longing for many decades.
And since Romney is out on the campaign trail flogging vouchers, this story has national significance.
Here are the problems:
1. Not that many seats available.
2. Some of the schools most eager to accept voucher students do not have a strong academic program, so the 

Check Out Latin American History With @TodayInLatAm - Only on Twitter! - Hispanically Speaking News

Check Out Latin American History With @TodayInLatAm - Only on Twitter! - Hispanically Speaking News:

Check Out Latin American History With @TodayInLatAm -  Only on Twitter!

Photo: Check Out Latin American History With @TodayInLatAm - Only on Twitter!

Click Here to Enlarge Photo

HS News is proud to announce our latest addition to the Twitter-sphere, TodayInLatAmHistory(‏@TodayInLatAm).

Updated daily, we’ll bring you interesting facts about what happened on that day in Latin American history.

To receive these little factoids, be sure to follow us on Twitter@TodayInLatAm

Who knows, maybe you’ll impress your friends with how much you learn about Latin American history!

Click to enlarge the photo below.

Jersey Jazzman: There is No "Grand Bargain" for Teachers

Jersey Jazzman: There is No "Grand Bargain" for Teachers:

There is No "Grand Bargain" for Teachers

by Duke

There were some great segments on Melissa Harris-Perry's MSNBC show yesterday (check out the entire video at Crooks and Liars). In particular, NYC teacher Megan Behrent and Philadelphia City Paper's Daniel Denvir were both excellent.

But I'd like to hone in on two particular exchanges:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

OK, stop right there, and let's get a few things straight:

No one - and I mean, NO ONE - thinks the very worst teachers should stay in schools. The unions don't believe that, and they've said so again and again. They proposed ways to streamline tenure hearings so we can cap the time and the costs. The fact is that defending bad teachers is expensive for unions; they'd be better off if they could cap the costs of removing these teachers, rather than drawing out 

Marie Corfield for NJ Assembly

Support teacher Marie Corfield in her campaign!

Welcome to the Sunday Education Weekly Reader 05.27.2012. Missouri Education Watchdog

Missouri Education Watchdog:

Welcome to the Sunday Education Weekly Reader 05.27.2012.

 

• More like cubic zirconium...."Race to the Top" was described in the Washington Post as "the crown jewel of the Obama adm's education reform agenda http://bit.ly/LzsRAt

•  Perhaps this headmaster needs to choose his words a bit more carefully or enroll in a writing class....Headteacher claims school had 'overcome accidents of birth' to produce ...: The head has previously been honoure... http://bit.ly/LlNeVT 

•  Does Team Obama even know what it and Arne Duncan want in education?  A big stumble....You know, when you have TPM pushing back on Democratic rhetoric, then you have a problem:http://bit.ly/LnHUhh

• Worldwide Hippies call both Republican and Democratic view of education for what it is

WOW. Michelle Rhee was recently on CurrentTV... | Sabrina's Joy

WOW. Michelle Rhee was recently on CurrentTV... | Sabrina's Joy:

WOW. Michelle Rhee was recently on CurrentTV (Seriously? Isn’t Current supposed to be a progressive news outlet?) talking about corporate education policy. The whole segment is pretty infuriating, particularly when she tries to act as though a relentless focus on high-stakes testing isn’t at the core of her brand of “reform”. (Apparently, she’d like us to believe that all those DCPS firings, and that cheating scandal, just appeared out of nowhere.)

Even more offensive, however, was her lamentation of the fact that “education reform is being polarized to extremes,” AS THOUGH SHE ISN’T ONE OF THE PRIMARY ONES FUELING THAT 

The Right to Education | Education | United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

The Right to Education | Education | United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization:

The Right to Education

©UNESCO/Françoise Pinzon Gil

Education is a fundamental human right and essential for the exercise of all other human rights. It promotes individual freedom and empowerment and yields important development benefits. Yet millions of children and adults remain deprived of educational opportunities, many as a result of poverty.

Normative instruments of the United Nations and UNESCO lay down international legal obligations for the right to education. These instruments promote and develop the right of every person to enjoy access to education of good quality, without discrimination or exclusion. These instruments bear witness to the great importance that Member States and the international community attach to normative action for realizing the right to education. It is for governments to fulfil their obligations both legal and political in regard to providing education for all of good quality and to implement and monitor more effectively education strategies.

Education is a powerful tool by which economically and socially marginalized adults and children can lift themselves out of poverty and participate fully as citizens.

News

• 21.05.12
  Early Childhood - Getting the Big Picture
• 02.05.12
  Quality Inclusive Education in Colombia
• 25.04.12
  Libya: the will to change
• 17.04.12
  UN expert hails Indian court decision to uphold right of every child to education

The in box. “I’m an active Democratic precinct committeeman and a retired teacher.” « Fred Klonsky

The in box. “I’m an active Democratic precinct committeeman and a retired teacher.” « Fred Klonsky:

The in box. “I’m an active Democratic precinct committeeman and a retired teacher.”

by Fred Klonsky

I wrote this message to the governor last Tuesday, May 22.
Dear Governor Quinn:
I’m an active Democratic precinct committeeman and a retired teacher. Speaker Madigan’s and your proposal of reducing our COLA and making us choose between COLA and health insurance is not a choice!!! It’s putting a gun to our heads. Teachers worked very hard for you in the 2010 election and they provided the margin of victory for you in what was otherwise a horrible year for Democrats. Mike Madigan’s speakership is in large measure dependent upon the hard work and dedication of teachers who campaign for all Democratic legislative candidates. His and your proposed actions against our pensions have created tremendous anxiety and ill will among active and retired teachers. I hope that you understand the depth of outrage and anger which you and our other downstate Democratic leaders have created already.  Our Democratic majorities in the House and in the Senate cannot afford that. You, John Cullerton, and Speaker Madigan back off immediately from your insane pension-cutting proposal and start working on a way to increase revenues for the state of Illinois. A graduated income tax which would benefit lower and middle 

Jersey Jazzman: Christie: Slush Fund for Me, Not For Thee

Jersey Jazzman: Christie: Slush Fund for Me, Not For Thee:

Christie: Slush Fund for Me, Not For Thee

by Duke

If you've been trolling around the web and you live in Jersey, you've probably seen this ridiculous video about how Chris Christie and unnamed "reformers" are "getting the job done."

FactCheck.org pretty much skewers the entire ad: Christie's job creation record sucks, he didn't put more money into schools, and the notion he and the Christiecrats "saved" pensions is laughable on its face. Bill Orrhas a great summary of how phony Christie's "Jersey Comeback" truly is; NJ Senator Loretta Weinberg also exposes this myth.

So we know this is all a crock; the question is, "Who is paying for this propaganda?"

This is the latest in a series of ad buys paid for by the Committee for Our Children’s Future. Blue Jersey has documented the personal connections Christie has to the group through his alma mater, the University of Delaware. What we don't know, however, is who exactly has funded this campaign. As a 501(c)(4), CCF is under 

Our Views: The mirage of vouchers | Opinion | The Advocate — Baton Rouge, LA

Our Views: The mirage of vouchers | Opinion | The Advocate — Baton Rouge, LA:

Our Views: The mirage of vouchers

MAY 27, 2012

9 COMMENTS

The state has launched Gov. Bobby Jindal’s new program to fund private and religious schools with state money.

As was clear from the start, the hundreds of thousands of students who are considered “eligible” for the program from public schools rated from C to F on the state’s scale are not really eligible, because there are no places for them.

Statewide, about 5,000 places have been identified by schools willing to take part in the program. About 1,100 places in the Baton Rouge area, as elsewhere many from Catholic schools, are available.

Superintendent of Education John White called it a strong start. But to what end?

If this program lasts — the constitutional argument for its state funding 

Reflections on Teaching » Blog Archive » This time…it’s personal

Reflections on Teaching » Blog Archive » This time…it’s personal:

This time…it’s personal

from Reflections on Teaching by alicemercer

Dear Melody Musgrove,
I’ve read with alarm plans to have the OSEP  change their approach to compliance with IDEA to emphasize test score monitoring, and cutting back on state compliance officers. As the parent of a child with an IEP, I have many concerns about this approach, and feel it would not meet my child’s needs and therefore would violate his rights.
My child is more than a test score, and his IEP is about more than test scores. You see, my son has autism spectrum disorder (ASD). He is of normal intelligence, and does pretty good on standardized test. If test scores were the only criteria looked at for his “success” he would leave school with some serious deficits. Autism treatment has made great strides in recent decades because of a concentrated focus on developing social and executive function skills. Those are not skills that show up on a standardized test.

“Anything has to be better than this…”

by alicemercer

From the discussion on Diane Ravtich’s blog on “reforms” to special education compliance…

putkidzfirst
Diane, I’m a sped teacher who believes the focus on compliance is insane. I spend my days doing paperwork to meet compliance mandates while my paraprofessional works with kids in small groups. At least once a week, I’m at school for 2 hours after dismissal completing paperwork. Our IEPs are 17 pages long – for EACH student. I want to teach. I’m sick of sitting at a computer all day long.
I agree that monitoring achievement data for sped kids is crazy and can see how that will just lead to even more paperwork. But if it means no more 17 page IEPs, I’d be happy.

This is why most teachers in a given district/state/country go along with education reform. They don’t like present conditions, and think that anything would be better, when it really just makes it worse, either in the same way or in a new and really awful way. I’ll share a story I heard about why there is compliance with Arne