Tuesday, August 14, 2012

by alicemercer

There has been an outbreak of “concern” about the safety of ”children” from adult predators, and those who “turn a blind eye” to such goings on. This comes naturally on the heels of the Penn State atrocities, and those at Miramonte Elementary, but I think there is more at work and this is part of a campaign to undermine teacher dismissal rights and due process. The summer started with an attempt to strip due process rights for teachers to a width thinner than dental floss here in California. Then Campbell Brown started the discussion in New York, accusing unions of “protecting” child molesters, making it sound like she was asking how long union members have been beating our spouses and children. If you all have had similar campaigns in your state, please share in the comments.
Ira Socol has done a bang-up job of looking at the systemic causes behind Penn State, and unions are not at

L.A. teachers union urges members to ignore performance program - latimes.com

L.A. teachers union urges members to ignore performance program - latimes.com:

L.A. teachers union urges members to ignore performance program

As L.A. Unified reopened for the new school year Tuesday, the teachers' union is urging its members not to participate in a voluntary performance review program that ties student test scores to teacher evaluations.
In a recorded back-to-school message sent Monday evening to 38,000 teachers and healthcare service professionals, Warren Fletcher, president of United Teachers Los Angeles, told members he "strongly advises" them to reject district efforts to find one volunteer at each school to participate in the new evaluation program.
"UTLA strongly advises against volunteering for this high-stakes program in the current scapegoating environment," he said. "LAUSD should be putting its efforts into negotiating a meaningful, research-based

Modern School: Rocketship’s National Plan to Jettison Teachers

Modern School: Rocketship’s National Plan to Jettison Teachers:

Rocketship’s National Plan to Jettison Teachers

by Michael Dunn

If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is not true.

This common sense adage ought to prevent intelligent people from falling for costly scams. Yet otherwise smart people continue to get suckered at an alarming rate. This is particularly true in politics and education “reform,” where people seem to prefer the fantasy of a quick, magic bullet “fix” to social problems, than having to do a little research or critical analysis to determine if the proposal has any merit.

Consider John Danner, former school teacher and

PROUDLY SPONSORED BY

Con Academy

Browse Con Academy library of over 3,100 educational videos...

Modern School: Lower Wages, Less Experience—Charter Schools' Recipe for Success

Modern School: Lower Wages, Less Experience—Charter Schools' Recipe for Success:

Lower Wages, Less Experience—Charter Schools' Recipe for Success

by Michael Dunn

By now most of the public ought to be aware that charter schools receive public money, like traditional public schools, but are freed from many of the rules that traditional schools must follow, including the hiring of unionized teachers and paying union wages. Many charter schools also ignore seniority and hire predominantly young, malleable and lower waged novices. These are just some of the labor cost cutting strategies that allow for-profit charters to turn a profit.

A new study by Bruce Baker, at School Finance 101, does an in-depth comparison of wages and years of experience at several Texas and New Jersey charter and traditional public schools, focusing on the Gulen schools, which rely heavily on teachers from Turkey who are here on work visas.

Present at SXSWedu | SXSWedu.com

Present at SXSWedu | SXSWedu.com:

Present at SXSWedu

Creativity and innovation are driving significant growth in SXSWedu’s passionate audience of education stakeholders and practitioners. We look forward to seeing you at SXSWedu 2013, March 4-7 in Austin, Texas.

With the help of the SXSWedu community and the SXSWedu Advisory Board curating programming for 2013, the excitement has just begun. Make plans to join us today!

Present at SXSWedu

Sessions for SXSWedu 2013 are submitted for consideration via PanelPicker, a robust online submission form for SXSWedu programming suggestions. It will be launchedWednesday, August 1 and session proposals can be submitted through Friday, September 7.

Once the submission period closes, members of the SXSWedu community will be able to review, vote and comment on the proposed sessions fromMonday, September 17 through Friday, October 5, offering session presenters suggestions for topics they hope will be addressed!

Input from the community – via PanelPicker – will help inform final programming decisions and selections, along with input from the SXSWedu Advisory Board and staff.

Content strands will largely be determined by the community's submissions to PanelPicker, but are anticipated to address the following categories.

Categories:


Accessibility and Special Education	Achievement Gaps and Educational Equality
Best Practices and Pedagogy	Big Data and Emerging Technologies
Civic Engagement and Advocacy	DIY and Maker
Entrepreneurialism and Business	Funding and Philanthropy
Gaming, Learning and Development	Global Connections and International Approaches
Leadership and Inspiration	OER and MOOCs
Post-Secondary Prep and Beyond	Social and Mobile Learning
Standards and Assessment

Presentation Formats:


Solo Presentation	Dual Presentation
Panel Discussion	Interview
Core Conversation	Workshop
Future 15	Book Reading

Deferred Action Request Forms Now Available Online - Hispanically Speaking News

Deferred Action Request Forms Now Available Online - Hispanically Speaking News:

Deferred Action Request Forms Now Available Online

Earlier this afternoon, the Department of Homeland Security officially released the forms to request deferred action that may be filed by undocumented immigrants who arrived in the country as children and meet various other requirements. Beginning tomorrow, August 15, applicants may mail their requests to specified facilities maintained by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), an agency within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Immigrants wishing to request deferred action must submit three forms:
Form I-821D, Consideration of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals;
Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization; and
Form I-765WS, Form I-765 Worksheet.
When completing the forms, applicants will want to consult the detailed instructions for both Forms I-821D and I-765 (available here and here). In addition, applicants wanting to be notified by e-mail or text message that their forms have been accepted should also submit Form G-1145, E-Notification of Application/Petitioner Acceptance. As detailed in the instructions, applicants must submit $465 in fees as well as documentation demonstrating that they satisfy the eligibility requirements.
For complete information on the request process, potential applicants should visitwww.uscis.gov/childhoodarrivals
Published in Notitas de Noticias

4th Feminist General Assembly | OccupyWallSt.org

4th Feminist General Assembly | OccupyWallSt.org:

4th Feminist General Assembly

by OccupyWallSt

When: Saturday, August 18, 2012, 2pm - 4pm
(Rain date: Sunday, August 19th, 4 to 6 pm)
Where: Harlem Meer, Central Park - 110th St.
RSVP on Facebook
Women Occupying Wall Street (WOWs) invites you to the 4th Feminist General Assembly (FemGA) on Saturday, August 18th at Harlem Meer from 2 - 4 pm. This month our conversation will focus on the struggles particularly important to people of color. We hope to begin the work of planning actions focused on racial, gender, and economic justice. We are committed to addressing the issues that affect us all, and we are eager to work in affinity with other groups towards common goals.
We plan to have discussions about:

Living wage
Domestic work
Immigration
Educational system
Reproductive rights
Incarceration
Queer Issues

Everyone is invited! Allies are welcome! We welcome organizations sharing proposals for ongoing or new actions that promote gender justice and equality!
For more info, check out the Women Occupying Wall St Tumblr and Facebook pages.

The in box. “A horrible mistake is being made.” « Fred Klonsky

The in box. “A horrible mistake is being made.” « Fred Klonsky:

The in box. “A horrible mistake is being made.”

by Fred Klonsky

Fred,
A horrible mistake is being made by We Are One, IEA, IFT, etc.
Everyone wants to seem reasonable and present a reasonable public image. The danger is in offering what seems reasonable while the offer itself has unintended disastrous consequences.
4. With a guarantee that the state would pay its portion, the members who are reliant on the pension systems for their retirement security, would offer to help the state by paying more even though they have contributed their portion over the years. (This increase may differ for the various pension plans.)
This is a successful, common, legal trap used by lawyers for over a decade. Once a retiree

Louisiana Educator: A Great Monroe News Star Editorial

Louisiana Educator: A Great Monroe News Star Editorial:

A Great Monroe News Star Editorial

Voucher Program:

“Details to come”

11:59 PM, Aug. 13, 2012 |

3 Comments

· Email

· Print

· Share

While no one is certain — because the state Department of Education will not release its records — it would appear to the most casual observer that the state's voucher program was approved "DTC."

That's "Details To Come."

And those details are so vague that even some members the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, who have rubber stamped approval of most every decision this year (after, we've learned, meeting in advance via phone to come t

A word on behalf of our Public School Instructional Assistants - Wait, What?

A word on behalf of our Public School Instructional Assistants - Wait, What?:

A word on behalf of our Public School Instructional Assistants

by jonpelto

Every school day, the responsibility for making our schools healthier, safer and better places to learn falls just as heavily on public school instructional assistants as it does on public school teachers and public school administrators.

Regardless of whether they are Special Education IAs (providing vital services to one, two, three, four or more special education students) or Traditional IAs (helping teachers prepare and run classrooms so that all the students have the opportunity to learn), IAs are truly on the front line of enhancing educational opportunities for our children.

It is fair to say that the single most important step we could take to improve educational outcomes is to dramatically increase the number of trained and experienced IAs in our

Article Shows Ryan Money Connection to Koch Brothers, Tea Party and Right-Wing « Larry Miller's Blog: Educate All Students!

Article Shows Ryan Money Connection to Koch Brothers, Tea Party and Right-Wing « Larry Miller's Blog: Educate All Students!:

Article Shows Ryan Money Connection to Koch Brothers, Tea Party and Right-Wing

by millerlf

Ryan Has Kept Close Ties to Donors on the Right
By NICHOLAS CONFESSORE August 13, 2012 NY Times
This month, as a handful of Republicans auditioned at town halls and on bus tours to be Mitt Romney’s running mate, Representative Paul D. Ryan joined a private conference call. For 20 minutes, he walked through his plan to cut government spending and bashed President Obama for weakening welfare work requirements.
His audience: Several hundred field organizers for Americans for Prosperity, the Tea Party-inspired group founded by the billionaire conservative philanthropists Charles and David Koch.
When Mr. Romney announced that Mr. Ryan would be his running mate, his campaign emphasized the

Responding to the Gates Foundation: How Do We Consider Evidence of Learning in Teacher Evaluations? | Impatient Optimists

Responding to the Gates Foundation: How Do We Consider Evidence of Learning in Teacher Evaluations? | Impatient Optimists:

Responding to the Gates Foundation:

How Do We Consider Evidence of Learning in Teacher Evaluations?

ANTHONY CODY

August 08, 2012

This post originally appears on Anthony Cody's blog, Living in Dialogue. It is the second post in a weekly series of posts, over five consecutive weeks, between teacherAnthony Cody, and various members of the US education team at the foundation. The first dialogue, between Cody and Irvin Scott, Deputy Director of the College Ready team at the foundation, is here.

This post is the second round in a five-part exchange with the Gates Foundation. This is a response to yesterday'spost from Vicki Phillips, How do we Consider Evidence of Student Learning in Teacher Evaluations?

Vicki Phillips opens her post with a complaint:

Education debates are often characterized wrongly as two warring camps: blame teachers for everything

LET THE CONCESSIONS BEGIN « Teachers Fight Back

LET THE CONCESSIONS BEGIN « Teachers Fight Back:

LET THE CONCESSIONS BEGIN

by alkleen

The teacher unions and public employee unions in Illinois have started to present retirement concessions to the governor and the General Assembly. A coalition of unions said that workers would consider paying one percent more out of their paycheck towards the retirement fund. Governor Quinn immediately rejected the suggestion and said that it wouldn’t come close to solving the pension problem.
What a brilliant move by our pathetic unions. They just sent a message loud and clear to legislators and the governor that they are ready to cave in and are bracing to accept major penalties. Why offer concessions before the “bargaining” even begins ? It’s a sign of weakness and signals that the unions will eventually accept major concessions.
Here is the message that needs to be sent: Either the Governor and the General Assembly comes up with ways to replace some of the stolen pension funds or every unionized teacher and public employee in Illinois walks off

Check Out ED’s New Parents & Families Page | ED.gov Blog

Check Out ED’s New Parents & Families Page | ED.gov Blog:

Check Out ED’s New Parents & Families Page

Posted on August 14, 2012 by Guest Blogger

The Department of Education is proud to announce the launch of a new parent web page that provides resources aimed at parent and family engagement. This new addition to ED’s site is an excellent resource for those interested in learning more and getting involved in their child’s education. To make it even simpler, here’s a list of some of the great things this new page has to offer:

1. On the Blog

Find links to posts on ED’s Homeroom Blog that deal specifically with parents, families, and engagement.

2. Email Updates

Enter your email address to receive updates from ED’s parent engagement team.

3. Parent and Family Involvement Topics

The parent page provides a list of links to a number of parent and family involvement topics, such as special education, college, bullying, Promise Neighborhoods, and more.

4. Further Resources

Click on any of the links below the Resources subheading to learn about how to collaborate with ED or to participate in family engagement in other ways, like EDwebinars or parent forums. You will also see links to our publications and newsletters focused on parents and families, such as Parent Power and Engaging Families.

Get started today by visiting www.ed.gov/parent-and-family-engagement.

Alexandra Strott is a student at Middlebury College and an intern in ED’s Office of Communications and Outreach

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: A strike is avoidable if Rahm "finds" the money

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: A strike is avoidable if Rahm "finds" the money:

A strike is avoidable if Rahm "finds" the money

by Mike Klonsky

Google hosted this "fireside chat" with Rahm when he was running for mayor.

He easily finds it for corporate cronies

Rahm/Brizard have already folded in their attempt to force CPS teachers to work a longer day and year without additional pay. But a settlement in contract negotiations is still problematic and a teachers strike is still possible, especially if Rahm keeps claiming that there's no money for teacher pay increases, as recommended by the mediator last month.

Rahm keeps speaking out of both sides of his mouth, one day playing poor-mouth and the next day finding

FCMAT » Cali Education Headlines Tuesday, August 14, 2012

FCMAT » Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team:

CA STILL HOT

Education Headlines

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Five school districts place bonds on November ballot

Four Kern County school districts have placed general obligation bonds on the Nov. 6 ballot, and one other has placed a parcel tax bond, Kern County Elections Division records show.

Fensterwald: Thursday deadline for resolving teacher evaluation bill

The Senate Appropriations Committee has given Assemblymember Felipe Fuentes three days to figure out how to pay for and, if possible, mollify critics of his bill to redesign teacher evaluations.

Bereaved mother turns grief into action on school-bus-stop safety

Harvard-Westlake student Julia Cukier Siegler, 13, was killed in a school-bus-related accident in 2010. Ever since, her mother has been working for changes.

Playa Vista baby boom leads to a new school

Playa Vista Elementary opens its doors Tuesday, serving 200 children in the coastal community. The level of parental involvement is almost unprecedented, an Los Angeles Unified official says.

$20 billion in building has boosted LAUSD elementary student test scores, study finds

A nearly $20-billion effort to reduce overcrowding in city schools has paid off -- at least for elementary school students, according to a new study.

Compton NAACP moves to recall school board member

The Compton chapter of the NAACP has launched an effort to recall Skyy Fisher from his seat on the Compton Unified School District board. In an Internet podcast, Fisher referred to the district superintendent with insulting names and used a gay slur to describe slain Florida teen Trayvon Martin.

Struggling districts, charters awarded exemption from state funding deferrals

A total of 33 local educational agencies and 203 charter schools have been given an exemption from this year’s series of $3.5 billion in state payment deferrals, the California Department of Education announced.

Negotiations intensify around teacher evaluation bill

The author of a bill requiring school districts to implement a teacher evaluation system said Monday he still needs to find the almost $22 million needed to pay for the plan – although there are indications a major policy rewrite could also be in the offing.

Frey: Report indicates new schools boost scores for younger LAUSD students only

Los Angeles Unified elementary students from overcrowded schools earned higher test scores after moving to newly built schools, but students in new high schools experienced no similar bump in scores, according to a policy brief released today.

Monday, August 13, 2012

Solana board member works for district’s law firm

Art Palkowitz serves on the Solana Beach school board as a part-time job, but his full-time job is working for one of the district’s outside law firms. Palkowitz is paid more than $100,000 a year by Stutz, Artiano, Shinoff & Holtz, income that he is required by law to disclose on state forms and didn’t.

Tight budgets driving big changes in Sacramento area schools

Students returning to school in the Sacramento area should expect another year of large class sizes, fewer teachers and reduced resources. But they also can expect new programs including "transitional kindergarten," Internet safety training and new International Baccalaureate programs as districts move forward despite budget cuts.

Woodland school board member ousted for living outside his district

Woodland's school board voted to strip trustee Warren Berg of his district seat Thursday, a week after the panel learned Berg moved out of the district he represents and into another trustee area.