Win, Lose, or Draw? Chicago Teachers Reach Agreement | Dailycensored.com

Win, Lose, or Draw? Chicago Teachers Reach Agreement | Dailycensored.com:

Win, Lose, or Draw? Chicago Teachers Reach Agreement

by gues twriter  Emma Irving

Does the agreement between the Chicago Teacher’s Union and the city represent a win for the labor movement? After over a week of striking and a year of contract negotiations, Chicago teacher’s have voted to return to the classroom, accepting a contract agreement that represents partial negotiations on both sides. Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who has been pushing for a longer school day and a longer school year, has added an hour and 15 minutes of instruction per day in elementary schools and 30 minutes in high schools. The school year has also been lengthened by two weeks. Current teachers will not be working longer hours as originally proposed by Emanuel; instead, teachers that were laid off during the last two years will have the opportunity to be rehired to fill the extra instruction time. Art, music, and physical eduction teachers, as well as social workers and psychiatrists will be hired to create a higher quality school day, not simply a longer one.

While the Chicago Teacher’s Union president, Karen Lewis, has said that though teacher’s are not getting as 

Diane in the Evening 10-29-12 Diane Ravitch's blog

Diane Ravitch's blog:

New Orleans Students Demand True Reform

by dianerav

In all the hype and spin about the privatization of education in New Orleans, no one has heard from students. Various special-interest claim to speak for them, say “it’s all about the kids.” Some raise millions of dollars from corporations and ideologues by claiming to be student advocates. It turns out that students have their own views and need no surrogates.
Silent no more. High school students are speaking out. They are holding a rally on October 30 at 5:30 pm to insist that they be heard. See the details below.
***********************
New Orleans students host first ever youth-led election forum for Orleans Parish Scho

Morning UPDATE: LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 10-29-12 Diane Ravitch's blog

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 3 hours ago

Diane Ravitch's blog: [image: Click on picture to Listen to Diane Ravitch] Charter Sponsor Is Very Successful by dianerav Vavan Gureghian runs a successful charter school called the Chester Community Charter School. The school is nonprofit, but Mr. Gureghian supplies its good and services through his for-profit company and collects millions of dollars as a management fee. Meanwhile the local Chester Upland public schools–whose funds pay for the students in the charter school–is in bankruptcy and under the control of a Governor-appointed “chief recovery officer.” Poor Chester Upland... more »

The fight for Chicago’s schools continues. « Fred Klonsky

The fight for Chicago’s schools continues. « Fred Klonsky:

The fight for Chicago’s schools continues.

by Fred Klonsky

From the Chicago Teachers Union.

CPS plans to close up to 100 schools in our neighborhoods while finding cash to open 60 more politically-connected charter schools. Our students deserve small class size, more arts, computer technology, and physical education. Join hundreds of parents, educators, and community activists as we tell the mayor to put our students before his political supporters! Save our Schools! Immediate Moratorium on School Closures and Charter Expansion! Friday, November 2nd City Hall LaSalle between Washington & Randolph Streets 4:00 p.m. For more Information please contact organizing@ctulocal1.com or call 312-329-6227

HOW TO USE PERDAILY AS A REFERENCE GUIDE FOR LAUSD BAD ACTS - Perdaily.com

HOW TO USE PERDAILY AS A REFERENCE GUIDE FOR LAUSD BAD ACTS - Perdaily.com:

HOW TO USE PERDAILY AS A REFERENCE GUIDE FOR LAUSD BAD ACTS

by Leonard Isenberg

(Mensaje se repite en Español)

(For a national view of public education reform see the end of this blog post)

After 3 years and the writing of 472 posts at perdaily, you now have a comprehensive reference database for anybody who is interested in documenting the premeditated and purposeful failing of public education by the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) and school districts like it around the country. LAUSD openly engages in a strange mix of illegal and incompetent behavior to terrorize incredulous teachers and anybody else who has the temerity to stand up to their willful malfeasance. Given the unchallenged 

Educational Courage [Book]Save Our Schools

Educational Courage [Book]Save Our Schools:

Educational Courage [Book]

by Server

Educational Courage

 About the Book
“This book helps us to be audacious in our activism and in our vision.”
—from the Foreword by Deborah Meier
Lost amid the debate over educational policies are the stories of the educators, parents, and students who are most affected by legislation such as No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top. In Educational Courage, veteran educators and activists Nancy Schniedewind and Mara Sapon-Shevin bring together the voices of those who are resisting market-driven initiatives such as high-stakes testing, charter schools, mayoral control, and merit pay. The diverse narrators who write in this volume confront the educational agendas that undermine teachers’ judgment and knowledge, ignore the different backgrounds of students and parents, and debase the learning process. Yet these educators, parents, and activists also offer stories of resistance and hope as they fight to uphold the ideals of democratic public education.
“In an age when the teachers of our nation and the public schools in which they work have been under fierce attack, these are the dynamic stories of resistance—of educators fighting back against the anti-democratic forces and benighted corporate agenda that are killing off the spirits of our children. A powerful book of intelligent defiance for which our badly battered teachers will be grateful.” —Jonathan Kozol, author of The Shame of the Nation and Fire in the Ashes
“Educational Courage shows the disastrous consequences of current reforms, as well as the insight and fortitude of educators whose classroom teaching and community organizing are nothing short of inspiring. You will find yourself hugging this book to your heart even as you share it with all those with whom you teach and learn and live.” —Kevin Kumashiro, author of Bad Teacher! How Blaming Teachers Distorts the Bigger Picture
“This inspirational volume documents various forms of formal and informal resistance struggles that courageously call for a reclaiming of public education as a core democratic principle of our society.” —Angela Valenzuela, author of Subtractive Schooling and Leaving Children Behind

Fire in the Ashes, By Jonathan Kozol

by Server

Save Our Schools Shares the Jonathan Kozol Book Tour

This Fall, with the release of his latest book, Educator, Writer, and Activist Jonathan Kozol offers his thoughts on Fire in the Ashes Twenty-Five Years Among the Poorest Children in America. Please read the reviews or speak with the Author during his travels. [See the Book Tour Schedule.]

COMMENTS FROM BACK-COVER

“Jonathan Kozol is America’s premier chronicler of life among the children of societal neglect. And FIRE IN THE ASHES may be his best book yet . . . . Kozol does not just write about these people; he becomes an intimate part of their lives, sharing their triumphs, defeats, and, too often, mourning their deaths . . . . If you care about the children who are the future of America, this is a book you must read.”
~ Ellis Cose, author of The End of Anger and The Rage of a Privileged Class
“Despite the steep odds stacked against these children~ which too many cannot overcome~ this is a hopeful book thanks to those who do. The incredible resilience, grit and grace of children like Pineapple are a call to urgent action.”
~ Marian Wright Edelman, President, Children’s Defense Fund
“Kozol has a knack for describing his relationships with poverty-stricken children with a sympathy that is so straightforward one cannot indulge in pity. FIRE IN THE ASHES is a wonderful book. I couldn’t put it down.”
~ Deborah Meier, author of In Schools We Trust and The Power of Their Ideas
“Jonathan’s struggle is noble, his appeal urgent. What he says must be heard. His outcry must shake our nation out of its guilty indifference.”
~ Elie Wiesel
“FIRE IN THE ASHES is a terrific book~ powerful, insightful, and heartbreaking.”
~ David Berliner, author of The Manufactured Crisis

Fall Book Tour as of June 4, 2012

19th Ward Parents leader on chaos in Chicago Public Schools | Parents Across America

19th Ward Parents leader on chaos in Chicago Public Schools | Parents Across America:

19th Ward Parents leader on chaos in Chicago Public Schools

by pureparents

By Becky Malone Guest Commentary October 26, 2012 (originally published in Daily Southtown newspaper)

There is a plague spreading through the Chicago Public Schools. It has left in its wake a score of school closures and school turnarounds, an unfunded longer school day lacking adequate resources to support high-quality education and the first teachers strike in a quarter century — a bitter fight to ensure fair compensation, basic learning materials and adequate staffing in our schools.

Parents and teachers have been promised remedies for overburdened or failing schools. But these promises are empty at best and counterproductive at worst. The increased staff promised for the longer day has amounted to no more than one position at most schools, with some simply restoring jobs cut in the past few years.

Much of this funding had to be dedicated to ancillary staff, non-teachers required to supervise students during mandated lunch and teacher planning time. A longer lunch and recess may be nice, but this has not created 

TRS board of trustees restates what it said in March. Silent on Ingram. Are you reassured? Me neither. « Fred Klonsky

TRS board of trustees restates what it said in March. Silent on Ingram. Are you reassured? Me neither. « Fred Klonsky:

TRS board of trustees restates what it said in March. Silent on Ingram. Are you reassured? Me neither.

by Fred Klonsky

Springfield, IL – The Teachers’ Retirement System Board of Trustees today issued the following statement regarding the on-going debate in the General Assembly concerning an overhaul of the state’s pension code:

“The Board of Trustees of the Teachers’ Retirement System reiterates and reaffirms its resolution of March 30, 2012 (as amended on April 30, 2012) declaring that present legislative action is paramount to ensure the continued solvency and viability of the plan, by providing for fairness and equity in benefits, adequate funding and adherence to generally accepted actuarial principles and standards. Additionally, the Board of Trustees underscores its unalterable position that any 

“Won’t Back Down”: A movie that is out to undermine public education is playing now at a theater near you.:

“Won’t Back Down”: A movie that is out to undermine public education is playing now at a theater near you.

More blog posts from David William

MONDAY, 29 OCTOBER 2012 13:33

0 Comments

By David William.

The movie “Won’t Back Down” is a movie promoted by “Students First” with ulterior political, social and financial motives. The “Students First” web site (www.studentsfirst.org) is pushing the movie hard and sending out email blast such as the following one from Michelle Rhee the CEO of “Students First” in which she says: “I’ll be honest”…(whenever somebody starts off like that the first reaction should be to check for your wallet). She then goes on to say: “I am not a big moviegoer. Between work and my kids, it can be hard to find the time. But if more films were like "Won't Back Down," I'd find myself dragging my husband, Kevin, to the movies all the time.”

Michelle Rhee then makes no secret in this email of the agenda of “Students First” and the ulterior political, financial and social motive of the movie “Won’t Back Down” by stating: “We've taken this film to both the Republican and Democratic conventions and been blown away by the response we've gotten. I believe this film has the power to inspire millions of people to bring education reform to their communities — and that is why I want you to see it.”

Once on gets past all the buzz words like “Support Good Teachers”, it is clear from the “Students First” web site that “education reform” means privatized charter schools funded by the taxpayers. Their web site makes no secret that their agenda is to push politicians, parents and students to support privatized schools, which then becomes just a small leap to a school voucher program on a state-by-state basis or even on a national level. Their strategies and the theme of “Won’t Back Down” are to convince politicians, parents and children that public schools are failures. Their villains are teacher unions, regulations, bureaucracies and bad tenured teachers that they say are destroying public schools. They portray most unionized public school teachers as incompetent, lazy and over paid. The message is that privatized schools can fix all the problems and provide a better education for all children in grades k-12, than can our current public school system. All they say that is needed is to get rid of teacher unions, fire tenured teachers, eliminate bureaucracy and just hire “good teachers” instead.

The movie “Won’t Back Down” had a production budget of $19 million. According to Maggie Gullenhall of Salon.com the movie was financed by conservative Christian billionaire Phil Anschutz, who also financed “Waiting for Superman” which had a similar theme of bashing public schools and pushing privatized schools. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and un-named private foundations have spent $2 million promoting the movie in newsprint and TV ads according to Stephanie Simon of the Chicago Tribune. 

Work and its Discontents « Deborah Meier on Education

Work and its Discontents « Deborah Meier on Education:

Work and its Discontents

from Deborah Meier Homepage by debmeier

While reading the underlying “debate” between various trade-union allies of mine, I sense a tension that isn’t being sufficiently addressed. It’s a FACT that trade unions were formed to further the interests of their members, including their varied interests. Even the old craftsman’s unions weren’t only interested in whether they made enough money but they also wanted to create a “profession” which produced good work. They didn’t want their high quality work to be replaced by cheaper and shoddier products. Though those two aims are different, they are not totally unrelated.
It’s wrong to allow working conditions that demean the human beings who work there and sees them as objects to be moved around rather than intelligent humans with aims of their own. It’s wrong for some to take unfair advantage of those whose choices in life re more limited. In a democracy, it’s wrong for the majority of people to have working lives that do not allow them to take advantage of their democratic privileges. Workers who have insufficient leisure time cannot participate as well as those who have such time. And in the absence of time, they do not have the “lobbying” power that others may. The strength of one is limited. And their wages are

Mike Rose has Gone Back to School

by debmeier

Actually, he has never left school–for every age. His newest book, “Going Back to School” is, as usual, very important and mind-shifting.  From the first moment I read his work—“Lives on the Boundary,” some decades ago–I wait to read every word he writes.  He shifts the way I put together what I know, see, hear and read.  He restores my sometimes flagging respect for our human species, as I observe how easily we are conned.  But then, I realize that being “conned” is more complex, and that I too suffer from it.  There’s a kindness of spirit imbedded in Mike’s every word, every example.  He cuts out the ranting that I so often resort to, and which I

From Whose Perspective

by debmeier

From Whose Perspective
“To the extent we continue to polarize the debate, with privileged power brokers dictating investments and practices designed to circumvent the professionals…we’re doomed to failure” says Cheryl Scott Williams’s Commentary in Education Week, October 17, 2012 ( www.edweek.org)
Thanks, Cheryl, for putting it together in one sentence.
Something that is happening all over “the world” (including in most so-called “developed” countries) can’t be countered by “reasonable argument.” There’s an agenda debate underlying the phenomenon between reformers like me and the phenomenon called GERM (the Global Education Reform Movement). It was fascinating to hear

How Facts Backfire

by debmeier

“How Facts Backfire” is the title of a Boston Globe article that I recently received. It’s by Joe Keohane.
Authored by Joe Keohane, it poses one of the insoluble problems of democracy: how much ignorance can democracy survive and how do we know when it’s ignorance vs “another viewpoint.” I think, alas, that we can do a lot better, but… the nature of “facts” makes solving this conundrum impossible.
“The general idea is that it’s absolutely threatening to admit you’re wrong,” says political scientist Brendan Nyland, to explain why “facts…were not curing misinformation.”
It’s certainly easy as this campaign winds down to agree with the author. And it certainly makes “obsessive” 

Why Obama’s leading education critic will vote for him:

Why Obama’s leading education critic will vote for him

Posted by Valerie Strauss on October 29, 2012 at 3:53 pm

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(Pablo Martinez Monsivais–Associated Press)

For the past several years education historian Diane Ravitch has been the leading critic of President Obama’s school reform policies. A former assistant secretary of education in the administration of former President George H.W. Bush, and an early supporter of President George W. Bush’sNo Child Left Behind law, she changed her views on what makes schools work after looking at the evidence, and has been the leading voice in the movement against standardized test-based schooling and assessment.

She has published the best-selling book “The Death and Life of the Great American System: How Testing and Choice are Undermining Education,” as well as a constant stream of articles in various publications, 

What’s At Stake in This Election « Larry Miller's Blog: Educate All Students!

What’s At Stake in This Election « Larry Miller's Blog: Educate All Students!:

What’s At Stake in This Election

by millerlf

by Larry Miller

If my uncle Al were alive today, even he would be taken aback by the brazen actions of the Republican Party. Al was a small business owner in Sauk City, Wisconsin, who believed in the common good while supporting Republican business policies.
Today’s Republican Party initiatives are not just an exercise in conservatism, but instead a move to the extreme right, an attack on democratic institutions and blatant disregard of the personal rights of citizens. The views and policies put forward by a solid core of Republican senators, representatives and candidates shed light on what is in store if Romney wins the White House and Republicans win the Senate.
The war on women would just be a start. The open and blatant attacks on the rights of rape victims should startle any sensible person about the dark cloud of perverse thinking that pervades the Republican Party.
Mitt Romney may have been a moderate conservative in the past. But today he is an opportunist channeling the 

This Boston High School Program Confronts the Post-Racial Delusion Head On | Health on GOOD

This Boston High School Program Confronts the Post-Racial Delusion Head On | Health on GOOD:

This Boston High School Program Confronts the Post-Racial Delusion Head On

Thanks to a recent Associated Press poll we know that simply electing someone black to the highest office in the land isn't the key to improving race relations in the United States. According to this data, since President Obama's election, racial attitudes in the United States have not onlynot magically improved, a slight majority of white Americans harbor racial prejudice toward both blacks and Latinos, even if they don't recognize their attitudes as such.

At a time when our social and economic prosperity depends on our ability to live, go to school, and work alongside diverse groups of people, what needs to happen to actually bring Americans of all racial and ethnic backgrounds together? The Racial Healing and Reconciliation Project (PDF), a Boston program for high school students, could be a useful model.

Started in 2010, the program, which began at Southern Jamaica Plain Health Center as an 

RheeFirst! » “Hey lobbyist, leave them kids alone!”

RheeFirst! » “Hey lobbyist, leave them kids alone!”:

“Hey lobbyist, leave them kids alone!”

by admin

Written by Justin Vernold for The Daily Star.  Read the entire article here.
“There is no doubt that the performance of U.S. students against their international counterparts continues to disappoint. But since the reasons for this are so difficult to pin down, a parade of self-proclaimed experts and “reformers” has emerged in recent years, touting the urgency of their proposed solutions – never mind if they require redirecting streams of taxpayer dollars into the pockets of their friends.
News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch is among the more-recognizable faces of this movement, having purchased education technology firm Wireless Generation for $360 million in November 2010.
“When it comes to K-12 education,” Murdoch said at the time, “we see a $500 billion sector in the U.S. alone that is waiting desperately to be transformed by big breakthroughs that extend the reach of great teaching.”
Murdoch’s ranks were recently bolstered by former New York City schools chancellor Joel Klein, who was tapped to lead Amplify, the new edu-products division of News Corp.
Klein also serves on the board of the New York branch of Students First, the Orwellian-named national lobbying PAC founded by former Washington, D.C., school chancellor Michelle Rhee. Given that Rhee has vowed to raise $1 billion in private donations for Students First, one might wonder whether Murdoch is backing her organization – but the group isn’t required to disclose its donors to the Federal Election Commission, and Rhee won’t confirm or deny any of her sponsors.“

Failing charter finally closes and principal collects a cool half million. Why oversight ought to be important. | Get Schooled

Failing charter finally closes and principal collects a cool half million. Why oversight ought to be important. | Get Schooled:

Failing charter finally closes and principal collects a cool half million. Why oversight ought to be important.

by Maureen Downey

I just spoke at the Atlanta Rotary Club meeting about the charter school amendment on next week’s  ballot.
One point that came up was whether the state had sufficient monitors/regulators in place to keep tabs on the charter schools it will approve if the charter school amendment is passed next week. (I noted that whether it’s bridges, day care centers or nursing homes, the state never has enough compliance officers to keep up with the recommended number of inspections, reviews and followups.)
Most charter schools in Georgia are approved by local school boards where the distribution of funding is uniform 

Letter to Diane Ravitch on Wisconsin’s Voucher Hustle « Larry Miller's Blog: Educate All Students!

Letter to Diane Ravitch on Wisconsin’s Voucher Hustle « Larry Miller's Blog: Educate All Students!:

Letter to Diane Ravitch on Wisconsin’s Voucher Hustle

by millerlf

Diane Ravitch on Starting a Voucher School in Wisconsin
A reader writes from Wisconsin:
After our Act 10 passed in Wisconsin, a few of my colleagues and I looked into what it would take to take our game to the private sector and start a voucher school in our town. What we learned was that it would be perfectly legal for us to rent an abandoned storefront in our town and lure students in with the promise of free technology that they could keep, even after they left the school. We could collect our voucher money from the state after the third Friday in September, when the state establishes your enrollment. To keep costs low and profits high, we could use Khan Academy as our curriculum and hire uncertified aides to monitor the students (we had a few recent HS graduates in mind who we thought would make good bouncers). The hastily sketched out business plan had us earning far more than we would as public school teachers, based on our best estimates.
But the real beauty of the plan kicked in after the third Friday in September. Immediately after that, we would 

Chart: Life Without Prop. 30 - LA School Report

Chart: Life Without Prop. 30 - LA School Report:

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Chart: Life Without Prop. 30

Posted on October 29, 2012 by LA School Report

This analysis published in theDaily News points out that the $6 billion in cuts that the Governor has threatened if Prop. 30 doesn’t pass are only “cuts” because they were pre-built into the budget by over-optimistic politicians and could be addressed through other means than solely cutting 15-20 days of school as has been reported, and that school funding (red line in this chart) would still rise in future years thanks to economic growth (just not as much or as quickly as under Prop. 30).

An Important Message from Diane Ravitch | California Father

An Important Message from Diane Ravitch | California Father:

An Important Message from Diane Ravitch

by California Father

Please consider signing this petition.
Several states plan to share confidential student data with a corporation funded by the Gates Foundation. This information may be shared with other entities, for purposes that are not clear.
As parents, grandparents and educators, we must protect our children’s rights to privacy.
We expect schools to understand the needs of children. We do not expect them to share this information with corporations, marketers, or other government agencies, except in the aggregate–not with individual identification– for informational purposes only.
It is understandable that government needs to collect data about enrollment and attendance and special education and trends.
There is no reason to release the names of individual students to outside entities.
Please protect our children and our students against commercial and governmental intrusion into their lives.
The petition begins as follows:
“New York State, along with Colorado, Illinois and Massachusetts, intends to provide confidential student information to a private corporation called the Shared Learning Collaborative, funded by the Gates Foundation, which in turn will make this data available to for-profit companies to develop and market their commercial learning products. 
This confidential data will include student names, addresses, test scores, grades, attendance, economic and special education status, IEPs, and disciplinary records. All this is being done without parents’ knowledge or consent, and represents a shocking violation of our children’s right to privacy.
Four more states have said they will soon follow in phase II: Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky and Louisiana, and the Gates Foundation is soliciting even more states to join in.”