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Monday, December 17, 2012

Our teachers, the troops at home Parents United for Responsible Education

Parents United for Responsible Education » Blog Archive » Our teachers, the troops at home:


Our teachers, the troops at home

by admin
One of the many tragedies of the Vietnam War was the way that many soldiers were treated (or not treated) when they returned home. A nation that had been celebrating Veterans Day every 11-11-11 and mourning together every Memorial Day was largely unable to separate the Vietnam War soldier from the national anguish over the war itself.
There wasn’t a New York ticker tape parade for Vietnam vets until 1985, more than a decade after the war ended. It wasn’t until Veterans Day this year that Utah recognized their service in a ceremony at the Utah State Capitol.
Here’s what President Obama said to Vietnam vets in comments at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial just this past Memorial Day:
You were often blamed for a war you didn’t start, when you should have been commended for serving your country with valor.  You were sometimes blamed for misdeeds of a few, when the 
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NYC Educator: Rhee Rheedux

NYC Educator: Rhee Rheedux:


Rhee Rheedux

by NYC Educator
Hi, I'm Michelle Rhee. At a time like this, I think it's only fit we redouble my efforts to ensure our reforms reach every student in these United States. After all, people as wealthy as Broad, Gates, and the Walmarts are paying good money for these reforms, and if they weren't very, very smart, why would they have all that money?

Of course every student deserves a good teacher, and the only way to determine whether or not the teacher is good is by the test scores of students. Here at Students First, we don't believe in all that touchy-feely nonsense about role models and self-image. We believe in good teachers, and we have absolute faith in them, except that no matter how good they are, they can't be trusted to write tests themselves. That's just one reason we ignore everything they say or do that isn't related to test scores.

In New York City, where we've just opened up a chapter of Students First, we're pushing heavily for an evaluation system that will get teachers fired if their test scores don't measure up. In fact, rather than spending money on 
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Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun. Mao Tse-Tung | Fox News

Victims in Connecticut school shooting | Fox News:



Victims in Connecticut school shooting

Authorities have released the names of the 26 victims killed when a gunman opened fire inside a Connecticut elementary school.
Browse Slideshows


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/slideshow/2012/12/15/victims-in-connecticut-school-shooting/?intcmp=related#slide=1#ixzz2FLxMDHcY
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UPDATE: Seattle Schools Community Forum: What to Apply to Be On the Charter Commission?

Seattle Schools Community Forum: What to Apply to Be On the Charter Commission?:


What to Apply to Be On the Charter Commission?

by Melissa Westbrook


Here's how via the three possibilities - Governor, Lt. Governor and Speaker of the House.  Each office gets to pick three Charter Commission members.

Governor 
Governor Gregoire's office is taking the applications via their regular commissions form.  They are then going to pass them along to Governor-elect Inslee's office and he will make the decisions.   I was told both offices have received calls of interest about applying.

Lt. Governor Brad Owen
His office is taking nominations via e-mail and snail mail.   You do not have to fill out an application and you can self-nominate OR any other person or group may nominate you.  (Apparently Stand for Children has been sending in their nominations.)   If you are nominated in any way, their office will give that due consideration.

ltgov@leg.wa.gov

Lt. Gov. Brad Owen
Office of the Lt. Governor
PO Box 40400
Olympia, WA 98504-0400

Speaker Frank Chopp

I've Said It, Now Stats Prove It

by Melissa Westbrook
Parents, you REALLY are giving to your schools.

From Education Week (bold mine):

It turns out that schools are hotbeds of civic volunteerism, and parents are the lifeblood of that activity. So says a study released recently by the Corporation for National and Community Service, in partnership with the National Conference on Citizenship.

The study showed that volunteerism in America is at a five-year high, and parents of school-aged children volunteer at a higher rate than the overall population. These parents contributed more than 2.5 billion hours of their time to volunteer efforts in 2011, most of it to school-based projects.

The rate of parents volunteering in 2011 was 33.7 percent. While this was a nearly negligible increase (0.1 
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NEA, SEIU and AFSCME in Secret Negotiations « The Greenroom

NEA, SEIU and AFSCME in Secret Negotiations « The Greenroom:


NEA, SEIU and AFSCME in Secret Negotiations

POSTED AT 4:51 PM ON DECEMBER 10, 2012 BY 

The National Education Association is working more closely than ever before with its counterparts in organized labor. NEA, SEIU and AFSCME teamed up to fund a series of ads targeting key lawmakers in the fiscal cliff negotiations and they are the driving force behind today’s “day of action” rallies in a number of cities.
While three of the largest public employee unions in the nation are cooperating on external communications and operations, they are also crafting an internal agreement that would establish a détente over competition for members. A group of high-level NEA officials met with teams from SEIU and AFSCME last week to put together a deal that would establish jurisdictions for the individual unions, similar to the arrangement NEA made with AFT after the failed attempt at national merger in 1998.
The two national teachers’ unions and many of their state affiliates made “no raid” agreements – 
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How the Common Core State Standards Impacts Homeschoolers | Truth in American Education

How the Common Core State Standards Impacts Homeschoolers | Truth in American Education:


How the Common Core State Standards Impacts Homeschoolers

by Shane Vander Hart


I’m am very pleased to see the Home School Legal Defense Association weigh in on the Common Core State Standards.  Will Estrada, their federal relations point person writes on HSLDA’s website:
The CCSS specifically do not apply to private or homeschools, unless they receive government dollars (online charter school programs have no such protection). However, HSLDA has serious concerns with the rush to adopt the CCSS. HSLDA has fought national education standards for the past two decades. Why? National standards lead to national curriculum and national tests, and subsequent pressure on homeschool students to be taught from the same curricula.
The College Board—the entity that created the PSAT and SAT—has already indicated that its signature college entrance exam will be aligned with the CCSS. And many homeschoolers worry that colleges and universities may look askance at homeschool graduates who apply for admission if their highschool transcripts are not aligned with the CCSS.
HSLDA believes that a one-size-fits-all approach to education crowds out other educational 
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Support, Optimism, and Hope — Whole Child Education

Support, Optimism, and Hope — Whole Child Education:



THE WHOLE CHILD BLOG

Klea Scharberg

Support, Optimism, and Hope

December 17, 2012 by Klea Scharberg
No community is immune to the effects of traumatic events. Our ASCD community includes the students, teachers, and residents of Newtown, Conn. This morning we shared posts from our archives that speak to providing safe and connected learning environments. We hope the following resources from ASCD and our Whole Child Partners connect to educators, families, and communities' resilient spirit so that they can tap the resilient spirit in their students.
In response to Hurricanes Rita and Katrina, ASCD developed a series of workshops that focus on helping educators meet students' academic, physical, and emotional needs. Educators in all locales are invited to download the workshop materials (PDF) and lesson plans (PDF) to use with their colleagues:
  • Building Resiliency: Introduces participants to an understanding of resiliency and how it pertains to individuals not only in an educational context but also in a context related to crisis, trauma, or cataclysmic events.
  • Supporting Positive School Culture and Climate: Targets the importance of school culture and climate through interpersonal relationships, engaging diverse learners with fair and affirming curriculum, and managing stress.
  • Exploring New Roles for Families, Schools, and Communities: Focuses on developing a collaborative environment that will support quality learning and improve family outcomes.

From Our Partners

The American School Counselor Association offers resources to help kids during crisis, including supports in counseling students in crisis, infusing a caring climate in your school, and supporting students after crisis and loss.
The National Association of Elementary School Principals shares school crisis resources, including
The National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) offers tips to help children deal with the aftermath of a school shooting that including
  • Provide a developmentally appropriate, clear, and straightforward explanation of the event.
  • Return to normalcy and routine to the best extent possible while maintaining flexibility.
  • Let children know it's OK to feel upset or angry.
  • Be a good listener and observer.
  • Provide various ways for children to express emotion, either through journaling, writing letters, talking, making a collage, or music.
  • Focus on resiliency as well as the compassion of others.
NASP also shares a number of resources to reinforce children's natural resilience and emphasize the preventive steps that schools can take to maintain a safe and caring school environment.
The National Education Association (NEA) Health Information Network created its The School Crisis Guideto support crisis teams with ideas, tips, tools, and resources for effective leadership and crisis management. NEA also shares "Lessons on Loss: How a School Community Heals After a Student Dies" and "Talking to Children About Violence: Tips for Parents and Teachers."
National Parent Teacher Association (PTA) has many resources to assist students, families, schools, and PTAs in coping with school violence. The resources are downloadable at PTA.org/SchoolViolence.
Responsive Classroom consultants and authors offer suggestions on what to do and what to say in its post, "No Ordinary Monday."

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Resources for Schools to Prepare for and Recover from Crisis | ED.gov Blog

Resources for Schools to Prepare for and Recover from Crisis | ED.gov Blog:


Resources for Schools to Prepare for and Recover from Crisis

by Arne Duncan

Photo

All of us who work in education have broken hearts and are haunted by the tragedy visited on the educators, students, and families of the Newtown Public School District and Sandy Hook Elementary School. Whenever a school experiences violence and the lives of children and adults are lost, we struggle to find words to express our emotions and explain how this could have happened.
Schools are among the safest places for children and adolescents in our country, and, in fact, crime in schools has been trending downward for more than a decade. Nationwide statistics, however, provide little solace when 20 first-graders and six adults are senselessly gunned down in a small town’s elementary school. Accounts from Sandy Hook indicate that the school’s heroic principal and her staff had safety measures in place and had practiced their emergency procedures. As a result, children’s lives were saved and an even greater tragedy was averted.
Not all tragedies can be prevented. But schools and districts need to be ready to handle crises, large and small, to keep our children and staff out of harm’s way and ready to learn and teach, and to recover from such tragedies should they occur. As we reflect on what happened last week in Connecticut, I want to share some resources from the U.S. Department of Education’s Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools Technical Assistance Center that may be helpful to you and your team, now and in the future.
As hard as it is to talk among adults about such a tragedy, it can be even more difficult to talk with students and our own children. Helping Youth and Children Recover from Traumatic Events is a compilation of resources from the Department of Education, other federal agencies, and counseling experts. It is so important to give children the chance to talk, write, or draw to express their emotions. Please create the time and space for them to do that.
For school districts and schools, the Department also has several resources on Creating and Updating School Emergency Management Plans. If you do have an emergency plan in place, please review it, update it as necessary, and practice that plan regularly. Knowing what to do when faced with a crisis can be the difference between calm and chaos.
The Department of Education’s first priority is to help the Newtown community cope in the aftermath of this horrific event. In the days and weeks ahead, we will work with state and local officials, as well as Congress, to do everything in our power to help Newtown begin the long process of recovery.
As President Obama said, our country has suffered through mass shootings and gun deaths of young people too many times, in too many places. As a nation, we must find the courage and the conviction to take meaningful action to prevent more tragedies – now.
As districts and school leaders take steps to prevent and prepare for possible emergencies in their community, they have my full support and deepest gratitude for taking on this difficult yet necessary work.
Arne Duncan is U.S. Secretary of Education. This post is adapted from a message he sent to all U.S. school districts on Dec. 17.

Resources for Parents following Traumatic Events

by Cameron Brenchley
Here at the Department of Education, as elsewhere throughout America, our hearts ache for the Newtown, Conn., community. In a letter today to school districts around the country, Secretary Arne Duncan noted that, “Whenever a school experiences violence and the lives of children and adults are lost, we struggle to find words to express our emotions and explain how this could have happened.”
Mother talking with childMany parents and family friends are having a difficult time expressing their own feelings of anxiety, worry or sadness, and often we do not know how to talk with children about such a senseless and horrific tragedy.
Below is a list of resources specifically designed for parents and guardians to provide guidance on talking to children following a traumatic event.
For a complete list of resources visit ED’s Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools Technical Assistance Center, and read Secretary Duncan’s “Resources for Schools to Prepare for and Recover from Crisis.”
Click here for more information and to see documents in additional languages.
Cameron Brenchley is director of digital strategy at the U.S. Department of Education.
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Randi Weingarten: The Tragedy in Newtown, CT

Randi Weingarten: The Tragedy in Newtown, CT:


The Tragedy in Newtown, CT


In this season that usually fills children and adults of all ages with joy and hope for the New Year, the entire AFT family is shaken and deeply saddened by the senseless, unspeakable loss of so many lives this past Friday in Newtown, Conn. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the 20 children and seven adults who were killed, as well as to Sandy Hook Elementary School, the Newtown Public School District, and the entire community of Newtown and its surrounding areas. 
In moments of great tragedy, so many perform acts of overwhelming heroism. On Friday, first responders did what they always do: move quickly to ensure safety and prevent further harm. The school principal, teachers and staff did what educators instinctively do: protect their students. Two of the staff who lost their lives -- school psychologist Mary Sherlach and teacher Victoria Soto -- are members of our AFT family. The school principal, Dawn Hochsprung, was a member of our sister union, the American Federation of School Administrators. Also killed was behavioral therapist Rachel Davino, educational assistant Anne Marie Murphy and building substitute Lauren Rousseau. (The paraprofessionals are represented by the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers.) Lead teacher and AFT member Natalie Hammond was shot but survived. In addition, a number of the nurses at the Danbury Hospital who treated victims wounded during 
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How Walmart Helped Make Newtown Shooter's AR-15 the Most Popular Assault Weapon in America | The Nation

How Walmart Helped Make Newtown Shooter's AR-15 the Most Popular Assault Weapon in America | The Nation:


How Walmart Helped Make Newtown Shooter's AR-15 the Most Popular Assault Weapon in America

George Zornick 
December 17, 2012  
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When Adam Lanza entered Sandy Hook Elementary School on Friday, December 14, inexplicably bent on ending as many lives as possible, he was carrying a Bushmaster AR-15 assault rifle and several high-capacity magazines. Sadly, this isn’t the first time the country has had to deal with the aftermath of a horrific shooting spree, nor is it the first time we’ve encountered an AR-15 in this context: only days earlier, it was the weapon of choice for a shooting at an Oregon mall that killed two people. Five months earlier, it was used by James Holmes in an attack 
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“Seeing the massacre of so many innocent children has changed everything” : blue cheddar

“Seeing the massacre of so many innocent children has changed everything” : blue cheddar:


“Seeing the massacre of so many innocent children has changed everything”

by bluecheddar


I haven’t brought myself to write anything about the shooting in Newtown, CT because I’ve felt not only grief but a lack of faith that our elected leaders – and their constituents – will do anything to effectively deal with mass shootings in the United States. There is today at least a glimmer of hope on the political scene. A senator who holds an “A-rating” with the NRA is calling for his peers to work on gun law reform. Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia, called for a bipartisan conversation on gun law reform when he spoke on Morning Joe today: “Anyone saying they don’t want to talk and sit down and have that type of discussion is wrong.”… “Seeing the massacre of so many innocent children has changed everything,” he said. “Everything has to be on the table.” You may have heard that Diane Feinstein pledged to introduce a bill to ban assault weapons in both the U.S. House and in the Senate. But let’s be honest: Diane Feinstein proposed it because she can afford to. Incumbent Diane Feinstein has held her California U.S. Senate seat since 1992. She was ranked the nation’s 5th wealthiest U.S. Senator in 2003. more »
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How did Quinn come up with the idea of Squeezy, the pension cobra? From his canoe czar. « Fred Klonsky

How did Quinn come up with the idea of Squeezy, the pension cobra? From his canoe czar. « Fred Klonsky:


How did Quinn come up with the idea of Squeezy, the pension cobra? From his canoe czar.

by Fred Klonsky
Picture12_04

Did you know that Illinois Governor Pat Quinn had a canoe czar?
Kurt Erickson in the Pentagraph did some digging to find out where the Governor came up with the idea of Squeezy, the pension cobra.
It took some work because the governor kept the Squeezy thing pretty much under wraps. Highly confidential. On a need to know basis.
But Erickson found out it was the brain child of Quinn pal, Claude Walker.
Walker was appointed the state’s
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What is Education For? Education and National Security

Education and National Security:


What is Education For?
Education and National Security


The last week of September, 1938 was deemed “American Education Week” and for the occasion President Franklin Delano Roosevelt released a message to the citizenry. He noted that there were competitive systems of government that were fast coming into conflict and, when it came to the practice and preservation of the political system in the U.S., public education played a vital role. “Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose wisely.
The real safeguard of democracy, therefore, is education.” Thus did Roosevelt tie education to “national security.” Nonetheless, this was a problematic assertion. It assumed that citizens actually do choose their leaders rather than just affirming a leader chosen by elites. And, significantly, it assumed that what is taught in the schools results in the ability to make “wise” political choices.
The mission that FDR assigned to education continues to be part of a popular democratic trope that idealizes education’s mission. Yet, underneath the quixotry there are more pragmatic, and 
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The War Against Teachers as Public Intellectuals in Dark Times

The War Against Teachers as Public Intellectuals in Dark Times:


The War Against Teachers as Public Intellectuals in Dark Times

Monday, 17 December 2012 08:22By Henry A. Giroux, Truthout | Op-Ed
A little learning is a dangerous thing.
- Edgar Allan Poe
The tragic deaths of 26 people shot and killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., included 20 young children and two teachers. Many more children might have been killed or injured had it not been for the brave and decisive actions of the teachers in the school.  The mainstream media was quick to call them heroes, and there is little doubt that what they did under horrific circumstances reveals not only how important educators are in shielding children from imminent threat, but also how demanding their roles have become in preparing them to negotiate a world that is becoming more precarious, more dangerous - and infinitely more divisive.   Teachers are one of the most important resources a nation has for 
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