El Dorado CountyBoard hires Ed Manansala, a former superintendent of St. Hope schools | The Sacramento Bee

El Dorado County education board taps new schools chief | The Sacramento Bee:

El Dorado County education board taps new schools chief

Ed Manansala was named Tuesday as the new El Dorado County superintendent of schools, replacing a predecessor who resigned in November after his second arrest for allegedly driving under the influence.

Manansala, 46, is a former superintendent of St. Hope schools in Sacramento and most recently has worked as deputy superintendent of educational services for the El Dorado County Office of Education. Manansala started Tuesday in the new job after the El Dorado County Board of Education selected him at its regular board meeting.

Ed Manansala El Dorado County Office of Education

He replaces Jeremy Meyers, 45, who resigned Nov. 14 after two arrests on suspicion of drunken driving last year. Manansala will complete Meyers’ elected four-year term, which ends Jan. 7, 2019.

As county schools superintendent, Manansala will be responsible for fiscal oversight of El Dorado County school districts. He will lead the County Office of Education, which has 412 students at five schools. Those include charter schools and campuses that provide special education, adult education and educational programs for incarcerated youth. The office also provides payroll, printing and other administrative services to the county’s 15 small school districts.

Manansala will be paid a $196,837 annual salary and have an expense allowance of $7,600 a year, according to Dina Gentry, El Dorado County Office of Education spokeswoman.

“El Dorado County is a special place where everyone in the community is truly committed toEl Dorado County education board taps new schools chief | The Sacramento Bee:

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/education/article53196920.html#storylink=cpy

Warning: Gates is Infiltrating Opt Out | Save Maine Schools

Warning: Gates is Infiltrating Opt Out | Save Maine Schools:

Warning: Gates is Infiltrating Opt Out

Okay.  If this isn’t enough to convince you that Corporate Opt-Out is real and is trying to co-opt the grassroots opt-out movement, I don’t know what will:

This Saturday, Citizens for Public Schools (CPS) will host an “Opt-Out Campaign Launch” with the Center for Collaborative Education– an organization funded by the Gates Foundation, the Nellie Mae Education Foundation, IBM, and the U.S. Department of Education.

Yes – you read that right. Gates is helping to sponsor an Opt-Out event.

Several months ago, in a post called “Cashing in on Opt-Out,” I tried to show that the testing and ed-tech industries have long been aware of an impending shift away from the big, end-of-year high stakes test toward systems of embedded, competency-based testing, where grade levels no longer matter.

If you’ve not yet seen it, please read this article by former Gates executive and venture capitalist Tom Vander Ark, called “The End of the Big Test: Moving to Competency-Based Policy,” which spells out this agenda in detail.

Then check out this document and look carefully at the section below, where standardized tests are predicted to be “obsolete” by the year 2017:

Here’s what it boils down to:

Corporate Reformers – including Gates – don’t want end-of-year Warning: Gates is Infiltrating Opt Out | Save Maine Schools:

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Rahm to Atty Gen. Lynch: 'But you said fed probe wouldn't go any higher than CPD.'

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Rahm to Atty Gen. Lynch: 'But you said fed probe wouldn't go any higher than CPD.':

Rahm to Atty Gen. Lynch: 'But you said fed probe wouldn't go any higher than CPD.'

"The Law Department holds its employees to the absolute highest professional and ethical standards and does not tolerate any action that would call into question the integrity of the lawyers who serve and represent the City of Chicago." -- City Hall Liar in Chief, Bill McCaffrey

Rahm probably should have stayed in Cuba. I'm sure his ratings are higher than 18% in Havana.

Instead he came home to Chicago only to find the hot mess he created has gotten hotter and messier. He also found that the cover-up of yet another police killing on his watch may lead to the federal probe moving up the ladder to City Hall and closer to him.

Judge order retrial in shooting case of Darius Pinex.

Yesterday U.S. District JudgeEdmond Chang ruled that a lawyer for the city intentionally misled the court when he concealed a key recording of a police radio dispatch to Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Rahm to Atty Gen. Lynch: 'But you said fed probe wouldn't go any higher than CPD.':

The charter-school scam deepens: The sick new “bubble” that could explode urban schools - Salon.com

The charter-school scam deepens: The sick new “bubble” that could explode urban schools - Salon.com:

The charter-school scam deepens: The sick new “bubble” that could explode urban schools

A charter-school bubble is growing, and it's young black kids in cities who are most in danger

A new study warns that we may be headed towards a charter school “bubble.” Jennifer Berkshire of the Edushyster blog spoke with one its authors, Preston Green, who is also the John and Carla Klein Professor of Urban Education at the Neag School of Education at the University of Connecticut.

It’s unusual to see the words “hair-raising” and “academic study” in tandem, but your new study merits that marriage. You and your co-authors make the case that, just as with subprime mortgages, the federal government is encouraging the expansion of charter schools with little oversight, and the result could be a charter school “bubble” that blows up in urban communities. Do I have it right?

The problem of subprime mortgages began in part because the government tried to increase homeownership for poor people and minorities by enabling private entities to offer more mortgages without assuming the risk. Under the old system, the mortgage originator was still at risk if the mortgage went into default. With subprime, they were able to spread that risk by selling the mortgages on the secondary market. You had all these mortgage originators that could issue more mortgages without careful screening because they no longer had skin in the game. Now how are charter schools similar to subprime? In the charter school context, charter school authorizers are like mortgage originators.

There’s a great moment in the new movie “The Big Short” when Selena Gomez turns to the camera and explains to the world what collateralized debt obligations are. Here’s your opportunity to do the same, but for the convoluted world of charter school authorizing.

Promoters of charter school expansion are calling for an increase in independent authorizers, such as nonprofits and universities. Supporters of charter school The charter-school scam deepens: The sick new “bubble” that could explode urban schools - Salon.com:

NYC Public School Parents: The Occupy Activist Teacher that the DOE Spent $1,000,000 to Try to Fire and Lost

NYC Public School Parents: The Occupy Activist Teacher that the DOE Spent $1,000,000 to Try to Fire and Lost:

The Occupy Activist Teacher that the DOE Spent $1,000,000 to Try to Fire and Lost

Here is the story of David Suker, a US Army veteran who taught at-risk students for 14 years, and was removed from a Bronx GED classroom in December 2011 after he’d spoken out about the horrendous conditions experienced by the students there. As reported by Sue Edelman in the NY Post, DOE spent four years and more than $1 million trying to fire him, a case that they lost at every level; first the arbitrator, then at the State Supreme Court level, and at the Appellate Court.  Now yet another arbitrator has ordered him reinstated, and that he be given $260,000 in back pay, though he has to pay a $7000 fine.

The saga of my current ordeal, the three year termination of my ability to teach in NYC schools, and subsequent reinstatement by some of the highest courts in New York, specifically the New York State Supreme Court and the Appellate Division, oddly began back in August of 2008 on my way to the Democratic National Convention in Denver to witness history. Barack Obama was being nominated, and as a licensed high school social studies teacher, I wanted to say that I was there. Well that didn't happen.

While riding my Vespa Scooter to the convention from New York City, about 100 miles from Denver I was blindsided by an 18 wheeler from behind. It's safe to say I was lucky that I escaped with my life -- a broken jaw, some really bad scrapes and nothing more. I took three months off to recuperate, but when I came back to teach I was placed in a stairwell, outside of the main office, where the main office to my program, GED-Plus was located, with no teaching responsibilities. At the time I thought this was odd, but I was just glad I was alive and back to making a living. I didn't view this as punishment, but now with hindsight, I see how vindictive this system can be.

The reason I was sitting in the stairwell – I sat there for over a month before the administration of GED-Plus grudgingly sent me back to my site to teach my GED students -- had nothing to do with my competency but did have everything to do with my big mouth. You see, my principal, Robert Zweig, had been appointed Deputy Superintendent to District 79 (the district composed of alternative high schools and programs) a year previous, but his appointment was held up because of  allegations that he had a liaison with an assistant principal. The investigation took about a year and I'm pretty sure he was cleared, but I suspect that now he was in a position of even more power, he felt emboldened to go after those teachers who had been speaking out about him and his leadership of the program.

The previous incarnation of GED-Plus was called OES, or Offsite Educational Services, and that was closed in June of 2007. Principal Zweig was promoted, the teachers had to reapply for their jobs, and we were all very nervous. Few people spoke out, but I did and now I see the price NYC Public School Parents: The Occupy Activist Teacher that the DOE Spent $1,000,000 to Try to Fire and Lost:

Inside the Every Student Succeeds Act - Education Week

Inside the Every Student Succeeds Act - Education Week:

INSIDE THE EVERY STUDENT SUCCEEDS ACT

The year-end passage and signing of the Every Student Succeeds Act represents more than just a rare bipartisan agreement on the part of the nation’s chronically polarized policymakers. For the first time in more than a decade—and a half-century after enactment of the country’s main K-12 law—Congress has redefined the federal role in elementary and secondary education. And it’s done so in a way that aims to enhance the authority of states and school districts that had long chafed at the strictures of ESSA’s predecessor, the No Child Left Behind Act. 

Now comes the really hard part: implementation. This special report on ESSA looks at what the law will mean for virtually every aspect of public schooling when it takes full effect in the 2017-18 academic year. Topics include accountability and testing, teacher quality, research, regulation, funding, early-childhood education, and thorny issues involving student groups that often lag behind their peers.

Under ESSA, States, Districts to Share More Power

The Every Student Succeeds Act, the latest version of the nation’s main K-12 law, aims to scale back the hands-on federal role in elementary and secondary education.

• The Every Student Succeeds Act: Explained

January 5, 2016 - Education Week

IMPLEMENTATION

ESSA Regulatory Machinery Starting to Crank Up

With the ink barely dry on the Every Student Succeeds Act, the U.S. Department of Education begins the tricky process of setting the course for implementation.

January 5, 2016 - Education Week

Funding Flexibility Enhanced Under New K-12 Law

ESSA, the newly reauthorized version of the ESEA, makes changes in how schools can use money set aside for economically disadvantaged students.

January 5, 2016 - Education Week

TEACHING

ESSA Loosens Reins on Teacher Evaluations, Qualifications

The new law could embolden some states to revise or abandon their current methods for rating teachers.

January 5, 2016 - Education Week

ESSA Law Broadens Definition of School Success

The new law requires states to measure at least one nonacademic factor, such as student engagement, when tracking schools' performance.

January 5, 2016 - Education Week

TESTING

ESSA's Flexibility on Assessment Elicits Qualms From Testing Experts

The Every Student Succeeds Act allows states and districts to cobble scores from interim assessments into a single, summative score, but some experts worry that will make the results less valid.

December 18, 2015 - Education Week

Will States Swap Standards-Based Tests for SAT, ACT?

An ESSA provision that lets states use college-entrance exams to measure student achievement could spur a profound shift in high school testing.

January 4, 2016 - Education Week

RESEARCH

NCLB Rewrite Sets New Path on School Research

The Every Student Succeeds Act takes a more flexible, more nuanced approach to assessing the research evidence for educational programs and policies.

January 5, 2016 - Education Week

LOW-PERFORMING SCHOOLS

States, Districts to Call Shots on Turnarounds Under ESSA

The new federal K-12 law still requires states to identify their worst-performing schools, but states and districts have great leeway in how to turn them around.

January 5, 2016 - Education Week

CLASSROOM AND CURRICULUM

ESSA Reins In, Reshapes Federal Role in Literacy

The new program is smaller and less prescriptive than Reading First, and it can be applied to students of all ages.

January 5, 2016 - Education Week

School Systems Get More Say on STEM Education

Under the Every Student Succeeds Act, states and districts get more leeway—and more options—on funding STEM programs.

January 5, 2016 - Education Week

Arts Learning Keeps Toehold in ESSA

Unlike earlier proposals in Congress, the new law includes language that cements states' obligation to support arts education.

January 5, 2016 - Education Week

SPECIAL POPULATIONS

Law Adds to Pre-K's Stature as Federal-State Priority

The Every Student Succeeds Act locks into law a $250 million grant program to support states as they develop preschool programs and directs money to state early-childhood literacy efforts.

January 5, 2016 - Education Week

ELL Advocates Hopeful and Wary of New Federal K-12 Law

The new law will bring a number of changes to ELL policy that has some advocates and educators worried about the 5 million and growing population of English-learners.

January 5, 2016 - Education Week

Special Education Advocates Gear Up for ESSA Implementation

Advocates for students with disabilities say they'll want to be at the table as states hammer out plans to comply with the new federal education law.

January 5, 2016 - Education Week

4 years late[r] - The Connecticut Education Association may finally be standing up against Malloy and Wyman on their teacher evaluation disaster - Wait What?

4 years late[r] - The Connecticut Education Association may finally be standing up against Malloy and Wyman on their teacher evaluation disaster - Wait What?:

4 years late[r] – The Connecticut Education Association may finally be standing up against Malloy and Wyman on their teacher evaluation disaster

According to a press advisory issues earlier today, the Connecticut Education Association will hold a press conference at 11am at the Legislative Office Building on Thursday, January 7, 2016 to call on Governor Dannel Malloy and the Connecticut General Assembly to “join with the majority of states in the U.S. that have replaced the federally-sponsored SBAC or PARCC tests with better, more authentic and effective assessment programs.”

If the announcement is as impressive as suggested, it would mean that the leadership of Connecticut’s teacher unions have finally moved 180 degrees from the position they held on January 25, 2012 when the CEA and AFT joined with the other members of Governor Malloy’s Performance Evaluation Advisory Council (PEAC) to approve the so-called “teacher evaluation framework” that inappropriately and unfairly mandates that student’s standardized test scores be a major factor in the teacher evaluation process.

The CT Mirror reported on the development that fateful day in January 2012 in an article entitled Coming soon: teacher report cards based on student performance;

Years of disagreement have stalled efforts to grade teachers and dismiss those who are ineffective. That all changed Wednesday when a group of educators — including teachers’ unions, superintendent and school board groups — agreed on how to properly evaluate teachers…

[…]

“Districts are really going to embrace this,” said Diane Ullman, Superintendent of Schools in Simsbury and a member of the state panel responsible for creating an evaluation process districts must follow. “We’ve been waiting for this.”

The plan calls for student performance and testing to count for half of the 

4 years late[r] - The Connecticut Education Association may finally be standing up against Malloy and Wyman on their teacher evaluation disaster - Wait What?:

 

Playa Vista dispute reflects classism as major issue facing LAUSD - LA School Report

Playa Vista dispute reflects classism as major issue facing LAUSD - LA School Report:

Playa Vista dispute reflects classism as major issue facing LAUSD

The school board vote was simple, but the matter is far more complex, drawing a focus to an issue many within LA Unified find uncomfortable to talk about: classism.

The issues involved in the Playa Vista Elementary Schooldispute are a microcosm of complexities within the second largest school district in the country. They involve noise and air pollution, freeways and airports, pitting charter schools with traditional public schools, school over-crowding, district budget cuts and an increase in demand to teach the students’ parents in an ever-growing adult education program at LAUSD.

And, it also involves classism: With the area in question a part of Los Angeles that includes million dollar beach houses and families with yachts as well as some of the most notorious gang-infested housing projects in the city, where do children go to school?

The friction began when Playa Vista Elementary opened in 2012, offering a highly-regarded STEM program for kindergarten through fifth grades. It had 36 classrooms at the time but has now grown to 540 students with no more space available. New housing under construction nearby suggests that by 2020, the school will need to accommodate 400 more students in 14 more classrooms.

For now, some of the classroom space for Playa Vista is housed at Wright Middle School, which also has 19 classrooms on campus for the Westside Innovative School House charter elementary school (WISH). The district is looking for a new home for the charter classes and is considering renovating the adult school at Emerson, which was originally built as an elementary school.

Now, there are families who want a separate middle school, and don’t want their charter children going to school with traditional school students. They even issued apress release in that regard. Parent and longtime resident Lisa Hamor said the conflict has resulted in “pitting schools against schools, and potentially students against students with little or no regard for our students or our existing school communities and their desire for a quality education.”

The school board voted to conduct a feasibility study to see about locating the charter school at the Westchester-Emerson Community Adult School and upgrading Wright’s science lab, as it seeks to deal with increasing enrollment at the local schools — one of the only areas in Los Angeles where enrollment is burgeoning.

Underlying any final decision are issues of diversity.

In one of his final speeches as superintendent, made at last month’s board meeting,Ramon Cortines recounted how the issues are playing out across the district. Playa Vista dispute reflects classism as major issue facing LAUSD - LA School Report:

He’s acting, but the nation’s new education secretary is for real - The Washington Post

He’s acting, but the nation’s new education secretary is for real - The Washington Post:

He’s acting, but the nation’s new education secretary is for real

John B. King, Jr. settled into the rocking chair before a group of cross-legged kindergartners and fielded a question from a little boy.

“Wait, are you a president?” the boy asked the grown-up in the grey suit, who was escorted into their small classroom at JoAnn Leleck Elementary School in Silver Spring, Md., by an army of photographers, cameramen, reporters and assorted school and county officials.

“No, but I work for the president,” King said with a smile. “He’s very nice.”

King is the nation’s acting education secretary, replacing Arne Duncan, who relinquished the job last week after seven years as one of the most influential policy makers for the country’s 100,000 public K-12 schools.

King, who turned 41 on Tuesday, will retain the “acting” modifier for the rest of Obama’s time in office. He has not been nominated by the president, and he will not undergo the confirmation process required of most Cabinet-level officers under the Constitution.

Acting Education Secretary John King, Jr., sits on the floor to play with students at JoAnn Leleck Elementary School, on Jan. 5, 2016, in Silver Spring, Md. (Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post)

“Decisions around nominations are decisions for the president to make,” King said, when asked if his “acting” status will make it more difficult for him to execute his duties. “I will say the authorities of the acting secretary are the same as authorities of the secretary.”

[Next U.S. education secretary talks computer science, and college, with D.C. high school students]

Republican Congressional leaders in both the Senate and the House say they want King to undergo the vetting process.

“I personally recommended to President Obama in December that he nominate a Secretary of Education and that, if he did, our education committee would consider him or her in January and that — barring some sort of ethical lapse found in the confirmation process — I would work to confirm that nominee before the end of the month,” said Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), chairman of the Senate education panel and a former education secretary under President George H.W. Bush.
“For proper accountability, especially as we work with the administration on implementing the new law governing elementary and secondary education, it He’s acting, but the nation’s new education secretary is for real - The Washington Post:

Sacramento City School Board—A Teacher on the School Board | Ellen Cochrane

Sacramento City School Board—Area Two Highlights 2015 | Ellen Cochrane:

Sacramento City School Board—Area Two Highlights 2015

A Teacher on the School Board

Ellen Cochrane
Sacramento City School Board
Trustee Area 2

The New Year holds much promise for Sac City, as well as many challenges. It seems that better economic times will offer a boost to the districts finances. However, the responsibilities of the district are complex and urgent and will require every new penny gained from taxes and a careful spending of resources. I consider votes on the budget to be one of the most important parts of my job.

When you contact elected officials you should hear back from them, promptly. The feeling that you’re yelling down a well is thoroughly unacceptable. One simple first year goal was to respond quickly to every constituent contact, via email, letter, phone or in person. So it goes for 2016, if you need anything SCUSD related—Call Me! (916) 457-2725.

At the beginning of last year retired teachers faced a crisis with health care when changes were abruptly made without a board vote. Under board direction the district has returned retirees’ health benefits as they were at the beginning 2015. Our retired teachers are secure.

Teachers will enter into contract negotiations this year. I support a 10% raise in teachers’ salaries and retention of solid health care benefits. While this raise may seem extraordinary, it will bring SCUSD teachers into parity with surrounding districts, which pay significantly higher salaries. Last year we started the school year with more than 80 unfilled credentialed positions. We cannot attract and retain new teachers unless we can compete with other districts. This spring I will participate in university visits (with district personnel) to promote the job openings in SCUSD. If you know of anyone who is interested in a teaching career, let me know!

Summer school of yore is no more, and most activity and elective courses are gone. Even credit recovery is not always available; however, SCUSD does have a bright spot. Visions 2000 Foundation’s College Prep Math & Reading Academy at Sac State is committed to addressing the critical needs and interests of students in the public school system. It is a model of summer school intervention that works with and supports SCUSD. In the dearth of summer school opportunities, it’s a bright light. One of my goals this year is to begin reinstating summer school programs.

Broader district endeavors include the 5 Year Strategic Plan, Local Control Spending, Restorative Justice, and contract negotiations. If you have any specific questions about these major issues feel free to contact me.

Area Two Highlights

Caleb Greenwood Elementary —Caleb continues to develop its International Baccalaureate (IB) program, which was authorized as a Primary Years Program in the spring of 2015. The school is part of the kindergarten-through-12th grade International Baccalaureate track for Kit Carson Middle School.

David Lubin Elementary—The students, teachers and parents are two years into developing a full STEAM program. Congratulations to the school.

Phoebe Hearst Elementary—This no-boundary school is gearing up for open enrollment. All parents have the ability to apply, but spaces are limited.

Tahoe Elementary—Tahoe neighborhood school is in the process of program reassessment. With a strong neighborhood association, new principal, dedicated staff and parents the New Year will bring many new ideas for the community to consider.

Theodore Judah Elementary—Ground will break for a new stick-built building this year. This is one of the first non-portable district additions in many years. The school boundary now includes McKinley Village. I advocated unsuccessfully for additional school crossing signage on Elvas Avenue at 40th street, but will continue to request Sacramento City School Board—Area Two Highlights 2015 | Ellen Cochrane:

John King Talks ESSA, Priorities for 2016, and Being an 'Acting' Education Secretary - Politics K-12 - Education Week

John King Talks ESSA, Priorities for 2016, and Being an 'Acting' Education Secretary - Politics K-12 - Education Week:

John King Talks ESSA, Priorities for 2016, and Being an 'Acting' Education Secretary

John King, the newly minted acting education secretary, dropped by Joanne Leleck Elementary School at Broad Acres in Montgomery County, Md., to welcome students back from the holiday break, highlight the school's use of new federal money for preschool—and chat with reporters.

King, who replaced recently-departed education Secretary Arne Duncan, outlined his top three priorities for his single year in office:

 "One is to focus on equity and excellence in all of our schools. Two is to lift up teaching," King said. He said he's the product of New York City public schools and that teachers helped get him to the place he's in today.

And he had one higher education goal: "We need to focus as a country on getting back to first in the world in college completion," which will mean making sure students graduate from high school ready for the challenges of post-secondary education. (King also outlined these same three areas in a letter to U.S. Department of Education staff earlier this week, and we wrote about them here.)

King doesn't think the newest edition of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act will have a big impact on whether or not he's able to move forward with that agenda.

"The president signed the Every Student Succeeds Act because he believes and we believe that it builds on the civil rights legacy of the law. We are confident we can work together with states and ensure that implementation of the new law advances equity and excellence in our schools. The key will be to make sure states use their new flexibility around accountability and intervention systems in ways that are [focused] on equity and opportunity for the highest-need students," he said.

King held up Montgomery County—just outside Washington, D.C.—as an example of a district that's doing a good job of meeting the needs of a diverse population. (Incidentally, King is a Montgomery County parent. His daughters—a 4th grader and a 7th grader—attend school in the district.)

Does it matter that King is "acting"?  Some GOP aides on Capitol Hill have raised eyebrows behind the scenes about the fact that King was never put up for Senate confirmation—either for his current gig or for his previous post as a senior aide filling the role of deputy secretary, the No. 2 job John King Talks ESSA, Priorities for 2016, and Being an 'Acting' Education Secretary - Politics K-12 - Education Week:

CURMUDGUCATION: Friedrichs for Dummies

CURMUDGUCATION: Friedrichs for Dummies:
Friedrichs for Dummies

So you've been hearing about Friedrichs vs California Teachers Association, but not paying close attention. You know the unions are upset about it (but when aren't the unions upset about something), and you've heard that the Supreme Court is going to hear it, but you've put off learning more because it all seems so contentious and does anybody really want to seek out more conflict in the education world these days? Besides, you aren't in California.

But lately you've been thinking you should tune in and sort this out. Luckily for you, the Wall Street Journal gave one of the vocal-but-not-lead plaintiffs, Harlan Elrich, room to lay out his case, and we can use it as an entry point.

Elrich lays out his own teaching history, which is not unlike my own--over thirty years, local involvement, not always happy with union choices (though I suspect for different reasons).

Elrich is unhappy with the union's political bent, and though he's less direct about this, the actual direction of that bent. He doesn't want to give money to the union's political activities that work against his own leanings. By law, unions must allow members to opt-out of such contributions (here in PA, contributions for political activities are an opt-in fund separate from dues), but Elrich believes essentially that all union activities, right down to local negotiations, are political. In a sense, that's true-ish-- matters of policy that are set by elected officials cannot avoid a hint of politics, and in the world of education, that means everything.

But Elrich's definition of "political decisions he doesn't agree with" is hugely broad. He does not like that the union gets him too high a salary at the expense of either his economically struggling neighbors or conditions such as class size.

Elrich hits another recurring theme in Friedrich plaintiff complaints, which is the evils of tenure. He tells a story of a teacher who clearly should have been gone from the classroom, but because the union negotiated all these protections, he was not released. Plaintiff Friedrich tells a similar story about a physically abusive teacher who was protected by the union.CURMUDGUCATION: Friedrichs for Dummies:

New State Board of Education member collects multi-million dollar contract via State Board of Education - Wait What?

New State Board of Education member collects multi-million dollar contract via State Board of Education - Wait What?:

New State Board of Education member collects multi-million dollar contract via State Board of Education

Ethics for public officials?  Not so much.

One of Governor Dannel Malloy’s recent appointees to the Connecticut State Board of Education is not only a representative of the charter school industry but his company is collecting a multi-million dollar contract that is funded and managed by the State Department of Education and the very board he has been appointed to.

Although this article was first published at Wait, What? on December 23, 2015, the Malloy administration has refused to comment.

Malloy gives Charter School Industry another seat on the CT State Board of Education

A News Update from Jonathan Pelto and Wendy Lecker

While Connecticut’s public schools continue to suffer from inadequate state funding and Governor Dannel Malloy and his administration strive to undermine, dismiss and destroy the CCJEF school funding lawsuit that would finally ensure that Connecticut meets its State Constitutional obligation to provide all students with a quality education, Malloy’s corporate education reform initiative has fueled an unprecedented growth of charter schools in Connecticut.  The Charter School Industry now collects in excess of $100 million a year from Connecticut taxpayers.

Privately owned and operated, but funded with taxpayer dollars, Connecticut’s Charter Schools have consistently failed to educate their fair share of students that require special education services and English Language Learners who aren’t fluent in the English Language.

Achievement First, Inc., the large charter school chain with schools in New York, Connecticut and Rhode Island, earned national notoriety when news broke about the shocking number of kindergarten and first graders suspended at their schools.  The New State Board of Education member collects multi-million dollar contract via State Board of Education - Wait What?: