Stuck in the Muck: Trapped in Outcome-Based Reforms - The Crucial Voice of the PeopleThe Crucial Voice of the People

Stuck in the Muck: Trapped in Outcome-Based Reforms - The Crucial Voice of the PeopleThe Crucial Voice of the People:

Stuck in the Muck: Trapped in Outcome-Based Reforms

If President Trump drained the swamp, we would still be stuck in the muck.

Still waiting on leaders to fix health care? And how many decades have we listened to talk about fixing the education system? But, did you know that both these systems are suffering from the same problem?

“Make America great again”? We can’t do that without understanding what changed America. Until then, we spin our wheels, dig ourselves in deeper, and allow the expanding swamp to be refilled.

The problem? We switched drivers — from leaders believing in progress to those driven by outcome-based data, money, and their own arrogance. Our drivers own the world and dictate the rules.

We the People? We don’t know which way to turn. But even if we did, we can’t move forward because we’re stuck in the muck.

Health care, social security, the justice system, the environment, education, on and on — all the major social problems are being kicked down the road. And we are stuck in debt up Stuck in the Muck: Trapped in Outcome-Based Reforms - The Crucial Voice of the PeopleThe Crucial Voice of the People:

Happy Humpday (and enjoy today’s testing errata)! | okeducationtruths

Happy Humpday (and enjoy today’s testing errata)! | okeducationtruths:

Happy Humpday (and enjoy today’s testing errata)!

It’s April, so let’s all stop what we’re doing and test some kids! That’s why we’re here five days a week, right? Well, five-ish.

I know I should be less flippant about standardize testing, but if I were, how would you recognize me? As a state, we spend millions on tests that give us very little in the way of useful information months after the fact. At least the process is a well-oiled machine, right?

You’d think that. Unfortunately, Measured Progress, our testing company has twice this week had to email us and say my bad! On Monday, it was fifth grade math.

Certainly our students wouldn’t be confused at having different answer choices in their testing books as they do on their answer sheets, right? F and A are quite closely linked (in a single summative kind of way).

It’s a typo. These things happen. At least they don’t cause us to invalidate tests though.

Today’s problem was a different story.

Because of the length of some tests, we give them in two separate sessions. So we should have different directions for each session. The lack of clarity caused some confusion and created test invalidation in some schools. I don’t know how many schools were affected. I was just Happy Humpday (and enjoy today’s testing errata)! | okeducationtruths:

CURMUDGUCATION: Rahm's Insane Plan

CURMUDGUCATION: Rahm's Insane Plan:
Rahm's Insane Plan

 Just a reminder that it's not just Republicans who have insane ideas about education. Rahm Emanuel, for Obamabro and current mayor of at least some parts of Chicago has unleashed this genius idea, as covered by CBS today:

“We live in a period of time where you earn what you learn,” Emanuel said. “The school system of K through 12 is not applicable to the world and the economy and the world that our high school students are graduating to. So we’re moving to a pre-K to college model.”

Under the proposal, all Chicago Public School students starting with this year’s freshman class would have to show an acceptance letter to a four-year university, a community college, a trade school or apprenticeship, an internship, or a branch of the armed services in order to receive their high school diploma.

That's it-- Choose college, trade school, internship, or military, or else Rahm will hold your diploma hostage. 

Janice Jackson, CEO of Chicago Public Schools, pointed out that any student who graduates from CPS is automatically accepted into the City College community college program. So I suppose we could see this not as a draconian, one-size-fits-all intrusion on the lives of young adults and instead see it as a really, really aggressive recruiting program for the City Colleges.

Or maybe just an aggressive recruiting program for Chicagoland charter schools.

My mind is still reeling from trying to compile the full list of life paths that Rahm Emanuel has now declared Not Good Enough.

Steady job that's not a trade? Working musician? Stay-at-home mom? Person who just needs to spend a year or two working at a crappy minimum wage job while they figure out what they want to do CURMUDGUCATION: Rahm's Insane Plan:

N.Y. education chief under fire over comment on assignment asking students to argue for Nazi extermination of Jews - The Washington Post

N.Y. education chief under fire over comment on assignment asking students to argue for Nazi extermination of Jews - The Washington Post:

N.Y. education chief under fire over comment on assignment asking students to argue for Nazi extermination of Jews

The education commissioner of New York State, MaryEllen Elia, is in hot water over a controversy about an assignment given to high school students to argue for or against the “Final Solution,” the extermination of the Jewish people by the Nazis in World War II.

A parent-teacher-student organization in New York is calling for her resignation after she was quoted by a reporter saying that she could understand high school students being asked to write an essay arguing for or against the Holocaust because it could foster critical thinking. A few days later she retracted it, saying she didn’t realize that such a paper had actually been assigned.

The executive board of the Hastings-on-Hudson PTSA sent a letter (see text below) to the Board of Regents, which hired Elia in 2015 to head the state’s Education Department, saying that her later apology was not enough. Asked about the letter on Wednesday, the New York State Education Department provided a statement saying:

“The assignment was wrong. It crosses a line that should never be crossed. I spoke with district officials about this serious matter. The teacher apologized and the assignment will not be used in the future.

“We are working to make sure this type of incident is not repeated in future. We have partnered with the BOCES and Alan Goldberg, Professor Emeritus at Syracuse University’s School of Education, who with community input, will develop materials to help educators teach students about the Holocaust in a respectful manner. Once the materials are ready, NYSED will share the resources with school districts and teachers across the state.”

According to Syracuse.com, two non-Jewish high school students in Oswego, N.Y., reported feeling “weird” in February when their teacher made the assignment in an English class taken through an Oswego County Center for Instruction, Technology and Innovation (CiTi)/ Board of Cooperative Educational Services New Vision program. It provides college-level career-focused education and hands-on learning to high school students. Syracuse.com, which talked to the students, said in a story initially posted March 30 that the assignment (which you can see in full here) specifically says it is “not for you to be sympathetic to the Nazi point of view.”

The assignment asked students to imagine that they were attending the 1942 Wannsee Conference in Germany, where Nazi leaders met to discuss and plan implementation of the extermination of the Jews.  They were to write an essay arguing for or against it, and the assignment said:

Ultimately, this is an exercise on expanding your point of view by going outside your comfort zone and training your brain to logistically find the evidence necessary to prove a point, even if it is existentially and philosophically against 

N.Y. education chief under fire over comment on assignment asking students to argue for Nazi extermination of Jews - The Washington Post:

Enrollment Preferences Bill Released From Committee But Newark Charter School Exclusion Remains Controversial – Exceptional Delaware 2017

Enrollment Preferences Bill Released From Committee But Newark Charter School Exclusion Remains Controversial – Exceptional Delaware 2017:

Enrollment Preferences Bill Released From Committee But Newark Charter School Exclusion Remains Controversial

House Substitute 1 for House Bill 85 was released from the Delaware House Education Committee today.  There are very serious concerns due to a “compromise” brought forth by the Delaware Charter Schools Network.  The bone of contention surrounds the Christina School District and Newark Charter School.  Since a portion of Christina exists in Wilmington, those students would not be considered in the enrollment preference which includes all students in a choice school’s district.  The line of thinking appears to be the district section of Wilmington is not connected to the rest of the district.  However, those who oppose this section of the bill feel it is a barrier for Wilmington students who are part of the Christina School District.

Today, State Rep. John Kowalko is bringing forth an amendment but no one on the committee knew specifically what the amendment was.  State Rep. Kim Williams, the primary sponsor of the bill, stated she assumes it would be to remove lines 7-9 of the bill which would give Newark Charter School their Wilmington exclusion.  Williams said she would not support the amendment because she gave her word to the Delaware Charter School Network.  State Rep. Joe Miro said he would not support the bill if the amendment passed.

State Rep. Sean Matthews said he is in support of the bill but does not feel the bill serves all students in the Christina School District.  He felt the bill does not allow for Wilmington students to go to Newark Charter School and the exclusion for NCS was put in so it can pass the Delaware Senate.

If Newark Charter School is so good, they should take all students. -State Rep. Sean Matthews

State Rep. Deb Heffernan agreed with Matthews.  The bill was released with 11 votes in favor of the bill.

Delaware Secretary of Education Dr. Susan Bunting said the Delaware Enrollment Preferences Bill Released From Committee But Newark Charter School Exclusion Remains Controversial – Exceptional Delaware 2017:

Episode 31: The "Choice" is Clear: It's A Backpack Full of Cash! | BustED Pencils

Episode 31: The "Choice" is Clear: It's A Backpack Full of Cash! | BustED Pencils:

Episode 31: The “Choice” is Clear: It’s A Backpack Full of Cash!

Feature Interview: Sarah Mondale and Vera Aronow. Film makers for A Backpack Full of Cash.

Blogger/Activist of the Week: Rebel Teacher on the “Business of Choice.”

The Schools Our Children Deserve: Jesse “The Walking Man” Turner

Matt Damon’s Mom on why Matt decided to narrate Backpack Full of Cash

Trending News and a Moment of Zinn.

Let’s Bust some Pencils!

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Episode 31: The "Choice" is Clear: It's A Backpack Full of Cash! | BustED Pencils:

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: What I told reporter about CPS' falling suspension rate

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: What I told reporter about CPS' falling suspension rate:

What I told reporter about CPS' falling suspension rate

"Chicago Public Schools has one of the highest suspension and expulsion rates and the disproportionate use of suspensions." -- Barbara Byrd-Bennett, Feb 7, 2014

This morning, I'm being asked by a reporter to respond to CPS's recently-reported remarkable drop in the rates of suspensions and expulsions since 2012 (67% and 74%) along with a corresponding rise in graduation rate (74%, 85%) and improvements in math and reading scores.

My response won't be much different from the one a gave to the NYT  when I took issue with their previous glowing reports on Chicago's graduation and drop-out rates.

First, I am elated to hear about any improvements in city schools, including lower suspension and expulsion rates. Readers of this blog know that I am a big fan and advocate for public schools and unlike those who currently run CPS and the D.O.E, have sent all three of our children to CPS schools. Currently, my grandson is enrolled at a neighborhood high school in Chicago.

The lowering of suspension/expulsion rates is a key indicator of school improvement. It only makes sense that the more children are in the classroom instead of sitting at home or running Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: What I told reporter about CPS' falling suspension rate:

In Re: LAUSD’s Solvency ~ “Who Can Even Read That?” – redqueeninla

In Re: LAUSD’s Solvency ~ “Who Can Even Read That?” – redqueeninla:

In Re: LAUSD’s Solvency ~ “Who Can Even Read That?”

Well…. the previous post is not actually all that long or complicated. It’s just boring. Reading about finances is boring.

So, it seems the story about LAUSD’s finances and how they’ve been competently managed and LAUSD is NOT going bankrupt will just be bleeped over. Again.

Yet, it’s not complicated; it’s not hard to understand.

And it’s important, so here it is in parable:

Your kids’ clothes are ratty. But your minimum-wage job is enough to cover rent and groceries and transportation. You’re getting by. But the kid wants new shoes.

What to do?

You’re squirrelling away a little bit, even, every month. And that nest egg is growing. It gets just a little bit bigger every day. Every now and then you have to dip into it, but you’re doing more saving than spending, so slowly it’s growing.

What to do?

Kid walks home from school. And needs new shoes because the other ones just aren’t working any longer. The shoes are needed; they’re not a first-line necessity, but they’re part of living adequately.

What to do?

Your apartment management company requires to see a bank account periodically that has more than the bottom-line rent required. This nest egg is providing that; it’s good. The apartment is good and you’re not going to get kicked out. You’re being a good money-manager.

But the shoes.

Kid needs the shoes. And what are you doing all this working for if not to provide kid with what is needed? If you just save and save, eventually kid grows up and goes away; what was it for then? Isn’t it being earned to be spent; isn’t it intended for the kid? That’s the social-mandate: earn money to take care of the kid.

So that’s all there is to it. LAUSD is not going broke (see data here), its operating expenses not only remain in the black year after year, but a little bit is being In Re: LAUSD’s Solvency ~ “Who Can Even Read That?” – redqueeninla:

Fighting Hate In Schools : NPR Ed : NPR

Fighting Hate In Schools : NPR Ed : NPR:

Fighting Hate In Schools

Editor's note: This story contains language that may be offensive to some readers.

Hate incidents can happen anywhere: the mall, the church, the office. But, in the wake of the 2016 election, hate's been showing up a lot in school.

According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, in the months following the election more hate incidents took place in America's schools than anywhere else. Hundreds of elementary, middle and high schools have played host to an array of troubling events, from sophomoric stunts to much worse: a hijab pulled off a Muslim student, physical fights with racial epithets flung, even violent threats.

Educators in Massachusetts, as elsewhere, are struggling with what to do.

In Medway, a video began circulating showing a student with a rifle, saying the N-word and "kill 'em all." This was just one of dozens of school incidents called in to a hate hotline set up by the Massachusetts attorney general.

One concerned parent called to ask about getting a restraining order. The staffer answering the phone explained the law and promised to follow up to make sure school and local law enforcement officials were taking it seriously.

"It's especially concerning that a child was responsible," the staffer offered sympathetically. "And this is exactly the reason we started this hotline, so we really appreciate you taking the time to call."

But along with the anxious parents, schools themselves are also calling with their own concerns about how to handle it all.

As Attorney General Maura Healey puts it, when it comes to student behavior, "there's Fighting Hate In Schools : NPR Ed : NPR:

What protections do student journalists really have? Check your state on this map. - The Washington Post

What protections do student journalists really have? Check your state on this map. - The Washington Post:

What protections do student journalists really have? Check your state on this map

Student journalists at a high school in southeast Kansas investigating the credentials of their new principal found that they had been falsified — and the principal resigned. Those teenagers were able to do that work because of a state law enacted in 1992 that offers K-12 students protection, in addition to the First Amendment, from administrative censorship. But not all student journalists in the country have such protection.

Each state looks at protection for student journalists differently, according to the Student Press Law Center, a nonprofit organization that has been the nation’s only legal assistance agency exclusively devoted to educating high school and college journalists about the First Amendment and supporting the student news media to do their work without censorship. SPLC provides free legal advice, information and materials to students and operates a formal Attorney Referral Network of lawyers who will represent student journalists in the country at no cost.

Here’s a map from New Voices USA, a network of state campaigns to pass anti-censorship legislation to grant extra protections to student journalists.

CLICK ON EACH STATE FOR MORE INFORMATION 

Five states have added protection for college and high students against administrative censorship. They are California, Oregon, North Dakota, Illinois and Maryland.

Seven states provide protection against administrative censorship only for high school students. They are Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Washington state (which appears on the map as blue because there is also a campaign to extend protections to college students). The District of Columbia has a Board of Education regulation that givesWhat protections do student journalists really have? Check your state on this map. - The Washington Post: 

Schott Grantees Convene to Change the Conversation | Schott Foundation for Public Education

Schott Grantees Convene to Change the Conversation | Schott Foundation for Public Education:

Schott Grantees Convene to Change the Conversation

One of the pleasures of working at the Schott Foundation for Public Education is that we have the opportunity to work with and learn from our grantee partners who do incredible grassroots organizing work all across the country. These public education advocates lead campaigns in their respective regions, but on March 15 and 16 leaders from 22 of our grantee partners convened together for our first Opportunity to Learn Network Communications Summit. Experts on media training, message development, education, and social justice organizing led workshops to enhance these leaders’ skills.

Our guest presenters were Sally Kohn, Jeff Bryant, and Aliya Rahman. Sally Kohn is a CNN political commentator, a columnist and one of the leading progressive voices in America today. Jeff Bryant is the director of the Education Opportunity Network, an education media and communications project of People's Action Institute in partnership with the Schott Foundation. Aliya Rahman is Director of Movement Technology for Wellstone, an organization dedicated to building movements, progressive political leadership and technology and digital strategy.

We began Wednesday afternoon by introducing ourselves to each other and explaining the reasons we fight for public education. Many of the leaders in attendance had already worked together on campaigns and initiatives, some had admired each other’s work from afar, and others were learning about each other’s work for the first time. Aliya led a “Digital Toolbox” workshop, in which she discussed digital organizing frameworks, strategy, and tactics for today’s political and organizing climates. She reminded us that we are all organizers, and can use technology and data to better organize and that we shouldn’t let be intimidated by the myriad of tech tools available. As Aliya put it, we’re all “tech people” — “being a ‘tech person’ is about using tech for work we already know how to do.” Schott’s Creative & Online Communications Director Patrick St. John and Communications Director DeQuendre Neeley-Betrand then provided a crash course on beginner and advanced topics in social media promotion and advertising. Tips included how to target and maximize one’s audience, automate social media updates, and analyze an organization’s impact to help refine communications strategy.

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The next morning began with a training led by Sally in which attendees learned how to better craft their message and make Schott Grantees Convene to Change the Conversation | Schott Foundation for Public Education:

SMMUSD'S NEW SUPERINTENDENT- FINALLY RACIAL JUSTICE? - Perdaily.com

SMMUSD'S NEW SUPERINTENDENT- FINALLY RACIAL JUSTICE? - Perdaily.com:

SMMUSD'S NEW SUPERINTENDENT- FINALLY RACIAL JUSTICE?

On Sunday April 2nd the Committee for Racial Justice in Santa Monica had as their guest speaker Dr. Ben Drati, the relatively new African American superintendent of the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District (SMMUSD). What Dr. Drati discussed in his presentation was SMMUSD's decision to once and for all effectively deal with the unacceptable realities behind why African American and Latino students have continued to do poorly at SMMUSD and what can be done to finally close this achievement gap in a manner where the positive results are independently and empirically verifiable.

While I found that I had some problems with Dr. Drati's approach to achieving minority student parity with their usually more affluent and academically more successful non-minority peers, what I nonetheless found refreshing in his approach was a clear willingness to incorporate any ideas that might help him and SMMUSD to finally allow minority students to achieve their potential.

In the "coherent and cohesive focus" that Dr. Drati seeks to finally implement at SMMUSD in improving minority achievement, for me it is a sine qua non that Dr. Drati not underestimate the entrenched "culture of opposition" that he will surely come up against, when his reforms challenge the vested and very profitable interests of those who are doing just fine financially under the present system.

Dr. Drati believes the "people leading schools have best intentions in mind," when the reality is that we have 2.3 million people presently being incarcerated in our prisons- 1 million of whom are African American. Fixing our schools, so that minority students would now come out of school socialized and highly educated and employable, could not help but cut into these rates of incarceration and the obscene corporate profits that have been generated by them for so long.

There is also a tendency to minimize or not really understand just how profound of a positive effect a good and pragmatically driven public education system has, when it does something more than just mouth platitudes, which most of those presently running the system don't even really believe in. For example, Dr. Drati presented a list of several factors that schools could not control in dealing with SMMUSD'S NEW SUPERINTENDENT- FINALLY RACIAL JUSTICE? - Perdaily.com:

Torlakson Honors Sac City USD as Safe Haven - Year 2017 (CA Dept of Education)

Torlakson Honors Sac City USD as Safe Haven - Year 2017 (CA Dept of Education):

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson Honors Sacramento City Unified for Safe Haven Efforts

SACRAMENTO —State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson today commended the Sacramento City Unified School District for its leadership in the movement for school districts to declare themselves as “Safe Havens” and urged other districts across the state to follow Sacramento City Unified’s example.

“It’s critical in this climate that California schools reassure their students, parents, educators, and local communities that schools welcome everyone regardless of immigration status,” Torlakson said.

“Federal law requires schools to educate all children, even those who are undocumented. Students cannot learn and succeed if they are afraid to come to school, or if their parents are afraid to allow them to come to school or otherwise fully participate in the school community.”

Torlakson’s remarks came during a school visit and town hall forum today at Oak Ridge Elementary School in the Sacramento City Unified School District. Oak Ridge Elementary serves a student body that is largely Latino and Hmong from immigrant families.

Located in Sacramento’s Oak Park neighborhood, the school is represented by Sacramento City Unified School District Board of Education First Vice President Jessie Ryan, who spearheaded the District’s Safe Haven efforts that resulted in a Safe Haven resolution last December  (PDF). The District has continued to promote tolerance and a welcoming environment while informing students and their families of their rights and legal protections against stepped-up federal immigration enforcement.

“Sacramento City Unified is honored by State Superintendent Torlakson’s recognition of our Safe Haven work,” Ryan said. “We are proud to have him stand with us to ensure that all children feel welcome at every school—regardless of their immigration status. We stand together for the safety and protection of our families.”

Torlakson last year urged California school districts to declare themselves Safe Havens and reminded schools of state and federal safeguards in place that protect immigrant families. To date, nearly 60 separate school district boards, representing a total of nearly two million students, have adopted Safe Haven or similar resolutions.

Last month, Torlakson reached out to the federal government to clarify whether it is changing a longstanding policy that had avoided immigration actions near schools. Torlakson has also filed a friend of the court brief in federal court supporting Santa Clara County’s request to stop an executive order by President Donald Trump that threatens to stop federal funding for California cities, counties, and possibly public schools.

More information is available at the California Department of Education’s Safe Havens Web page.

# # # #

Tom Torlakson — State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Communications Division, Room 5602, 916-319-0818, Fax 916-319-0100