Thursday, November 10, 2011

Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top Early Evening Posts #ows #edreform


School Tech Connect: The Big Macher

School Tech Connect: The Big Macher:The Big Macherby noreply@blogger.com (Tim)Chicago's mayor is determined to visit every bad idea imaginable on our public schools. It's as if he has a filter on his brain, and only the worst ideas get in. All the good ideas bypass his brain and go directly into the production of bile.If you took the $5m "donation" and asked a committee of principals how best to spend this money to improve achievement, they would not have come ... more »

Schools Matter: More on the Awakening in Wake County

Schools Matter: More on the Awakening in Wake County:More on the Awakening in Wake Countyby Jim HornFrom Facing South, "A Big Loss for Art Pope in NC School Resegregation Fight":Voters in Wake County, N.C. have shifted political power on the local school board, ending a Republican majority backed by leading conservative benefactor Art Pope that worked to end the system's nationally recognized desegregation policy.In the Nov. 8 runoff race that pitted incumbent Democrat Kevin Hill, a lifelong educator, against Republican ... more »

saukvalley.com | Bivins scrutinizes questionable uses of state funds in Dixon IL, Sterling, IL and Rock Falls IL

saukvalley.com | Bivins scrutinizes questionable uses of state funds in Dixon IL, Sterling, IL and Rock Falls IL:Bivins scrutinizes questionable uses of state fundsSPRINGFIELD – Gery Chico isn’t a well-known name in northwestern Illinois.The former Chicago mayoral candidate and leader of multiple Chicago area boards, including of Chicago Public Schools, is Gov. Pat Quinn’s pick for the nonsalaried chairman of the Illinois State Board of Education post.That’s how he ended up in front of the Senate Executive Appointments Committee on ... more »

Putting our Veterans Back to Work | Military.com

Home | Military.com:Good morning, As our soldiers begin to return home many will be looking to re-enter the workforce. Many military friendly employers are planning to target returning veterans in 2012 to help them reintegrate into the workforce and to take advantage of the Wounded Warrior and pending Returning Veterans Tax Credits. Monster has developed the following tools to help our soldiers return to the work quickly and to help you take advantage of these tax credits. · Veteran Job ... more »

This Week In Education: Thompson: Disconnected Measures In Tennessee & Florida

This Week In Education: Thompson: Disconnected Measures In Tennessee Florida:Thompson: Disconnected Measures In Tennessee Floridaby john thompsonI thought I’d heard everything after reading "In Tennessee, Following the Rules for Evaluations Off a Cliff," by the New York Times' Micheal Winerip. But then I read "Florida's Teachers Get Ready to Get Graded" by Laura Isensee and Sarah Butrymowicz of the Miami Herald. Winerip describes how the Tennessee teacher evaluation system was rushed into place due to Race to the Top. Tennessee ... more »

Survey Shows Walker School “Reforms” Not Working, And Next Year Will Be Worse « Larry Miller's Blog: Educate All Students!

Survey Shows Walker School “Reforms” Not Working, And Next Year Will Be Worse « Larry Miller's Blog: Educate All Students!:Survey Shows Walker School “Reforms” Not Working, And Next Year Will Be Worseby millerlfWisconsin Department of Public Instruction New Release 11/10/11Survey data shows effects of cuts to educationWith 83 percent of school districts responding, survey data gathered this fall shows the vast majority of students are attending schools that cut staff, meaning there are fewer adults in Wisconsin public schools helping ... more »

Survey map demonstrates the scope of Wisconsin education job losses | Defend Wisconsin

Survey map demonstrates the scope of Wisconsin education job losses | Defend Wisconsin:Survey map demonstrates the scope of Wisconsin education job lossesby CharlesThis image, taken from the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel and produced by the Wisconsin Association of School District Administrators, demonstrates how many districts around the state have been affected by the threefold increase in job losses this year.

An anonymous comment from someone who claims to love transparency. « Fred Klonsky

An anonymous comment from someone who claims to love transparency. « Fred Klonsky:An anonymous comment from someone who claims to love transparency.by Fred KlonskyI received this comment today:It’s rather fun to watch the bugs scurry when the lights are turned on. Remember when the left tried to manipulate, and deceive (with the Open Meetings law) to shut down Walker reforms? Yeah, they failed at that. However, shortly after, Kyle Olson took Madison DA Ozanne to court over his repeated failure ... more »

Wanted: Creative Resistance - Bridging Differences - Education Week

Wanted: Creative Resistance - Bridging Differences - Education Week:Wanted: Creative Resistanceby Deborah MeierDear Diane,Like you, I was immensely cheered to read that my colleagues were speaking truth to power! Yes, I agree with virtually every word that those Long Island administrators said. The sad fact is that this is so rare is troubling. As I speak around the country to teacher-educators I remind them that they should "go after" their university colleagues, who should be defending the independence of schools ... more »

NCLB Waiver Statement - Year 2011 (CA Dept of Education)

NCLB Waiver Statement - Year 2011 (CA Dept of Education):State Schools Chief Torlakson Issues Statement on NCLB WaiverSACRAMENTO—State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson issued the following statement today regarding the State Board of Education's initial discussion of whether to seek a waiver* from the provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act:"I commend President Michael Kirst and members of the State Board of Education for their thoughtful discussion today, and their willingness to examine both the benefits and the ... more »

IL House adjourns Wednesday without voting on SB512. « Fred Klonsky

IL House adjourns Wednesday without voting on SB512. « Fred Klonsky:IL House adjourns Wednesday without voting on SB512.by Fred KlonskyA House committee voted SB512 to the House floor Tuesday by a 5 to 4 vote. But Wednesday came and went with no House vote on the Cross-Fahner pension killer.The last chance to vote on it is Thursday when the veto session is scheduled to end.There is talk of another session in two weeks.But the contacts being made by thousands of ... more »

American Horror Story: Student Debt, Suicide and Occupations | HyperVocal #ows

American Horror Story: Student Debt, Suicide and Occupations | HyperVocal:American Horror Story: Student Loan Debt and Suicide Over Wilted PancakesPOSTED NOVEMBER 8TH 9:51AM BY CRYN JOHANNSENSeveral weeks ago I visited Austin, Texas to report on the #Occupy movement there. The mood was festive, friendly, uplifting. Occupy Wall Street had already turned ugly on several occasions, especially the pepper-spraying incident involving an NYPD white shirt and several young women, but protesters elsewhere had yet to see such instances of violence (the ... more »

WHERE IS THE OUTRAGE ? « Teachers Fight Back

WHERE IS THE OUTRAGE ? « Teachers Fight Back:WHERE IS THE OUTRAGE ?by alkleenThe Personnel and Pension Committee in the Illinois Legislature voted 5-4 to send a “Pension Reform” bill to the full House. Under this bill, state employees could keep their retirement benefit in place but pay more; take smaller benefits but pay no more; or set up a 401(k)style plan.Let’s see if I understand this situation correctly. For many years the Illinois Legislature violated the Illinois Constitution and ... more »

Moving the chair, at Penn State and in education | Taking Note

Moving the chair, at Penn State and in education | Taking Note:Moving the chair, at Penn State and in educationby John MerrowJohn’s book, The Influence of Teachers, is currently available on Amazon.The latest example of failed leadership — what I call ‘moving the chair,’ an analogy I’ll explain in one second — comes from Pennsylvania State University. This is a tragic story of sex abuse that apparently went unchecked for years, despite the fact that a fair number of university ... more »

Relief from No Child Left Behind too expensive, state officials say - latimes.com

Relief from No Child Left Behind too expensive, state officials say - latimes.com:Relief from No Child Left Behind too expensive, state officials sayNovember 9, 2011 | 5:18 pm 62It would cost cash-strapped California at least $2 billion to meet the requirements for relief from the federal No Child Left Behind law, state officials reported Wednesday to the California Board of Education.Although no decision was made, the clear implication was that California should spurn an opportunity to seek a waiver from ... more »

Bloomberg disputes Tisch’s assessment of struggling schools | GothamSchools

Bloomberg disputes Tisch’s assessment of struggling schools | GothamSchools:Bloomberg disputes Tisch’s assessment of struggling schoolsby Philissa Cramer, at 8:49 pmOn the same day that she spent time denying weeks-old rumors about being the future mayor, Board of Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch was rebuked by the current one.Speaking with reporters in the Bronx today, Mayor Michael Bloomberg took aim at Tisch’s characterization that the Department of Education had “warehoused thousands of kids” in failing schools. Tisch made the comments to the ... more »

One Test, One Story…Is This All About The Children ? « City School Stories

One Test, One Story…Is This All About The Children ? « City School Stories:One Test, One Storyby fmurphyTeacher StoriesSubmitted by Joy of Teaching, on November 10, 2011As a reading specialist, one of my duties is to identify students who are in need of reading intervention during the school year. In the primary grades (K-2) this is done through teacher observation, review of student work, the student’s ability to work independently and a DIBELS benchmark assessment. However, in the upper grades ... more »

OPD, ACLU Disagree About Releasing Documents from Occupy Oakland Raid and Protest - The Bay Citizen #ows

OPD, ACLU Disagree About Releasing Documents from Occupy Oakland Raid and Protest - The Bay Citizen:OPD, ACLU Disagree About Releasing Documents from Occupy Oakland Raid and ProtestOPD says documents pertain to an open investigationTEXT SIZE A A ABy BYRHONDA LYONS, OAKLAND NORTH on November 9, 2011 - 4:24 p.m. PSTstart discussionShoshana WalterOccupy Oakland on Tuesday, October 25, after a early morning raid, which was led by the Oakland Police Department.The Oakland Police Department may have an ongoing legal battle with ... more »

Save Seattle Schools Community Blog: How to Get to the Top of the Charter Lottery

Save Seattle Schools Community Blog: How to Get to the Top of the Charter Lottery:How to Get to the Top of the Charter Lotteryby Melissa WestbrookWhile doing some research on charter law, I saw this article from the LA Weekly, entitled "Charter Schools: Getting Your Child on the List - How to cut in line and pervert the concept of public education" by Gene Maddaus that I thought worth passing along.Apparently, at least a couple of tony LA charters had ... more »

Modern School: Korean Education Model Worsens Unemployment—And Your Point Is?

Modern School: Korean Education Model Worsens Unemployment—And Your Point Is?:Korean Education Model Worsens Unemployment—And Your Point Is?by Michael DunnHordes of Job Seeking Undergrads (Flickr, Lee J Haywood)The South Korean education system is often held up by Ed Deformers as an example of an education system that works. They have high test scores and graduation rates and a whopping