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Sunday, June 5, 2011

Cuts Threaten Program for Special-Needs Children - Chicago News Cooperative

Cuts Threaten Program for Special-Needs Children - Chicago News Cooperative

Cuts Threaten Program for Special-Needs Children

by REBECCA VEVEA

Like thousands of Chicago parents every year, Jennifer Meade-Magruder is uncertain about which public school her child will attend in the fall. But the prospects are more unsettling now because the pre-schools that could serve her special-needs son, Joshua, face smaller budgets that could force closure.

Meade-Magruder may not know if Joshua’s current school will close until late summer. If it does, CPS must find a place for Joshua, but the new spot may not include the support he now receives. That could leave his mother with little time to scramble for alternatives.

Joshua, 3, has attended Barbara Vick Early Childhood Center, a preschool on the South Side that serves a high number of children with special needs. After a year there, Joshua, who has been provisionally diagnosed with

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NYC Public School Parents: NAACP and their supporters fight back for all our kids!

NYC Public School Parents: NAACP and their supporters fight back for all our kids!

NAACP and their supporters fight back for all our kids!

by Leonie Haimson
See video below of Hazel Dukes of the NAACP and their supporters, parents, elected officials, and union leaders, fighting back against the vicious attack against them by the charter school industry , because they dared to sue the city against abusive school closings and charter school co-locations. In these co-locations, children were being driven out of their classrooms, their art, intervention, and science rooms, their lunch rooms and their gyms, for the benefit of charter school children who are given preferential treatment by DOE.

Shame on Eva Moskowitz, who closed her charter chain of Success Academy charters for the morning, forcing

Obama Reelection Effort & Duncan Education Agenda Will Clash in Charlotte

by Patrick J. Sullivan

Today's NY Times covers the rebuilding of Obama's election campaign machine. The campaign has its sights set on important swing states like North Carolina:
The campaign sees possibilities for gains, for example, around Charlotte, N.C., which is where Mr. Obama chose to hold his party’s nominating convention next year, a decision that aides said signaled how serious they are about competing in North Carolina.
The problem Obama faces is that Charlotte is already a battleground for education policy, with local grassroots group, and Parents Across America affiliate, Mecklenburg ACTS (Area Coming Together for Schools) fighting Arne Duncan-style "reforms" including increased high stakes testing and pay for performance.

In the Charlotte Observer, public school parents Pamela Grundy and Carol Sawyer blast wasteful and destructive
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Schools Matter: Testing writing: Not a good idea

Schools Matter: Testing writing: Not a good idea

Testing writing: Not a good idea

by skrashen
Testing writing: Not a good idea

Sent to the Oregonian, June 5, 2011

Susan Nielson ("Oregon lawmakers teeter on anti-schools ledge," June 5) argues that Oregon should keep the state writing test to prevent skimping on writing and critical thinking and prevent narrowing the curriculum.

In a Guest Column in the Oregonian on June 1, Joanne Yatvin, former president of the National Council of Teachers of English, explained why writing assessment is a "delusion."

Most evaluations of writing test papers are based on writing style and formal accuracy. Research shows that most of the ability to write coherently and accurately is absorbed from reading. Thus, if we want more coherent and more accurate writing, we should invest in libraries and encourage wide reading.

Actual writing (and rewriting) help us solve problems and thereby stimulates new learning. Writing tests don't

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School Tech Connect: Thank You, Mr. Alter

School Tech Connect: Thank You, Mr. Alter

Thank You, Mr. Alter

by effacethefacade@yahoo.com (Tim)
Another week approaches. Here at School TechConnect, we still dream of chimney cakes.

On a happy note, Jonathan Alter's ill-conceived Bloomberg piece has triggered an avalanche of scathing public rebukes of the Duncan/Gates administration. Alter carries buckets of water for Duncan in the piece:
“Diane Ravitch is in denial and she is insulting all of the hardworking teachers, principals and students all across the country who are proving her wrong every day,” he said when I asked about Ravitch this week.
Alter is part of the disconnected-from-public-education cadre of experts in public education, and like others before him, he basically repeats the company line about charter schools and blah blah blah. It's all so nauseating. I have yet to run into a single teacher who has read Ravitch and disagrees with her, except perhaps some ed-tech people, who worry that she's not in love enough with technology. Nobody's insulted by her, particularly urban teachers who understand that every time their kids take another test, some politician is either
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Save Our Schools March and Rally | Seattle Education

Save Our Schools March and Rally | Seattle Education

Save Our Schools March and Rally

by seattleducation2011

In 1963, over 200,000 concerned citizens marched on Washington to participate in a momentous event that forever shifted the national dialogue on race and justice. Consequently, policy changed. Laws changed. America changed.

In 2011, it is our time to change the national dialogue on PUBLIC
EDUCATION.

For over a decade, education laws and policies have been enacted without input from those who REALLY know how to improve our schools and society. And now, as we stand at a critical crossroads in the future of public schools and
the teaching profession…

• The President has a voice
• The Secretary of Education has a voice
• Politicians have a voice
• Corporate billionaires have a voice
• The media have a voice
Finally, the nation will hear OUR VOICE!

On July 30, 2011
The Save Our Schools March & National Call to Action in Washington, D.C.

Teachers and parents will unite to tell the nation…

NO to…
• High Stakes Testing
• Privatization
• Closing schools
• Top‐down reform
• Blaming teachers
• Blaming families
• Child poverty

YES to
• EQUITABLE FUNDING for all public school communities
• AN END TO HIGH STAKES TESTING for student, teacher, and school evaluation
• CURRICULUM DEVELOPED LOCALLY by school communities
• Teacher, family and community LEADERSHIP IN FORMING PUBLIC SCHOOL POLICIES.

Activist Conference July 28 and 29

Rally and March July 30

Organizational Congress July 31

Visit & register now at www.saveourschoolsmarch.org

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More than 150,000 Gather in Athens Against Austerity « occupy california

More than 150,000 Gather in Athens Against Austerity « occupy california

More than 150,000 Gather in Athens Against Austerity

by *

from FromTheGreekStreets:

A crowd whose size is difficult to even estimate gathered in central Athens to protest against the crisis and the Memorandum tonight. The call to a pan-european call of action saw more than 100,000 (some estimates give much higher numbers) flooding Syntagma square and many central nearby avenues. In contrast to previous gatherings, police presence was much higher, with fencing erected around the parliament building and double, or triple rows of riot police around it.
333 300x200 #611 | Athens sees its biggest gathering in years, more than 150,000 at Syntagma square as the build up for the General Strike of June 15th begins 6666 300x201 #611 | Athens sees its biggest gathering in years, more than 150,000 at Syntagma square as the build up for the General Strike of June 15th begins

The city is now building up for the General Strike of June 15th, which is also the next date of action announced

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It’s a mess – and it’ll be great « Cooperative Catalyst

It’s a mess – and it’ll be great « Cooperative Catalyst

It’s a mess – and it’ll be great

by Chad Sansing

I greatly admire Adam, his conviction, and his advocacy. When I saw him begin a conversation with Diane Ravitch, I jumped in, hoping that Ravitch would take my interest as incentive to respond to Adam. I wish all of our national leaders would spend some time discussing learning and stewardship with him.

A conversation with Diane Ravitch et al.

Ravitch did reply, and I found myself juggling a conversation with her and a few fellow educators throughout the afternoon. I’d like to share with you and then offer a few ideas about what the conversation suggests to me about

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Schools Matter: Alter's Solution: "Throw Up Your Hands" and Put Your Children in Exclusive Private Schools

Schools Matter: Alter's Solution: "Throw Up Your Hands" and Put Your Children in Exclusive Private Schools

Alter's Solution: "Throw Up Your Hands" and Put Your Children in Exclusive Private Schools

by Jim Horn
Alter lives in Montclair, but his kids attend(ed) the private Newark Academy. At least one was still enrolled this past year. So segregated corporate chain gang schools with white missionary temps are fine with Alter for the urban poor, but his kids, not so much (ht to Stan Karp):

Situated on a 68-acre wooded campus in suburban Livingston, Newark Academy's average class size: 13. Eighty percent of the faculty hold advanced degrees; 7 have earned doctorate degrees. On average, the faculty has 22 years of teaching experience. Eight outdoor athletic fields on site. Each year NA has three major drama productions, two dance concerts, and multiple performances in 12 choral and instrumental groups. Offers AP courses in 15 subjects. Upper School students are required to engage in cultural or environmental exploration. Currently, there are 10 programs for extended off-campus study in six states and four countries. Tuition is $28,775 plus another $1700 in fees plus transportation.

"A Newark Academy education represents an investment in your child’s future, and we recognize that choosing

Big Time Self-Plagiarism . . . Part 2

by Jim Horn
Three days ago I posted on the enthused response by KIPPians to a self-plagiarized re-issue of the same KIPP hallelujah piece that appeared in early 2010 from some of those "implicated" Gates scholars who are peddling their wares from Harvard. I want to take issue with Matt Yglesias on something he said in his reporting on the repeat piece for which he did not bother to notice that he had reported on last year:
The most scrutinized of these successful charter networks is the Knowledge Is Power Program and the latest research (PDF, via Adam Ozimek) once again shows substantial KIPP-linked gains for poor kids, especially the weakest students and special ed kids.
If Matt were to read this "latest research" on a single KIPP school in Lynn, MA, he would no doubt note that the
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Big Education Ape: 6-5-11 PM For-profit colleges: Too much profit, too little education? Edition

Big Education Ape: Ed News Now
Big Education Ape: Ed News Now

Published by Coopmike48 – 6 contributors today



Not Insulted « InterACT

accomplishedcaliforniateachers.wordpress.com - As my school year is coming to a close, I try to stay connected to the developments in national education reform, but it is the developments here in South Central Los Angeles that have barely allow...
DianeRavitch

From Twittergate to Altergate

nycpublicschoolparents.blogspot.com - June 5, 2011 (GBN News): In the second such incident in the space of a week, a compromising picture was sent out today to the Twitter followers of a public figure. This time, it involved Bloomberg ...
DianeRavitch

Education According to Mike Milken

businessweek.com - With K12, the largest U.S. operator of taxpayer-funded online schools, the former junk-bond king has figured out how to make money in education. Is that a good thing?By John HechingerTen-year-old A...
DianeRavitch

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Powerful Dem backs N.J. T-Party gov's school voucher program

schoolingintheownershipsociety.blogspot.com - In an interview after the ceremony, Norcross said his interest in school choice was borne of moral obligation and old-fashioned capitalism. -- Star LedgerHigh-powered Dem, George E. Norcross II...
mikeklonsky

What in the hell were they thinking? « Tangerine, Florida

tangerineflorida.com - Maybe I’ve joined the ranks of old geezers but I still have to ask what in the H E double-hockey sticks NBC Saturday Night Live writers were thinking when they wrote the skit parodying President Ob...
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For Afghanistan, Wealth Is Just Below The Surface : NPR

npr.org - Enlarge Courtsey of the Task Force for Busines Mines, like this one in Badakhshan, could help lift Afghanistan out of poverty. Courtsey of the Task Force for Busines Mines, like this one in Badakhs...
mikeklonsky

US Withdraws Diplomats From Yemen As Fighting Escalates

rttnews.com - (RTTNews) - The United States has ordered all its non-essential diplomats and family members of Embassy staff in the Yemeni capital Sanaa to leave the country, as clashes between security forces an...
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Beyond Shop til’ we Drop | Lefty Parent

bigeducationape.blogspot.com - Beyond Shop til’ we Drop | Lefty ParentBeyond Shop til’ we Dropby Cooper ZaleI’m thinking about the sluggish US economy and trying to do the math. Seventy percent of our economy is based on consume...
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Sirota Friday 6-3-11 Hour 3 - AM 760

am760.net - At 9:05 Peter Moskos joins David to discuss his new book In Defense of Flogging. The problems in our prisons are far from resolved. Just last week, the U. S. Supreme Court ordered California to red...
DianeRavitch

Can A Mormon Be Elected President? « CAFFEINATED POLITICS

dekerivers.wordpress.com - I just do not see how rock solid Baptists, and evangelicals support a Mormon for President. While the policy issues that impact the nation and world are separate from the idea of each devout Mormo...
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Newark Academy ~ Quick Facts

newarka.edu - Students organize and participate in more than 40 clubs Numerous social activities throughout the year include: an annual “Welcome Back Barbecue,” Homecoming, class and all-school dances, sports ni...
mikeklonsky

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Beyond Shop til’ we Drop | Lefty Parent

bigeducationape.blogspot.com - Beyond Shop til’ we Drop | Lefty ParentBeyond Shop til’ we Dropby Cooper ZaleI’m thinking about the sluggish US economy and trying to do the math. Seventy percent of our economy is based on consume...
coopmike48

#whittierRead this paperSee all


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