Monday, September 17, 2012

Morning UPDATE: LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 9-17-12 Diane Ravitch's blog

Diane Ravitch's blog:

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More About Bill Cosby

If I had read this article, I would not have been surprised to learn that Bill Cosby joined the board of StudentsFirst.
I wonder if anyone told him that when Michelle Rhee left DC, it had the biggest black-white achievement gap of any urban district tested by NAEP. Like double the gap in other districts. Same for Hispanic-white gap.
Sad.

Worst News of the Day

A friend just informed me that Bill Cosby has joined the board of Michelle Rhee’s StudentsFirst. This is a coup for her in her efforts to demean our nation’s teachers and promote the privatization of American public education.
He is clearly uninformed about what she is doing. If you know how to contact him, do so. This is not in character for him.


TFA Leading Corporate Reforms in Indiana

Read this glowing report about how TFA alums have taken over leadership roles across Indiana, with 11 working in the State Education Department.
This is a state where the Republican Governor and Legislature have passed voucher legislation, encouraged the proliferation of charter schools, and welcomed for-profit schooling. It is the full rightwing agenda, exceeded perhaps in scope and ambition only by Bobby Jindal’s privatization agenda (which is led by TFA alum John 

Race to the Top or Crawl to the Bottom?

This reader sees ominous signs as his school complies with the demands of Race to the Top:
Race to the Top is diverting teacher know-how, skill, talent, passion, etc to numbers crunching and reporting. taking valuable time away from figuring out how to teach well. We are heading rapidly to where the only people who will be able to get a deep enough education to be capable of being in charge of anything in the world will be those who can go to private schools.
Race to the Top is a misnomer – it is Crawl off the Bottom because it does not allocate any”measurable” value to AP classes, college credit offerings. art or music. Our numbers are measured by scores on academic tests. To 

Teaching Is More Complex Than Engineering

A reader writes in response to the question of whether teaching is harder than rocket science:
I am not quite a rocket scientist, but I do have degrees in nuclear engineering. And now I am National Board Certified Teacher and have been full time in the classroom for almost 20 years. I started out exactly like this 


Why Do “Reformers’” Ignore Mass Incarceration?

Sharon Higgins, parent activist in Oakland, writes:
sharonrhiggins@yahoo.com
http://charterschoolscandals.blogspot.com/
Comment Mass incarceration is the huge elephant in the room that arrived AFTER Lyndon Johnson was trying to address the harmful effects of poverty in 1965. Its effects must be added to the mix of what public school teachers have to deal with.
Back in 1972, the U.S. had 300,000 people in jails and prisons. In 2008 that number was up to 2.3 million, with 


The Ugly Face of Reform in New York City

The New York City Department of Education decided to kill John Dewey High School in Brooklyn a few years ago. John Dewey (ironic name, no?) had long been considered one of the city’s best non-selective high schools.
When the city began creating small schools and closing large schools, it had to find a place to dump low-performing students so that the small schools would appear successful. So John Dewey became a dumping 


A Startling Thought

This teacher read Alex Kotlowitz’s article in the New York Times about how teachers can’t solve poverty all by themselves and this was her reaction:
Alex Kotlowitz says about solving poverty, “teachers can’t do it alone.” I say, we can’t do it all, and I’m sick of being even imagined to be able to do it. I teach, that’s it, I TEACH.
Think of it. If she teaches chemistry, is she solving poverty? If she teaches art, is she solving poverty? Some 


A Chicago Student Speaks Up

When students begin to understand and talk about the conditions in which they live and work, the national conversation will change.
Here is a column written by a Chicago student and published in Anthony Cody’s great blog, Living in Dialogue.
She asks a simple question: Why are certain schools given preferential treatment and others (like hers) shunned and neglected?


Chicago: Education Apartheid?

This post was sent by a reader in Chicago.
For the graphics, open the original posting.
Education Apartheid: The Racism Behind Chicago’s School “Reform”
by OCTRIB_ADMIN • SEP 12, 2012 • PRINT-FRIENDLY

Teachers, parents, students and other allies rally downtown in Chicago on September 10, Day 1 of the Chicago Teachers Union Strike. (Photo by Ryan L Williams, used with permission.)
Dyett High School students are not allowed to enter the front door of their school. Instead, the more than 170