Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Diane in the Evening 1-23-13 Diane Ravitch's blog

Diane Ravitch's blog:






NEA Supports Garfield High School Teachers’ Boycott

Will the Garfield High School teachers’ test boycott go national? They now have the support of both the AFT and their own union, the NEA. Will other Seattle high schools join them? Will teachers in other districts follow their lead?
One source reported that the superintendent of schools in Seattle has warned that he will dock their pay. If that is true, we will have to raise money to help these brave teachers.
Here is the NEA statement:
Subject: Press Release – NEA President supports Seattle educators who refuse to give flawed standardized test

Governor Cuomo: Listen to Arthur Goldstein!

Governor Andrew Cuomo famously declared himself to be the students’ lobbyist.
Yet he frequently advocates policies that are not in the best interest of students.
If he truly wants to advocate for students, he should spend a day with Arthur Goldstein in his high school classroom in Queens. Arthur could help Governor Cuomo. He could help him understand what students really need. And that would make Governor Cuomo a better advocate for students, as he hopes to be.


Michigan: Public and Legislators Do Not Agree

A reader in Michigan writes:
Hello, Diane,
I have been following your blog since November, and find that it really informs my work as a principal and as the State and Federal Relations Coordinator for MEMSPA (Michigan Elementary and Middle School Principals Association) and NAESP. And I am interested in following what is going on around our country. One principal 

Chicago Parents Sue Charter Network

CPS Parents File Formal State Complaint Against UNO Charter Schools Updated

January 18, 2013 5:35pm | By Ted Cox, DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
(DNAinfo/Ted Cox)
CHICAGO — Education-reform groups, including the president of a Pilsen Local School Council, have filed a formal complaint with the state against the UNO Charter Schools Network.
Julie Woestehoff, executive director of Parents United for Responsible Education, and Rosemary Sierra, president of the Pilsen Academy LSC, filed the complaint in Chicago Thursday asking Illinois Executive Inspector General Ricardo Meza to probe UNO’s school finances.
The complaint charges that the United Neighborhood Organization, a Hispanic community group since the 

Sharp Decline in Number of Penn. Charters Making AYP

Last fall, Pennsylvania’s Secretary of Education tried to play a statistical trick to boost the proportion of charter schools that made Adequate Yearly Progress. He wanted to treat each one as a school district. The U.S. Department of Education said that he could not judge charter schools by laxer rules than district schools.
Now the results are in, and the proportion of charters making AYP dropped from 49% to 28%.
Not a single cyber charter met AYP.
And it is clear why secretary Tomalis wanted to change rpthe reporting rules for charters.

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 1-23-13 Diane Ravitch's blog

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 2 hours ago
Diane Ravitch's blog: [image: Click on picture to Listen to Diane Ravitch] Teaching in an Age of Injustice by dianerav Not long ago, I published a post by Carol Jago, a former president of the National Council of Teachers of English, about how to teach the Common Core in English. The discussion that followed her post was disturbing. Several teachers said that in their school or district there was a strong mandate to cut back on the teaching of literature. This is absurd, and nothing in the Common Core says there should be less literature. Indeed, if you look at reading across al... more »