Thursday, January 24, 2013

Diane in the Evening 1-24-13 Diane Ravitch's blog

Diane Ravitch's blog:





Teachers at Roosevelt HS Support Colleagues at Garfield

Forty-Three Roosevelt High School teachers (colleagues in Seattle Public Schools with Garfield High School teachers) signed this Letter of Support (on Jan. 23, 2012) for GHS teachers and a call to for expedient dismissal of the MAP exam because it has not proven to be useful or reliable. (PDF of original with signatures available upon request).
This We Believe:
Teachers, parents, students, school board members and the administration of Seattle Public Schools owe 


Detroit: 28 More Schools Will Close to Cut Deficit

To his eternal shame, emergency manager Roy Roberts will close down more public schools in Detroit to cut the deficit. Who knew that public schools were supposed to turn a profit/surplus?
Roberts is carrying out the orders of Governor Rick Snyder, who views public education with contempt.
Privatization proceeds. Public education in Detroit will be extinguished if the Governor and his willing accomplice have their way.
Shameful.

You Are Invited to a Webinar on High Stakes Testing

Parents Across America is hosting a Webinar on high stakes testing. Think about joining and meeting some of the leading figures in the opt-out movement.
Let’s Talk: A Webinar on High Stakes Testing and Opting Out
On January 27 at 1:00 PM PST, 3:00 PM Central and 4:00 PM EST, Parents Across America will be hosting an online seminar on high stakes testing and opting out of these tests.
Our guests will be:
Jesse Hagopian, teacher at Garfield High School and part of the MAP test boycott
Shaun Johnson, a former public school teacher, current teacher educator and online radio show co-host of At the 

No Charter Oversight in California: A License to Steal?

A reader in California writes:
Charter Schools in California tend to cream out poor performing students with learning disabilities. As a rule, Charter schools are unprepared or trained for special needs students. In fact, they will collect money to educate special needs children and put the funds in their regular payroll.
There is no oversight with Charter Schools, a good example is this audit of the Magnolia Science Academies that had blatantly not documented teacher or student health care, or kept a reserve fund.
Charter Schools such as Magnolia have no oversight on advertising or false claims of “award winning” Just because a school says they win awards look a little deeper, as those awards might be sponsored by the NGOs that feed into and from the schools as the Gulen Movement does. In California the schools were originally started 

Stay and Fight?

I know that many teachers are demoralized. It is not just because I read your comments every day, but because national surveys by Scholastic/Gates and by the Metlife survey report that this is so.
Some of the newbie organizations founded and/or funded by Gates (like TeachPlus and Educators4Excellence) think this is wonderful. So does The New Teacher Project (TNTP), founded by either Wendy Kopp or Michelle Rhee, depending on whom you believe.  They see a new day coming, when teachers who don’t care about a pension or job security, who want to be evaluated by test scores, will fill the classrooms of America.
I say all this is nonsense. Ten years from now, the teaching corps in most districts in the nation will be drawn 

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 1-24-13 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] How Phony Reform Destroys Teacher Morale: “I Quit” by dianerav A reader sent this sad commentary on the state of education today. When you read dozens of letters like this from districts around the country, you have to wonder if the “powers that be” are trying to force experienced teachers out of the classroom, to make room for the young teachers who don’t know enough to think differently, who won’t stay around long enough to get a pension, who won’t question the New Order of testing and submission. Maybe... more »