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Saturday, January 12, 2013

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 1-12-12 Diane Ravitch's blog

Diane Ravitch's blog:

Click on picture to Listen to Diane Ravitch




Who Attends The Schools That the Mayor Will Close?

Mayor Bloomberg wants to close as many public schools as possible in this, his last year in office.
So his Department of Education has announced that another 26 schools will close as soon as they can go through the formalities.
All of these schools have


Kudos to the Teachers of Hamburg Central School District!

When teachers stand together and refuse to be bullied by the powerful, they deserve our commendation.
The teachers in the Hamburg Central School District in New York voted overwhelmingly to reject a bad deal on teacher evaluation. In the plan at issue, the school superintendent would have been the sole arbiter on any appeals of a teacher’s rating. The teachers held out for an independent arbiter. They voted 217-82 not to accept 

EduShyster: The Secret Ingredient in the Secret Sauce (Link Fixed!!)

Mayor Rahm Emanuel memorably said on video that the Noble Street charters in Chicago have a “secret sauce” that makes them successful. They have high test scores and high graduation rates. They are each named for rich and powerful sponsors.
Count on EduShyster to discover the secret in the secret sauce..
She gets many tips, which enables her to scoop many reporters. The secret of her success is two-fold: one, she

Ohio Teacher: Bravo to Teachers of Seattle!

Maureen Reedy sends congratulations, praise, hugs, and high-fives to the teachers at Garfield and Ballard High Schools in Seattle. May their message resonate in schools across America.
Dear Ballard and Garfield High School Teachers in Seattle,
Your proclamations ring true as patriots of public education!
Your proclamations proclaim our right as educational experts to independently stand up, and let our voices ring 

Obey or Quit

A teacher sent me this post, which has generated lots of discussion on Facebook.
She said that the discussion on this blog shows a widespread bullying of teachers by administrators, who are in turn being bullied to produce “results.” Everyone is under pressure to meet demands created by politicians, economists, and statisticians who never spent a day in a school classroom after their high school graduation.
Here goes:
“Paul’s Story”
Yesterday I received an emergency phone call from an experienced teacher in a Bronx school who 

Support the Teachers of Seattle

The teachers of Seattle ask that you sign this petition to support them.
Please be careful when you go to change.org and do NOT sign any other petition as you may be duped into becoming a member of StudentsFirst.

Ballard High School Teachers Say NO in Solidarity with Garfield Teachers

The revolt against the inappropriate use of standardized testing is spreading in Seattle.
Teachers at Ballard High School in Seattle voted not to administer the MAP test and to support their colleagues at Garfield High School.
“Whereas
The MAP test is a resource expensive and cash expensive program in a district with very finite financial 

A Letter About Gun Appreciation Day

Tonight, I watched a lovely tribute to Joan Baez on PBS. Joan is a pacifist, a wonderful human being, and a great singer. She is also very courageous. She put herself in mortal danger as a fighter for human right.
Minutes after turning off the television, I received this email. It upset me. I thought I would share it with you. My reply is at the end of he letter.
On Jan 11, 2013, at 10:03 PM, “Dick Brauer, Colonel, USAF (Ret.)” wrote

A Lovely Memory on Who I Was

Someone I do not know sent me a surprising gift: a memory of what I said, who I was.
Memory plays tricks on us, and sometimes I learn things about myself from people I met or knew many years ago. And I wonder, “did I do that? Did I say that?”
Here is my gift from Nathaniel Smith:
“A bit of history about Diane: In a post “Diane Ravitch on and since 1/11/88″ at

Diane in the Evening 1-11-13 Diane Ravitch's blog

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 hour ago
Diane Ravitch's blog: Maine Rejects Gulen Charter School by dianerav I wrote earlier that the governor of Maine was angry about the rejection of four of five charter applications by the state authorizing committee. He said he wished they would just “go away.” Two of those rejected charters were for-profit online corporations that have hired well-connected lobbyists, their usual method of operation. A third was a Gulen charter, here described by Sharon Higgins, who runs a website called “Charter School Scandals” and follows the expansion of the Gulen network. Sharon writes: ... more »