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Monday, April 29, 2013

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 4-29-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all:

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NYC Mayoral Education Debate, May 2 in Brooklyn

Want to know where the Democratic primary candidates stand on education? Ask!
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A forum on the future of public educationin NYCwith Democratic primary mayoralcandidatesModerated byDiane Ravitch
Thursday May 2nd
5:30-7:00 pm
PS 29 (425 Henry Street, Brooklyn)
What do 800,000+ New Yorkers have in common?
We are NYC public school parents.
And Parents Ask Questions.
Ask Your Question*
*Submit your question to
questions@parentvoicesny.org.
This event is being organized by ParentVoicesNY
Because we are the parents voting for our
kids’ future.
Here’s a flyer you can send home in backpackmail, forward to friends via email, or post at your school.If facebook is your thing, please invite fb friends tothis event page. You can post your questions there too!



Jason Stanford: What We Can Learn from the Rise and Fall of Rhee

Jason Stanford, a first-rate journalist in a texas, looks for the lessons in the meteoric rise and astonishing descent of Michelle Rhee.
The major lesson, he says, is not so much about her as about the deep flaws in the test-and-punish philosophy she embodied. Putting the squeeze on subordinates to raise test scores leads to all sorts of negative 

Providence Student Union Will Counter Gist Speech

The Providence Student Union will give its first “State of the Student” address on April 30, shortly before Rhode Island State Commissioner Deborah Gist gives her annual State of Education Address to a joint session of the Legislature. The students will present their “positive vision” on what education should be, as opposed to the state’s present sterile and mindless emphasis on high-stakes testing.
The Providence Student Union has emerged in recent weeks as a national exemplar of brilliant, media-worthy civil dissent. Their political theater is amazingly effective.
First, they did a zombie protest in front of the headquarters of the Rhode Island Department of Education; 

Seattle Teachers Expand Testing Boycott

Seattlegeachers will hold a press conference today to announce their plans to extend and expand their test boycott.
MEDIA ADVISORY
Seattle Teachers Respond to Spring MAP Test:
Boycott Grows Bigger
New Message: Don’t Renew MAP Contract
Press Conference Called for Monday, April 29th, at 4:30 pm at the Garfield Community Center

Monica Ratliff for Los Angeles School Board

There is a big race in Los Angeles on May 21. It is a run-off that will determine who controls the board.
There are two candidates.
One–Monica Ratliff–is a working classroom teacher, the other worked on the staff of corporate-friendly Mayor Villaraigosa and has no education experience.
The teachers’ union supported both candidates, hedging their bets.
The mayor’s candidate has the support of the super-elite, the billionaires and their surrogates who don’t like public education, disparage teachers, and defend the status quo. That candidate will have a campaign chest of 



Diane in the Evening 4-28-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 2 hours ago
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: Dayne Sherman: Jindal’s War Against the People of Louisiana by dianerav Dayne Sherman is going to a rally at the state capitol in Baton Rouge on April 30. The people of Louisiana are waking up to Jindal’s war against the common weal. Now, says Sherman, even the Legislature is turning against Jindal. Four big issues stir public antipathy: *First, we have to repeal the tax give-aways passed under Jindal. Rep. Jerome “Dee” Richard (I-Thibodaux) has a bill to do this very thing. We now give away an extra 2 billion... more »