Wednesday, May 22, 2013

School’s Out for Summer–Now What? | toteachornototeach

School’s Out for Summer–Now What? | toteachornototeach:


School’s Out for Summer–Now What?

School’s Out for Summer–Now What? 

by Laysha Ward

As millions of children start streaming out of schools for a much-anticipated break, it’s important to remember that there is a price to pay for summers free of learning. Students who don’t engage in educational activities over the summer lose between one and three months of learning every year on average. In reading, the loss is cumulative; by the end of sixth grade, students who lose their reading skills over the summer will be as much as two full years behind their classmates.
So, for all the critical focus on how to improve the time our children spend in schools, we should also be looking at the time they spend away. And everything should be on the table–from how parents keep their kids engaged at home, to the prioritization of structured summer learning camps, and even the length of the school day, school 

Daily Kos: 67

Daily Kos: 67:


67

a bit more than 2/3 of a century, otherwise not a particularly significant number.
Or even a significant age.
Except as of Midnight, that is how old I am.
Another year gone by, another year  begun.
Having spent much of this past year "retired" I have had more time than in the past to reflect, to wonder, to wander, to read, to listen to music, to let cats crawl all over me.
I have experienced the immediate fears we both felt when my wife was first informed about her cancer - which the original belief was a metastatic organ cancer.  We have adjusted to the reality that even the far more treatable blood cancer represents to both of us.
More than anything else, at least since January 27, that has been the dominant thing in my life.
But now?

Federal Report Highlights College Graduate Employment, Student Loan Debt - Higher Education

Federal Report Highlights College Graduate Employment, Student Loan Debt - Higher Education:


Federal Report Highlights College Graduate Employment, Student Loan Debt

The NCES reports that the total student loan debt, which is the only form of loan debt that has increased since the recession, in 2012 stands at nearly $1 trillion.
College ReportIn the federal government’s annual status report on U.S. education outcomes, researchers affiliated with the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) have put a special emphasis on higher education and employment and on the growth of federal student financial aid.
The Condition of Education 2013, which was released today by NCES and includes both K-12 and higher education outcomes, documents that nearly 30 percent of 20- to 24-year-olds are neither employed nor attend school. Employment rates are higher among young adults with at least a bachelor’s degree in comparison to their peers. For college graduates, the employment rate is 87 percent compared to 48 percent for those who did not finish high school.
Over the last decade, the federal government has increased financial aid to students, amounting to $146 billion in 2011. The report says that grant aid, mostly in the form of Pell grants, nearly quadrupled between 2000 and 2011. And disbursed student loans have grown by 150 percent, reaching $109 billion in 2011, according to the report. The growing demand for student loans, along with lending policy changes, has resulted in more than $500 billion of student loans owned by the federal government.
Total student loan debt, which is the only form of loan debt that has increased since the recession, in 2012 stands at nearly $1 trillion and delinquency on student loan debt has been increasing, according to the NCES.

Louisiana Charter School Audit Reveals Faux-Accountability | deutsch29

Louisiana Charter School Audit Reveals Faux-Accountability | deutsch29:


Louisiana Charter School Audit Reveals Faux-Accontability

In October 2012, I sent the following email to Louisiana Legislative Auditor Daryl Purpera requesting a performance audit of Louisiana’s charter schools. I did so in response to having read the US Department of Education’s audit of charters in Arizona, California, and Florida:
request for La. charter schools audit
From: Mercedes Schneider
To: dpurpera
Date: Fri, Oct 26, 2012 11:51 p.m.
Mr. Purpera, attached is the US inspector general’s audit of US Dept of Ed’s oversight charter schools in California, Florida, and Arizona. As you will note from reading, the US Dept of Ed is seriously lacking in their rigor in their management of both charter school educational quality and fiscal responsibility. The lack of rigor 

Charter Schools - Dividing Communities since 1991

CHARTER SCHOOL SCANDALS WEBSITE

CHARTER SCHOOL SCANDALS
A compilation of news articles about charter schools which have been charged with, or are highly suspected of, tampering with admissions, grades, attendance and testing; misuse of funds and embezzlement; engaging in nepotism and conflicts of interest; engaging in complicated and shady real estate deals; and/or have been engaging in other questionable, unethical, borderline-legal, or illegal activities. This is also a record of charter school instability and other unsavory tidbits.
Couldn't Find Your Own Special Charter School Scandal
Just Type the name of your city or charter school in the box below
  

CHARTER SCHOOL SCANDALS

If you don't find yours today
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CHARTER SCHOOL SCANDALS

Be sure to check out two other Great blogs:

To Give Students an Education, Give Them a Voice (Guest Post by Daniel Kao) | Cooperative Catalyst

To Give Students an Education, Give Them a Voice (Guest Post by Daniel Kao) | Cooperative Catalyst:


To Give Students an Education, Give Them a Voice (Guest Post by Daniel Kao)

The role of a teacher is evolving. As industries, technologies, and the needs in the world change, so does our approach to preparing the next generation for their lives ahead of them.
In the past, teachers presented information in an organized and systematic manner in order to distribute valuable information to students. Schools were the only place that students could go to learn, because knowledge was completely centralized at the top with the elite professors and researchers. Knowledge was not freely accessible.
But teachers are no longer the ordained link between knowledge and students. Anyone with an Internet connection can access any piece of information known to mankind. In today’s world, the industry is no longer looking for workers who just follow instructions; machines are putting compliant workers out of jobs. Industries are hiring workers based upon what unique abilities they bring to the table.

Karen Lewis: I Hope You Can Live With It | Chicago Tonight | WTTW

Karen Lewis: I Hope You Can Live With It | Chicago Tonight | WTTW:


Karen Lewis: I Hope You Can Live With It

Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis joins us on Chicago Tonight at 7:00 pm to discuss the largest school closing in CPS history. Read her full statement below:
“Today is a day of mourning for the children of Chicago. Their education has been hijacked by an unrepresentative, unelected corporate school board, acting at the behest of a mayor who has no vision for improving the education of our children. Closing schools is not an education plan. It is a scorched earth policy. Evidence shows that the underutilization crisis has been manufactured.  Their own evidence also shows the school district will not garner any significant savings from closing these schools.
“This is bad governance. CPS has consistently undermined school communities and sabotaged teachers and parents.  Their actions have had a horrible domino effect.  More than 40,000 students will lose at least three to six months of learning because of the Board’s actions. Because many of them will now have to travel into new neighborhoods to continue their schooling, some will be victims of bullying, physical assault and other forms of violence. Board members are wishing for a world that does not exist and have ignored the reality of the world we live in today. Who on the Board will be held responsible? Who at City Hall will be held responsible?
“Members of the Board of Education, the school CEO, the mayor and their corporate backers are on the wrong side of history. History will judge them for the tragedy they have inflicted 

Reflections on Teaching » Blog Archive

Reflections on Teaching » Blog Archive:


Number - 33

It is really starting to feel like we need a vacation. This is the time of year when I do not dare ask students the question, “Have you lost your minds?” because they are likely to respond, “Why, yes we have!” with a nod and a bemused smile. SERIOUSLY! Each class has it’s own rhythm.  Mine starts the week with a roar, mellows by mid-week, and starts to rev-up again as the week winds down. My co-worker’s class is somnolent on Mondays. I will just share a couple things I’m doing now to make it all better.
NO COUNTDOWNS EVER! My students asked why I didn’t have a countdown to summer vacation. I told them I thought it was unprofessional. I don’t mind the idea of the kids counting down so much (for pete’s sake they’re 12 years old, of course they’re looking forward to summer!), but I told them I thought it was unprofessional for me to be looking forward to not doing my job in front of the folks (them) that I work with. I may let them keep a 

National report outlines problems with Philadelphia's policies around teachers | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

National report outlines problems with Philadelphia's policies around teachers | Philadelphia Public School Notebook:


National report outlines problems with Philadelphia's policies around teachers

NYC Public School Parents: Council Members Brewer, Jackson & Lander introduce resolution to protect student privacy

NYC Public School Parents: Council Members Brewer, Jackson & Lander introduce resolution to protect student privacy:


Council Members Brewer, Jackson & Lander introduce resolution to protect student privacy


Council Members Gale Brewer, Robert Jackson and Brad Lander introduced a resolution in NYC Council today, calling on the NY State Legislature to pass and Governor Cuomo to sign a law protecting student privacy, requiring parental consent before personally identifiable data can be shared with private vendors and inBloom Inc.

The resolution is here, the press release below.

THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK
COUNCIL MEMBER GALE A. BREWER     
City Hall
NEW YORK, NY 10007
TEL:  212-788-6975
FAX:  212-513-7717
www.council.nyc.gov

           
*** FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ***
Council Member Brewer, Colleagues 

Introduce Resolution to Protect Student 

Data Privacy

Legislation Opposes State Plan to Sell Personal Student Information without Parental Consent
Contact:  Will Colegrove
Office: (212) 788-6975
Cell: (347) 461-4329
               
May 22, 2013 – Today, Council Member Gale A. Brewer will introduce a Resolution at the New York City Council Stated Meeting calling upon the New York State Legislature to pass legislation to protect student data privacy, by prohibiting the release of personal student information without consent.

The Resolution, co-sponsored by Council Members Jackson and Lander, is in support of A6059 (O’Donnell) / S4282 (Grisanti), State legislation which arose out of news that the New York State Education Department (NYSED) has partnered with inBloom Inc., a technology company that aggregates student data in order to provide educational tools and content for parents, teachers, and students. There have been serious privacy concerns raised about this plan, as this data may be sold to third parties for commercial purposes, and may even contain sensitive personal information. The legislation would prohibit the release of personally identifiable information without parental consent, or the consent of a student who is 18 or older, unless certain exceptions apply.

According to Council Member Brewer, “While inBloom and the NYSED may have the best intentions in pursuing innovative ways to help our children learn, we cannot and should not give students’ personal information to commercial entities without parental consent. I have been a long-time advocate for technological innovation, including in the educational field. However, innovation and privacy are not mutually exclusive. Parents have a right to choose whether their children’s information is sold to a third party, and the NYSED needs to present a clear plan for how that data will be protected before this plan moves forward.”

"Parents are rightly horrified to hear that DOE plans to release private, identifiable student information to a private corporation. Even if the goal is to improve their educational products, this information, including student names, addresses, disciplinary records, and IEPs, is not DOE's to give without parental consent. Council Member Gale Brewer's Resolution will put the City Council on the record against this plan." – said Council Member Brad Lander.

"Parents entrust the Department of Education with very detailed, personal student information. Students' personal data shouldn't be shared with companies, especially if these corporations are going to use this data to develop curriculum materials that will be marketed right back to them. What's even more disturbing is the fact that this sharing of information is done without the express consent of parents and guardians or a disclosure. This is an outrageous violation of basic rights! Our students are not involuntary and unpaid focus group members to help corporations with product development." said Council Member Robert Jackson, Chair of the Education Committee. “As parents expect the DOE to protect their children’s schools with school safety officers, parents have every right to expect that their children’s confidential information will be guarded with the same vigilance and not be shared to others."

Leonie Haimson, Executive Director of Class Size Matters said: “I want to thank the co-sponsors of this Resolution, Gale Brewer, Robert Jackson and Brad Lander, for stepping up and supporting our children’s right to privacy. The plan of the state and the city to put the most confidential student information on a data cloud managed by inBloom Inc., with an operating system devised by Murdoch’s Wireless Generation, and shared with for-profit vendors without parental consent has outraged voters not only in NYC but throughout the state. This outrage has led to the introduction of a bill, A.6059 /S.4284, with strong bipartisan support in the Legislature. The fact that data clouds are notoriously vulnerable has been recognized by inBloom itself, when it stated it would not be responsible if the data leaked out in storage or transmission. 

Four out of the nine states originally planning to share student data have now pulled out of inBloom. New York State and NYC, on the other hand, are still willing to risk our children’s safety and future life prospects, knowing full well how this highly sensitive data, including special education and disciplinary records, may be exploited, breached, and abused. I urge the Speaker to allow this Resolution to come to a vote as soon as possible.”

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Funding US Public Education

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Funding US Public Education:


Funding US Public Education

The US Census recently released data on public education spending.  Press release on the data.

At bottom is Utah with $6,212.  Washington State is 30th with $9,483.  Tops is NYC district at a whopping $19,770 with New York State #1 with $19,076.

Eight out of nine states in the Northeast region of the U.S. were ranked among the top 15 in current spending per student in 2011. The remaining state in the northeast, Maine, was ranked 17th. Out of the 16 states with the lowest per student spending, 15 were in the South and West regions. The remaining state, South Dakota, was in the Midwest.

Keep in mind that the national average is $10,560. Our state does not even fund to the national average.

Also, understand that figure is all the money put together, from all sources, and then averaged.  Not every 

Veteran teacher Monica Ratliff scores upset win in lopsided race for LAUSD board - LA Daily News

Veteran teacher Monica Ratliff scores upset win in lopsided race for LAUSD board - LA Daily News:


Veteran teacher Monica Ratliff scores upset win in lopsided race for LAUSD board

City College of San Francisco receives final accreditation report | EdSource Today

City College of San Francisco receives final accreditation report | EdSource Today:


City College of San Francisco receives final accreditation report - by Kathryn Baron

Teacher victory in LAUSD board race may not bode well for superintendent | Pass / Fail | 89.3 KPCC

Teacher victory in LAUSD board race may not bode well for superintendent | Pass / Fail | 89.3 KPCC:


Teacher victory in LAUSD board race may not bode well for superintendent

Monica Ratliff District 6
LAUSD teacher Monica Ratliff won a seat on the LA Unified Board of Education on Tuesday.
; Credit: Rebecca Hill/KPCC

Teacher Monica Ratliff’s win of an open seat on L.A. Unified’s Board of Education Tuesday could provide some discomfort for the future of Superintendent John Deasy’s reform agenda.
Ratliff, a lawyer-turned-elementary school teacher, ran a bare-bones campaign. Many who donated money and volunteered were fellow teachers upset with Deasy’s focus on student test scores and charter schools.
“I think he follows an agenda of the so-called school reformists, the business model, very closely,” said adult education teacher Matthew Kogan, who walked precincts for Ratliff. “It’s a very narrow model and there’s a lot of hostile things about it towards teachers."
Kogan likes the nuanced position on Deasy taken by Ratliff, who approves of some of the superintendent's actions, but opposes other policies.
Kogan comes out of this pivotal election frustrated with his teachers’ union because it endorsed both candidates 

Now in Philly, a national mayors' conference has unwelcome education views | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

Now in Philly, a national mayors' conference has unwelcome education views | Philadelphia Public School Notebook:


Now in Philly, a national mayors' conference has unwelcome education views


On a day that saw the closing of 49 schools in Chicago, it seems sadly fitting that Philadelphia is kicking off three days as the host city of the U.S. Conference of Mayorsnational meeting on innovation.
The U.S. Conference of Mayors embraces controversial education reform trends that are spreading across the nation's cities: mayoral control of schools, parent trigger laws, charter co-location, and mass school closings. As head of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, Mayor Nutter has supported the organization's call to bring a number of those reforms, particularly mass charter expansion and mass school closings, to Philadelphia.
Although the theme for this meeting is innovation, Philadelphia has been anything but innovative when it comes to education reform.
read more

Jersey Jazzman: Philadelphia Superintendent Hite: Extortionist

Jersey Jazzman: Philadelphia Superintendent Hite: Extortionist:


Philadelphia Superintendent Hite: Extortionist

William Hite, Philadelphia's latest superintendent, wants more money for the city's schools. And he figures the only way he can get it is to sell out his teachers:
William R. Hite Jr. knows it's a tough ask: $120 million from a state that historically views Philadelphia and its public schools "as a cesspool." 
So, the superintendent figures, the only way the nearly-broke Philadelphia School District is getting the cash it needs from state coffers is to end teacher seniority. 
"If we stand any chance to get money from Harrisburg, it's going to have to support something that is different from what we have now," Hite told the Inquirer Editorial Board on Thursday, adding that