Latest News and Comment from Education

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

CCSF trustee turns fiery in retorts to accreditors - SFGate

CCSF trustee turns fiery in retorts to accreditors - SFGate:

CCSF trustee turns fiery in retorts to accreditors

City College Trustee Rafael Mandelman started out espousing cooperation with the accreditors. Then they made him mad. Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle
City College Trustee Rafael Mandelman started out espousing
cooperation with the accreditors. Then they made him mad. Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle

 Don't argue with the umpire.
That's been the mantra of City College of San Francisco trustees for a year as they have struggled to satisfy the requirements of a stern accrediting commission without back talk or complaint.
But now that the commission has said it will revoke the college's operating license next year and state officials have stripped the elected trustees of their decision-making powers, one trustee has broken ranks and decided it's time to get in the umpire's face.
"The failure here is not City College's but the accreditor's," Trustee Rafael Mandelmanwrote Monday in an opinion piece in The Chronicle, in which he argued that the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges is causing "real harm" to City College with its requirement that the school come into full compliance with all accrediting standards or lose its right to operate.
He argues that City College has made substantial progress on its many deficiencies and therefore should not be threatened with the loss of its accreditation. To the commission, however, a college is either in compliance with accrediting standards or not. There is little in between.
Other college trustees may share Mandelman's views, even showing up at Save City College rallies. But only Mandelman has joined faculty and student activists in freely criticizing the accrediting commission, to the consternation of

#RealEdTalk The Weekly Update: ALEC push back, Jeb Bush shows us how to cash in on ed reform, Common Core Standards big oop’s, Teach for America alums speak out and more | Seattle Education

The Weekly Update: ALEC push back, Jeb Bush shows us how to cash in on ed reform, Common Core Standards big oop’s, Teach for America alums speak out and more | Seattle Education:

The Weekly Update: ALEC push back, Jeb Bush shows us how to cash in on ed reform, Common Core Standards big oop’s, Teach for America alums speak out and more

After a short summer hiatus, I’m back with the weekly news. As my mother used to say, “There’s no rest for the weary” and from what I’ve been observing, there’s no rest for the wicked as well.
So let’s get started.
MONEYPOWERANDALEC
ALEC had its 40th anniversary celebration in Chicago last week but not without notice from the populace.
Jasal Noor, a great journalist who focuses on public education, interviewed Brendan Fisher, general counsel with the Center for Media and Democracy, publishers ofALECExposed and PRWatch and Julie Mead, a professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis at the University of Wisconsin.
Protesters Condemn ALEC’s Push to Privatize Public Education
So if you look at ALEC, K12 Inc. is one of the top sponsors of this year’s meeting. K12 Inc. is the nation’s largest provider of online for-profit schools. And as one of the top sponsors of the ALEC meeting, it’s allying itself with the tobacco industry and with the oil industry and with the pharmaceutical industry, all of which are not something you would normally associate with good educational outcomes, not the sort of thing that you would typically expect of a school that is looking out primarily for kids.

One of the speakers at the ALEC gathering was none other than Jeb Bush, the “expert” on public education who has done much damage to the public school system in Florida and now wants to share his know-how with the rest of us .
From Purple Scathings:
Bush sure doesn’t pick unfriendly audiences, does he? And he sure 

What is behind the high stakes testing failure rate? | Reclaim Reform

What is behind the high stakes testing failure rate? | Reclaim Reform:

What is behind the high stakes testing failure rate?

The Education-Industrial Complex is not a future threat to our children. It is here and now.
In full cooperation with state and federal legislators of both political parties, our tax money pays for testing corporations to create “secret” tests guaranteed to have a 2/3 failure rate for our children. This profitable system is then used as proof positive that public schools are failing, public school teachers are failing, and your child is a failure. A nine year old loser – labeled for the world to see. A teenage loser who cannot hope for success. Failures before they even have a chance to face life.
What’s behind this? Follow the money.
The Education-Industrial Complex knows the solution. Give them more money for more testing and more scripted instruction and more charters for profit and more evaluation materials for teachers and more, more, MORE. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$
cash behind back
Norman R. Augustine, former Military-Industrial Complex leader when he was CEO and chairman of Lockheed Martin Corporation, is now appointed chairman of the National Academies’ congressionally mandated review of U.S. competitiveness. (I am not making 

White House chief of black education is ‘passionate’ about his work - Education - The Sacramento Bee

White House chief of black education is ‘passionate’ about his work - Education - The Sacramento Bee:

White House chief of black education is ‘passionate’ about his work

Published: Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2013 - 5:10 pm

David Johns

Olivier Douliery / Abaca Press/MCT

David Johns l, is President Barack Obama's choice as the first executive director of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2013/08/14/5650733/white-house-chief-of-black-education.html#mi_rss=Education#storylink=cpy

All through his years of schooling, David Johns was one of the few African-Americans in his classroom, from the high school in Los Angeles that was nearly an hourlong bus ride away – but that his mother insisted he attend – to Columbia University in New York.
Even when he taught elementary school in Manhattan, not a single black student sat behind one of the desks before him.
Now Johns sits behind a desk – at the U.S. Department of Education, no less – where it’s his job to lead a presidential effort to improve education for African-American students everywhere. Read More at:

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2013/08/14/5650733/white-house-chief-of-black-education.html#mi_rss=Education#storylink=cpy

The Architect of School Reform Who Turned Against It - Sarah Mosle - The Atlantic #RealEdTalk

The Architect of School Reform Who Turned Against It - Sarah Mosle - The Atlantic:

The Architect of School Reform Who Turned Against It



Diane Ravitch's second revolution


 
Denise Nestor
The survival of the school-reform movement, as it’s known to champions and detractors alike, is no longer assured. Even a couple years ago, few would have predicted this turn of events for a crusade that began with the publication of A Nation at Risk in 1983, gathered momentum as charter schools and Teach for America took off in the 1990s, and surged into the spotlight with No Child Left Behind in 2001. As a schoolteacher, I know I didn’t anticipate this altered landscape. If one person can be credited—or blamed—for the reform movement’s sudden vulnerability, it’s a fiercely articulate historian, now in her 70s, named Diane Ravitch.
That Ravitch helped conceive the movement she now condemns makes her current role even more unexpected. Almost four decades ago, Ravitch emerged as a preeminent chronicler of, as she put it, “the rise and fall of grand ideas” in American education. The author of 11 books, including Reign of Error (out this month), she has traced the past century’s successive battles over how best to deliver a quality education—and to whom.
In 1991, she shifted from observer to policy adviser, becoming an assistant secretary of education under George H. W. Bush. An outspoken critic of 

Michelle Rhee invites teachers union reps to new town halls - Byron Tau - POLITICO.com #RealEdTalk

Michelle Rhee invites teachers union reps to new town halls - Byron Tau - POLITICO.com:

Michelle Rhee invites teachers union reps to new town halls






Michelle Rhee wants to have a candid conversation with her fiercest critics.
The outspoken education reformer will host a series of national town hall meetings beginning in September, according to invitations obtained by POLITICO.

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Michelle Rhee at Playbook Breakfast

And she’s asking local teachers union leaders and activists — long her most vocal opponents — to be a part of each event.
According to the invitations sent Wednesday, Rhee’s goal is to bring teachers and their union representatives into the wider conversation about American education reform.
“Teachers’ voices are vital to the conversation about how to improve our national education system,” Rhee wrote to supporters. “Unfortunately, the dialogue around public education has become too often polarized, with extreme rhetoric and personal attacks overshadowing what’s important: getting all of our country’s kids into great schools with great teachers.”
Rhee will have company on her cross-country tour, which includes stops in Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Birmingham, Ala.,Steve Perry, who founded and runs the Capital Preparatory Magnet School in Connecticut and former Washington Teachers’ Union President George Parker will both join her at each event.
Also invited — but not yet confirmed: the brass from teachers unions city or state chapters, as


Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/08/michelle-rhee-invites-teachers-union-reps-to-new-town-halls-95539.html#ixzz2bzh16SzV



Course Limitations When Pursuing a Future - Student Voice

Student Voice:

Course Limitations When Pursuing a Future - Student Voice

Tess Harkin

About the Author: Tess Harkin attends New Milford High School in New Milford, CT as a junior. She is actively involved in the school and community as a student leader. Tess is a HOBY alumni and her interests lie in theatre, writing, and making crepes. You can find her on Twitter at @Tess_Harkin or at operation-outstanding.blogspot.com. -


I’m a very loud person, I’ll be the first to admit it. I could blame it on the Italian in me, but the real reason I’m so loud is because I want to be heard, and usually I am. So why should I be any different for my education?
My name is Tess, I’m 16 years old and am currently entering my junior year at New Milford High School in New Milford, CT. I am the type of teenager that seems harder and harder to come by–the kind that actually enjoys school and wants to learn. With a schedule packed with honors classes and a GPA that easily places me on roll, it would seem like the education system wouldn’t be one I’d want to change.
Attempting to change something that is currently helping me is a risky decision. But the reason I’m looking to make a change is because even though I might be excelling in my classes, they’re not the classes I need to be taking in order to prepare myself for my future. I’m being forced to take classes that prepare myself for the Board of Education’s future for me.
I’m planning on pursuing a degree in Arts Administration in college. To put it simply, business for the arts, specifically, theatre. All throughout high school, guidance counselors stress the importance of taking classes that will help you be more prepared in college. That’s a little hard to do when your school offers two Theatre classes, History of American Musical Theatre and Drama Workshop. Two classes might seem like a lot to some people, but compared to the fifteen Fine Arts classes, eighteen Business classes, ten Tech-Education classes and nine Health classes, it’s inequitable. Why should my school prepare students to go into
- See more at: http://www.stuvoice.org/blog/2013/08/14/course-limitations-when-pursuing-a-future/?utm_source=feedly#sthash.R8OoiuPO.dpuf

Digital Backpack Coming Soon!
Just in time for back to school, Student Voice will be launching one of its biggest projects yet — and you don’t want to miss it! Designed to be used by all stakeholders in education, you aren’t going to want the school year without it. The Student Voice Digital Backpack Coming Soon!

Tom Vander Ark and Getting Smart are recognizing 30 charter management organizations and 10 EMOs Let's see how many made our List #RealEdTalk

CHARTER SCHOOL SCANDALS:

Tom Vander Ark  is recognizing 30 charter management organizations and 10 EMOs: Let's see how many made our list: 




National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA) Group: 1 in 5 charter schools not doing well enough to stay open
A group that oversees more than half of the nation's 5,600 charter schools said
 as many as one in five U.S. charter schools should be shut down because of 
poor academic performance. 
http://seattletimes.com/html/nationworld/2019784379_charterschools29.html

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.

Search for Your Own Special CHARTER SCHOOL SCANDAL

  go to 

If you don't find yours today
Keep checking

CHARTER SCHOOL SCANDALS


Be sure to check out two other Great blogs:



Getting Smart is acknowledging people and organizations making a difference with a series of back to school top 10 lists. During August we will run about 40 ‘best of’ lists, not in order, not exhaustive, just people we appreciate.
Today we are recognizing 30 great charter management organizations and 10 EMOs. They have all achieved scale, impact and/or influence.
East Coast Networks
Achievement First: CT, NY & RI
Brooke Charter Schools: Boston
E.L. Haynes: Washington DC
Success Charter Network: NYC
DC Prep: Washington DC
Chicago International
Uncommon Schools: NY & NJ
Mastery Charter Schools: Philadelphia
Match Education: Boston
Friendship Public Charter Schools: Washington DC
Central Networks
KIPP: a national network
Breakthrough Schools: Cleveland
Brighter Choice: Albany
LEARN Charter School Network: Chicago
Noble Network of Charter Schools: Chicago
Charles A. Tindley Accelerated School: Indianapolis
Gestalt Community Schools: Memphis
IDEA Public Schools: south Texas
Uplift: Dallas
YES Prep: Houston
West Networks
Alliance of College Ready Public Schools: Los Angeles
Aspire Public Schools: CA
BASIS Charter Schools: Phoenix
High Tech High: San Diego
Rocketship Education: CA, TN, WI
Summit Public Schools: Bay Area, CA
Green Dot: Los Angeles
DSST Public Schools: Denver
Great Hearts Academies: Phoenix
Strive Preparatory Schools: Denver
Educational Management Organizations
Charter Schools USA: FL network
Connections Education: national online learning provider
K12: national online learning provider
Mosaica Education: NY, GA,
National Heritage Academies: MI, OH, NY
Responsive Education: 4 brands in TX
Academia: FL
Leona Group: AZ, FL, IN, MI, OH
Insight Schools: 13 states
AdvancePath Academics: dropout prevention network

Nite Cap 8-14-13 #BATsACT #RealEdTalk #EDCHAT #P2 #Cheats4Change


James Baldwin said it best: 

"For these are all our children, and we will profit by or pay for whatever they become."


A BIG EDUCATION APE NITE CAP


TODAY

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Morning Wink 8-14-13 AM Posts #BATsACT #edreform #EDCHAT #P2 #Cheats4Change
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8-14-13 Perdido Street School
Perdido Street School: Teen's Bad Grades Used As One Reason To Not Place Him On Heart Transplant ListThis doesn't seem like a real story, but it is:Doctors at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta estimate that without a heart transplant, 15-year-old Anthony Stokes will die within three to six months from heart failure. Yet despite his prognosis, they refuse to put Anthony on the transplant list, telli
Read the Common Core standards for kindergarteners
Read the Common Core standards for kindergarteners: Read the Common Core standards for kindergartenersBy Valerie Strauss, Published: August 14 at 4:00 amE-mail the writer2CommentsMoreThe new Common Core State Standardsare being implemented — with a lot of controversy — in most states, and there’s a great deal of discussion about them. But it is unclear whether everybody who is opining for or again

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Despite closings and budget cuts, CPS calls for new charter schools - Chicago Sun-Times
Despite closings and budget cuts, CPS calls for new charter schools - Chicago Sun-Times: Despite closings and budget cuts, CPS calls for new charter schoolsBY LAUREN FITZPATRICK Education Reporter August 13, 2013 7:50PM00Share173RELATED DOCUMENTS Request for Proposals for New Charter Schools MAP: Expanding the charter school footprintRELATED STORIESJudge denies injunction to stop closure of Trumbu
Kendrick Lamar's Control (Happy Birthday, Hip-Hop) - The Jose Vilson | The Jose Vilson
Kendrick Lamar's Control (Happy Birthday, Hip-Hop) - The Jose Vilson | The Jose Vilson: Kendrick Lamar’s Control (Happy Birthday, Hip-Hop)by JOSE VILSON on AUGUST 13, 2013Kendrick Lamar as MLK Jr.“What are you listening to?”I know. I’m not supposed to have kids listening to their iPods in school. It was after the ELA state test, and they needed to decompress after another long period of little to
Nite Cap 8-13-13 #BATsACT #thankateacher #EDCHAT #P2 #Cheats4Change
James Baldwin said it best: "For these are all our children, and we will profit by or pay for whatever they become."A BIG EDUCATION APE NITE CAPTODAYASCD Leaders on Reflection: Christina Yuknis — Whole Child EducationASCD Leaders on Reflection: Christina Yuknis — Whole Child Education: THE WHOLE CHILD BLOGASCD Leaders on Reflection: Christina YuknisAugust 13, 2013 by ASCD Whole Child BloggersA def