Latest News and Comment from Education

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Special Midnight Sneak Preview - Witch Hunter starring Campbell Brown - News Break


Special Midnight Sneak Preview - 
Witch Hunter 
starring Campbell Brown 
 News Break
Coming to a theater near you!



After much speculation and rallying, LA school board retains superintendent
About 100 people gathered Tuesday morning to support L.A. Unified Superintendent John Deasy before the Board of Education delivered his annual review.; Credit: Adolfo Guzman-Lopez After nearly five hours behind closed doors, the L.A. Unified school board announced Tuesday that it’s keeping its superintendent. The board gave John Deasy a satisfactory approval – an annual condition of extending his


Oct. 30 PEP: Parents, Teachers, Clergy and Students to Rally for End To School Closures and Co-Locations
Gotta switch mind-sets after the last post and focus on the PEP at Prospect Hts HS. I will be there to get what footage I can. First a rally, then let's go in a sign up for 2 minutes of speaking time and support the schools under assault.From MORE: Attached is the final flier for Wednesday's PEP in Brooklyn at Prospect Heights HS. Print some copies and bring them at 5:30 for the Funeral Procession

When Florida decided last month to withdraw from a consortium of states that is writing tests for the new Common Core academic standards in math and reading, it sent a ripple of concern through the remaining states. Read full article >>    

What L.A. School District SHOULD Have Done Before Going 1:1 in Classrooms
When students in the L.A. Unified School District received new iPads, they figured out how to hack them within a week. Not surprising to CTQ blogger and high school teacher Paul Barnwell who recommends four key things that SHOULD have been in place before establishing a one-to-one (student to device) relationship in the district. Add your own thoughts on technology in schools by clicking the link


City charters without signed agreements get revocation threat
In the midst of its continuing financial crisis, the School District of Philadelphia has lowered the boom on charter schools in the city.
Scores of Philadelphia teachers reassigned
The fallout from the Philadelphia School District's budget crisis continues: As of Monday, 139 teachers had been moved to new schools - seven weeks into the term, and shortly before students' first report card grades are due.

Starting Teacher SAT Scores Rise As Educators Face Tougher Evaluations
American teachers may be getting smarter. Still, scrutiny of their work and cries to overhaul the education system intensify. The education reform group National Council on Teacher Quality, and Harvard University's Education Next journal on Wednesday each released a paper about the state of the teaching force. The paper by National Council on Teacher Quality, a Washington-based think tank that


Deasy Staying; Board Extends Contract through June 2016
Supt. John Deasy John Deasy‘s tenure as superintendent of LA Unified School District is continuing for another 20 months as the school board today gave him a ”satisfactory” performance evaluation and extended his contract to June, 30, 2016. The announcement, after nearly five hours of a closed door meeting at the district’s downtown headquarters, ended five frenetic days of uncertainty that began

Four state departments join in bid for $44M to finance improvement, expansion of preschool and early childhood programs


Protests Halt Kelly’s Speech at Brown University
Protesters shouting chants and complaints about the police’s stop-and-frisk tactics prevented Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly from speaking on Tuesday.    
Op-Ed Guest Columnist: Homecoming at Howard
Howard University’s special role in integration is paving the way for its own obsolescence.    


Reflections on Seeing The King Last Night in Port Chester, NY
My stream of consciousness about last night: What many people do not know, is that Port Chester Middle School is actually in the Village of Rye Brook. Rye Brook is one of the tonier areas of Westchester County. It even has a D'agastino's. But more on Rye Brook later. So there I was last night in Port Chester, #47 in line to speak. On one side of the dais, the so-called "educators"

TODAY

Who's Really Behind Campbell Brown's Sneaky Education Outfit? | Mother Jones
Who's Really Behind Campbell Brown's Sneaky Education Outfit? | Mother Jones: Who's Really Behind Campbell Brown's Sneaky Education Outfit?The former CNN anchor says her nonprofit seeks to protect kids from predators in the classroom. Its real agenda may be union-busting.DFER'S REFORMER of the Month? Early one morning in July, former CNN anchor Campbell Brown appeared on MSNBC's Morning Joe, pen i
10-29-13 Ed Notes Online
Ed Notes Online: Speakers to testify release for NYC's Senate hearing on school issuesI was going to go to the Portelos hearing today but I'm in a car heading to Philly - don't worry, I'm not driving. My alternate was to go to the Flanagan hearings today where many of our allies from Change the Stakes and Class Size Matters are testifying today.The unholy trio - Tisch, Mulgrew and Walcott, all pus
Brevard Public Schools teach contempt of the law by blatantly violating the constitution | Reclaim Reform
Brevard Public Schools teach contempt of the law by blatantly violating the constitution | Reclaim Reform: Brevard Public Schools teach contempt of the law by blatantly violating the constitutionPosted on October 29, 2013by Ken PrevitiThe Brevard County School Board and its superintendent are teaching all of the children to violate the law if there is money to be had. This is teaching by example.T
PSAT for 10-29-13: Plan to attend 11/21 forum on student data privacy
Parents United for Responsible Education » Blog Archive » PSAT for 10-29-13: Plan to attend 11/21 forum on student data privacy: PSAT for 10-29-13: Plan to attend 11/21 forum on student data privacyPURE, Parents Across America, More Than a Score, the Chicago Teachers’ Union, and other groups are co-sponsoring an important forum on the threat to student data privacy.The free, public event will take
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Grassroots Collaborative calls on Aldermen to act for working families
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Grassroots Collaborative calls on Aldermen to act for working families: Grassroots Collaborative calls on Aldermen to act for working familiesGRASSROOTS COLLABORATIVE637 S. DEARBORN, THIRD FLOOR CHICAGO, IL 60605www. t h e g r a s s r o o t s c o l l a b o r a t i v e . o r gPRESS RELEASEFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEOctober 29, 2013Contact:Nathan Ryan, Communications Organiz
Billionaires Going Bonkers: Trying to Reboot Reform - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher
Billionaires Going Bonkers: Trying to Reboot Reform - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher: Billionaires Going Bonkers: Trying to Reboot ReformBy Anthony Cody on October 29, 2013 4:27 PMFrom coast to coast, the billionaire-backed education reform project is back-pedaling, and there are signs of desperation showing up all over. At Education Nation there was little attention paid to the fract
Nite Cap 10-29-13 #BATsACT #RealEdTalk #EDCHAT #P2
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 CAPTODAYBREAKING: Deasy offers to resign in Feb, stay available as consultant in proposed settlement #lausdBREAKING: Deasy offers to resign in Feb, stay available as consultant in proposed settlement Saint Deasy Flash Mob Crest Fallen1 by mike simps

Who's Really Behind Campbell Brown's Sneaky Education Outfit? | Mother Jones

Who's Really Behind Campbell Brown's Sneaky Education Outfit? | Mother Jones:

Who's Really Behind Campbell Brown's Sneaky Education Outfit?

The former CNN anchor says her nonprofit seeks to protect kids from predators in the classroom. Its real agenda may be union-busting.


DFER'S REFORMER of the Month?



 Early one morning in July, former CNN anchor Campbell Brown appeared on MSNBC's Morning Joe, pen in hand, notes fanned out in front of her. Viewers might have mistaken her as a fill-in host, but Brown had swung by 30 Rock in her new role as a self-styled education reformer, a crusader against sexual deviants in New York City public schools and the backward unions and bureaucrats getting in the way of firing them. "In many cases, we have teachers who were found guilty of inappropriate touching, sexual banter with kids, who weren't fired from their jobs, who were given very light sentences and sent back to the classroom," Brown, the mother of two young sons, explained.
Brown was there to plug her new venture, the Parents' Transparency Project, a nonprofit "watchdog group" that "favors no party, candidate, or incumbent." Though its larger aim is to "bring transparency" to how contracts are negotiated with teachers' unions, PTP's most prominent campaign is to fix how New York City handles cases of sexual misconduct involving teachers and school employees—namely by giving the city's schools chancellor, a political appointee, ultimate authority in the process.
Shortly after it was launched in June, PTP trained its sights on the New York mayoral race,asking the candidates to pledge to change the firing process for school employees accused of sexual misconduct. When several Democratic candidates declined, perhaps fearing they'd upset organized labor, PTP spent $100,000 on a television attack ad questioning whether six candidates, including Republican Joe Lhota and Democrats Bill de Blasio and Anthony Weiner, had "the guts to stand up to the teachers' unions." The spot stated that there had been 128 cases of sexual misconduct by school employees in the past five years, suggesting that 

10-29-13 Ed Notes Online

Ed Notes Online:






Oct. 30 PEP: Parents, Teachers, Clergy and Students to Rally for End To School Closures and Co-Locations
Gotta switch mind-sets after the last post and focus on the PEP at Prospect Hts HS. I will be there to get what footage I can. First a rally, then let's go in a sign up for 2 minutes of speaking time and support the schools under assault.From MORE: Attached is the final flier for Wednesday's PEP in Brooklyn at Prospect Heights HS. Print some copies and bring them at 5:30 for the Funeral Procession


Speakers to testify release for NYC's Senate hearing on school issues
I was going to go to the Portelos hearing today but I'm in a car heading to Philly - don't worry, I'm not driving. My alternate was to go to the Flanagan hearings today where many of our allies from Change the Stakes and Class Size Matters are testifying today.The unholy trio - Tisch, Mulgrew and Walcott, all pushing the same drug in different doses lead off. There's even an E4E slug listed. (Did
Sandy Redux: Norm in The Wave
I've been a little too busy to do regular blogging the past few days and I am not reporting on lots of stuff going on. Tomorrow (weds) night is the 2nd of the Bloomberg forced co-loco PEP meetings. I'll report on that tonight as there are some interesting events going on before the meeting.I just finished my column which will be published Friday, Nov. 1. Last week The Wave published a spectacular



10-28-13 Ed Notes Online
Ed Notes Online: Ravitch on MSNBCI haven't seen this yet but am reposting from the Ravitch blog for the Ed Notes archives. The discussion about charter schools has been changing - just see this: Top 16 NYC charter school executives earn more than Chancellor Dennis Walcott - Daily Newshttp://m.nydailynews.com/1.1497717The interview and panel discussion were broken into three segments which do not f