Friday, April 25, 2014

4-25-14 Jersey Jazzman: Corporate Education Reform Buys Public Broadcasting - Again

Jersey Jazzman: Corporate Education Reform Buys Public Broadcasting - Again:











Corporate Education Reform Buys Public Broadcasting - Again
A couple of months ago, David Sirota broke the story of how PBS took money from plutocrat John Arnold to push a story touting a non-existent pension crisis. I'll admit that since then my radar has been more finely tuned to corporate-friendly frameworks when watching PBS or listening to NPR.So, as I was sitting at the kitchen table this evening, my ears perked up at the 5:30 break for WNYC, the NPR
4-19-14 Jersey Jazzman Jammin' All Week
Jersey Jazzman:Jersey Jazzman Jammin' All WeekCharter Schools: The New Battle of TrentonSo you guys have all seen this:On Christmas Day, 1775, George Washington and his troops crossed the Delaware River, starting at what is known now as Upper Makefield, PA. The general led his forces south along the banks of the river, eventually sneaking up on the Hessians, the German mercenary troops of the Brit

Hmong community to sponsor education forum for voters - Our Region - The Sacramento Bee

Hmong community to sponsor education forum for voters - Our Region - The Sacramento Bee:



Hmong community to sponsor education forum for voters

Published: Friday, Apr. 25, 2014 - 6:52 pm


The Hmong Community of Sacramento will hold its first Voters’ Education Forum on Saturday at the Sheriff’s Community Room, 7000 65th St., Sacramento.
Several candidates from area state senate, assembly, city council and district attorney races are scheduled to attend the forum, planned from 10 a.m. to noon.
“The Hmong community in the Greater Sacramento Area is at an important crossroad,” said Lance Fang, president of the Hmong Community of Sacramento, an umbrella group of community leaders and business people. “Our community must learn how to get engaged and involved to ensure that we have a voice.
“Forty years after they began arriving in Sacramento, the Hmong are still struggling with poverty and access to education and health care. The drop-out rate is still a challenge, and some of ourHmong community to sponsor education forum for voters - Our Region - The Sacramento Bee:

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2014/04/25/6355052/hmong-community-to-sponsor-education.html#mi_rss=Education#storylink=cpy

Beyond doomsday: District unveils its 'empty shell' budget for 2014-15 | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

Beyond doomsday: District unveils its 'empty shell' budget for 2014-15 | Philadelphia Public School Notebook:



Beyond doomsday: District unveils its 'empty shell' budget for 2014-15

by thenotebook on Apr 25 2014 Posted in Latest news
by Kevin McCorry for NewsWorks


If it seems like we've been here before, we have.
But now it's worse.
On Friday, the Philadelphia School District unveiled a $2.49 billion budget that will cause drastic reductions to services and staff unless additional funds are secured.
The District says it needs $440 million in supplemental revenue to begin to implement its vision for student growth, but requires $216 million just to open schools next year with the same bare-bones levels as this one.
If this year's budget is "doomsday," next year's could be that which doomsday has left behind.
"Short of the $216 [million], our schools will go from insufficient to just empty shells that do not represent what I consider a functioning school," said Superintendent William Hite at a news conference Friday morning.
Hite has essentially been saying this for months. But Friday – after waiting in vain for the the city, the state, or the District's labor partners to take steps to close the gap – he brought out the megaphone to stress the urgency of this "empty shell" scenario.
"I'm frustrated," Hite said, adding that he'd rather focus on how the District could improve student outcomes. "But instead we're talking about what we're going to have to reduce or take away ... from families that have already seen a lot of things taken away over the past several years."
What more could be stripped?
Depending on how much of the $216 million comes through, mass layoffs could occur, and student-teacher ratios could climb to as much as 37-to-1 in elementary schools and 41-to-1 in high schools.
"Forty kids in a classroom is too many," said Hite, "and we don't want to go there."
School Reform Commission Chairman Bill Green, whose overall educational philosophy does not emphasize small class size, echoed the superintendent. "My position is Dr. Hite's position," he said.
The District's current contract with the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers says classroom ratios should be no higher than 30-to-1 in grades K-3 and 33-to-1 in grades 4-12.
In addition to raising student-teacher ratios, District officials said that without additional funding, the line items for school support staff, facilities, transportation, health services, school police and central administration would face the knife.
The District's budget assumes that it will gain $120 million from the city's extension of a 1 percent sales tax; even though the Pennsylvania Legislature approved the plan, it's by no means a certainty.

Read the rest of this story at NewsWorks

A Walmart Fortune, Spreading Charter Schools - NYTimes.com

A Walmart Fortune, Spreading Charter Schools - NYTimes.com:



A Walmart Fortune, Spreading Charter Schools






WASHINGTON — DC Prep operates four charter schools here with 1,200 students in preschool through eighth grade. The schools, whose students are mostly poor and black, are among the highest performing in Washington. Last year, DC Prep’s flagship middle school earned the best test scores among local charter schools, far outperforming the average of the city’s traditional neighborhood schools as well.



Another, less trumpeted, distinction for DC Prep is the extent to which it — as well as many other charter schools in the city — relies on the Walton Family Foundation, a philanthropic group governed by the family that founded Walmart.



Since 2002, the charter network has received close to $1.2 million from Walton in direct grants. A Walton-funded nonprofit helped DC Prep find building space when it moved its first two schools from a chapel basement into former warehouses that now have large classrooms and wide, art-filled hallways.



One-third of DC Prep’s teachers are alumni of Teach for America, whose largest private donor is Walton. A Walton-funded advocacy group fights for more public funding and autonomy for charter schools in the city. Even the local board that regulates charter schools receives funding from theA Walmart Fortune, Spreading Charter Schools - NYTimes.com:

Nite Cap 4-25-14 #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 CAP



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Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Bundy's Racist Moocher Army Headed for Motown?: Bundy's Racist Moocher Army Headed for Motown?Cliven Bundy's moocher Army.BREAKING... Justice Scalia announces he is deputizing Cliven Bundy and his Nevada moocher army to ride herd on Schuette decision. Moochers were last seen headed for Michigan to put down any  protests and to graze their cattle for free on the overg
FCMAT » Cali Education Headlines Friday, April 25, 2014
FCMAT » Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team: L.A. Unified can keep teacher ratings anonymous, judges sayFCMAT’s new website is coming soon! We will have a new look and better compatibility with mobile devices, making it easier to access information and resources. Look for our new site starting April 25.Education HeadlinesFriday, April 25, 2014FCMAT provides links to California K-12 news
Morning Wink 4-25-14 AM Posts #BATsACT #RealEdTalk #EDCHAT #P2
BIG EDUCATION APE - MORNING WINK  AM POSTS4-25-14 Ed Notes OnlineEd Notes Online: Rosie Rocks: Explaining Teacher Opposition to High Stakes TestingI'm so glad I leaned in and taped this fantastic interview MORE/NYCORE member Rosie Frascella did with a PIX reporter -- you won't see this on the air. As Rosie spoke I kept saying (to myself) - "wow, wow, wow" as she heated up and her passion
4-25-14 Ed Notes Online
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4-25-14 LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all
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4-25-14 Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher
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College Perp | EduShyster
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4-25-14 Wait What?
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4-25-14 The Answer Sheet What teachers really want
The Answer Sheet: AFT asks Pearson to stop ‘gag order’ barring educators from talking about testsAmerican Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten is sending a letter (see below) to the executives of Pearson, the world’s largest education company, asking them to stop a  ”gag order” that is part of their $32 million contract with New York state to design new standardized tests aligned to t
4-25-14 Scathing Purple Musings | Color me purple in Florida
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YESTERDAY

Special Late Nite Cap UPDATE 4-7-14 #BATsACT #RealEdTalk #EDCHAT #P2
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Nite Cap 4-24-14 #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 CAPMarie Corfield: Tom Moran crosses the line in latest editorialMarie Corfield: Tom Moran crosses the line in latest editorial: Tom Moran crosses the line in latest editorial(Note: as I was drafting this post this week, Bob Braun wrote several exce