Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Rush-hour protest by teachers to target the Gates Foundation | Local News | The Seattle Times @EducatingGatesF

Rush-hour protest by teachers to target the Gates Foundation | Local News | The Seattle Times:



Rush-hour protest by teachers to target the Gates Foundation

Teachers who oppose the influence of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in education policy will hold a march and rally in Seattle starting at 5 p.m. Thursday at Westlake Park and proceeding to the foundation’s offices near Seattle Center.
 Seattle Demonstration vs Gates Foundation will be Livestreamed on http://t.co/QIQ77pw8Wy tomorrow at 5 pm @EducatingGatesF

We, the undersigned, demand the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation divest from corporate education reform. | Teacher... http://bit.ly/1qxriug

Facebook: Educating the Gates Foundation http://on.fb.me/1qxrrxT


Seattle Times education reporter
About 300 teachers and their supporters critical of the influence the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundationwields in U.S. education policy planned to march to the foundation’s Seattle offices late Thursday afternoon around rush hour.
The Washington state contingent of a Facebook group called Badass Teachers Association — which formed last June and now counts a national membership of more than 48,000 — is organizing the event.
Activists with another website, Teachers’ Letters to Bill Gates, which has provided an online forum for teachers to tell Gates how his policies affect their classrooms, will deliver those letters during the demonstration.
The event begins with a rally at 5 p.m. at Westlake Park, followed by a march to the foundation’s offices at the corner of Fifth Avenue North and Mercer Street at 5:45 p.m. Featured speakers include Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant; University of Washington, Bothell education professor Wayne Au; and Anthony Cody, a former California teacher and blogger for the newsweekly Education Week.
It’s expected to finish by 7 p.m.
City officials expect significant congestion in the area and are urging drivers to plan accordingly.
Participating educators say the Gates Foundation, through its initiatives and the groups it funds, has blamed teachers and their unions for shortcomings in student performance while discounting the role of poverty.
They also are skeptical about the foundation’s influence in pushing one of the most sweeping changes in American education in decades — the new Common Core standards for English and math.
The Gates Foundation has spent $233 million since 2008 supporting the writing and promotion of the Common Core standards, which have been fully adopted by Washington and 44 other states, according to a Washington Post story earlier this month.
The foundation did not respond to a request to comment on the protest, but Bill Gates told The Washington Post that he’s supporting research into what can make education more effective.
“These are not political things,” Gates told The Post.
The Seattle Times Education Lab project, done in partnership with the Solutions Journalism Network (SJN), is funded in large part by a grant from the Gates Foundation to SJN.
Among the issues that most rankle the foundation’s critics is its support of using student test scores in judging teacher performance. Recently, though, the foundation sided with American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten, who in April 2013 called for a moratorium on using Common Core tests for teacher evaluation.
“No evaluation system will work unless teachers believe it is fair and reliable, and it’s very hard to be fair in a time of transition,” Vicki Phillips, the foundation’s director of education, wrote in an open letter earlier this month calling for a two-year moratorium.
“The standards need time to work,” Phillips wrote. “Teachers need time to develop lessons, receive more training, get used to the new tests, and offer their feedback.”
Such statements are unlikely to blunt the criticism of the educators marching on Thursday.
Renton elementary-school teacher Julianna Dauble, a local organizer of the event, said that educators already are overwhelmed by the amount of work it takes to be a classroom teacher these days.
“Instead of improving education by supporting teachers and reducing the workload, Bill Gates has piled on a whole new level of anxiety-ridden workload with Common Core,” she said.
John Higgins: 206-464-3145 or jhiggins@seattletimes.com On Twitter @jhigginsST

UPDATE IEA-NEA is NOT all you need, but I sincerly wish it to be | Reclaim Reform

Education Defined by Bill Gates and Will Durant: also, please support the march on June 26 at the Gates Foundation in Seattle | Reclaim Reform:


IEA-NEA is NOT all you need, but I sincerly wish it to be.
In spite of being repeatedly told “IEA NEA: ALL YOU NEED” on its website, Senate Bill 1 updates have not been updated since January 29, 2014. Here is an IEA screen shot taken today. SBI1 cuts and diminishes pensions for active and retired Illinois teachers. Pensions are earned compensation, deferred earnings. SB1 is presently being challenged in court by the IEA and other unions, and one importa

Education Defined by Bill Gates and Will Durant: also, please support the march on June 26 at the Gates Foundation in Seattle

We all want our children to be well educated. However, how is a good education defined and explained?
Will Durant was, arguably, the greatest historian/philosopher of the 20th Century.
Bill Gates is one of the wealthiest men in the 21st Century. He is referred to as a philanthropist by some and as a villainthropist by others who point out that he makes immense profits from most of his philanthropic investments via his tax free foundation.
What does a good education mean?
Will Durant
Will Durant: Consider education not as the painful accumulation of facts and dates and reigns, nor merely the necessary preparation of the individual to earn his keep in the world, but as the transmission of our mental, moral, technical, and aesthetic heritage as fully as possible to as many as possible, for the enlargement of man’s understanding, control, embellishment, and enjoyment of life.
- from The Lessons of History (1968)
Gates - Bill the man1
Bill Gates:No, no the fifty [state-level] standards were never tested to see they’re excellent. They weren’t subject to rigorous design. The Common Core is the one that the most R and D has gone into to make sure that the progression is right. And so, you know, the, you should look at some, I mean, if you want to get into substance, you should look at the progression, where they talk to people about angles, without explaining triangles. Those fifty things (state standards) are not based on as much effort and energy and understanding as kids deserve. This one (CCSS) has gotten more. Now, you could say, ‘Hey, maybe it should get even more, and more and more. Fine. But this is the most serious effort to, on behalf of kids, make sure they go through math, and reading, and writing, that, that you’re building in a logical way that they will feel successful and they will do well.
Lyndsey Layton: Is this something that you would want for your own kids to, to, these standards, that you would want for your own kids to learn, too?
Bill Gates: We all want our, our own kids to exceed… remember what this is. This is six, what you should know in sixth grade, what you should know in seventh grade, eighth grade. It’s not how it’s taught or anything like that. Yes. I expect my kids to know a superset of the Common Core standards at every single grade involved. I expect them to have the reading skills, uhh, uh, above what the reading and writing skills are in the Common Core standards. So, absolutely. I don’t see who, who would not want that.
- from a Washington Post interview by Lyndsey Leighton (2014)
For a more complete explanation of the interview and a complete, accurate, written transcript, see Mercedes K. Schneider’s EduBlog.
Please decide for yourself and your child which of these two descriptions of a good education you want for your own child.
Finally, please support Diane Ravitch, the Network for Public Education, Anthony Cody and many, many more public education supporters, protestors, activists and advocates in Seattle at the Gates Foundation.
PROTEST
The Gates Foundation
When: June 26th 5PM
Where: Rally at Westlake Park (401 Pine St, Seattle)
March to Gates Foundation (440 5th Ave N, Seattle)
See details in Diane Ravitch’s blog.

LAUSD allots funds to schools with highest student need | EdSource

Highlighting Strategies for Student Success | EdSource:







San Diego Unified board members OK accountability plan
The San Diego Unified School District unanimously approved its spending and accountability plan Tuesday despite renewed calls from some community and parent advocates for more details about how the school system will spend state funds. California’s new funding formula requires each district to draft a Local Control and Accountability Plan to show how it will use state dollars to improve student...
Santa Ana Unified passes accountability plan
The Santa Ana Unified School District board unanimously approved its three-year spending and accountability plan to improve student achievement Tuesday. While the state-mandated plan outlines the district’s goals and expectations, Santa Ana Unified schools will play an integral role in shaping how those objectives will be met at their individual sites. Schools will have a total of $8.5 million in.
3 key budget moves favor teacher – not student – needs
With increased revenues in the state’s coffers, there are many things to like in the budget signed by Gov. Jerry Brown last week, but three key developments are setting off alarms for education advocates and community groups who supported the landmark Local Control Funding Formula reform. With each of them, the governor seems to be shaping or restricting the newfound flexibility in the funding....
California special ed to get federal intervention
The U.S. Department of Education said Tuesday that California special education programs need federal intervention, citing the lack of significant academic progress for students with special needs. California is one of three states, along with Texas and Delaware, designated for a one-year program of intervention. The designation comes as U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced a new...
Three districts rewrite rules for campus police
Three large school districts in California are rewriting the rules about how and when police should be involved on their campuses, complementing broader efforts to implement less punitive disciplinary practices. Oakland Unified, San Francisco Unified and Pasadena Unified are revamping their policies to ensure that police are called as a last resort. [[ This is a content summary only. Visit the Ed
LAUSD allots funds to schools with highest student need
The Los Angeles Unified School District will begin using a new student need index to direct additional funding to the neediest schools under a plan expected to be adopted by the school board today. The plan relies on counting students twice if they are low-income, English learners, foster or homeless students. [[ This is a content summary only. Visit the Edsource Today website for full links, oth
East Side Union board passes LCAP with a caveat
In passing the district's first Local Control and Accountability Plan, the trustees of the East Side Union High School District agreed that the LCAP needs more details to meet the commitment to improve the academic performance of African-American students. [[ This is a content summary only. Visit the Edsource Today website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
San Diego Unified works to clarify accountability plan for community, parents
The San Diego Unified School District appeared to face few challenges when it kicked off a comprehensive effort late last year to craft a state-mandated guide outlining the school system’s academic and financial future. [[ This is a content summary only. Visit the Edsource Today website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
San Jose district, teachers file bill seeking exception to tenure law
A Superior Court judge’s ruling last week in the Vergara case, striking down the state’s two-year teacher tenure law, has given new impetus to the San Jose Unified School District’s pursuit of a longer probationary period for teachers in some cases. [[ This is a content summary only. Visit the Edsource Today website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Pando Daily fires David Sirota after hard-hitting stories on national pension thievery. | Reclaim Reform

Pando Daily fires David Sirota after hard-hitting stories on national pension thievery. | Reclaim Reform:



Pando Daily fires David Sirota after hard-hitting stories on national pension thievery.

David Sirota may be best known for his expose of Gov. Chris Christie, but active and retired teachers know him best for revealing the obscene profits made from pension theft and the wage theft forced upon teachers mandated to pay into pension funds they are assured will not be there if and when they retire. If this doesn’t prove that the power of hedge fund managers and corporations has control over even the “free press”, then nothing will. Sirota’s loss is a loss for us all.
Originally posted on Fred Klonsky:
783855604353728069
No journalist has done more to expose Wall Street designs on public pensions than David Sirota.
When I need to make the argument that the assault on public pensions is not just a local Illinois issue, I have Sirota’s work to point to.
He was a staff writer for the Silcon Valley internet web site called Pando Daily.
No longer.
He was fired over the weekend.
Today The Gawker reports:
Over the weekend, Pando fired two of its hardest-hitting editorial staffers, David Sirota and Ted Rall, both nationally syndicated veteran journalists. Sirota recently broke a big story about Chris Christie’s administration awarding pension 
Pando Daily fires David Sirota after hard-hitting stories on national pension thievery. | Reclaim Reform:

Nite Cap 6-25-14 #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




6-25-14 Wait What? - Jonathan Pelto: Gubernatorial Candidate and A Really Nice Guy
Wait What?: Wait What? Pelto to Malloy – Dump Pryor and Comer now before they do even more damage to public education in ConnecticutPelto to Malloy: Dump Pryor and Comer now before they do even more damage to public education in Connecticut: Jonathan Pelto, the Education and Democracy Party’s candidate for governor called on Governor Dannel “Dan” Malloy to fire Stefan Pryor, his Commissioner of Ed
SKrashen: Intensive Systematic Phonics, Tests of Reading Comprehension, and the Garan Effect
SKrashen: Intensive Systematic Phonics, Tests of Reading Comprehension, and the Garan Effect: Intensive Systematic Phonics, Tests of Reading Comprehension, and the Garan EffectAn article in the Guardian announced that a new study confirmed the positive effect of intensive systematic phonics. In my letter  to the Guardian(see below) I said that the study only confirmed what we already know: "I
6-24-14 The Whole Child Blog — Equity: The Driver for School Improvement?
The Whole Child Blog — Whole Child Education: Equity: The Driver for School Improvement?What will drive school improvement in the future? Some believe that it will be choice—ensuring that students have choice in what and how they learn; allowing teachers to have greater autonomy in the classroom; and, possibly, providing families expanded choice of schools. For others the key driver may be ensurin
Will Anyone Stop Charter School Corruption?
Will Anyone Stop Charter School Corruption?: Will Anyone Stop Charter School Corruption?When politicians and pundits take to the barricades to defend “wonderful charter schools,” is this what they’re thinking of?A recent article in a Minnesota newspaper reported about a change in state law that could imperil the existence of a charter school that serves a student body sorely in need of heroic effo
State policy in Newark: Racism. Face it. | Bob Braun's Ledger
State policy in Newark: Racism. Face it. | Bob Braun's Ledger: State policy in Newark: Racism. Face it.Cami to teachers: drop deadThe eighth-grade graduation ceremonies at the Hawthorne Avenue School this morning–the last of their kind–provided an island of sanity and goodwill in the ocean of madness that is state educational policy in Newark. One of the best-achieving schools, not just in the cit
6-25-14 With A Brooklyn Accent: The Staggering Amounts of Money Spent to Show Teachers and Teachers Unions are to Blame for Inequality
With A Brooklyn Accent: The Staggering Amounts of Money Spent to Show Teachers and Teachers Unions are to Blame for InequalityAs the wave of anti-tenure lawsuits are about to move from California to NY and other states where teachers unions are strong, it would be instructive to think about the staggering amounts of money very wealthy people have spent to demonize teachers unions, teachers and pub
LCFF Funding Snapshot Available - Year 2014 (CA Dept of Education)
LCFF Funding Snapshot Available - Year 2014 (CA Dept of Education): State Schools Chief Tom Torlakson UnveilsFirst Local Control Funding Formula CalculationsAlso unveils new LCFF Funding SnapshotSACRAMENTO—Local educational agencies can now see the highly anticipated first official calculations of $42 billion in school funding they will receive under the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), State
6-25-14 Ed Notes Online
Ed Notes Online: Bryant Principal Namita Dwarka Gets Caught Playing the "Manipulate the Test" Game And LosesOh, the glory! RBE reported on this story at Perdido St:Just Make Every Student A Former ESL Student And You'll Magically Raise Your Test Scores! In case you missed this story in the NY Post:More than 100 teens in one teacher’s English classes were recently marked “FELL,” for “form
6-25-14 Curmudgucation
CURMUDGUCATION: What Should Arne Have SaidThere's been a pig-pile on Arne today over his ill-considered announcement of the DOE's new get-tough-on-states policy regarding students with disabilities (I know, because I was one of the first pigs on the pile).However. The answer that Arne came up with is stupid, but the question it addresses-- are all students with disabilities getting the educational
Vergara vs. California: Are the top 0.1% buying their version of education reform? - The Washington Post
Vergara vs. California: Are the top 0.1% buying their version of education reform? - The Washington Post: Vergara vs. California: Are the top 0.1% buying their version of education reform?On Tuesday, a California superior-court judge ruled that the state’s teacher tenure system discriminates against kids from low-income families. Based on testimony that one to three percent of California teachers
6-24-14 LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD
LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District): California’s services for disabled students ranks lowVia LA Times | Howard Blume California ranks in the bottom rung of states in the academic achievement of disabled students, according to new federal rankings released Tuesday. The new system rates only 18 states and U.S. territories as meeting federal s
We Party Patriots » Corporate Education Lobby Launches Pro-Charter School PR Blitz Following Damning MI Report
We Party Patriots » Corporate Education Lobby Launches Pro-Charter School PR Blitz Following Damning MI Report: Corporate Education Lobby Launches Pro-Charter School PR Blitz Following Damning MI Report   A new investigative report from the Detroit Free Press reveals a problem in Michigan found in many other states: Charter schools with little oversight and nearly no regulation underperforming to
6-25-14 Seattle Schools Community Forum Week
Seattle Schools Community Forum: Supreme Court Upholds Cell Phone PrivacyThis ruling may be a subject you might want to talk to your kids - especially teens - about at some point.In a 9-0 ruling, the Supreme Court today ruled that police must have a warrant to search the cellphones of people they arrest.  From the NY Times:The old rules, Chief Justice Roberts said, cannot be applied to “modern cel
Jindal says charters are a successful model. Really? | Missouri Education Watchdog
Jindal says charters are a successful model. Really? | Missouri Education Watchdog: Jindal says charters are a successful model. Really?inShareLast night I heard Governor Jindal speak about the education successes in his state, specifically in New Orleans where he said they were now 90% charters. He said it as if that was the accomplishment of a public directive, as if the public were clamoring fo
Reformers lose one to a veteran teacher - The Washington Post
Reformers lose one to a veteran teacher - The Washington Post: Reformers lose one to a veteran teacher There’s a new piece on The Washington Post’s Monkey Cage blog with this headline: “Vergara vs. California: Are the top 0.1% buying their version of education reform?” Anybody paying attention to school “reform” knows that the answer to that question is that some folks in that group are trying the
An Urban Teacher's Education: Faking Student Data
An Urban Teacher's Education: Faking Student Data: Faking Student DataThe Education Lab Blog at the Seattle Times today shares some of the stories of four teachers this past year using Washington's new TPEP evaluation system.Teachers are cited as saying that they found the student growth goals component of the evaluation to be something of a joke. "Teachers were literally joking (I hope) abou
NYC To Invest $52 Million in Community Schools | National Opportunity to Learn Campaign | Education Reform for Equity and Opportunity
NYC To Invest $52 Million in Community Schools | National Opportunity to Learn Campaign | Education Reform for Equity and Opportunity: NYC To Invest $52 Million in Community SchoolsPosted on: Wednesday June 25th, 2014One of best ways to turnaround a struggling school is to transform it into a "community school," a hub for all types of wraparound supports from medical services and tutorin
AFT - A Union of Professionals - Weingarten Announces $10 Billion Investment in Infrastructure and Workforce
AFT - A Union of Professionals - Weingarten Announces $10 Billion Investment in Infrastructure and Workforce: Weingarten Announces $10 Billion Investment in Infrastructure and WorkforcePartnership Fulfills Promise Two Years EarlyDENVER—Statement of American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten on the announcement that the $10 billion Investment and Training for American Infrastructure
Morning Wink 6-25-14 AM Posts #edchat #edreform
BIG EDUCATION APE - MORNING WINK  AM POSTSLISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 6-25-14 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for allDiane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: Peter Greene: Is This the “Stupidest Thing Ever to Come Out of the U.S. DOE?”Peter Greene writes that Arne Duncan has figured out why children with disabilities get lower test scores: Low expect
LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 6-25-14 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: Peter Greene: Is This the “Stupidest Thing Ever to Come Out of the U.S. DOE?”Peter Greene writes that Arne Duncan has figured out why children with disabilities get lower test scores: Low expectations. Greene writes: “In announcing a new emphasis and “major shift,” the US Department of Education will now demand that states show edu
Survey: U.S. Accountability System Less Fair and Effective Compared to Other Countries | NEA Today
Survey: U.S. Accountability System Less Fair and Effective Compared to Other Countries | NEA Today: Survey: U.S. Accountability System Less Fair and Effective Compared to Other CountriesJune 25, 2014 by twalker  Filed under Featured News, Top StoriesLeave a CommentBy Brenda ÁlvarezEducators who are empowered to take control of their profession tend to yield better results for their practice, stude
6-23-14 Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher
Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher who is just looking at the data.: Glen Brown. Discover perspicacity.Good afternoon, Glen. I was just reading through your blog and really liked how diverse it is, you seem to be a man of many hats. As a result, I thought I’d reach out to you and ask for a bit of advice regarding a children’s summer education project we’re working on.
6-24-14 Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL
Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL: This Week’s “Round-Up” Of Good Posts & Articles On Education PolicyHere are some recent useful posts and articles on educational policy issues: Aren’t California tenure policies in fact unreasonable? Plus 4 more Vergara questions asked and answered is from The Washington Post. I’m adding it to California Court Rules It’
6-25-14 Answer Sheet
Answer Sheet: The Great Teachers and Principals Act: not so great after allLast year I published a piece by Kenneth Zeichner, a professor who has done extensive research on teaching and teacher education, which discussed legislation in Congress about teacher and principal preparation programs. The legislation is officially called the “Growing Excellent Achievement Training Academies (GREAT) Teache
6-25-14 Schools Matter
Schools Matter: Houston KIPPsters Blow Off Steam by Hanging ClassmateFrom Fox affiliate in Houston:By Alexander Supgul, Digital Content Manager - bioOn May 20 during recess at KIPP Academy, David Rodriguez says he quite nearly strangled to death."I thought I was going to die and I was not going to see my Mom, my Dad and my sister," said Rodriguez.David's mother, Zulma Rodriguez, insists
6-25-14 @ The Chalk Face
@ THE CHALK FACE: @amprog imitates neoliberal wankers and excludes educator voicesA panel on the Common Core today from the Center for (on?) American Progress. See the speakers. Any educators in site? Introductory Remarks: Carmel Martin, Executive Vice President for Policy, Center for American Progress Panelists: Gov. Jim Douglas, Former Governor of Vermont Gov. Ted Strickland, Former Governor of
6-25-14 the becoming radical | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness (the public and scholarly writing by P. L. Thomas, Furman University)
the becoming radical | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness (the public and scholarly writing by P. L. Thomas, Furman University): Whence Come “The Leftovers”?: Speculative Fiction and the Human ConditionNora Durst finds herself at the intersection of something routinely normal for middle-class Americans living in the comfort of suburbia and distinctly otherworldly at the same time in Tom Perrotta’s
6-25-14 Perdido Street School
Perdido Street School: Rupert Murdoch To Be Interviewed By Scotland Yard In Hacking CaseFrom the Daily News: Scotland Yard detectives plan to interview media mogul Rupert Murdoch about a phone-hacking scandal that led to one of his former top honchos being convicted Tuesday on criminal charges. Detectives have informed the 83-year-old Murdoch he’ll be grilled “under caution” — a warning given to s
Eight teachers, eight struggles with measuring student growth | Education Lab Blog | Seattle Times
Eight teachers, eight struggles with measuring student growth | Education Lab Blog | Seattle Times: Eight teachers, eight struggles with measuring student growthPosted by Linda ShawTake eight certified teachers, all with a prestigious advanced teaching credential, and ask them to tell stories about how they measure student growth in their classrooms— a requirement of the state’s new teacher evalua
Pro-Common Core State School Chief Loses Election in Oklahoma | Truth in American Education
Pro-Common Core State School Chief Loses Election in Oklahoma | Truth in American Education: Pro-Common Core State School Chief Loses Election in OklahomaFiled in Common Core State Standards, Education at State Level by Shane Vander Hart on June 25, 2014 • 0 Comments146241Pro-Common Core Oklahoma State School Superintendent Janet Barresi lost her primary against challenger Joy Hofmeister who ran o
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Chicago school closings went well, except for...
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Chicago school closings went well, except for...: Chicago school closings went well, except for...BEST QUOTE OF THE DAY RE. RAHM... Comes from S-T's Dan Mihalopoulos -- You don’t need to speak español to understand what hipocresía means. Sorry to bust any remaining bubbles out there, but no, closing 50 Chicago Public Schools last year didn't save us any money. Quite
Detroit Free Press Publishes Weeklong, Blockbuster Investigation of Michigan Charters | janresseger
Detroit Free Press Publishes Weeklong, Blockbuster Investigation of Michigan Charters | janresseger: Detroit Free Press Publishes Weeklong, Blockbuster Investigation of Michigan ChartersPosted on June 25, 2014 by janressegerThe huge investigation of Michigan’s charter schools, a series of stories, graphics, and interviews being published this week by the Detroit Free Press, includes a lot more inf
empathyeducates – Editorial: A Complete Education Includes Humanities
empathyeducates – Editorial: A Complete Education Includes Humanities: Editorial: A Complete Education Includes HumanitiesPhotograph; Stan Gutiontov, a student at Northwestern University’s Feinberg/Chicago TribuneBy Times Editorial | Originally Published at Tampa Bay Times. Friday, June 21, 2013 5:30amThe humanities and social sciences have been under attack by Gov. Rick Scott and other politician
Is Money spent on Public #Education Equitable? | Cloaking Inequity
Is Money spent on Public #Education Equitable? | Cloaking Inequity: Is Money spent on Public #Education Equitable?A longstanding issue in school finance research and litigation concerns whether money spent on public education is equitable. Traditionally, researchers examined if money spent on public education was equitable across districts within the same state. Given that public education is part
NYC Educator: Does Killing Tenure Equal a "Sound Education?"
NYC Educator: Does Killing Tenure Equal a "Sound Education?": Does Killing Tenure Equal a "Sound Education?"No surprise!  Campbell Brown has recruited and sponsored six NY students to legally challenge tenure and seniority laws on the basis that they violate the Constitutional right of children to a "sound education" by protecting ineffective teachers.   Doubtless, Br
Kindergarten and Technology (Sharon Davison) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice
Kindergarten and Technology (Sharon Davison) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice: Kindergarten and Technology (Sharon Davison)This post comes from kindergarten teacher Sharon Davison. It was posted on June 17, 2014. I have taken  her self-description from “About” on her blog.My name is Sharon Davison and I have the pleasure of being a Kindergarten teacher in Vermont. I have been

YESTERDAY

Starting with Relationships, Focus on Learning | Connected Principals
Starting with Relationships, Focus on Learning | Connected Principals: Starting with Relationships, Focus on Learningby Johnny Bevacqua • June 25, 2014 • 0 CommentsThis was originally posted by J. Bevacqua on Figuring It OutYet another new beginning….For those that have not heard – next school year brings a new and exciting job opportunity – this time as Principal of Vancouver College – a K-12 Cat
You Can't Educate With Us (On Tone-Policing When Silent) - The Jose Vilson
You Can't Educate With Us (On Tone-Policing When Silent) - The Jose Vilson: You Can’t Educate With Us (On Tone-Policing When Silent)by JOSE VILSON on JUNE 24, 2014in JOSEI called someone a racist this past weekend. And a sexist for good measure.I don’t have much authoritative experience with the latter as I do the former, and I don’t go throwing around such a title lightly.I won’t go into the inci
A Principal Ruins a Teacher's Career in Brooklyn - southbronxschool
http://www.southbronxschool.com: A Principal Ruins a Teacher's Career in Brooklyn The following could very well be considered part II of last night's blog postbut it deserves it's own special mention.The Crack Team just got this story of a middle school teacher from Brooklyn. His name is Jeff Storobinsky who suddenlyhad to retire this past February for the abuse to stop.The Crack Team has seen and
All Things Education: A DCPS Teacher Resigns
All Things Education: A DCPS Teacher Resigns: A DCPS Teacher ResignsA few summers ago at the SOS March & National Call to Action, I met a young and enthusiastic, but independent-minded and healthily-skeptical DC Public School elementary teacher, named Olivia Chapman (on twitter: formerly @sedcteacher, now @NGCoachLiv). Olivia has done two guest posts for this blog thus far, one about lessons l
Give it away, give it away, give it away now… | Connected Principals
Give it away, give it away, give it away now… | Connected Principals: Give it away, give it away, give it away now…by Jon Harper • June 24, 2014 • 0 CommentsWhile watching Game of Thrones has provided me with much entertainment over the past few years, it did not teach me a single thing about becoming a better leader. In fact, I learned more about leadership from a five-minute rereading of Shel Si
Nite Cap 6-24-14 #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 CAP6-24-14 With A Brooklyn Accent: Love Letters to the BATSWith A Brooklyn Accent: Getting Rid of The Bad Teachers: Discrimination in Berkeley, CA A Guest Post by Masha Albrecht and Brian Crowell Getting Rid of The Bad Teachers: Discrimination in Be