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Monday, September 28, 2015

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 9/28/15




CORPORATE ED REFORM



CURMUDGUCATION: USED: Accountability for Public Schools Only
CURMUDGUCATION: USED: Accountability for Public Schools Only: USED: Accountability for Public Schools OnlyArne Duncan today held a press chat to announce that USED would be throwing more money ($157 million) at charter schools. Throwing money at public schools is, you may recall, anathema to reformsters, who are concerned that while money has been thrown higgledy piggledy at public schools, it app
Education Matters: Is Florida about to start arresting parents or forcing kids to leave school over opting out?
Education Matters: Is Florida about to start arresting parents or forcing kids to leave school over opting out?: Is Florida about to start arresting parents or forcing kids to leave school over opting out?I ask because that seems to be where we are heading.First look at what education chairman Marlene O'Toole said a couple weeks ago: "You're not allowed to do that (opt out) and keep your chil
CA Smarter Balanced By Zip Code - Schoolzilla, PBC.
CA Smarter Balanced By Zip Code - Schoolzilla, PBC.: CALIFORNIA SMARTER BALANCED RESULTS EXPLORERSchoolzilla provides K-12 districts with a secure, hosted data warehouse and customizable dashboards that bring ALL of their data into focus. If you would like to see what the Schoolzilla data platform could do for your districtNote: California Smarter Balanced Results Explorer dashboards were built us
Charter love: Feds give $157 million to expand charter schools - The Washington Post
Charter love: Feds give $157 million to expand charter schools - The Washington Post: Charter love: Feds give $157 million to expand charter schoolsThe U.S. Department of Education announced Monday it would give $157 million to create and expand charter schools throughout the nation, despite criticisms by its inspector general in the past that the agency has done a poor job of overseeing federal d
Why Inner City Schools Keep Failing
Inner City Schools: Why Inner City Schools Keep FailingThere is an exquisitely sick irony to the fact that segregated and purposefully maintained inferior inner city public education could not be maintained at the Los Angeles Unified School District and elsewhere in this country without the administrative participation of the same minorities it keeps in their unachieving places.Unless minority adm
Broad Foundation secret plan to get extremely wealthy people to invest in creating charter schools in LA - NBC Southern California
News Conference LAUSD President on the Charter Schools Controversy | NBC Southern California: Broad Foundation secret plan to get extremely wealthy people to invest in creating charter schools in LAA big uproar was created this week when a memo was leaked to the LA Times from the Eli Broad Foundation about a secret plan to get extremely wealthy people to invest in creating charter schools in LA. N
CURMUDGUCATION: Charters Are Not Common Schools
CURMUDGUCATION: Charters Are Not Common Schools: Charters Are Not Common SchoolsCharter boosters continue trying to muster some sort of argument against the decision in Washington State that the charter laws there violate the state constitution. So far, none of the attempts really sing.Over at Campbell Brown's PR site, the 74, Andrew Rotherham (Bellwether) and Richard Whitmire (general reformsteri
Social Justice Activism is Forming a More Perfect (And Enduring) Union - NEA Today
Social Justice Activism is Forming a More Perfect (And Enduring) Union - NEA Today: Social Justice Activism is Forming a More Perfect (And Enduring) UnionTeachers and education support professionals are standing together in the fight for equal opportunity for all students.Educators are driven by purpose. There’s the day-to-day purpose of helping students learn, but there’s also a higher purpose—a
The Education of Jesse Hagopian | I AM AN EDUCATOR
The Education of Jesse Hagopian | I AM AN EDUCATOR: The Education of Jesse HagopianErin Middlewood, writing for The Progressive magazine, flew out to Seattle just before the end of the last school year. She spent an afternoon with me in my classroom and then accompanied me that evening to our Black Student Union senior awards banquet that my students had organized to honor our graduating black lea
Libraries at the Crossroads | Pew Research Center
Libraries at the Crossroads | Pew Research Center: Libraries at the CrossroadsThe public is interested in new services and thinks libraries are important to communitiesAmerican libraries are buffeted by cross currents. Citizens believe that libraries are important community institutions and profess interest in libraries offering a range of new program possibilities. Yet, even as the public express
Profit Piranha Feeding Frenzy - National, local foundations with charter school ties fund APS... | www.myajc.com
National, local foundations with charter school ties fund APS... | www.myajc.com: National, local foundations with charter school ties fund APS workHalf a dozen local and national foundations are footing the $500,000 bill for high-powered management consultants to develop a plan to improve Atlanta schools in the face of potential state takeover.About half of Atlanta’s 80 schools are at high risk o
USED Official Admits Federal Curriculum Violation in Bush-Supported Race to the Top | Truth in American Education
USED Official Admits Federal Curriculum Violation in Bush-Supported Race to the Top | Truth in American Education:USED Official Admits Federal Curriculum Violation in Bush-Supported Race to the TopPhoto credit: Gage Skidmore (CC-By-SA 2.0)The arguments made by establishment proponents of Race to the Top and Common Core, including some presidential candidates continue to implode.  The well-worn cha
Is the Opt Out Movement Destined to Grow? | Creative by Nature
Is the Opt Out Movement Destined to Grow? | Creative by Nature: Is the Opt Out Movement Destined to Grow?How (and Why) the Opt Out Movement Could Grow into the Most Powerful & Important Children’s Rights Movement in History…HOW:By going on the offensive- holding nation-wide teach-ins, developing coordinated actions to “take out” the corrupt and destructive forces strangling our children’s educ
Look Out Parents – Malloy’s State Department of Education is ramping up Pro-Common Core Testing Campaign - Wait What?
Look Out Parents – Malloy’s State Department of Education is ramping up Pro-Common Core Testing Campaign - Wait What?: Look Out Parents – Malloy’s State Department of Education is ramping up Pro-Common Core Testing CampaignIf you weren’t at the “Special” Sherman Board of Education meeting last Thursday you missed the “show.”Big Brother is Watching and Big Brother is not Happy!As Connecticut is swa
How Understanding of Social Differences Could Actually Help Underachieving Pupils
How Understanding of Social Differences Could Actually Help Underachieving Pupils: How Understanding of Social Differences Could Actually Help Underachieving PupilsWhile there is person variation within any lifestyle, societal trying to learn behaviours kind along continua of discovering versions. In a few civilizations building problems in public areas is a huge sociable embarrassment to remain a
The Broader Meaning of Chicago’s Dyett Hunger Strike | janresseger
The Broader Meaning of Chicago’s Dyett Hunger Strike | janresseger: The Broader Meaning of Chicago’s Dyett Hunger StrikeThe website of the New Yorker magazine just published a fascinating piece by Eve Ewing, written to mark the importance of the recent 34-day hunger strike in Chicago that pressured Rahm Emanuel’s administration to preserve Dyett High School in that city’s Bronzeville neighborhood.
Reimagining the U.S. High School: An Open Letter to Laurene Powell Jobs | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice
Reimagining the U.S. High School: An Open Letter to Laurene Powell Jobs | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice: Reimagining the U.S. High School: An Open Letter to Laurene Powell JobsDear Mrs. Laurene Powell Jobs:I commend you for initiating a national challenge to transform the comprehensive high school into a Super School and putting $50 million on the stump for experts, parents,
Struggling cities and excelling suburbs: a repeated pattern around the country - The Hechinger Report
Struggling cities and excelling suburbs: a repeated pattern around the country - The Hechinger Report: Struggling cities and excelling suburbs: a repeated pattern around the countryEarlier this summer, we published a map of high school graduation rates by district across the United States. We’re now breaking it down and exploring trends in different states and regions.You can see it all over our m
Is Kindergarten a Place of Joy or Data Gathering? » Missouri Education Watchdog
Is Kindergarten a Place of Joy or Data Gathering? » Missouri Education Watchdog: Is Kindergarten a Place of Joy or Data Gathering?Parents don’t need data sets to know that if a young child is not ready to learn a skill (but is pushed to do so) or if learning that skill becomes extremely stressful, that child may very well shut down.  Parents also don’t need data retrieval to know that every child
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: WEEKEND QUOTABLES
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: WEEKEND QUOTABLES: WEEKEND QUOTABLESMercedes SchneiderAmerica needs less of Pearson. A lot less. -- Deutsch29NEA president Lily Eskelsen Garcia“I don’t know anyone who doesn’t think Arne is decent and honest,” says National Education Association president Lily Eskelsen Garcia, whose union has called for Duncan to resign. “But his reforms are so ridiculous, he’s uniti
Michelle Obama Wants Your Next Selfie to Support Girls’ Education | TakePart
Michelle Obama Wants Your Next Selfie to Support Girls’ Education | TakePart: Michelle Obama Wants Your Next Selfie to Support Girls’ EducationThe First Lady’s 62 Million Girls campaign asks people to answer the question, ‘What did you learn in school?’After Beyoncé informed tens of thousands of people that “girls run the world” at the Global Citizen Festival, First Lady Michelle Obama took to the
Indiana schools chief Glenda Ritz seeks advice from feds on charter school cuts
Indiana schools chief Glenda Ritz seeks advice from feds on charter school cuts: Indiana schools chief Glenda Ritz seeks advice from feds on charter school cutsA third of charter schools in Indiana saw big cuts in Title I poverty aid but were given no explanation for why the funding decreased.Get Hoosier School Heist in PaperbackHoosier School Heist On FaceBookState Superintendent Glenda Ritz anno
Bill de Blasio Allies Call Charter School Ad ‘Racist’ | Observer
Bill de Blasio Allies Call Charter School Ad ‘Racist’ | Observer: ‘Racist to the Core’: Bill de Blasio Allies Blast New Charter Schools AdA couple of Democrats close to Mayor Bill de Blasio blasted a new pro-charter schools television ad today, calling the spot “racist to the core.”The slickly-produced ad attacks Mr. de Blasio, a liberal Democrat, for dooming minority schoolchildren to lousy publi
Her son began hating school. What happened when she found out why. - The Washington Post
Her son began hating school. What happened when she found out why. - The Washington Post: Her son began hating school. What happened when she found out why.The movement among parents to refuse to allow their children to take Common Core-aligned standardized tests has been growing for several years in states around the country, with some 20 percent of eligible students refusing to take them this pa
In this school, children will grow up believing bathrooms have no gender - Quartz
In this school, children will grow up believing bathrooms have no gender - Quartz: In this school, children will grow up believing bathrooms have no genderOn her first day of Pre-K, my four-year-old daughter used a bathroom that was simply labeled “bathroom.” She will, I hope, grow up in a world where bathrooms—like people—no longer exist along a simple gender binary. If only every school could be
The Classrooms We’re Fighting For | The Opt Out Florida Network
The Classrooms We’re Fighting For | The Opt Out Florida Network: The Classrooms We’re Fighting ForParents opt out of high stakes testing for many different reasons. Among the reasons I hear most often – teaching to the test, narrowed curriculum, too much stress, developmentally inappropriate, data collection, profiteering, the high stakes of retention and remediation, Common Core, and on and on an
USC Poll: Californians Don’t Know Much About Common Core
SCVNews.com | USC Poll: Californians Don’t Know Much About Common Core | 09-27-2015: USC Poll: Californians Don’t Know Much About Common CoreAs Californians get their first look at new test results since 2013, a new poll shows state voters have mixed views on the Common Core State Standards, and their views shift with the way questions about the standards are posed.Levels of support for the Common
Florida Superintendents Join the Voices of Parents & Teachers | The Opt Out Florida Network
Florida Superintendents Join the Voices of Parents & Teachers | The Opt Out Florida Network: Florida Superintendents Join the Voices of Parents & TeachersThe Opt Out Florida Network, and its 40 Opt Out groups across the state, would like to thank the Florida Association of District School Superintendents(FADSS) for making a bold statement about the failures of our education accountability
Actually, Boehner's Resignation Doesn't Change the Odds on ESEA - Rick Hess Straight Up - Education Week
Actually, Boehner's Resignation Doesn't Change the Odds on ESEA - Rick Hess Straight Up - Education Week: Actually, Boehner's Resignation Doesn't Change the Odds on ESEAOn Friday, House Speaker John Boehner announced that he'll be stepping down at the end of October.  This decision concluded five long years of caucus clashes between Boehner and the House's Tea Party wing and, in edu-world, occasio
NY Times Hypes Charter Schools - Again and Again | Alan Singer
NY Times Hypes Charter Schools - Again and Again | Alan Singer: NY Times Hypes Charter Schools - Again and AgainA front-page article in the weekend Metropolitan section of The New York Timestakes readers "Inside the three-year effort to open an economically diverse, academically rigorous charter in Brooklyn." One big problem with the Times' campaign to hype charter schools is that this s

YESTERDAY

Pearson CEO John Fallon Wants to Win America Over. | deutsch29
Pearson CEO John Fallon Wants to Win America Over. | deutsch29: Pearson CEO John Fallon Wants to Win America Over.Friendly John Fallon, CEO, PearsonIn my book, Common Core Dilemma–Who Owns Schools?, I have a chapter on London-based mega-company, Pearson. The chapter includes details from Pearson’s February 2014 earnings call, which shows Pearson’s plans to rake in the bucks from Common Core and as
Are N.J charter schools saving more money than they need? | NJ.com
Are N.J charter schools saving more money than they need? | NJ.com: Are N.J charter schools saving more money than they need?Charter schools across New Jersey have built up savings so large that one school has more money saved than it needs for an entire year of operation, according to an analysis by the Newark-based Education Law Center. But that doesn't mean that the schools are needlessly hoard
A video interview with Jon Grant: Seattle City Council Candidate for Position 8 | Seattle Education
A video interview with Jon Grant: Seattle City Council Candidate for Position 8 | Seattle Education: A video interview with Jon Grant: Seattle City Council Candidate for Position 8Thanks to a donation, we now have a video camera to provide videos of interviews and events.Our first interview is with Jon Grant, candidate for the City Council seat, Position 8. The incumbent is Council member Tim Burg
Call to Action – A State Budget that Restores Funding to Social Services and Public Education | Parents United for Public Education
Call to Action – A State Budget that Restores Funding to Social Services and Public Education | Parents United for Public Education: Call to Action – A State Budget that Restores Funding to Social Services and Public EducationA couple of weeks ago, I was invited to a meeting of the Philadelphia Delegation of House of Representatives. Present were 22 House Representatives, Secretary of Education Ed
Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 9/27/15
CORPORATE ED REFORM50 Years After the Moynihan Report, Examining the Black Family in the Age of Mass Incarceration - The Atlantic50 Years After the Moynihan Report, Examining the Black Family in the Age of Mass Incarceration - The Atlantic: The Black Family in the Age of Mass IncarcerationAmerican politicians are now eager to disown a failed criminal-justice system that’s left the U.S. with the la