Sunday, August 2, 2015

Punching Teachers in the Face – a New Low in Presidential Politics. | gadflyonthewallblog

Punching Teachers in the Face – a New Low in Presidential Politics. | gadflyonthewallblog:

Punching Teachers in the Face – a New Low in Presidential Politics.



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Chris Christie wants to punch me in the face.
Gosh!
I’ve never even met the man. I don’t even live in New Jersey!
But in an interview, the Republican presidential candidate told the media that the national teachers union deserves a punch in the face.
Gulp. I guess that means me.
After all, I AM a public school teacher. I DO belong to one of those nefarious teachers unions.
I must deserve it. My colleagues – most of whom are women – and I must be asking for the NJ Governor to bop us on the nose.
Well come on, Governor. Hit me with your best shot!
One day historians may look back on Christie’s statement as a new low in electioneering. And this campaign season, that’s really saying something!
A candidate from one of the major political parties actually thinks threatening teachers with physical violence will gain him votes.
Why?
Look at it from his point of view. Christie is one of 17 Republicans running against each other for the party’s nomination. The first GOP debate is coming up and they’re only going to let the top 10 Republican candidates participate. And Christie’s popularity is low enough that he might get left out in the cold.
What’s a guy to do? Well the frontrunner, Donald Trump, earned his lead by saying Punching Teachers in the Face – a New Low in Presidential Politics. | gadflyonthewallblog:

The Washington Teacher: NY Principal Commits Suicide Amidst Testing Irregularities Investigation

The Washington Teacher: NY Principal Commits Suicide Amidst Testing Irregularities Investigation:

NY Principal Commits Suicide Amidst Testing Irregularities Investigation



TCCS Principal Worrell-Breeden 


By Candi Peterson, WTU Gen. Vice President

Statements or expressions of opinions herein 'do not' represent the views or official positions of DCPS, AFT, Washington Teachers' Union (WTU) or its members. Views are my own. 

One of my worst twenty-something memories was a visit to my best friend after her boyfriend committed suicide in their apartment. He shot himself in the head on the bedroom floor. When I arrived to help my friend retrieve her belongings, I vividly remember seeing the large pool of blood matted into the carpet. The impact of this man’s decision to end his life stayed with me for many years to come.

Those memories came rushing back when I heard about the forty-nine year old Harlem principal who took her life by jumping in front of a NY subway train.

Principal Jeanene Worrell-Breeden committed suicide in April of this year.  According to the NY Post, “around 9:20 a.m. April 17, Worrell-Breeden walked onto the platform at the subway station at 135th Street and St. Nicholas Avenue in Harlem and threw herself in front on an oncoming train. She was rushed to the hospital, where she would die eight days later (April 25th) from her injuries. The medical examiner ruled Worrell-Breeden's death a suicide.”

According to the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, 1/3 of all suicides are from hanging. Subway related suicides are the least likely form of suicide and represent 7% of suicides in New York City. Men are far more likely to attempt suicide via subway than women.

The aftermath of Worrell-Breeden’s suicide sucks for everyone she leaves behind. Her family, her colleagues, her school community- her students and their parents.

Worrell-Breedon was the founding principal of Teachers Community College, an elementary school in West Harlem. A tribute to honor the popular principal is listed on the school’s web page. It reads- “Principal Breeden was a tireless champion for all of the children of TCCS, and she will be greatly missed.”

Worrell-Breeden was a highly accomplished career educator, graduate of Penn. State, held two master’s degrees (from NY City College and Fordham) with 20 years of experience in NY City public schools and served as a The Washington Teacher: NY Principal Commits Suicide Amidst Testing Irregularities Investigation:

Schooling in the Ownership Society: Short-selling hedge-fund billionaire throws millions more at Moskowitz charters

Schooling in the Ownership Society: Short-selling hedge-fund billionaire throws millions more at Moskowitz charters:


Short-selling hedge-fund billionaire throws millions more at Moskowitz charters

Charter hustler Moskowitz & her billionaire hedge-funder Paulson
Clout-heavy Eva Moskowitz runs N.Y.'s Success Academy which is already one of the richest charter school networks in the city. Tax documents show the non-profit took in a whopping $34.6 million for the financial year ending June 2013.



Now John Paulson, the infamous scam-artist, hedge-fund billionaire from Queens, is throwing $8.5 million more her way. Moskowitz pays herself more than an half-million a year to run her network of charters.



Paulson's connection with privatization of public schools began with the notoriousBoston Consulting Group in 1980. But he made his real fortune during the global financial collapse (which he helped cause, according to these economists), by betting against subprime mortgages using derivatives. His shady deals, including involvement in the Abacus scandal resulted in Goldman Sachs paying a $550 million penalty, the largest ever paid by a Wall Street firm.



This from Deep Capture:

It is not clear which banks ultimately participated in Paulson’s scam, Schooling in the Ownership Society: Short-selling hedge-fund billionaire throws millions more at Moskowitz charters:





Why Is Jeb Bush So Cozy With A Discredited Charter School Mill? | Observer

Why Is Jeb Bush So Cozy With A Discredited Charter School Mill? | Observer:

The Company You Keep: Why Is Jeb Bush Cozy With a Discredited Charter School Mill?

 Jeb Bush, who often touts his education policy expertise as a job qualification, has long backed a charter school company with an appalling record 




At the 2012 Republican National Convention in Tampa, Jeb Bush posed the following question: Everywhere in our lives, we get the chance to choose. Go down any supermarket aisle – you’ll find an incredible selection of milk. You can get whole milk, 2% milk, low-fat milk or skim milk. Organic milk, and milk with extra Vitamin D. There’s flavored mil—chocolate, strawberry or vanilla—and it doesn’t even taste like milk. They even make milk for people who can’t drink milk. Shouldn’t parents have that kind of choice in schools? In his time since leaving the Florida Governor mansion, Mr. Bush’s nonprofit, the Foundation for Excellence in Education, pushed public policies that offer the educational equivalent of spoiled milk. These policies also happened to benefit one of his foundation’s donors, Herndon, Virginia based K12 Inc., a pedagogically controversial virtual charter school management company. Founded in 2000, the for-profit company on the New York Stock Exchange operates virtual public charter schools that enroll more than 130,000 students around the United States. The company has contributed between $85,000-$175,000 to Mr. Bush’s foundation since 2011. For Jeb Bush, expanding virtual learning has been a core part of his education philosophy. In 2010, along with former Democratic West Virginia Governor Bob Wise, he chaired a “Digital Learning Council,” which ultimately released “10 Elements of High-Quality Digital Learning, a comprehensive framework of state-level policies and actions designed to advance the meaningful and thoughtful integration of technology into K12 public education.” The document proclaims, “states must advance bold reforms to make systemic changes in education to extend this option to all students.” Prominent education historian Diane Ravitch told the Observer, “Part of it is [Bush] likes any alternative to public schools. And he has promoted charters and vouchers and virtual charters.” The debate surrounding education reform aside, K12 Incorporated has a sketchy record. The company has been entrusted with hundreds of millions in public education dollars, but it has left in its wake a litany of scandals, lawsuits, and pedagogical failures. “K12 has a record of spending a lot of public money on marketing and recruitment, but they have terrible results,” said Ms. Ravitch. Whitney Tilson, managing partner of Kase Capital Management, a hedge fund, echoed this view. Unlike Ms. Ravitch, Mr. Tilson is an advocate of charter schools. He sits on the board of groups, including Democrats for Education Reform and the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. At the 2013 Value Investing Congress he laid out his case against K12 in a 133-page presentation in which he stated that he had “not found a single K12 school that is free of scandal and posting even decent (much less good) academic results.” At the time K12 was Mr. Tilson’s “largest short position;” he does not currently have any position on the company’s stock. Tennessee Virtual Academy website Mr. Tilson’s assertion is backed up by local news reports on several imbroglios concerning K12 Inc. schools. In 2013, the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting obtained audio of a conference call on which a K12 Inc. teacher raised a “concern” about their license being used to sign off on classes they didn’t teach. The Inspector General of Florida’s Department of Education’s “found that the publicly traded company employed at least three teachers in Seminole County who did not have the proper state subject certifications.” That same year CBS’s Nashville affiliate published leaked emails that seemed to demonstrate the Read more at http://observer.com/2015/07/the-company-you-keep-jeb-bushs-ties-to-a-dubious-charter-school-mill/#ixzz3hiCNE5di Follow us: @observer on Twitter | Observer on Facebook Read more at:http://tr.im/gzWLZ


Breast may be best, but teachers don’t have the right to pump at work in many states - The Washington Post

Breast may be best, but teachers don’t have the right to pump at work in many states - The Washington Post:

Breast may be best, but teachers don’t have the right to pump at work in many states





All Anna Johnson-Smith wanted was some time each afternoon to pump breast milk for her infant. But when she returned to work as a kindergarten teacher in Marlin, Tex., her principal denied her request, putting her in the position of choosing between her child and her career.
Two weeks into the school year, she quit. Since then, she has joined the ranks of current and former teachers in multiple states — including Texas, Virginia, Florida, Nebraska and Utah — who are advocating for the right to pump at work, seeking to close a loophole that leaves teachers and other salaried workers unprotected under federal law.
“A 15-minute break was all I was asking for,” said Johnson-Smith, now a stay-at-home mother and the owner of a photography studio. “We’ve come so far in our society in so many ways, and here in 2015, we’re still fighting for the right to provide breast milk for our babies.”
Breastfeeding rates are on the rise in the United States, perhaps at least partly because of the federal government’s efforts to educate the public about the health benefits of breast milk. Breastfeeding protects babies from ear infections and other illnesses, according to the surgeon general, and children who are breastfed for at least six months are less likely to become obese. Mothers who breastfeed are less likely to suffer from breast or ovarian cancer.
With more than half of the nation’s mothers with infants working outside the home, that advice has led many women to try to pump on the job.
While pumping at work is a hassle for many women, for teachers, it can feel nearly impossible. Privacy is scant in a school building full of children, and classroom schedules are busy and inflexible. It is difficult to find a spare moment to run to the restroom, let alone enough time to pump.
Some teachers lean on colleagues or aides who are willing to cover their classrooms while they take refuge in a supply closet or an empty office. Some teacherse pump at their desks during planning periods or lunchtimes, hoping that students and staff members observe the do-not-disturb sign on the door. Some work for principals who do their best to make the logistics easy.
Others, like Johnson-Smith, who resigned in fall 2012 after the May birth of Breast may be best, but teachers don’t have the right to pump at work in many states - The Washington Post:

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 8/2/15


SPECIAL NITE CAP 

CORPORATE ED REFORM



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Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 8/1/15
SPECIAL NITE CAP CORPORATE ED REFORMSchools Matter: National Journal's Rose Colored Reporting on Texas CREDO StudySchools Matter: National Journal's Rose Colored Reporting on Texas CREDO Study: National Journal's Rose Colored Reporting on Texas CREDO StudyWhen the mainstream Washington media finds news on low test scores among public schools, they love to accentuate the negative and to ignore the