Big Education Ape: Oct 5, 2016

Wednesday, October 5, 2016

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 10/5/16

Featured Post

Will the Billionaires Destroy Public Education? | Diane Ravitch's blog

Federal Government Continues To Feed Charter School Beast Despite Auditor’s Warning

by mike simpson / 4min

Federal Government Continues To Feed Charter School Beast Despite Auditor’s Warning : Federal Government Continues To Feed Charter School Beast Despite Auditor’s Warning Politicians always promise they will rid government of “waste, fraud, and abuse,” so let’s hope at least one political leader or policy maker will denounce our federal government’s new gift of nearly a quarter-billion dollars to

If I Were Secretary of Education – A Classroom Teacher’s Fantasy | gadflyonthewallblog

by mike simpson / 20min

If I Were Secretary of Education – A Classroom Teacher’s Fantasy | gadflyonthewallblog : If I Were Secretary of Education – A Classroom Teacher’s Fantasy I will never be Secretary of Education. Frankly, I’m just not qualified. I’m only a classroom teacher. The powers that be don’t trust someone like me with that kind of responsibility. It’s okay to give me a roomful of impressionable children eve

CURMUDGUCATION: NEA's Concern Trolling + The Facts Problem

by mike simpson / 1h

CURMUDGUCATION: NEA's Concern Trolling : NEA's Concern Trolling The NEA is concerned about bullying. Specifically, they are concerned about the Trump Effect, which is one more name for one of the plumes of toxic smoke curling up from the dumpster fire that is Herr Donald's Presidential campaign. There is reason for concern. Herr Donald's campaign has freed many folks from the restraint of what we

NEW book club webinar with Jesse Hagopian | Parents Across America

by mike simpson / 1h

NEW book club webinar with Jesse Hagopian | Parents Across America : NEW book club webinar with Jesse Hagopian Jesse Hagopian with PAA interim director Julie Woestehoff at a Chicago testing forum a while back (see Karen Lewis behind us?) Our guest for this next PAA book club session is the wonderful Jesse Hagopian, Seattle teacher and author of “More Than a Score.” To prepare for this session, yo

Audit: Cronyism Between Charters, Management Groups Imperils Federal Aid - Politics K-12 - Education Week

by mike simpson / 3h

Audit: Cronyism Between Charters, Management Groups Imperils Federal Aid - Politics K-12 - Education Week : Audit: Cronyism Between Charters, Management Groups Imperils Federal Aid Cross-posted from the Charters and Choice blog By Arianna Prothero A federal audit warns that cozy relationships between charter schools and the organizations that run some of them could put federal funding at risk. Ch

Education Department slammed for charter school oversight — by its own watchdog office - The Washington Post

by mike simpson / 3h

Education Department slammed for charter school oversight — by its own watchdog office - The Washington Post : Education Department slammed for charter school oversight — by its own watchdog office The Education Department has for more than 10 years poured in excess of $3 billion into the creation and operation of charter schools, but according to a new audit by the agency’s own inspector general

Understanding the Coming Teacher Strike (a friend writes) | Bill Ayers

by mike simpson / 3h

Understanding the Coming Teacher Strike (a friend writes) | Bill Ayers : Understanding the Coming Teacher Strike (a friend writes) I have a lot of friends across the country, and something is about to happen in Chicago that will get national attention: a strike in our public school system. This likely will be brought up by Trump or Clinton at some point. The circumstances that got us to another t

Children are more than test scores: The Dissent Of A Giant: American Can Do Better

by mike simpson / 4h

Children are more than test scores: The Dissent Of A Giant: American Can Do Better : The Dissent Of A Giant: American Can Do Better In my school days we began every day with these words "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." Some might call it indoctrination, b

Glamorous Superintendents Who Stand On School Wreckage

by mike simpson / 5h

Glamorous Superintendents Who Stand On School Wreckage : Glamorous Superintendents Who Stand On School Wreckage The school superintendent, called CEO after the school/business takeover, is considered the superman or woman of the school district. Sometimes they are elected, but more often they are appointed by school boards. There are still some great school superintendents. But there are many oth

Dinner to Honor Diane - NPE Action

by mike simpson / 5h

Dinner to Honor Diane - NPE Action : Dinner to Honor Diane Join us for a dinner to honor Diane Ravitch Start: December 11, 2016 • 7:00 PM Petaluma • 1356 First Avenue, New York, NY 10021 Please join the Network for Public Education Action for a dinner in honor of our President and Co-Founder, Diane Ravitch. Go Here for Details: Dinner to Honor Diane - NPE Action :

LA charter school refuses to release spending report

by mike simpson / 6h

LA charter school refuses to release spending report : LA charter school refuses to release spending report Big Education Ape: Brown vetoes bill requiring charters to comply with conflict of interest, open records laws | EdSource - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2016/10/brown-vetoes-bill-requiring-charters-to.html Embattled El Camino Real Charter High School has formally denied requests to r

Federal audit spotlights charter school CEO wrote checks to himself totaling $11 million

by mike simpson / 6h

Federal audit spotlights charter school shortcoming : Federal audit spotlights charter school shortcoming A national audit of charter school management companies by the U.S. Department of Education has spotlighted an unnamed Chester City school where, auditors say, the CEO wrote checks to himself totaling $11 million without board approval. The report by the Office of Inspector General did not ac

Beyond test scores: The right way to assess students and schools - The Washington Post

by mike simpson / 7h

Beyond test scores: The right way to assess students and schools - The Washington Post : Beyond test scores: The right way to assess students and schools For years students, schools, teachers, principals and even states have been “graded” by student standardized test scores under the false premise that the scores alone are legitimate measures of how much a student has learned, how well a teacher

Final tally on key education bills in 2016 | EdSource

by mike simpson / 7h

Final tally on key education bills in 2016 | EdSource : Final tally on key education bills in 2016 Updated, Oct. 4: With a crush of bills dispensed with last week, the year’s scorecard is complete. Here is the final update of a dozen bills that EdSource tracked in the final weeks of the legislative session. They include a challenge to the State Board of Education’s framework for a school accounta

Why dangling rewards in front of students and teachers is counterproductive - The Washington Post

by mike simpson / 8h

Why dangling rewards in front of students and teachers is counterproductive - The Washington Post : Why dangling rewards in front of students and teachers is counterproductive Dangling rewards in front of students and teachers with the aim of improving their performance is popular in many school districts and states. The thinking goes that they will work harder if they get something extra out of

Will the Billionaires Destroy Public Education? | Diane Ravitch's blog

by mike simpson / 8h

Will the Billionaires Destroy Public Education? | Diane Ravitch's blog : Will the Billionaires Destroy Public Education? The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education 3rd Edition This link will take you to the opening pages of the revised “Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education

Pending Teachers’ Strike in Chicago Reflects Long and Convoluted Funding Crisis | janresseger

by mike simpson / 8h

Pending Teachers’ Strike in Chicago Reflects Long and Convoluted Funding Crisis | janresseger : Pending Teachers’ Strike in Chicago Reflects Long and Convoluted Funding Crisis The Chicago Teachers Union has voted to strike next Tuesday, October 11. The union has not had a contract for over a year, and in threatening to strike, teachers are not only expressing dissatisfaction with the contract off

CURMUDGUCATION: The Choices Charters Hate

by mike simpson / 8h

CURMUDGUCATION: The Choices Charters Hate : The Choices Charters Hate One of the evergreen arguments in favor of modern charters is that they will be laboratories of innovation. Freed from the constraints of the public school system, charters will whip up brand new educational approaches, pedagogical discoveries that somehow nobody has ever whipped up before. Once they have freed the edu-genii, t

See Ed. Dept. Guidance on Using Federal Aid for School Turnarounds Under ESSA - Politics K-12 - Education Week

by mike simpson / 8h

See Ed. Dept. Guidance on Using Federal Aid for School Turnarounds Under ESSA - Politics K-12 - Education Week : See Ed. Dept. Guidance on Using Federal Aid for School Turnarounds Under ESSA How can schools and districts use federal money intended for at-risk and needy students to improve general learning conditions? The U.S. Department of Education has some suggestions. Last month, the departmen

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Heading back to Standing Rock

by mike simpson / 8h

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Heading back to Standing Rock : Heading back to Standing Rock Flyer on the campus of the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque I'm on my way to Bismarck this morning where I will pick up some goods and head back down to the Standing Rock encampment. What's different about this trip is that I will be joined on Friday by two vans filled with Chicago high school and

BRIDGEGATE: Kelly has a good day– and who knew Christie and Cuomo were BFFs? |

by mike simpson / 8h

BRIDGEGATE: Kelly has a good day– and who knew Christie and Cuomo were BFFs? | : BRIDGEGATE: Kelly has a good day– and who knew Christie and Cuomo were BFFs? Bridget Anne Kelly, the former aide to Gov. Chris Christie on trial in federal court in Newark, had a good day Tuesday (10/4/16) thanks to the cross-examination work of her lawyer, Michael Critchley. Critchley’s not argumentative, not bombas

Anger Grows in Nashville « Dad Gone Wild

by mike simpson / 8h

Anger Grows in Nashville « Dad Gone Wild : ANGER GROWS IN NASHVILLE I think Diane Ravitch said it best last week: “ Nashville, you have a problem .” In case you are new to the game, back in July, Nashville got a new Director of Schools, and while there was a sigh of relief that he wasn’t of the reformer ilk, he’s raised plenty of other red flags since he started work here. This past week, even mo

Gates Foundation Money Connects Common Core and ESSA | deutsch29

by mike simpson / 9h

Gates Foundation Money Connects Common Core and ESSA | deutsch29 : Gates Foundation Money Connects Common Core and ESSA The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) includes the following prohibition regarding the federal government’s luring states into adopting specific standards, assessments, or content, including the Common Core State Standards (CCSS): ‘‘SEC. 8526A. PROHIBITION AGAINST FEDERAL MANDAT

The 50-year struggle to put teachers at the center of quality education | Huffington Post

by mike simpson / 9h

The 50-year struggle to put teachers at the center of quality education | Huffington Post : The 50-year struggle to put teachers at the center of quality education Today, schools, parents and kids in numerous countries around the world are celebrating World Teachers Day. The celebration marks the day fifty years ago when, at a special conference in Paris convened by two United Nations agencies, t

YESTERDAY

Charters and Choice: Research Shows Negative Impact - Living in Dialogue

by mike simpson / 23h

Charters and Choice: Research Shows Negative Impact - Living in Dialogue : Charters and Choice: Research Shows Negative Impact The contemporary school reform movement was rooted in the Michael Deaver, Lee Atwater, Karl Rove, and Dick Morris era of public relations spin. Being able to hire the best possible public relations expertise, reformers borrowed from Deaver’s success in using photos of Ron

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 10/4/16

by mike simpson / 23h

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 10/4/16 Featured Post The Unintended Consequences of Taking a Hard Line on School Discipline - The New York Times John Thompson: The Three Faces of a New Era of School