Big Education Ape: Oct 6, 2016

Thursday, October 6, 2016

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 10/6/16

Featured Post

John Thompson: Education Week and PBS Explain Why More than Forty Teachers are Running for Office in Oklahoma.

NEA - Thousands “walk in” for public schools in largest coordinated education action in history

by mike simpson / 6min

NEA - Thousands “walk in” for public schools in largest coordinated education action in history : Thousands “walk in” for public schools in largest coordinated education action in history Parents, educators, and students rally at more than 2,000 campuses for the public schools all our students deserve WASHINGTON - October 06, 2016 - Today, community leaders, parents, students, and educators “walk

Third-grade reading, retention bill now law - Education Week

by mike simpson / 44min

AP News Guide: Third-grade reading, retention bill now law - Education Week : Third-grade reading, retention bill now law LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder signed an early literacy bill on Thursday, requiring third-graders be held back if they lag in reading, though there are a number of exemptions to let kids still advance for "good cause." The legislation makes Michigan the 17th s

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Lakeside Considering "Micro-School" to Satisfy Demand

by mike simpson / 1h

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Lakeside Considering "Micro-School" to Satisfy Demand : Lakeside Considering "Micro-School" to Satisfy Demand Seattle is growing and with it, there are more school-aged children. Most of you know that Seattle has always held steady - at least for the last 30+years - with private school enrollment of about 25%. At one time, that was a problem for SPS but now, I'd b

Pelto campaign mailing ready to go – but additional funds needed for postage - Wait What?

by mike simpson / 1h

Pelto campaign mailing ready to go – but additional funds needed for postage - Wait What? : Pelto campaign mailing ready to go – but additional funds needed for postage Less than five weeks to go until Election Day and the campaign is engaged in a series of voter outreach efforts, but quite frankly we need more financial support to adequately fund the voter contact program. At this very moment th

Education Week and PBS Explain Why More than Forty Teachers are Running for Office in Oklahoma.

by mike simpson / 2h

Education Week and PBS Explain Why More than Forty Teachers are Running for Office in Oklahoma... - Linkis.com : Education Week and PBS Explain Why More than Forty Teachers are Running for Office in Oklahoma Every Oklahoman should watch “an awesome video” produced by Education Week’s Lisa Stark and aired on PBS NewsHour about teachers running for office and parents leading the battle to rebuild o

Parents and teachers rally for public education funding at schools across the country - The Washington Post

by mike simpson / 2h

Parents and teachers rally for public education funding at schools across the country - The Washington Post : Parents and teachers rally for public education funding at schools across the country Parents, teachers and students came together for “walk-ins” at schools across the country Wednesday morning, rallying for more funding for public education and against harsh discipline policies, overtest

CURMUDGUCATION: USED's Troubled Charter Love

by mike simpson / 3h

CURMUDGUCATION: USED's Troubled Charter Love : USED's Troubled Charter Love "Honey, you have got to break up." When a trusted member of your own family sits you down to tell you that you are in a bad relationship, it's only prudent to pay a little attention. And that is where John King's US Department of Education finds itself right now. "Dude," says the USED's own office of the inspector general

Why is Governor Dannel Malloy on a mission to destroy Connecticut’s Vocational-Technical High Schools - Wait What?

by mike simpson / 3h

Why is Governor Dannel Malloy on a mission to destroy Connecticut’s Vocational-Technical High Schools - Wait What? : Why is Governor Dannel Malloy on a mission to destroy Connecticut’s Vocational-Technical High Schools Yesterday’s news headlines read: State education board eyes closing 2 vo-tech schools, other cuts (CT Mirror 10/5/16) And More Layoffs, Vo-Tech School Closures Possible As Malloy’s

Long-Term Impact of School Bullying May Be Worse Than You Thought

by mike simpson / 3h

Long-Term Impact of School Bullying May Be Worse Than You Thought : The Long-Term Impact of School Bullying May Be Worse Than You Think While the school bullying problem in the United States has been at the forefront of national debate – thanks in large part to the first ever White House Conference on Bullying Prevention i n 2011 – the long-lasting emotional and psychological scars carried by vic

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Supreme Court Rules That Legislative Fines Will Continue

by mike simpson / 3h

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Supreme Court Rules That Legislative Fines Will Continue : Supreme Court Rules That Legislative Fines Will Continue This morning, in an 8-1 decision, the Washington State Supreme Court ruled that the $100,000 per day fines against the Washington State Legislature over the Legislature's inability to get public schools fully-funded will continue. Basics of the rulin

Power, corruption and lies The big picture about big data & big EDU

by mike simpson / 5h

Power, corruption and lies – Friction Burns – Medium : Power, corruption and lies The big picture about big data & big EDU An anonymously leaked document provides the big picture about big edu and big data. Private student, parent & teacher data to be monetised for marketing & surveillance purposes. Bridge International Academies, the for-profit edubusiness bankrolled by the World Bank, DFID, Pea

Parents United suit against PA Dept. of Education establishes a defined process to file & investigate complaints

by mike simpson / 5h

Parents United suit against PA Dept. of Education establishes a defined process to file & investigate complaints | Parents United for Public Education : Parents United suit against PA Dept. of Education establishes a defined process to file & investigate complaints (This press release was published by our attorneys at the Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia. Read more about why we filed he

Schools Matter: The Awkward Guilting By MA Charter Zealots

by mike simpson / 5h

Schools Matter: The Awkward Guilting By MA Charter Zealots : The Awkward Guilting By MA Charter Zealots Richard Whitmire has been a mercenary scribe for the corporate education master class for a number of years. In 2011, Whitmire wrote a book-length public relations gloss celebrating the toxic Michelle Rhee and her corporate education exploits. In 2012, he penned a swooning paean to Gaston Caper

Joint Meeting of the California Practitioners Advisory Group and the State Board of Ed

by mike simpson / 6h

CPAG Meeting Notice and Agenda, October 2016 - California Practitioners Advisory Group (CA Dept of Education) : Joint Meeting of the California Practitioners Advisory Group and the State Board of Education AGENDA October 13, 2016 California Practitioners Advisory Group Members Jo Ann Isken, Chair Ed Manansala, Vice Chair Melissa Agudelo Jorge Aguilar Mariana Astorga-Almanza Kathryn Barr Ulises Ga

OMG Report: Charter Schools Pose Risk to Education Department Goals | US News

by mike simpson / 6h

OIG Report: Charter Schools Pose Risk to Education Department Goals | US News : OIG Report: Charter Schools Pose Risk to Education Department Goals In some cases, charter schools and the organizations that oversee them are posing a risk to federal education programs. Charter schools and their management organizations pose a potential risk to federal funds even as they threaten to fall short of me

Order in the Court – EduShyster

by mike simpson / 7h

Order in the Court – EduShyster : Order in the Court A lawsuit challenging Massachusetts’ charter school cap on civil rights grounds gets tossed. And that’s not a nothingburger… No sooner had we been instructed to drain the words *drain* and *siphon* from our collective vocabularies than an order came down on from on high, ordering us to re-instate them. I speak, of course, about this week’s Supe

Librarians now judged by test scores? – Cloaking Inequity

by mike simpson / 7h

Librarians now judged by test scores? – Cloaking Inequity : Librarians now judged by test scores? Politicians in Texas may not have ever seen a high-stakes test that they didn’t like. We’ve seen unreliable and invalid uses of high-stakes testing pervade Texas since George W. Bush’s No Child Left Behind was birthed in Texas in the early 1990s. I am now hearing from Texas that districts are now att

Students of all races prefer teachers of color, finds study -- ScienceDaily

by mike simpson / 7h

Students of all races prefer teachers of color, finds study -- ScienceDaily : Students of all races prefer teachers of color, finds study Middle and high school students, regardless of their race and ethnicity, have more favorable perceptions of their Black and Latino teachers than of their White teachers, finds a study by NYU's Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development. "Min

Schools Matter: Got Poverty? Call a Positive Psychologist

by mike simpson / 7h

Schools Matter: Got Poverty? Call a Positive Psychologist : Got Poverty? Call a Positive Psychologist As the educational profiteers and snake oil salesmen dig into the text of ESSA to find problems that their phony solutions can be retrofitted to "fix," we are sure to see some real doozies coming down the line. Seems the "fix the child, not the problem" s chool of educational thought disorder is

The Global Search for Education: Just Imagine Secretary Ravitch

by mike simpson / 7h

The Global Search for Education: Just Imagine Secretary Ravitch : The Global Search for Education: Just Imagine Secretary Ravitch “In my view, historians will look on this era as a period of failed mandates, of willful and ignorant attacks on public education and the education profession, and as a time in which entrepreneurs sought to turn education into a marketplace for profit.” — Diane Ravitch

Prop. 58 would undo limitations on bilingual education | 89.3 KPCC

by mike simpson / 7h

Prop. 58 would undo limitations on bilingual education | 89.3 KPCC : Prop. 58 would undo limitations on bilingual education On a recent afternoon in San Gabriel's McKinley Elementary School, a class full of students who arrived in the United States less than a year ago practiced their English language skills. They are third, fourth and fifth-graders, but the English lessons are at a kindergarten

Arne Duncan: Just Stop It | the becoming radical

by mike simpson / 7h

Arne Duncan: Just Stop It | the becoming radical : Arne Duncan: Just Stop It It’s a hollow fantasy, but one I was clinging to like a victim of relentless identity theft. Arne Duncan leaves the U.S. Department of Education and his role as Secretary of Education, joining instead a celebrity basketball league that keeps him too busy to hold forth anymore on education. An alternate fantasy envisions

Public School Funding Matters, Even in this Political Season | janresseger

by mike simpson / 7h

Public School Funding Matters, Even in this Political Season | janresseger : Public School Funding Matters, Even in this Political Season If you really think about it, you might find it surprising that in Tuesday night’s Vice Presidential debate neither candidate for Vice President of the United States spent any time really talking about many of the issues that affect us all from day to day. Alth

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Bismarck

by mike simpson / 8h

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Bismarck : Bismarck I'm driving down to Cannonball from Bismarck this morning, looking to evade the National Guard's roadblocks (it's really not that hard to do) and meet friends at the Standing Rock encampment by noon. The thing about Bismarck, which sits on the banks of the Missouri River, is that it was the original planned site for the Dakota Access pipeline. Bu

Feds Continues To Feed Charter School Beast Despite Auditor’s Warning

by mike simpson / 8h

10/06/2016 – Federal Government Continues To Feed Charter School Beast Despite Auditor’s Warning : Federal Government Continues To Feed Charter School Beast Despite Auditor’s Warning THIS WEEK: Chicago Teacher Strike … Counselors For Black Kids … Pre-K Progress In NYC … Union Combats Trump Effect … College Is For Wealthier TOP STORY Federal Government Continues To Feed Charter School Beast Despit

MA Question 2 Funding Hits $21.7 Million | deutsch29

by mike simpson / 8h

MA Question 2 Funding Hits $21.7 Million | deutsch29 : MA Question 2 Funding Hits $21.7 Million On November 08, 2016, Massachusetts voters will be deciding whether or not to lift the cap on the number of charter schools in the state. The ballot measure, known as Question 2, would open the door for “up to 12 new charter schools or enrollment expansions in existing charter schools each year.” Accor

California denied bid to pilot new science tests in place of current tests | EdSource

by mike simpson / 8h

California denied bid to pilot new science tests in place of current tests | EdSource : California denied bid to pilot new science tests in place of current tests The U.S. Department of Education has rejected California’s bid to begin phasing in tests this spring based on new science standards, in lieu of current tests based on standards in place since 1998. In a Sept. 30 letter to state educatio

We are not a failing school: Understanding standardized testing & the language divide

by mike simpson / 8h

We are not a failing school: Understanding standardized testing & the language divide at Burton : We are not a failing school: Understanding standardized testing & the language divide at Burton Saúl Ulloa, whose father comes from Mexico, grew up in the Burton Heights neighborhood. He is a product of Grand Rapids Public Schools and attended Burton Elementary, Blandford School, and City High. He is

Rahm's slush fund has money for our schools | SocialistWorker.org

by mike simpson / 9h

Rahm's slush fund has money for our schools | SocialistWorker.org : Rahm's slush fund has money for our schools Chicago can afford to pay its teachers--in fact, Mayor Rahm Emanuel has a "slush fund" worth hundreds of millions of dollars that could do just that, explains Nicole Colson. "WE DON'T have the money": That's been the sad refrain of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Chicago Public Schools (

$4 billion on charters in the past 25 years, at the expense of struggling public school.| Alternet

by mike simpson / 9h

With New Grants, Dept. of Ed Continues to Pour Millions Into Charter School Black Hole | Alternet : With New Grants, Dept. of Ed Continues to Pour Millions Into Charter School Black Hole $4 billion on charters in the past 25 years, at the expense of struggling public schools. Today, the U.S Department of Education announced today that it had approved $245 million in grants to eight states under t

YESTERDAY

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

by mike simpson / 23h

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