Big Education Ape: Sep 21, 2019

Saturday, September 21, 2019

TOP POST THIS WEEK 9/21/19 #REDFORED

TOP POST THIS WEEK 9/21/19

Big Education Ape: Lee P. Barrios - Geaux Teacher! #ElectLeeBarrios - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2019/09/lee-p-barrios-geaux-teacher.html

TOP POST THIS MONTH 9/21/19

POST THIS WEEK 9/21/19

Big Education Ape: Petition · Investigate Nick Melvoin · Change.org - https://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2019/09/petition-investigate-nick-melvoin.html

Who Cares about Knowledge—or the Public Good? | Teacher in a strange land

by Mike Simpson / 1h

Who Cares about Knowledge—or the Public Good? I have to start with a confession: I am a PhD dropout. After 31 years of teaching mostly secondary Instrumental Music, with brief forays into 7 th grade math, English as a Second Language, a Gifted Student pull-out program, and random K-12 music courses (which I was actually qualified to teach), I decided to pursue a PhD in Education Policy when I re

Senate Republicans Want to Increase Funding for Charters, House Democrats Want to Cut it | Diane Ravitch's blog

by Mike Simpson / 1h

Senate Republicans Want to Increase Funding for Charters, House Democrats Want to Cut it The federal Charter Schools Program handed out $440 Million this year. Betsy DeVos uses this money as her personal slush fund to reward corporate charter chains like KIPP ($89 million), IDEA (over $200 million in two years), and Success Academy ($10 million). Originally, it was meant to launch start-up chart

As cities gentrify and schools diversify, PTOs grapple to ensure all parent voices are heard - The Washington Post

by Mike Simpson / 1h

As cities gentrify and schools diversify, PTOs grapple to ensure all parent voices are heard Mike Dixon left his first visit to his son’s new school deflated. The Dixons had scored a seat at a Chinese-language charter school in the District that families clamor to attend. His children would be attending a diverse public school — a rarity in a city where most schools are segregated and the studen

Betsy DeVos' DOE threatens to cut Duke, UNC funding for positive portrayal of Islam | Salon.com

by Mike Simpson / 2h

Betsy DeVos' DOE threatens to cut Duke, UNC funding for positive portrayal of Islam Middle East studies program run by prestigious N.C. schools under threat over focus on "positive aspects of Islam" T he U.S Department of Education threatened to pull federal funding from a Middle East studies course jointly run by Duke University and the University of North Carolina because it portrays Islam too

Betsy DeVos, Ben Carson send anti-trans signals to Trump’s evangelical base – Raw Story

by Mike Simpson / 2h

Betsy DeVos, Ben Carson send anti-trans signals to Trump’s evangelical base While Trump grabs headlines, his Cabinet members quietly use transphobia to shore up white evangelical support The white evangelical vote is almost certainly a lock for Donald Trump in 2020, but it appears the president is taking no chances of losing this critical voting block. One major part of that strategy appears to

Steven Singer: Charter Schools Were Never a Good Idea. They Were a Corporate Plot All Along | Common Dreams Views

by Mike Simpson / 2h

Charter Schools Were Never a Good Idea. They Were a Corporate Plot All Along | Common Dreams Views Charter Schools Were Never a Good Idea. They Were a Corporate Plot All Along The concept always was about privatizing schools to make money. America has been fooled by the charter school industry for too long. The popular myth that charter schools were invented by unions to empower teachers and comm

NewBlackMan (in Exile)

by Mike Simpson / 2h

NewBlackMan (in Exile) Brittany Howard Makes Her Declaration As A Solo Star by Mark Anthony Neal / 2min 'As lead singer and guitarist of Alabama Shakes , Brittany Howard has earned her accolades and then some. Since 2009, the band has won four Grammys, performed at the White House and heralded some of roots rock's biggest hits this decade. Still, Howard feels the urge to try something new every

Ethical School Podcast | Deborah Meier on Education

by Mike Simpson / 3h

Ethical School Podcast Dear Family, Friends and Colleagues A colleague of mine, Jon Moscow, from my old Central Park East Secondary School days, puts out a frequent podcast on schools. Here is a link to mine, but I like a lot of them! http://ethicalschools.org/2019/05/deborah-meier-on-public-education-and-democracy-what-makes-an-ethical-school/ Sample them and let me know which you thought was e

THIS WEEK Education Research Report

by Mike Simpson / 3h

Education Research Report THIS WEEK Education Research Report Staying at elementary school for longer associated with higher student attainment by Jonathan Kantrowitz / 13h A new study has discovered that US students achieve better results in reading and mathematics tests when they stay in elementary school for grades six (age 11-12) and seven (age 12-13), rather than transfer to middle school. I

This Week With Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... The latest news and resources in education since 2007

by Mike Simpson / 3h

Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... | The latest news and resources in education since 2007 This Week With Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... The latest news and resources in education since 2007 Ed Tech Digest by Larry Ferlazzo / 1h Six years ago, in another somewhat futile attempt to reduce the backlog of resources I want to share, I began this occasional “” post where I share three or

KEEP UP/ CATCH UP WITH DIANE RAVITCH'S BLOG A site to discuss better education for all

by Mike Simpson / 4h

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all KEEP UP/ CATCH UP WITH DIANE RAVITCH'S BLOG A site to discuss better education for all Slaying Goliath: The Passionate Resistance to Privatization and the Fight to Save America's Public Schools CLICK HERE TO Pre-order NOW How a Minneapolis Foundation Wasted $45 Million on a Failed Plan to Reform Teacher Education by dianeravitch /

CURMUDGUCATION: ALEC Issues A Report Card, But Still Fails

by Mike Simpson / 4h

ALEC Issues A Report Card, But Still Fails The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is the corporate Match.com for wealthy mover-shakers and legislators looking for someone to do their homework together. Among their many favorite issues is education, and to that end, ALEC trots out a report card every year rating the states. It is not unlike a sort of businessperson's prospect overview,

YESTERDAY

No Pineapple left Behind – the Consolation of Satire and Video Games | gadflyonthewallblog

by Mike Simpson / 23h

No Pineapple left Behind – the Consolation of Satire and Video Games Q: What’s the difference between a pineapple and a human child? A: Pineapples are more profitable. Let’s face it – kids have.. yuck … needs! Maslow even came up with a hierarchy of needs that must be met before you can get the little tykes to do anything. Physical well-being, safety, emotional… Argh! It’s just so much work! Pin

Two paths diverge. Follow the red one. – Wrench in the Gears

by Mike Simpson / 1d

Two paths diverge. Follow the red one. Above taken from The Red Nation’s Principles of Unity, ratified August 2018. I write this at the beginning of the Global Climate Strike in the hopes of raising questions, provoking conversation, and perhaps bringing some clarity to a fight that has life or death consequences for untold millions of people as well as our non-human kin. The path we take means

Charter School Advocates Grow More Belligerent | Dissident Voice

by Mike Simpson / 1d

Charter School Advocates Grow More Belligerent Steadily mounting opposition to privately-operated nonprofit and for-profit charter schools is inevitable and becoming a bigger thorn in the side of nervous neoliberals, privatizers, and corporate school reformers. Terrified of discussion, investigation, and analysis, and hell-bent on privatizing schools, no matter the cost to society, on September

Jeff Bryant: Another school leadership disaster: Private companies work an insider game to reap lucrative contracts – Alternet.org

by Mike Simpson / 1d

Another school leadership disaster: Private companies work an insider game to reap lucrative contracts – Alternet.org Another school leadership disaster: Private companies work an insider game to reap lucrative contracts In July 2013, the education world was rocked when a breaking story by Chicago independent journalist Sarah Karp reported that district CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett had pushed through

Edgar Villanueva: Investing in Native Communities | Schott Foundation for Public Education

by Mike Simpson / 1d

Investing in Native Communities | Schott Foundation for Public Education Investing in Native Communities Schott Vice President of Programs and Advocacy Edgar Villanueva is a board member of Native Americans in Philanthropy (NAP), and wrote the foreword below for the pathbreaking new report "Investing in Native Communities," produced by NAP and Candid. Read the report and explore the new website .

Symposium: Stripping church-state separation to the bone? The Supreme Court considers mandatory government funding of religious education - SCOTUSblog

by Mike Simpson / 1d

Symposium: Stripping church-state separation to the bone? The Supreme Court considers mandatory government funding of religious education Daniel Mach is Director of the ACLU Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief. In Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue , the Supreme Court will address a question that would have been unthinkable even to ask until quite recently: Can a state be forced to

Why Teachers Need to Incorporate More Physical Activity Into Their Lesson Plans - Teacher Habits

by Mike Simpson / 1d

Why Teachers Need to Incorporate More Physical Activity Into Their Lesson Plans Finding a balance in the classroom can be difficult. Incorporating time for grammar, nutrition, mathematics, science, technology, and a plethora of other subjects is already hard all on its own. As if that wasn’t challenging enough, though, covering so many subjects without turning your class into a horde of zombie-c

No more waiting - Sacramento News & Review

by Mike Simpson / 1d

Sacramento News & Review - No more waiting - News - Local Stories - September 19, 2019 No more waiting More than two years after an independent audit raised alarm bells about special-ed classes, youth advocacy groups don’t see change coming without legal action “How much data do you need to take action?” the frustrated parent of an autistic student asked in January, after the Sacramento City Unif

Sacramento teacher shortage means students taught by substitutes | The Sacramento Bee

by Mike Simpson / 1d

Sacramento City Unified teacher vacancies mean hundreds of students are taught by substitutes More than three weeks into the school year, several hundred Sacramento City Unified School District students are being taught by substitutes as school officials continue to look for teachers to staff classrooms. The district estimates that about 46 classrooms have teaching vacancies, which officials sai

CURMUDGUCATION: Why Directing Community Theater Is Like Teaching

by Mike Simpson / 1d

Why Directing Community Theater Is Like Teaching Readers of this blog generally get a dose of whatever is on my mind, and what's on my mind at the moment is theater. I'm coming down to the wire on one more community theater production; The Music Man opens one week from tomorrow (by all means, feel free to stop by ). I've been doing this and school theater for thirty-some years, and yes, it's an

New Reports Confirm Persistent Child Poverty While Policymakers Blame Educators and Fail to Address Core Problem | janresseger

by Mike Simpson / 1d

New Reports Confirm Persistent Child Poverty While Policymakers Blame Educators and Fail to Address Core Problem On Tuesday, the Cleveland Plain Dealer published a stunning analysis , by the newspaper’s data analyst Rich Exner, of the school district grades awarded by the state of Ohio on the state report cards released last week. The new report cards are based on data from the 2018-2019 school

How My Thinking about School Reform Has Changed Over the Decades (Part 2) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

by Mike Simpson / 1d

How My Thinking about School Reform Has Changed Over the Decades (Part 2) A few years ago, Richard Elmore asked me to write a piece about how my ideas have changed over the years. Daily experience in schools as a teacher, administrator, and researcher (and the reflections and writing that I did about those experiences) altered key ideas I had about the nature of reform and how reform worked its

Louisiana’s “Education PAC”: A Bit About Nancy Landry, Eddie Rispone, and Lane Grigsby, and More. | deutsch29

by Mike Simpson / 1d

Louisiana’s “Education PAC”: A Bit About Nancy Landry, Eddie Rispone, and Lane Grigsby, and More. n my perusal of Louisiana campaign finance reports, I discovered the PAC featured in this post. On January 31, 2017, Louisiana lawyer and former La. House rep Nancy Landry started a Louisiana PAC called the Education PAC. Investigating the political connections among ed-reform associates is very muc

Charter School’s Two Dads – How a Hatred for Public School Gave Us School Privatization | gadflyonthewallblog

by Mike Simpson / 1d

Charter School’s Two Dads – How a Hatred for Public School Gave Us School Privatization If bad ideas can be said to have fathers, then charter schools have two. And I’m not talking about greed and racism . No, I mean two flesh and blood men who did more than any others to give this terrible idea life – Minnesota ideologues Ted Kolderie , 89, and Joe Nathan , 71. In my article “Charter Schools We

SEP 19

The California city where students with disabilities are 'segregated' | US news | The Guardian

by Mike Simpson / 1d

The California city where students with disabilities are 'segregated' Stephen’s teachers started sending him to the separate room when he was in first grade. Now 10, Stephen has been diagnosed with autism and anxiety. His mom said that when he got frustrated and behaved in ways teachers found disruptive – breaking pencils, blurting out or crumpling paper – educators swiftly removed him from the

Petition · Investigate Nick Melvoin · Change.org

by Mike Simpson / 2d

Investigate Nick Melvoin Sign this petition Investigate Nick Melvoin · Change.org A California Public Records Act (CPRA) request of past emails shows that in February 2018, Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD ) Board Member Nick Melvoin attended a meeting identified as 'Facilities Proposal Meeting' with the California Charter Schools Association (CCSA). At that meeting, emails indicate th

Keeping Public Education Public: New Strategies Against School Voucher Programs | Schott Foundation for Public Education

by Mike Simpson / 2d

Keeping Public Education Public: New Strategies Against School Voucher Programs Quality public education for all is a centerpiece of the American promise and an aspiration to which generations have worked to fulfill. During Reconstruction in the 1860s and 1870s, one of the very first things Black policymakers in the South did once elected was to institute universal, compulsory public education f

Betsy DeVos: The Musical! – Have You Heard

by Mike Simpson / 2d

Betsy DeVos: The Musical! Theater teacher Quinn Strassel has seen first hand the impact that Betsy DeVos has had on Michigan’s public schools. And so he decided to fight back, by writing a musical. Strassel grew up and attended schools in Ypsilanti, MI, where he was schooled in the theatrical arts by teacher Diane Hill. Ypsilanti’s acclaimed theater program no longer exists—under Michigan’s “sch

2019 Medley #19 | Live Long and Prosper

by Mike Simpson / 2d

2019 Medley #1 9 | Live Long and Prosper 2019 Medley #19 ET TU CANADA? Schools aren’t failing our kids, our government is. Since 2012 Grant Frost has been writing about the GERM (the Global Education Reform Movement ) infection of Canada. Sadly, the story is similar to what’s been happening here in the US. Outside factors affect school achievement, yet solutions to societal problems seem to fall

The 'Greta Effect' On Student Activism and Climate Change - NEA Today

by Mike Simpson / 2d

The ‘Greta Effect’ On Student Activism and Climate Change Once upon a time a courageous 16-year-old girl set out to save her planet from imminent doom from powers seemingly beyond her control. With the support of millions of other young people determined to help their planet survive, the girl sailed across an ocean on a vessel powered by the sun to take on her greatest foe… It sounds like someth

Nevada: Vouchers and the Definition of Insanity | Diane Ravitch's blog

by Mike Simpson / 2d

Nevada: Vouchers and the Definition of Insanity The definition of insanity: funding an experimental education program, discovering that it failed, then funding it some more and expecting different results. Another definition of insanity: funding a voucher program that depresses student achievement, then demanding more voucher funds so more students can fall behind. Why fund failure? Despite Poor

Take a walk with me | Cloaking Inequity

by Mike Simpson / 2d

Take a walk with me It’s a great day to take a walk with me! Watch and get to know what’s ahead for deaning in a community-engaged, community-relevant fashion. Read more here: http://uknow.uky.edu/campus-news/campus-walk-meet-new-dean-uks-college-education Please Facebook Like, Tweet, etc below and/or reblog to share this discussion with others. Check out and follow my YouTube channel here . Twi

Aaron Wright: Caught in the Middle: Whatever Happened to the Individuals With Disabilities Act? NANCY BAILEY'S EDUCATION WEBSITE

by Mike Simpson / 2d

Caught in the Middle: Whatever Happened to the Individuals With Disabilities Act? Caught in the Middle: Whatever Happened to the Individuals With Disabilities Act? No child wants to feel like a failure. No educator wants to feel like they have failed a child. Most children in special education are identified as having a specific learning disability or language impairment. Yet nationally only 67%

CURMUDGUCATION: PA: Zombie Board Says Charter Free To Do Whatever The Heck It Wants

by Mike Simpson / 2d

PA: Zombie Board Says Charter Free To Do Whatever The Heck It Wants In education, as in most things, Philadelphia is its own little state-within-the-state. The public system has a long and messy history , including a state takeover. The district is often used as Exhibit A for pro-choice legislators ("But we must give the poor children of Philadelphia a way to escape their terrible school system

New York Post attacks Black Lives Matter at School movement, “Teaching for Black Lives,” and “The New Teacher Book” – I AM AN EDUCATOR

by Mike Simpson / 2d

New York Post attacks Black Lives Matter at School movement, “Teaching for Black Lives,” and “The New Teacher Book” With the new school year underway, antiracist educators around the country are back at work uplifting Black students–and the New York Post is back at work spewing racist garbage. For their back to school coverage, the Post decided to give column space, not to experts in closing opp

SEP 18

Meet the Democrats Who Support the Betsy DeVos Agenda | Diane Ravitch's blog

by Mike Simpson / 3d

Meet the Democrats Who Support the Betsy DeVos Agenda Every year since 2014, Democrats who fervently support the privatization of public schools have gathered at a conference they pretentiously call “Camp Philos.” https://campphilos.org/ Check the agenda of meetings present and past. There you will see the lineup of Democrats who sneer at public schools and look on public school teachers with co

Blackstone CEO Steve Schwarzman on Kara Swisher podcast Recode Decode - Vox

by Mike Simpson / 3d

To bring “prestige” back to education, make teachers tax-exempt, says Blackstone CEO Steve Schwarzman He’s an adviser to President Trump — but he also wants to see a national $15 minimum wage and an overhaul of the H-1B visa program. Much of the world is transitioning to a knowledge economy, but far too few Americans have had enough education to prepare them for that shift, Blackstone CEO Stephe

Federal Spending on Children Has Hit a 10-Year Low - Kids’ Share 2019: Report on Federal Expenditures on Children through 2018 and Future Projections | Full Report | Urban Institute

by Mike Simpson / 3d

Kids’ Share 2019: Report on Federal Expenditures on Children through 2018 and Future Projections | Full Report | Urban Institute Kids’ Share 2019: Report on Federal Expenditures on Children through 2018 and Future Projections Kids’ Share 2019: Report on Federal Expenditures on Children through 2018 and Future Projections | Full Report | Urban Institute Public spending on children aims to support

CURMUDGUCATION: Yes, Teachers Are Spending Money On Their Own Classrooms

by Mike Simpson / 3d

Yes, Teachers Are Spending Money On Their Own Classrooms Like the cost of a romantic date at Valentine's Day or the price of the Twelve Days of Christmas, the amount of money that teachers spend on their own classroom has become a reliable seasonal story. This year the word is that o n average teachers spend, depending on your source, somewhere between $400 and $500. But that's not the whole sto

Sandy Hook Promises releases jarring back-to-school PSA

by Mike Simpson / 3d

Sandy Hook Promise releases jarring back-to-school PSA depicting anxiety around school shootings A powerful back-to-school PSA by Sandy Hook Promise (SHP) is depicting the fear and anxiety that students face as they re-enter their classrooms with supplies and essentials for the new year and discover alternate uses for them during a school shooting. The one-minute seven-second video created by th

Symposium: The deference due state constitutional protections for public education - SCOTUSblog

by Mike Simpson / 3d

Symposium: The deference due state constitutional protections for public education Alice O’Brien is General Counsel at the National Education Association. The Supreme Court in Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue faces the question of whether, and if so to what degree, the federal free exercise clause restricts how states provide quality K-12 education systems. The petitioners seek a sweepi

Ohio Senate Education Committee Blames Educators While Underfunding Schools in the State’s Poorest Communities | janresseger

by Mike Simpson / 3d

Ohio Senate Education Committee Blames Educators While Underfunding Schools in the State’s Poorest Communities Members of the Ohio Senate Education Committee, who have been holding hearings on a new state school district takeover plan, continue to scapegoat the teachers and educational leaders in the school districts which serve concentrations of our state’s poorest children. Despite a large bod

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Climate Strike: SPS Says No Excused Absences if Students Walk Out #ClimateStrike

by Mike Simpson / 3d

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Climate Strike: SPS Says No Excused Absences if Students Walk Out Climate Strike: SPS Says No Excused Absences if Students Walk Out Today on KUOW's The Record, Superintendent Juneau was asked about SPS students who might want to join the Friday walkout for climate change. She was totally supportive of young activists and noted many in Seattle Schools. But then she

Relay Graduate School: a Slick “MarketWorld” Education Fraud | tultican

by Mike Simpson / 3d

Relay Graduate School: a Slick “MarketWorld” Education Fraud By T. Ultican 9/18/2019 Relay Graduate School of Education is a private stand alone graduate school created and led by people with meager academic credentials. Founded by leaders from the charter school industry, it is lavishly financed by billionaires. Contending that traditional university based teacher education has failed; Relay pr

Manipulating Data for the Benefit of Charter Schools

by Mike Simpson / 3d

Manipulating Data for the Benefit of Charter Schools Because there are no facts, there is no truth Just data to be manipulated I can get you any result you like What’s it worth to you? Because there is no wrong, there is no right And I sleep very well at night No shame, no solution, no remorse, no retribution” – Don Henley, The Garden of Allah After a summer filled with revelations about confide

“If I Want to Go to a Good School Why Do I Have to Go to a White School?” | Ed In The Apple

by Mike Simpson / 3d

“If I Want to Go to a Good School Why Do I Have to Go to a White School?” The 2014 UCLA Civil Rights Project produced a startling report, New York has the most segregated schools in the country: in 2009, black and Latino students in the state had the highest concentration in intensely-segregated public schools (less than 10% white enrollment), the lowest exposure to white students, and the most

CURMUDGUCATION: OH: Meaningless School Grades And Money

by Mike Simpson / 3d

OH: Meaningless School Grades And Money Over at Cleveland.com , Rich Exner has done yeoman's work taking Ohio's school ratings and connecting them with census information from the US Census Bureaus 2017 American Communities Survey. Ohio is another one of those states that believes it can reduce the entire issue of a school's quality to a single letter grade. This is a dumb idea, and there is no

When Natural Hair Wins, Discrimination in School Loses - NEA Today

by Mike Simpson / 3d

When Natural Hair Wins, Discrimination in School Loses Late last year, a video of a black high school wrestler in New Jersey hit a public nerve when he was given an ultimatum by the referee: cut your hair or forfeit the match. Several news outlets reported that Alan Maloney, who is white, told Andrew Johnson that the cover he had over his hair was non-compliant. Johnson’s hair raised no previous

SEP 17

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NICKY! #HappyBirthdayNick #LAUSD @nickmelvoin #InvestigateMelvoin #melvoin4prison

by Mike Simpson / 3d

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NICKY! - EPIC CAT Happy Birthday Song - YouTube HAPPY BIRTHDAY NICKY! PARTY ON DUDES!

Black teachers matter, for students and communities

by Mike Simpson / 4d

Black teachers matter, for students and communities We learn more from an integrated school staff than just the syllabus When it comes to teachers’ roles in shaping anti-racist communities, it’s better to show than to tell. Meaning, society is better off when students see diversity in the ranks of teachers rather than when they hear lessons about the importance of inclusion from a monolithic gro

Stand With Student Climate Strikers | PopularResistance.Org

by Mike Simpson / 4d

STAND WITH STUDENT CLIMATE STRIKERS Note: Join us in NYC on\Friday, September 20 – People’s Climate Strike. Starts at Foley Square at noon and then march to Battery Park. We’ll bring messages connecting militarism and the climate crisis. For more on this event and the rest of the weekend visit The People’s Mobilization To Stop War and Save the Planet. KZ Support Student Climate Leaders In the co

Most Americans Say Segregation in Schools a Serious Problem

by Mike Simpson / 4d

Most Americans Say Segregation in Schools a Serious Problem STORY HIGHLIGHTS Nonwhites more likely than whites to say segregation is a serious problem Small majority says government should take action to reduce segregation Busing is the least favored proposal to reduce segregation in schools WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A majority of Americans say that racial segregation in U.S. public schools is a "very

Isn’t This What School Should Be About? | radical eyes for equity

by Mike Simpson / 4d

Isn’t This What School Should Be About? My chest swelled and I cried when I opened the text: “Her artwork is displayed in the hallway.” “Her” is my granddaughter, Skylar, in her first few weeks of 5K in the rural primary school serving my hometown. Skylar is biracial and her parents are divorced; her school sits in a relatively high-poverty area of Upstate South Carolina, about the 11th most imp

Lee P. Barrios - Geaux Teacher! #ElectLeeBarrios

by Mike Simpson / 4d

Geaux Teacher! Lee P. Barrios - Geaux Teacher! Home Page My Campaign Website This blog represents seven years of following and researching Louisiana education reform since the years of my retirement in 2010. I have devoted the last two years to full-time public education advocacy and using Facebook for my daily posting in an effort to keep teachers, parents and the public updated on literally the

Symposium: Do Blaine amendments create a public-school monopoly over moral education? - SCOTUSblog

by Mike Simpson / 4d

Symposium: Do Blaine amendments create a public-school monopoly over moral education? J im Kelly is President of Solidarity Center for Law and Justice, P.C., and Founder and General Counsel of Georgia GOAL Scholarship Program, Inc., Georgia’s largest K-12 tax credit student scholarship program. During its upcoming term, in Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue , the Supreme Court will decide

QUEST looks forward to working with new Boston Public Schools superintendent | Parents Across America

by Mike Simpson / 4d

QUEST looks forward to working with new Boston Public Schools superintendent News from PAA’s Boston affiliate, QUEST: This past winter and spring, QUEST (Quality Education for Every Student) participated in multiple local advocacy coalitions that were active in the search process for a new superintendent of Boston Public Schools. QUEST and its coalition partners criticized the abbreviated search

State of Denial: How Do Charter Schools Meet the Needs of Students in Special Education

by Mike Simpson / 4d

State of Denial: How Do Charter Schools Meet the Needs of Students in Special Education These large special education enrollment differences raise serious questions about whether some charters are unlawfully either steering such children away, failing to identify students in need of special education, or pushing enrolled students with disabilities out, perhaps through harsh discipline or other m

How My Thinking about School Reform Has Changed Over Decades (Part 1) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

by Mike Simpson / 4d

How My Thinking about School Reform Has Changed Over Decades (Part 1) Six years ago, I posted this two-part series about changes in my thinking about school reform. It generated many comments from readers. I return to these posts because I want to see if there have been further changes in my thinking about the never-ending deluge of school reform particularly after the spread of “personalized le

Path for Improving Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum - Year 2019 (CA Dept of Education)

by Mike Simpson / 4d

The California Department of Education Outlines Path for Revising and Improving Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum SACRAMENTO—State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond announced today that the California Department of Education (CDE) has outlined a path to revise and improve the ethnic studies model curriculum draft. The next step in the process is for the Instructional Quality Commi

Time to Organize in Florida | VAMboozled!

by Mike Simpson / 4d

Time to Organize in Florida A few weeks ago, a Florida reporter reached out to me for information about the nation’s value-added models (VAMs), but ialso as specific to the state of Florida. It seems that teachers in Florida were (and perhaps still are) being removed from teaching in Florida schools if their state-calculated, teacher-level VAM scores deemed them as teachers who “needed improveme

Where Betsy DeVos started her 2019 back-to-school tour says it all about her agenda - The Washington Post

by Mike Simpson / 4d

Where Betsy DeVos started her 2019 back-to-school tour says it all about her agenda And she explains her view of ‘education freedom.’ Education Secretary Betsy DeVos began her 2019 back-to-school tour Monday. Given that she runs a publicly funded department and that most U.S. students attend schools in traditional public systems, you might think she would go to one in a district working hard to

CURMUDGUCATION: Chiefs For Change Would Like You To Shut Up

by Mike Simpson / 4d

Chiefs For Change Would Like You To Shut Up Chiefs For Change caused a brief flurry of attention by whinging a demand that people talk nicer about their pet projects . It's just one more sad episode for a group that was supposed to be Jeb Bush's Educational Justice League of America. It's been over three years since the last time I noticed they were headed downhill: That's how you glower! Pity t

On Teachers & Teacher Bashing – School Finance 101

by Mike Simpson / 4d

On Teachers & Teacher Bashing Over a year after the teacher uprisings, with the start of this school year, we are finally seeing some new national news coverage of the teacher workforce: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/how-we-have-failed-our-teachers/ Certainly, lagging compensation is a major issue. Teacher wages have plummeted over time with respect to similarly educated (weekly) non-teacher wage

SEP 16

Maureen Downey: Does anyone care about the social and emotional needs of teachers?

by Mike Simpson / 4d

Does anyone care about the social and emotional needs of teachers? Is anyone considering the social and emotional needs of teachers? Teachers face increasing stresses in system that treats them as technicians This is a good piece on something that seldom gets any real consideration – the rise in teacher stress. Yes, we all talk about how teaching has become harder and how so much more is being as

Public Funds Public Schools|New Campaign to Fight Vouchers, Protect Public Education

by Mike Simpson / 5d

New Campaign to Fight Vouchers, Protect Public Education Education Law Center (ELC), the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), and the SPLC Action Fund have joined forces on a nationwide campaign to fight private school vouchers and ensure public funds are dedicated to educating the millions of students in public schools across the country. The new campaign – Public Funds Public Schools (PFPS) – w

R.I. education commissioner denies bid by parents, students for role in Providence takeover - News - providencejournal.com - Providence, RI

by Mike Simpson / 5d

R.I. education commissioner denies bid by parents, students for role in Providence takeover But Angélica Infante-Green says the community’s input with be important in creating a plan. PROVIDENCE — State Education Commissioner Angélica Infante-Green announced on Friday that she would not give parents, students and community groups a formal say in the order to intervene in the Providence Public Sc

Stopping Homophobic Violence in Schools - LA Progressive

by Mike Simpson / 5d

Stopping Homophobic Violence in Schools H omophobia in schools assaults LGBTQ+ students’ right to exist. Schools must act now to stop it and improve campus climates. It is California law. Last week at the Kern High School District Board meeting, students recounted homophobic experiences and decried the lack of policies and actions to create inclusive schools. They advocated for the creation of a

When Black Parents Were the Ones to Go On Strike Against A School District - A Tactic Black Parents Should Exercise Again. - Philly's 7th Ward

by Mike Simpson / 5d

WHEN BLACK PARENTS WERE THE ONES TO GO ON STRIKE AGAINST A SCHOOL DISTRICT – A TACTIC BLACK PARENTS SHOULD EXERCISE AGAIN There is always much talk about integration, segregation, and desegregation. There is less talk of the power Black families hold and a blueprint Black parents can use to make demands that create seismic shifts for what they believe their children need. Outside of Philadelphia

After Months-Long Battle, California Finally Enacts Modest Oversight of Charter School Sector | janresseger

by Mike Simpson / 5d

After Months-Long Battle, California Finally Enacts Modest Oversight of Charter School Sector There’s an old cliche that almost perfectly describes the struggle to regulate an out-of-control charter school sector from state to state: You can’t put the toothpaste back in the tube. In late August, in a presentation at the Columbus Metropolitan Club, former Ohio Governor Bob Taft named lack of effe

NEA’s Read Across America Rebrands With New Mission #ReadAcrossAmerica

by Mike Simpson / 5d

NEA’s Read Across America Rebrands With New Mission NEA’s Read Across America Rebrands With New Mission A new focus on books that tell children of color or of different gender identities that they belong in the world and the world belongs to them. Linda Estrada grew up in Donna, Texas, the border town where she now works as a campus secretary at Runn Elementary School. Fifteen miles from the Mexi

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Amplify Lawsuit Updates

by Mike Simpson / 5d

Amplify Lawsuit Updates Amplify updates (from various sources): - There is currently only one appellant, parent Emily Cherkin. She's the only appellant with standing for the court. The other filed appellants, former SPS teacher Robert Femiano and former Board director Sally Soriano have stepped off but still support the appeal. Makes sense. - GoFundMe for this lawsuit. Honestly, if you believe h

Join us FB live tomorrow night on privacy, and WBAI on Wed. on diversity and gifted programs | Class Size Matters

by Mike Simpson / 5d

Join us FB live tomorrow night on privacy, and WBAI on Wed. on diversity and gifted programs 1.Just a short note to let you know that I’ll be talking about student privacy on Facebook Live tomorrow night, Tuesday Sept. 10 at 6:30 on the Long Island Opt Out FB page. I’ll be speaking with Jeanette Deutermann of LI Opt out about the widespread Pearson breach of student data and NY State Education D

Finally, Democratic candidates talk about education in a debate. But nobody raised this key issue. - The Washington Post

by Mike Simpson / 5d

Finally, Democratic candidates talk about education in a debate. But nobody raised this key issue. Read the entire discussion on schools Finally, after three debates among Democratic presidential candidates with scarcely a question about education, a moderator, Linsey Davis of ABC News, raised the issue Thursday night. She asked some good questions — even if some candidates tried to skirt them o

Indiana: West Lafayette Public Schools Sues the State for Taking Their Property and Giving It to Charter Industry for $1 | Diane Ravitch's blog

by Mike Simpson / 5d

Indiana: West Lafayette Public Schools Sues the State for Taking Their Property and Giving It to Charter Industry for $1 Rocky Killion, superintendent of the West Lafayette, Indiana, public school district, is a fighter for public schools. A few years ago, he helped to launch an outstanding film about the extremist assault on the public schools by privatizers; it is called Rise Above the Mark ,

Don’t Believe the Sacramento Charter School Compromise is a Bad Deal?

by Mike Simpson / 5d

Don’t Believe the Sacramento Charter School Compromise is a Bad Deal? This seems like a feel-good bill for the teachers [sic] union but charters can still do what they want and still get approved if the county Board of Education is an option ” – Mike Trujillo The Los Angeles Times describes Mike Trujillo as a “political strategist.” Usually, these types of operatives prefer to do their work behi

Black Teachers as Reparations: My Remarks at the Congressional Black Caucus | The Jose Vilson

by Mike Simpson / 5d

BLACK TEACHERS AS REPARATIONS: MY REMARKS AT THE CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS The Center for American Progress in collaboration with Education Reform Now invited me and a host of other citizens with opinions on education to speak about education and racial equity . I’m honored and thankful they asked me to represent current classroom teachers as so few of us – if any – get opportunities to inform

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MVP Math Chooses to Sue NC Parent, Apparently Expects to Recover Reputation | deutsch29

by Mike Simpson / 5d

MVP Math Chooses to Sue NC Parent, Apparently Expects to Recover Reputation When I read the term, MVP, my first thought is “most valuable player.” Well, this MVP might want to be that most valuable player, but this MVP (which stands for Mathematics Vision Project, LLC, a Utah limited liability company “active as of 03/17/2016” , has apparently suffered enough at the hands of a single North Carol

enrique baloyra: Greta comes to NYC - YouTube #FridaysForFuture.#ClimateEmergency.

by Mike Simpson / 5d

Greta comes to NYC - YouTube Greta comes to NYC enrique baloyra Why does it take a child to point out the emperor has no clothes? Like after an angry, young man shot up their school, it took a group of kids from Parkland, FL, to start a nationwide campaign to pass meaningful, common sense gun reform. The same kids, in turn, inspired Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg to start her own worldwide pheno

NYC Public School Parents: Talk of out School - join us next Wed. on WBAI at 10 AM with Wendy Lecker and Senator John Liu

by Mike Simpson / 5d

Talk of out School - join us next Wed. on WBAI at 10 AM with Wendy Lecker and Senator John Liu Next week on Wednesday Sept 18 at 10 AM, I will have two guests, " Talk out of School " : attorney Wendy Lecker of the Education Law Center , who will bring us up to date on the class size lawsuit of on nine NYC parents vs the state and city of New York for their failure to lower class size. My other g

Bobby Canosa-Carr — Dir. Secondary Ed At The Accelerated Charter Schools — Admits On Camera That TAS Routinely Enrolls Unprepared Students In AP Classes | Michael Kohlhaas dot org

by Mike Simpson / 5d

Bobby Canosa-Carr — Director Of Secondary Education At The Accelerated Charter Schools — Admits On Camera That TAS Routinely Enrolls Unprepared Students In AP Classes Michael Kohlhaas dot org Bobby Canosa-Carr — Director Of Secondary Education At The Accelerated Charter Schools — Admits On Camera That TAS Routinely Enrolls Unprepared Students In AP Classes BOBBY CANOSA-CARR — DIRECTOR OF SECONDAR

CATCH UP WITH CURMUDGUCATION: ICYMI: My Wife's Birthday Edition (9/15)

by Mike Simpson / 6d

CURMUDGUCATION: ICYMI: My Wife's Birthday Edition (9/15) ICYMI: My Wife's Birthday Edition (9/15) Happy birthday to one of the best people ever to walk on the face of the earth! But you can have cake and read some worthwhile education pieces as well. So here you go-- AI in Education Hype John Warner takes a look at one more technological product in search of a problem to "solve." Effects of the F

Betsy DeVos’s Education Freedom: It’s Anything But

by Mike Simpson / 6d

Betsy DeVos’s Education Freedom: It’s Anything But Betsy DeVos rarely makes a statement without referring to her idea of Education Freedom. She is, of course, referring to school vouchers. But as education secretary she has been more about denying students true education freedom. DeVos stands for the opposite of educational freedom! As she travels around the country promoting her agenda, here’s

Charter Schools Were Never a Good Idea. They Were a Corporate Plot All Along | gadflyonthewallblog

by Mike Simpson / 6d

Charter Schools Were Never a Good Idea. They Were a Corporate Plot All Along America has been fooled by the charter school industry for too long. The popular myth that charter schools were invented by unions to empower teachers and communities so that students would have better options is as phony as a three dollar bill. The concept always was about privatizing schools to make money. It has alwa

Texas Charter Schools: Don’t Believe the Boasting and Hype | Diane Ravitch's blog

by Mike Simpson / 6d

Texas Charter Schools: Don’t Believe the Boasting and Hype William J. Gumbert has prepared statistical analyses of charter performance in Texas, based on state data. Charters boast of their “success,” but the reality is far different from their claims. They don’t enroll similar demographics, their attrition rate is staggering, and their “wait lists” are unverified. Their claims are a marketing t

Education Insider for September 15, 2019 - Education Votes

by Mike Simpson / 6d

Education Insider for September 15, 2019 - Education Votes Don’t rob military kids to build ‘the wall’ Funds earmarked for public schools and daycare centers serving military families could be used instead to erect barriers on our southern border. At President Trump’s direction, the Department of Defense is diverting $3.6 billion from projects approved by Congress to construction of his border w

Why Don’t Democratic Presidential Candidates Talk about Charter Schools? | Teacher in a strange land

by Mike Simpson / 6d

Why Don’t Democratic Presidential Candidates Talk about Charter Schools? I was chatting with a group of women last month about the presidential race. All of these women identify as Democrats, and all of them are eager to off-load the current resident of the White House. We meet monthly, to discuss a current topic, and lately, have closed our gathering by checking in with our current favorites am

Note to Rhode Island Officials: Expanding “Achievement First” Charters Will Not Help Providence Public Schools | Diane Ravitch's blog

by Mike Simpson / 6d

Note to Rhode Island Officials: Expanding “Achievement First” Charters Will Not Help Providence Public Schools Rhode Island Officials—Governor Gina Raimondo and State Commissioner Angelica Infante-Green—are looking at the expansion of the no-excuses Achievement First Charter chain as part of the “solution” to the low-scoring Providence public school district. Achievement First is a national char

A Very Busy Day Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... | The latest news and resources in education since 2007

by Mike Simpson / 6d

Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... | The latest news and resources in education since 2007 Create Art In A Unique Way With “Artbreeder” by Larry Ferlazzo / 55min bodobe / Pixabay Artbreeder lets you create art – for free – that you can then use anyway you want. Here’s how Recomendo describes it: Using deep learning (AI) algorithms it generates multiple photo-realistic “children” mutations o

NYC Educator: Oversized Classes, Free Donuts and Prostitutes

by Mike Simpson / 6d

Oversized Classes, Free Donuts and Prostitutes Every year I report oversized classes to the union. We do this in September and February. There's a process, and it's been slightly revised for schools like ours that are chronically in violation. As a matter of course, we report class sizes days 1, 6, and 10. Under the new agreement, if they aren't resolved by day 10 it goes to the superintendent d

Seattle Schools Community Forum: On Who Speaks for a School Community

by Mike Simpson / 6d

On Who Speaks for a School Community I recall that at the last Board meeting, there were two issues raised during public testimony about the (now-called) Rising Star Elementary (formerly Van Asselt at AAA building). One came from school board candidate, Liza Rankin, about the condition of the building on the first day of school. It was fine to express dismay that this would happen but it seems s

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