Latest News and Comment from Education

Saturday, April 17, 2021

TOP POSTS THIS WEEK Saturday, April 17, 2021 #REDFORED #tbats #openonlywhensafe #edchat #K12 #learning #edleadership #edtech #engchat #literacy #edreform

 Big Education Ape


TOP POSTS THIS WEEK 4/17/21







TOP POSTS THIS MONTH 4/17/21







POSTS THIS WEEK 4/17/21






Mattresses Full of Cash – Tennessee Education Report
MATTRESSES FULL OF CASH O n the heels of the Department of Revenue’s announcement today that the state has once again exceeded monthly revenue projections, the Tennessee Education Association (TEA) released a statement accusing Gov. Bill Lee of stuffing mattresses full of cash rather than spending money on K-12 education. Here’s the statement from TEA: “Today’s announcement on state revenues fro
JOSEPH H. CROWLEY: McKee is right, but he has it backward - Network For Public Education
McKee is right, but he has it backward - Network For Public Education McKee is right, but he has it backward Recently, Gov. McGee was quoted in the Providence Journal. Gov. McGee is absolutely right in his quote, “Now is the time to focus on creating more high quality educational opportunities for all students, not fewer.” Unfortunately, his suggested remedy is backwards. He was quoted in referen
An Important New Book About New Orleans and Its Schools | Diane Ravitch's blog
An Important New Book About New Orleans and Its Schools Three scholars have recently published a very informative book about the history of education in New Orleans. The authors tell this story by scrutinizing one very important elementary school in the city, the one that was first to be desegregated with one black student in 1960. The book is titled William Frantz Public School: A Story of Race
Statement by Secretary Cardona on President Biden's Nomination of Gwen Graham | U.S. Department of Education
Statement by Secretary Cardona on President Biden's Nomination of Gwen Graham Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona issued the following statement today on President Biden's intent to nominate Gwen Graham for Assistant Secretary for Legislation and Congressional Affairs at the U.S. Department of Education: "I am grateful that President Biden has nominated Gwen Graham to serve as Assistant Secret
Ohio: Voucher Students Are Not Required to Take State Exams | Diane Ravitch's blog
Ohio: Voucher Students Are Not Required to Take State Exams Apparently, the voucher schools were embarrassed by the Ohio study showing that kids who use vouchers lose ground academically. There were two ways to respond to that finding: 1) improve instruction in the voucher schools by requiring them to hire certified teachers; 2) obscure the data. The voucher lobby chose the second route. The Rep
Steven Singer: Diversity is the Most Important Reason to Save Public Schools | Diane Ravitch's blog
Steven Singer: Diversity is the Most Important Reason to Save Public Schools Steven Singer, a teacher in Pennsylvania, explains what is most important to him in public education: Diversity is the Most Important Reason to Save Public Schools Public schools are under attack. So what else is new? It’s been so since the first moment the institution was suggested in this country by revolutionaries li
Education Matters: The Southern Poverty Law Center says DCPS is on the wrong side of what is right
The Southern Poverty Law Center says DCPS is on the wrong side of what is right The Southern Poverty Law Center is a premier social justice organization that has fought against white supremacists, anti-semites, Islamaphobes, and all manner of malcontents on the wrong side of decency. Well, friends, you can now add Duval County Public Schools to that list. They have even represented Florida's pub
CURMUDGUCATION: New Anglo-Saxon Caucus Has Some Education Thoughts. They Are As Bad As The Rest Of This Damn Fool Platform.
New Anglo-Saxon Caucus Has Some Education Thoughts. They Are As Bad As The Rest Of This Damn Fool Platform So, led by a team-up of House of Representative winners from Georgia and Arizona, there is now a White Racist Nativist America First Caucus that swears to "follow in President Trump's footsteps and potentially step on toes and sacrifice sacred cows for the good of the American nation" as we
USDOE Wants “Educator Stability.” It Also Wants Test Scores. | deutsch29: Mercedes Schneider's Blog
USDOE Wants “Educator Stability.” It Also Wants Test Scores On April 09, 2021, the US Department of Education (USDOE) released its COVID-19 Handbook, Volume 2 . In perusing its table of contents, I noticed one section in particular: ” Supporting Educator and Staff Stability and Well-being: Stabilizing a Diverse and Qualified Educator Workforce.” Educator stability now appears to be a focus of US
CAROL BURRIS: Former lobbyist details how privatizers are trying to end public education + ACTION ALERT - Network For Public Education
Former lobbyist details how privatizers are trying to end public education - Network For Public Education Former lobbyist details how privatizers are trying to end public education By Carol Burris Charles Siler worked for two privatization organizations, including the Goldwater Institute in Arizona, where his job was to persuade legislators to pass laws that privatize public services, especially
TOWARDS A MORE PERFECT UNION – Dad Gone Wild
TOWARDS A MORE PERFECT UNION “The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public’s money.” ― Alexis de Tocqueville These days I perpetually find myself questioning which will prove more destructive to America, the pandemic, or its fast approaching aftermath – or perhaps this was the path we were on all along and the virus just provided
THIS WEEK FROM THE US DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
THIS WEEK FROM THE US DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Education Secretary Miguel Cardona and First Lady Jill Biden to Travel to Illinois 18h On Monday, April 19, First Lady Jill Biden and Education Secretary Miguel Cardona will travel to Dixon, Illinois to visit Sauk Valley Community College. Secretary Cardona Continues 'Help is Here' School Reopening Tour with a Visit to Mary Harris ‘Mother’ Jones Elem
Network for Public Education Blog Post of the Day This Week
Blog Posts Archive - Network For Public Education Network for Public Education Blog Posts of the Day This Week Blog Post of the Day Our NPE Blogs of the Day feature what we think are interesting and important blog posts centered on issues of public education. The views expressed by the bloggers are, of course, entirely their own. To submit links and tips for inclusion, please send an email to npe
THIS WEEK'S WILDNESS Dad Gone Wild Nobody reads it, everybody quotes it
Dad Gone Wild – Nobody reads it, everybody quotes it. TOWARDS A MORE PERFECT UNION by TC Weber / 18h “The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public’s money.” ― Alexis de Tocqueville These days I perpetually find myself questioning which will prove more destructive to America, the pandemic, or its fast approaching aftermath – or pe
TENNESSEE EDUCATION REPORT
TENNESSEE EDUCATION REPORT EDUCATION POLITICS AND POLICY IN THE VOLUNTEER STATE Mattresses Full of Cash by Andy Spears / 15h On the heels of the Department of Revenue’s announcement today that the state has once again exceeded monthly revenue projections, the Tennessee Education Association (TEA) released a statement accusing Gov. Bill Lee of stuffing mattresses full of cash rather than spending
TEACHER TOM THIS WEEK IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION + Teacher Tom: Let's Turn The World Around: Teacher Tom's Play Summit
Teacher Tom TEACHER TOM THIS WEEK IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION Teacher Tom: Let's Turn The World Around: Teacher Tom's Play Summit We heard it from Mandela, "Turn this world around, For the children" - turn this world around. He's done it once before, and now we hear his call For the children, turn this world around. Turn, turn, turn, Turn this world around For the children, turn this world aroun
SSPI TONY THURMOND: STUFF THIS WEEK FROM THE CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
California Department of Education SSPI TONY THURMOND STUFF THIS WEEK FROM THE CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION SBE Information Memoranda for April 2021 17h Background information and updates on issues of interest to the State Board Members. New Equity Bill Levels Educational Playing Field 2d New equity bill to level the educational playing field advances with bipartisan Senate Education Commit
THIS WEEK WITH NEWBLACKMAN (IN EXILE) #BLM #BLACKLIVESMATTER
NewBlackMan (in Exile) THIS WEEK WITH NEWBLACKMAN (IN EXILE) Umi’s Archive: On Power Archives and Our Stories: A Conversation with Curator Su'ad Abdul Khabeer and Artist Leslie Hewitt by Mark Anthony Neal / 12h Scholar-activist-artist, Dr. Su’ad Abdul Khabeer examines the intersections of official history and the untold stories of Black Americans, especially Black women and Black Muslims through
THIS WEEK Education Research Report
Education Research Report Later school start times let students get adequate sleep by Jonathan Kantrowitz / 1d OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS USA Research News SHARE PRINT E-MAIL A new study in SLEEP , published by Oxford University Press, demonstrates the significant benefits of later school start times for middle and high school students' sleep schedules. Sleep is essential to a student's overall hea
THIS WEEK IN EDUCATION Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... The latest news and resources in education since 2007
Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... | The latest news and resources in education since 2007 Research Studies Of The Week by Larry Ferlazzo / 8h I often write about research studies from various fields and how they can be applied to the classroom. I write individual posts about ones that I think are especially significant, and will continue to do so. However, so many studies are published tha
KEEP UP/ CATCH UP WITH DIANE RAVITCH'S BLOG A site to discuss better education for all #REDFORED #tbats #CANCELTHETEST
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 Steven Singer: Diversity is the Most Important Reason to Save Public Schools by dianeravitch / 6min Steven Singer, a teacher in Pennsylvania, explains what is most important to him in public education: Diversity is the Most Important Reason to Sa

YESTERDAY

THE TOP BANANA: TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES Friday, April 16, 2021 #REDFORED #tbats #openonlywhensafe #edchat #K12 #learning #edleadership #edtech #engchat #literacy #edreform
Big Education Ape THE TOP BANANA TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES House approves proposal to shift funds from traditional public to charter schools | Politics | stltoday.com - https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/house-approves-proposal-to-shift-funds-from-traditional-public-to-charter-schools/article_6acdb33f-881f-5b9f-8618-94631e74b60d.html#new_tab on @stltoday Gadfly on the Wall: S
CURMUDGUCATION: What Happens To Students That Charters Don't Want? (The Chester Upland Saga Continues)
What Happens To Students That Charters Don't Want? (The Chester Upland Saga Continues) In Chester Upland School District, the process of selling off the district schools to charter operators has continued (for a deeper dive into CUSD's troubled history, read here ). Three charter operators have made their bids , and we'll take a closer look at that another day. It's all pretty sad and ugly. But
What I Said About NCLB and Standardized Testing a Decade Ago | Diane Ravitch's blog
What I Said About NCLB and Standardized Testing a Decade Ago In 2011, I was interviewed by Terri Gross on “Fresh Air,” her NPR program. When my book The Death and Life of the Great American School System : How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education. When it was published, there was quite a lot of speculation about why I changed my views. Apparently, no one ever has a change of mind or hear
EdCo to Host “Antiracist Classroom” Event – Tennessee Education Report
EDCO TO HOST “ANTIRACIST CLASSROOM” EVENT A pril 24 at 11:30 AM (CT) The Educators’ Cooperative (EdCo) will host a virtual conversation titled “Antiracist Teaching, Learning, and Leading from the Classroom: Addressing the legacies of segregation and white supremacy in our schools, and adjusting our lenses with Critical Race Theory in education.” The teachers of EdCo are dedicated to facilitating
My Next Book | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice
My Next Book I will have a new book published by the end of this year called Confessions of a School Reformer . How an idea becomes a book even after all I have written, remains mysterious to me. In reconstructing the process which often means demystifying what occurs and making it appear linear and logical, I remain uncertain of exactly how I got the idea and how that idea morphed into a book p
Teacher Says Charter Schools Should Get Zero Federal Dollars - LA Progressive
Teacher Says Charter Schools Should Get Zero Federal Dollars The U.S. Department of Education’s Charter School Program (CSP) wasted more than a billion dollars on charter schools that never opened or opened for a very brief period before closing, according to two reports published by the Network for Public Education in 2019. CSP has provided close to $4 billion in seed funding to charter schools
A VERY BUSY DAY Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... The latest news and resources in education since 2007 #tBATs
Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... | The latest news and resources in education since 2007 A VERY BUSY DAY Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... The latest news and resources in education since 2007 THIS WEEK IN EDUCATION Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... The latest news and resources in education since 2007 - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/04/this-week-in-education-larry-f
Former lobbyist details how privatizers are trying to end public education - The Washington Post
Former lobbyist details how privatizers are trying to end public education A few years ago I ran a piece by Joanne Barkan about the long history of the movement to privatize public education. It began: When champions of market-based reform in the United States look at public education, they see two separate activities — government funding education and government running schools. The first is ok
Hershey Profits Fund $17 Billion Endowment for Nonprofit School, but Board Member Says It Won’t Let Him See Financial Records — ProPublica
Hershey Profits Fund $17 Billion Endowment for Nonprofit School, but Board Member Says It Won’t Let Him See Financial Records A director and alumnus of America’s wealthiest boarding school claims he had to sue the institution to see how it spends the funding it receives from sales of Hershey bars and Reese’s Pieces. ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to
Teacher Tom: "I Want To Be the Littlest Baby"
"I Want To Be the Littlest Baby" A child psychologist friend once told me that he kept a doll house in his office, explaining that he could often learn more about a child while playing "family" than in any number of hours of traditional talk therapy. I'm no therapist, but I can certainly see the potential there. "I'm this baby." "I'm the mommy bunny." "I'm a baby too." "But I'm the littler baby.
Speduktr: We All Pay for Public Services and Public Goods, for Our Common Benefit | Diane Ravitch's blog
Speduktr: We All Pay for Public Services and Public Goods, for Our Common Benefit The privatization movement is built on the ideology of “a backpack full of cash.” Give the money to the family and let them spend it where and how they want. The money is not actually in the child’s backpack, but handed out to families to spend as they wish. If they want their child to attend a religious school or
Will Ohio Senate Undermine Fair School Funding Plan By Burying Changes in Fine Print of the State Budget? | janresseger
Will Ohio Senate Undermine Fair School Funding Plan By Burying Changes in Fine Print of the State Budget? The Ohio House of Representatives is, thankfully, being persistent in trying to pass a new, adequate, and equitable public school funding formula. Ohio educators and parents will remember that on December 2 of last year, the Ohio House passed the Cupp-Patterson Fair School Funding Plan by an
San Francisco “Progressives” Promote Gentrification Undermine Democracy | tultican
San Francisco “Progressives” Promote Gentrification Undermine Democracy By Thomas Ultican 4/16/2021 A new political PAC, “ Campaign for Better San Francisco Public Schools ,” demands that schools be opened for in person classes immediately. They also make two dubious claims, “The election process for choosing the Board of Education is not meeting the needs of San Francisco” and “Many large citie
CURMUDGUCATION: Success Academy Lost $2.4 Million Judgment
Success Academy Lost $2.4 Million Judgment You might have caught this story, but I don't want you to miss it. Success Academy has long been one of the stars of the charter school world. But in 2015, Kate Taylor at the New York Times reported on a secret "got to go" list that targeted students that SA administrators wanted to push out, part of a general pattern of deliberately making life difficu
The Country Moves Forward, Education Falls Back - Counter Punch org
The Country Moves Forward, Education Falls Back - CounterPunch.org The Country Moves Forward, Education Falls Back There’s hope in the air, a scent of spring, anticipation of change, democracy may pull through. Why, then, with K-12 public schools, the broken promise, the dismay? Biden raised hopes when he promised, Dec 16, 2019, that he’d “commit to ending the use of standardized testing in publi
NYC Educator: A Portrait of My Student
A Portrait of My Student This is one of my students. She's lovely, isn't she? Or he? Or them? I don't have the proper pronouns. All I have is this avatar. What do I know about this student? Well, I know he, she or they likes cute kittens. Or perhaps Pokemon monsters, or whatever this thing is. I know that this student is likely a fan of bubble tea, which is what appears to be in the cup. That's

APR 15

THE TOP BANANA: TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES Thursday, April 15, 2021 #REDFORED #tbats #openonlywhensafe #edchat #K12 #learning #edleadership #edtech #engchat #literacy #edreform
Big Education Ape THE TOP BANANA TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES Analysis | Backlash growing to Biden’s insistence that schools give standardized tests during the pandemic https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2021/04/14/backlash-grows-to-bidens-standardized-testing-policy/?tid=ss_tw Perspective | Reopening schools is often framed as a matter of equity. Two Black educators ask: ‘Equity for whom?’
NANCY BAILEY: Acceleration: The Meaning Behind the Buzzword
Acceleration: The Meaning Behind the Buzzword Acceleration: The Meaning Behind the Buzzword Acceleration is the new pandemic buzzword brought to you by pro-privatization school reformers. Students may have missed some in-person schooling, even though most learned remotely or in person. Still, the frenzy surrounding learning loss is mounting. The pandemic has given rise to a new way to reframe the
Shawgi Tell: Public Funds For Charter Schools Is Socially Irresponsible | Dissident Voice
Public Funds For Charter Schools Is Socially Irresponsible | Dissident Voice Public Funds For Charter Schools Is Socially Irresponsible Charter School Report Card (Critical Constructions: Studies on Education and Society) (9781681232959): Tell, Shawgi: Books - https://www.amazon.com/Charter-School-Report-Critical-Constructions/dp/1681232952 Public money comes from the new value workers produce. I
Revisiting California's Battle of Hastings - LA Progressive
Revisiting California’s Battle of Hastings Courtesy of re:publica/ flickr . The 2005 Sacking of the Netflix CEO as State Education Board Chief Looks Different Now After long days supervising my children in their struggles with the miseries of distance learning and hybrid school, I try to relax by watching Netflix. As I do, I often find myself thinking about a state legislative hearing from 2005,
My Signal Contribution to the U.S. Department of Education | Diane Ravitch's blog
My Signal Contribution to the U.S. Department of Education When I served in the George H.W. Bush administration, I was Assistant Secretary for the Office of Educational Research and Improvement. OERI, as it was then called, had almost no discretionary money. There was very little opportunity for any initiatives, which may have been a good thing at that time. I became very involved in advocacy fo
Education Coalition Calls on Governor to Boost Funding for Schools – Tennessee Education Report
EDUCATION COALITION CALLS ON GOVERNOR TO BOOST FUNDING FOR SCHOOLS J ust one day after Gov. Bill Lee introduced his budget amendment that included no new funds for K-12 education, a coalition of education advocates from across the state called on Lee and the General Assembly to improve the amendment and boost funding for public schools. The move follows a statement from the Tennessee Education A
Teacher Tom: It's The Process
It's The Process There are some things that I believe exist even though I've never seen them with my own eyes. Baby pigeons, for instance. Last week, I saw my first actual graffiti artist/vandal in action. Frankly, I'd always envisioned the people who tag the vertical surface of Seattle as young males skulking about in during the wee hours, but this scofflaw was a woman who appeared to be closer
Covid-19 changed education in America — permanently - POLITICO
Covid-19 changed education in America — permanently It’s been a school year like no other. Here’s what we learned. There was a moment last spring when every parent and employer in America suddenly realized how deeply their lives and livelihoods depended on an institution too often in the background and taken for granted: the nation’s schools. With almost no notice, adults and children found them
CURMUDGUCATION: SC: Lawsuit Looks For Public Dollar Pay Day For Catholic Schools
SC: Lawsuit Looks For Public Dollar Pay Day For Catholic Schools In South Carolina, a lawsuit filed this week seeks to obliterate the wall between church and state. Like most such lawsuits, the federal lawsuit has been a advocacy group that specializes in such things-- you may remember the Liberty Justice Center as the folks who won the Janus case, which either was an attack on unions wrapped in
Is Canceling “High Stakes Testing” More Important than Halving Childhood Poverty? | Ed In The Apple
Is Canceling “High Stakes Testing” More Important than Halving Childhood Poverty? Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel Prize winning economist , calls our nation “a beacon of failure,” “The U.S., with its cherished image as a land of opportunity, should be an inspiring example of just and enlightened treatment of children. Instead, it is a beacon of failure,” “Though an average American childhood may not be
New Equity Bill Levels Educational Playing Field + 2021 Model School Attendance Review Board Winners - Year 2021 (CA Dept of Education)
New Equity Bill Levels Educational Playing Field - Year 2021 (CA Dept of Education) New Equity Bill to Level the Educational Playing Field Advances with Bipartisan Senate Education Committee Support SACRAMENTO—New legislation designed to lift up some of the lowest-performing school districts in California—sponsored by State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond and authored by Senato
How to Revise Your Essay after Receiving Feedback – radical eyes for equity
How to Revise Your Essay after Receiving Feedback Below is a new handout I created after discussing revision with my first-year seminar. Hope this is useful and you can access as a Word file in the link provided in the title below. How to Revise Your Essay after Receiving Feedback When you receive your essay with feedback (highlighting, track changes, comments), save that file to your hard drive
Education Matters: Florida GOP bullies its most vulnerable children
Florida GOP bullies its most vulnerable children The Florida House came up with a solution without a problem, which includes girls' genitals being inspected by a stranger. The GOP just said to children, want to play a sport? Then be ready to show your privates. The Florida GOP, a gerrymandered bunch, isn't about solving problems or making things better; it's about exercising its power to gin up
Breaking News: SCTA Rep Council Unanimously Approves Strike Support for SEIU Classified Workers
SCTA Rep Council Unanimously Approves Standing with SEIU Classified Workers Up to and Including Striking in Sympathy Greetings! Late last week, SEIU Local 1021 which represents approximately 1750 classified workers in SCUSD turned out in record number to reject the District latest offer regarding a reopening MOU and to authorize a strike by a 92% margin. Classified workers are standing up to the
IGNORANCE OR INTENTION – Dad Gone Wild
IGNORANCE OR INTENTION “A true opium of the people is a belief in nothingness after death – the huge solace of thinking that for our betrayals, greed, cowardice, murders we are not going to be judged.” ― Czeslaw Milosz Most people enter into the education world through a desire to work with children and make a meaningful impact on the world’s future. We are greeted upon entry, by slogans like, “

APR 14

THE TOP BANANA: TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES Wednesday, April 14, 2021 #REDFORED #tbats #openonlywhensafe #edchat #K12 #learning #edleadership #edtech #engchat #literacy #edreform
Big Education Ape THE TOP BANANA TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES New school board member talks goals for Philadelphia students, lawsuit by former affiliate group ACLU https://philadelphia.chalkbeat.org/2021/4/13/22382434/new-school-board-member-talks-goals-for-philadelphia-students-lawsuit-by-former-affiliate-group-aclu via @ChalkbeatPHL Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice: Classroom
MEGAN PRATHER: Epic's controversial 'learning fund' will change, settlement proposed for SVCSB
Epic's controversial 'learning fund' will change, settlement proposed for SVCSB Epic’s controversial ‘learning fund’ will change, settlement proposed for SVCSB In meetings Tuesday that lasted until after midnight, the governing board of Epic Blended and Epic One-on-One charter schools, Community Strategies, approved a motion that will move the school’s controversial learning fund from private acc
Andrea Gabor: How Big Philanthropy Captured Media Coverage of Their Education Investments | Diane Ravitch's blog
Andrea Gabor: How Big Philanthropy Captured Media Coverage of Their Education Investments Andrea Gabor is the Bloomberg Professor of Business Journalism at Baruch College, which is part of the City University of New York. Gabor has written insightful articles about education in the New York Times and at Bloomberg.com. She is the author of After the Education Wars: How Smart Schools Upend the Bus
Support for Bill to Diversify Teaching Workforce - Year 2021 (CA Dept of Education)
State Superintendent Tony Thurmond, Assemblymember Mike Gipson, Educators and Scholars Urge Support for First-of-its-Kind Legislation to Diversify the Teaching Workforce SACRAMENTO—State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond and Assemblymember Mike A. Gipson (D-Carson) were joined by education leaders today to urge support for new legislation designed to help support male educators
Woefully Short – Tennessee Education Report
WOEFULLY SHORT The Tennessee Education responded to Gov. Bill Lee’s budget amendment today calling the announcement and Lee’s overall education investment “woefully short” of what the state needs to fund schools. Lee unveiled the budget amendment with no appreciable increase in K-12 spending, merely a rehash of previous announcements regarding holding districts harmless in the BEP formula and an
Russ on Reading: My Learning Loss Formula: Read, Write, Share
My Learning Loss Formula: Read, Write, Share As I addressed in a post a month ago, the Henny Penny's of the world are running around clucking about how the pandemic will lead to inevitable LEARNING LOSS!!!!! Learning Loss, as Peter Greene at Forbes, has pointed out, is the latest scare tactic being used by educational reformers to push their own agenda (standardized tests, vouchers, tutoring pro
Teacher Tom: To Continue Becoming
To Continue Becoming A few days ago, a medical doctor was being interviewed on CNN about the psychological impact of the pandemic on children. She provided several caveats along the way, but her bottom line response was "I expect that kids will bounce back." It's a hopeful answer and one that is, in some fashion, true. More to the point, however, it's what we all want to hear. Perhaps in some wa
A VERY BUSY DAY Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... The latest news and resources in education since 2007 #tBATs
Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... | The latest news and resources in education since 2007 A VERY BUSY DAY Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... The latest news and resources in education since 2007 THIS WEEK IN EDUCATION Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... The latest news and resources in education since 2007 - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/04/this-week-in-education-larry-f
Jeanne Kaplan: The Battle Against Deformers in Denver is Always Uphill | Diane Ravitch's blog
Jeanne Kaplan: The Battle Against Deformers in Denver is Always Uphill Jeanne Kaplan is a veteran civil rights activist who was elected to serve two terms on the Denver school board. She has been active in multiple campaigns to stop privatization and over-testing and energize a genuine effort to improve the public schools. She wrote this piece for this blog. THE SISYPHEAN TASK IN DENVER The dict
After Three Decades, New York Legislature Finally Passes Budget To Equalize Public School Funding | janresseger
After Three Decades, New York Legislature Finally Passes Budget To Equalize Public School Funding In 2007, New York State agreed to comply with a court mandate to invest five and a half billion dollars over four years—and maintain the investment annually—to equalize school funding in a state with vast differences in wealth and alarming disparities in public school funding across its 688 public s
Whatever Happened To Current Events Lessons? | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice
Whatever Happened To Current Events Lessons? Nearly all social studies lessons that I taught between the 1950s and 1970s contained at least one weekly lesson on “current events.” In these lessons, I tried to connect contemporary happenings to past events I was covering in my U.S. history and world history classes. Moreover, for at least five years, I used cut outs from Time magazine covers portr
Mandatory FDP Contract Packet Update SY 2021–22 - Nutrition (CA Dept of Education)
Mandatory FDP Contract Packet Update SY 2021–22 The California Department of Education (CDE) Food Distribution Program (FDP) is reminding agencies to update and submit their School Year 2021–22 FDP contract in the Child Nutrition Information and Payment System (CNIPS) FDP module by July 31, 2021 . Agencies that do not submit their FDP contract by the deadline will be placed on hold and be inelig
CURMUDGUCATION: Don't Forget--No Nation's Report Card NAEP Test This Year
Don't Forget--No Nation's Report Card NAEP Test This Year You may have forgotten, or just not noticed at the time, but I want to remind you that last November, the National Center for Education Statistics pulled the plug on the 2021 NAEP , the Big Standardized Test that is supposed to measure the nation's progress in math and reading. Betsy DeVos asked for cancellation. The National Assessment G

APR 13

THE TOP BANANA: TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES Tuesday, April 13, 2021 #REDFORED #tbats #openonlywhensafe #edchat #K12 #learning #edleadership #edtech #engchat #literacy #edreform
Big Education Ape THE TOP BANANA TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES Multiple victims reported in Tennessee school shooting https://www.politico.com/news/2021/04/12/tennessee-school-shooting-481039 Curmudgucation: FL: Let's Assess Four Year Olds | National Education Policy Center - https://nepc.colorado.edu/node/10861 on @NEPCtweet Students in grades six to nine can return to Philadelphia schools in May;
De-Gun the Police: A Reader – radical eyes for equity
De-Gun the Police: A Reader Officer Who Fatally Shot Daunte Wright With ‘Accidental Discharge’ Is Identified The police officer said to have fatally shot Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old Black man killed in what started as a traffic stop on Sunday, has been identified as Kim Potter. The Minnesota Department of Public Safety Bureau of Criminal Apprehension in a statement on Monday evening described P
The Politics Of School Choice | Diane Ravitch's blog
The Politics Of School Choice Julian Vasquez Heilig, Jameson Brewer, and Frank Adamson have written a peer-reviewed analysis of the politics of school choice. As Heilig wrote in his description of the analysis , “Modern notions of “markets” and “choice” in schooling stem from the libertarian ideas Milton Friedman espoused in the 1950s. Considering the underlying politics of school choice, it is
Secretary Cardona Continues 'Help is Here' School Reopening Tour with a Visit to Mary Harris ‘Mother’ Jones Elementary School in Adelphi, Md. | U.S. Department of Education
Secretary Cardona Continues 'Help is Here' School Reopening Tour with a Visit to Mary Harris ‘Mother’ Jones Elementary School in Adelphi, Md. Contact: Press Office, (202) 401-1576, press@ed.gov Event Date 1 : April 13, 2021 - 8:45am to 9:00am Event Date 2 : April 13, 2021 - 9:15am to 10:00am On Tuesday, April 13, U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona will continue the "Help is Here" School
There’s a Lesson for Educators in the Life of DMX - Philly's 7th Ward
THERE’S A LESSON FOR EDUCATORS IN THE LIFE OF DMX Rest in peace to Mr. Earl Simmons, popularly known as DMX. I pray that his soul is at rest. What fascinates me about the life of a person, particularly artists who become celebrities, are the events and moments that fueled the person they became. When I think of Earl Simmons and his untimely death, I can’t help but think of the adults who failed
TODAY'S EDUCATION RESEARCH REPORT
Education Research Report How do weighted funding formulas affect charter school enrollments? by Jonathan Kantrowitz / 17h Study: "How Do Weighted Funding Formulas Affect Charter School Enrollments?" Author: Paul Bruno (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) This study was presented at the American Educational Research Association's 2021 Virtual Annual Meeting. Main Findings: The adoption o
A VERY BUSY DAY Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... The latest news and resources in education since 2007 #tBATs
Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... | The latest news and resources in education since 2007 A VERY BUSY DAY Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... The latest news and resources in education since 2007 THIS WEEK IN EDUCATION Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... The latest news and resources in education since 2007 - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/04/this-week-in-education-larry-f
Teacher Tom: I Don't Know What They Are Learning . . . And Neither Do You
I Don't Know What They Are Learning . . . And Neither Do You I was recently asked how I go about explaining to skeptical parents what their child is learning as she plays. It's a common enough question, one I don't need to address very often in my day-to-day life as a teacher, largely because the Woodland Park Cooperative School's reputation as a play-based school precedes it, mostly only attrac
Ken Futernick: Teacher Stories about Life Today | Diane Ravitch's blog
Ken Futernick: Teacher Stories about Life Today About a decade ago, when policy elites were bashing teachers on a regular basis, Ken Futernick was writing about the challenges that teachers face every day, including lack of support by administrators and poor working conditions. Recently, he has been creating podcasts in which teachers explain how they teach about important issues of the day, lik
Education Matters: Gary Chartrand spreads misinformation about charter schools, again.
Gary Chartrand spreads misinformation about charter schools, again Gary Chartrand really supports charter schools; that is undeniable; however, the same can’t be said for public schools, which he has for decades sought to undermine. His tenure on the state board of education, a position he as a grocer was completely unqualified for saw, high stakes testing go up, and teacher salaries go down as
CURMUDGUCATION: When Bill Gates Shows You Who He Is...
When Bill Gates Shows You Who He Is... This recent article from the New Republic is a bit of a slog if you have not become a student of the various attempts to create covid vaccines, treatments, etc. But it hinges on two factors that matter a great deal in education-- intellectual property and Bill Gates. It comes, coincidentally, right around the 68th anniversary of Jonas Salk's creation of the
The Year Without Standardized Testing | gadflyonthewallblog
The Year Without Standardized Testing Last year was the first in nearly two decades that the US did not give standardized tests to virtually every student in public school. Think about that. Since 2001 almost every child took the tests unless their parents explicitly demanded they be opted out . For 19 years almost every child in grades 3-8 and once in high school took standardized assessments.
IT IS NEVER AS INNOCUOUS AS IT APPEARS UPON FIRST BLUSH – Dad Gone Wild
IT IS NEVER AS INNOCUOUS AS IT APPEARS UPON FIRST BLUSH “What was educationally significant and hard to measure has been replaced by what is educationally insignificant and easy to measure. So now we measure how well we taught what isn’t worth learning.” —Arthur L. Costa; Professor of Education, Emeritus; CA State Univ, Sacramento Every once in a while I feel the need to do a kitchen sink editio

APR 12

The Year Without Standardized Testing
Last year was the first in nearly two decades that the US did not give standardized tests to virtually every student in public school. Think about that. Since 2001 almost every child took the tests unless their parents explicitly demanded they be opted out . For 19 years almost every child in grades 3-8 and once in high school took standardized assessments. And then came 2019-20 and – nothing . N
THE TOP BANANA: TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES Monday, April 12, 2021 #REDFORED #tbats #openonlywhensafe #edchat #K12 #learning #edleadership #edtech #engchat #literacy #edreform
Big Education Ape THE TOP BANANA TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES “I’ve never done any of this”: A Texas parent reluctantly dives into a school district’s battle over masks https://www.texastribune.org/2021/04/12/texas-comal-isd-masks-coronavirus/ OPINION: Let’s change our approach to traditionally overlooked students https://hechingerreport.org/opinion-lets-change-our-approach-to-traditionally-overlo
Fewer new teachers in the pipeline. – Fred Klonsky
Fewer new teachers in the pipeline Over Spring break I had lunch with an old teaching buddy of mine. It has been nearly a decade since I retired from teaching but we keep in touch. Not as often because of the pandemic. But, we are both vaccinated now. I wanted to share a Little Village bodega/restaurant with him and catch up. The tacos de canasta were, as usual, fantastic. And I had one taco wit
Peter Greene: I Believe in Public Education | Diane Ravitch's blog
Peter Greene: I Believe in Public Education Peter Greene is well-known as a blogger, a teacher, a columnist for Forbes, and a humorist. He taught in the public schools of Pennsylvania for nearly 40 years. He wrote this article at my request. He wrote: I believe in public education. I believe in the promise that every child should have a free quality education. And not by going out to shop for it
NewBlackMan (in Exile) TODAY #BLM #BLACKLIVESMATTER
NewBlackMan (in Exile) NewBlackMan (in Exile) TODAY Big Education Ape: THIS WEEK WITH NEWBLACKMAN (IN EXILE) - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/04/this-week-with-newblackman-in-exile-blm_10.html A Melting Pot Of Traditions: Regina Carter Talks With Lara Downes by Mark Anthony Neal / 14h "When Duke Ellington famously coined the phrase "beyond category," he was talking about freedom — of ch
A VERY BUSY DAY Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... The latest news and resources in education since 2007 #tBATs
Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... | The latest news and resources in education since 2007 A VERY BUSY DAY Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... The latest news and resources in education since 2007 THIS WEEK IN EDUCATION Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... The latest news and resources in education since 2007 - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/04/this-week-in-education-larry-f
Secretary of Education Dr. Miguel Cardona Joins Roundtable Discussion with Students to Discuss Experiences During the Pandemic | U.S. Department of Education
Secretary of Education Dr. Miguel Cardona Joins Roundtable Discussion with Students to Discuss Experiences During the Pandemic Following the Department of Education's release of the COVID-19 Handbook, Volume 2: Roadmap to Reopening Safely and Meeting All Students' Needs , which includes research-based strategies to address the impact of the pandemic on students, educators, and staff, Secretary o
Compulsory Dyslexia Screening: A Trojan Horse To Advance Data Collection For Predatory Pay For Success Deals in Pre-K and Early Literacy – Wrench in the Gears
Compulsory Dyslexia Screening: A Trojan Horse To Advance Data Collection For Predatory Pay For Success Deals in Pre-K and Early Literacy I put together a presentation to warn California educators, parents, and elected officials about Boston Consulting Group’s ties to compulsory dyslexia screening legislation. See the consulting firm’s July 2020 white paper, The Economic Impact of Dyslexia in Cal
Voucher tax money follows the grift, not the child: a case study - Public Enemy Number 1
Voucher tax money follows the grift, not the child: a case study A "Sparrow Academy" experience demonstrates why the Step Up for Students voucher school "marketplace" needs a grand jury, a Grady Judd task force, and fundamental reform -- not an expansion. I’ll be referring to the mother in this article by her initials, CS. And I’m using the pseudonym “Terry” for her son. On April 1, CS received
Teacher Tom: "First Puzzles are Hard, Then You Turn them Easy"
"First Puzzles are Hard, Then You Turn them Easy" I've always felt that classic jigsaw puzzles held a special place in our classroom. They stand out as uniquely directive in that there is, in the end, only one right way assemble them. Yes, of course, a child might have other ideas. Someone might, say, build a tower with the pieces or something and once a group of children used puzzle pieces as a
Cardona’s Flexibility on Standardized Testing Creates Confusion and Rancor | janresseger
Cardona’s Flexibility on Standardized Testing Creates Confusion and Rancor After a chaotic schoolyear including remote learning and sometimes complicated hybrid schedules of in-person and remote learning, students are returning to full-time school to face the annual standardized tests. These are the tests that Congress requires under the Every Student Succeeds Act, the tests first required by No
NYC Public School Parents: Parents & community members protest closure of PS 88 in the Bronx; will they be forced to take DOE to court to stop this irrational proposal?
Parents & community members protest closure of PS 88 in the Bronx; will they be forced to take DOE to court to stop this irrational proposal? Stories on the proposed closure of PS 88 have appeared in the Daily News and on Bronx News-12 TV . DOE officials are trying to close a small, beloved K-3 zoned school in District 9 in the Bronx, PS 88, also called CES 88 or the Silverstein Little Sparrow S
Private schools could end up with no public money if they press too hard
Could public money finance private-school discrimination, religion and fake history? If states can't control what's taught with taxpayer money, the upshot could be ending charter schools and public funds for private tuition altogether. With bills pending in more than 20 state legislatures to expand private school voucher programs, this spring could usher in the biggest transfer in funds from pub
An Open Letter from the Jealous Cabal
An Open Letter from the Jealous Cabal In case you haven’t heard yet, the State Board of Education (SBE) approved a settlement with the Oklahoma Public Charter School Association during their March 25 Board meeting. Against the advice of their in-house counsel, the SBE voted 4-3 essentially to allow charter schools to have access to local revenue, in addition to the state revenue they already rec

APR 11

CATCH UP WITH CURMUDGUCATION + ICYMI: Spring Might Be Here Edition (4/11)
CURMUDGUCATION: ICYMI: Spring Might Be Here Edition (4/11) Spring Might Be Here Edition It's not really spring in Northwest PA until it snows one more time. But it certainly is pleasant right now. So that's something. Let's see what we have to read this week Acceleration Nation Nancy Flanagan has noticed that acceleration is having a moment, and she has some thoughts about those shenanigans. Taki
THE TOP BANANA: TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES Sunday, April 11, 2021 #REDFORED #tbats #openonlywhensafe #edchat #K12 #learning #edleadership #edtech #engchat #literacy #edreform
Big Education Ape THE TOP BANANA TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES More Colleges Say They'll Require Students To Have COVID-19 Vaccines For Fall https://www.npr.org/2021/04/11/984787779/should-colleges-require-covid-19-vaccines-for-fall-more-campuses-are-saying-yes Southern California community plunged into turmoil after popular teacher filmed at Capitol riot http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheRawStory/
Parents, Stop Talking About the ‘Lost Year’ - The New York Times
Parents, Stop Talking About the ‘Lost Year’ Teenagers and tweens will be fine, experts say — if adults model resilience. They’re calling it a “lost year.” On and offline, parents are trading stories — poignant and painful — about all of the ways that they fear their middle schoolers are losing ground. “It’s really hard to put my finger on what happened exactly,” said Jorge Gallegos, whose son, E
EdAction in Congress April 11, 2021 - Education Votes
EdAction in Congress April 11, 2021 President Biden calls for historic investment in Title I On Friday, President Biden released a blueprint for next year’s budget that calls on Congress to increase U.S. Department of Education funding by more than 40 percent. Title I funding for high-poverty schools would rise by $20 billion—the biggest year-over-year increase since the program’s inception in 1
Students didn't just learn nothing during school closures — they actually regressed, study says | Salon.com
Students didn't just learn nothing during school closures — they actually regressed, study says Researchers say students "made little or no progress while learning from home" — and many suffered "learning loss" A new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the pandemic caused "the largest disruption to education in history" — and children are suffering from learni
John Thompson: How Corporate Reform Devastated My School | Diane Ravitch's blog
John Thompson: How Corporate Reform Devastated My School John Thompson is an historian and a retired teacher in Oklahoma. He wrote this piece for the blog at my request. In 2006, our John Marshall High School was enduring the worst of the five months-long, extreme meltdowns I witnessed in 18 years with the Oklahoma City Public Schools. Many days, I’d see the anarchy and the blood-splattered hall
Yong Zhao and William McDiarmid: Time to Rethink Standardized Testing | Diane Ravitch's blog
Yong Zhao and William McDiarmid: Time to Rethink Standardized Testing Two friends got together to address an important topic for readers of the blog. Yong Zhao is a much-published international scholar based at the University of Kansas. Bill McDiarmid is Dean Emeritus of the College of Education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. They write: COVID-19 has disrupted schooling in i
A VERY BUSY DAY Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... The latest news and resources in education since 2007 #tBATs
Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... | The latest news and resources in education since 2007 A VERY BUSY DAY Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... The latest news and resources in education since 2007 THIS WEEK IN EDUCATION Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... The latest news and resources in education since 2007 - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/04/this-week-in-education-larry-f
Education Matters: Now that the testing EO has come out, the big question is what will DCPS do?
Now that the testing EO has come out, the big question is what will DCPS do? If the past is prologue, the answer to that question is the opposite of what is right. They will still use the tests to bludgeon teachers and save money. Who wants to make a bet what they will do? First, some random thoughts. Executive orders from the state diminish the power of localities. They make Corcoran a de facto
How Teachers Handle the Death of George Floyd (Dan Levin) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice
How Teachers Handle the Death of George Floyd (Dan Levin) Dan Levin writes for the New York Times . “He was a foreign correspondent covering Canada from 2016 until 2018. From 2008 to 2015, Mr. Levin was based in Beijing, where he reported on human rights, politics and culture in China and Asia. @globaldan “ This article appeared April 7, 2021. At this point in the school year, Lacrissha Walton t
A year ago today, another loss | JD2718
A year ago today, another loss A UFT Executive Board Meeting is wrapping. I’m not sure when. Not in the last two years. I’d disagreed with Mulgrew. Or Weingarten. Or Michael Mendel (I miss Michael). Or maybe a DR meeting, and I had spoken sharply. Whatever. The meeting is over, and a slight figure, smiling, comes over, to explain that I spoke well, but that there really was no disagreement. Well
Upper West Side Mommies Sue to Reopen Schools - south bronx school com
http://www.southbronxschool.com Upper West Side Mommies Sue to Reopen Schools Those "open the schools" folks are starting to bore me. According to today's New York Post, three Upper West Side mommies (Allison Weinger, Natalya Murakhver, and Stephanie Kokinos ) put word through Go Fund me to raise $20k for a lawyer to take the DOE to court to force schools to go 100% in person. As of yesterday, Ap
Choosing Democracy: Teaching Ethnic Studies in Sacramento
Teaching Ethnic Studies in Sacramento On March 16, 2021, we invited a panel of teachers from SCUSD to share about the teaching of Ethnic Studies. We invite you to view the powerful presentations, Hosted and sponsored by the Black Parallel School Board. Teachers at work. e BPSB landing page for the video: https://blackparallelschoolboard.com/teaching-ethnic-studies/ Excellent discussion of the is
NYC Public School Parents: Carranza's new gig with IXL Learning, and its defective and stressful product that DOE has paid millions for & subjected NYC students to use
Carranza's new gig with IXL Learning, and its defective and stressful product that DOE has paid millions for & subjected NYC students to use In the NY Post today, Sue Edelman wrote an expose of an ed tech company , IXL Learning, that recently hired former DOE Chancellor Richard Carranza two weeks after he left office. As I was quoted as saying, "I have no gripe about Carranza getting whatever jo

APR 10

TOP POSTS THIS WEEK Saturday, April 10, 2021 #REDFORED #tbats #openonlywhensafe #edchat #K12 #learning #edleadership #edtech #engchat #literacy #edreform
Big Education Ape TOP POSTS THIS WEEK 4/10/21 Biden promised to end federal funding of for-profit charter schools. A new report explains how they operate. - The Washington Post Huge cash influx pouring into Kansas City school board races | The Kansas City Star Secretary of Education Joins Senator Warren and Senator Schumer for Discussion With Student Loan Borrowers and Advocates + HBCU Capital Fi