Monday, December 31, 2012

DFER: BRAGGING ABOUT STEALING OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS

DFER Fake Democrats for Education Privatization (click on Picture)

IT IS A RULE: YOU CAN'T BE AGAINST PEOPLE AND FOR CORPORATIONS AND CALL YOURSELF A DEMOCRAT...EVER!

In 2012, we worked with some amazing privatizers nationwide to:

-- Elect more than 100 reform-friendly candidates to office, including 22 of 30 priority races on our "hot list."

-- Lead the successful WA state ballot initiative which allows for the creation of charter schools.

-- Lead the historic, bi-partisan push to reform teacher tenure policies in NJ

-- Lead the coalition to compel school districts in New York State to enact new teacher evaluation policies based on student performance.

-- Lead the effort to seat "reform majority" school board in several key cities.

-- Organize marquis "education reform" public events at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte.

-- Impact news coverage of public education reform from coast-to-coast, appearing in over 1,850 news articles and op-eds.

-- Lead first-ever fact-finding trip of blended-learning schools in CA for Democratic elected officials nationwide.

-- Lead major public information campaign on television and radio urging striking Chicago teachers and the city to get back to the negotiatibe table (and back to the classroom.)

Most active Deformers

Dishonorable Mention

Education stories that resonated in 2012 — and will matter in 2013

Education stories that resonated in 2012 — and will matter in 2013:

Education stories that resonated in 2012 — and will matter in 2013

Posted by Valerie Strauss on December 31, 2012 at 1:18 pm

Text Size
Print
Reprints

An undated photo of a shadowy shape that some people say is the Loch Ness monster. (AP)

Here’s a baker’s dozen of posts, in no particular order, that generated great interest among readers and help tell the story of public education in 2012. Many of the subjects are certain to take center stage in the education debate in 2013.

* Century-old 8th-grade exam: Can you pass a 1912 test?

*Texas GOP rejects ‘critical thinking’ skills. Really.

*10-year-old: ‘I want to know why after vacation I have to take test after test after test’

*The complete list of problems with high-stakes standardized tests

*How GERM is infecting schools around the world

*Meet the ‘worst’ 8th grade math teacher in NYC

*The real problem with Rahm’

2012: The Year in Review, Education and Beyond - Dana Goldstein

2012: The Year in Review, Education and Beyond - Dana Goldstein:

2012: The Year in Review, Education and Beyond

by Dana Goldstein

Education story of the year: The Chicago teachers' strike. American teacher unionism was founded in Chicago in the late 1890s, as female, largely Catholic elementary school teachers resisted centralization policies--standardized testing, a uniform curriculum, numeric teacher evaluations--pursued by a male, Protestant bureaucracy. So it was fitting that the loudest cry of protest against contemporary standards-and-accountability school reform emerged in the Windy City this September, as teachers resisted professional evaluation tied to student test scores, closures of neighborhood schools, and the expansion of the charter school sector. You can read my history of Chicago teacher unionism here.
The strike has had a few interesting results. First, it raised the profile of Chicago Teachers' Union leader Karen Lewis, who is a less compromising and more leftist figure than Randi Weingarten, president of the national American Federation of Teachers. Second, it brought to the public's attention the tension bewteen increasing test-score pressure on teachers and schools while cutting budgetary support for art, music, counseling, school

Christian Isaac – Biting the Apple | Student Voice

Christian Isaac – Biting the Apple | Student Voice:

Christian Isaac – Biting the Apple

by admin

“Modern cynics and skeptics…see no harm in paying those to whom they entrust the minds of their children a smaller wage than is paid to those to whom they entrust the care of their plumbing” ~ John F. Kennedy

If you’ve learned anything, the odds are you’ve been taught. If you’ve been taught, the odds are you’ve been taught by a teacher. Teachers, the things we spend most of the year tolerating, are there from day one of pre-kindergarten to high school graduation. Their presence is seemingly haunting- there’s no escape.
Teachers are held responsible for millions of minds, including mine. After eleven years of schooling, learning, waking up, falling asleep, worrying, laughing, and being taught, one can begin to realize that these things are in fact different. They’re all paid to do the same thing; teach. It turns out, after

Jersey Jazzman: Kids Pay For Christie's Incompetence

Jersey Jazzman: Kids Pay For Christie's Incompetence:

Kids Pay For Christie's Incompetence

by Duke

Like so many other denizens of the Garden State, it makes me nuts to watch Governor Chris Christie touted as a fearless leader and maker of tough decisions in the national press. Because the man is really, really bad at his job:

A report submitted this month by the state Department of Education to the Legislature is likely to set the stage for another school-funding debate next year. For many local districts, the outlook is not good.

The Educational Adequacy Report repeats many of the proposals suggested last year by Education Commissioner Chris Cerf. If accepted by the Legislature, they would reduce extra funding districts receive for low-income, bilingual and special-education students.

Done Too Soon - Notable Deaths of 2012 - NYTimes.com

Remembering Etta James, Don Cornelius, Whitney Houston, Anthony Shadid, Adrienne Rich, Dick Clark, Donna Summer, Nora Ephron, Andy Griffith, Gore Vidal, Dave Brubeck and others who died this year.