Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Sun-Times editorial calls the union, 'bomb throwers'

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Sun-Times editorial calls the union, 'bomb throwers':

Sun-Times editorial calls the union, 'bomb throwers'

by Mike Klonsky

A funny thing happened to me this morning. I read the Sun-Times. The editorial page that is. What's funny about a S-T editorial, you ask? Well, the title for one thing -- 'CTU, don’t burn down the house'.

But the really funny thing was that the editorial is essentially in agreement with the teachers union in its critique of the announced 54 school closings over the next few months. So why have they resorted to such offensive metaphors? Why are they distorting the union's positions and making them seem like the unreasonable ones, when it's Rahm who is saying that "the time for negotiations is over"?

The S-T board claims the union is "preventing the public from looking at this issue honestly." But they don't say how they're preventing it. The  CReATE group of more than 100 Chicago-area academics and researchers have been looking at the issues "honestly" all year and they, along with the Raise Your Hand Coalition will offer their findings to the board on April 2nd. Nobody from 

UPDATE: NOTES FROM DIANE + A Report from Chicago | The Network For Public Education

A Report from Chicago | The Network For Public Education:

NOTES FROM DIANE – MARCH 29, 2013

by admin

Diane Ravitch President

Dear Friends and Allies,
The major issue of the day is the rapid increase in school closings in cities across the nation. The latest and most outrageous example is the decision of the Chicago Public Schools to close 54 public schools and displace some 30,000 students. This is unprecedented in American history. This is the bitter fruit of No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top. As alarming as the Chicago action is, what is even more shocking is that the American public is being persuaded by a constant barrage of corporate reform chatter to believe that public schools should close if they have low scores. But public schools are not shoe stores. They are community assets. We must build their capacity, support them, strengthen them. No school was ever improved by closing it.
The article in the New York Times describing this startling decision to shutter 50+ schools described it as the largest single closing of public schools “in recent memory.” The more accurate description would have been “ever.” In nearly two centuries of American public education, no district ever engaged in school closings as a 

A Report from Chicago

by admin

Yesterday the Coalition of the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) and the Chicago Grassroots Education Movement (GEM) held a rally and march in downtown Chicago in protest of the 71 planned school actions including 54 school closures, the largest slate of closures ever attempted in the US.  Nearly 7,000 students, parents, teachers, and community members took over the streets, and more than 150 individuals were ticketed for civil disobedience by sitting in the street across from City Hall, a testament to the dedication of the individuals ready and willing to do whatever is necessary to fight back against a failed policy of corporate education reform.
The school actions are almost exclusively in African-American and Latino neighborhoods, drawing the attention and ire of civil rights leaders like Jesse Jackson, and legislators such as Bobby Rush and a cohort of progressive aldermen.  At the legislative level, a committee for transparency, the Chicago Educational Facilities Task Force has demanded that Chicago Public Schools provide a 10 year master-plan, and yet they continue to ignore the law, asking for “just one more round of closures, before a 5 yr. moratorium” last December.  Feigning 

SPECIAL Mid Day Banana Break 3-28-13 #soschat #edreform

Big Education Ape - Mid Day Banana Break

CORPORATE ED REFORM

Update on parent trigger proposal in Texas

by pureparents

From PAA Houston member Karen Miller: This morning the Senate Ed Comm did pass the parent trigger bill, SB 1263 with some amendments, one, by bill sponsor Sen Taylor would require the school to be defined as low performing for three years rather than two. Sen Lucio was concerned about governing body of open enrollment charter school cannot coerce, bribe or induce a parent to sign a petition for the parent trigger.  Intent is to assure this is grassroots parent … →

More Texas testing resistance!

by pureparents

From Karen Miller: The Texas House of Representatives voted 3/26 to reduce high stakes tests required for Texas high school graduation from 15 to 5 tests:  English II reading and writing, algebra I, biology and US history. House public education committee chair, Jimmie Don Aycock, R-Killeen, began the marathon nine hour debate by asking the members four questions: *Are we over-testing our students? *Is it ok for a child to find a path outside of a four year college degree? … →

Chicago testing forum with Seattle’s Jesse Hagopian

by pureparents

Garfield High School teacher and MAP test boycott leader Jesse Hagopian told the crowd at the Mt. Carmel Missionary Baptist Church in Chicago last Thursday night that he agreed with Arne Duncan that education is the civil rights movement of our time. But history teacher Jesse reminded us that the last major civil rights movement started with a boycott….and this time it might just be a test boycott. All the speakers for our “The Case Against High-Stakes Standardized Testing” forum … →

Voucher amendment to Senate budget failed

by pureparents

PAA Board member Karen Miller shared this update on the threatened voucher amendment to the Senate budget proposal which she alerted us to last week: The US Senate pulled an all nighter last Friday, passing its first formal budget in four years. The Democratic-drafted budget was approved narrowly by a 50-49 vote, largely along party lines with all Republicans opposing the plan. They were joined by Democratic Senators Baucus (Montana), Hagan (North Carolina), Pryor (Arkansas), Begich (Alaska). Eighty nine year … →

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee looks to add $1.2 billion to basic education funding

by Anna Marum, The Oregonian

The additional school money comes from closing more than $500 million in tax breaks and extensions on both the beer tax and some business and operations taxes otherwise set to expire next year.

What We Don’t Know, But Should, About Student Loans

by Jeff Selingo

For the last several months, we’ve seen the results of more than a dozen studies to remake the federal student-aid system, part of the Reimagining Aid Design and Delivery project funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The idea behind the effort is to seed ideas for the future of financial aid in advance of the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act.
The reports include many solid ideas for reforming student aid. But in reading the reports, one comes to another conclusion: despite the billions we spend on student aid, we don’t know as much as we should about how it’s 

Education for the Greater Good

by Miguel Angel Escotet

Lack of social ethics is one of the causes of violence and it is at the root of our present social and economic crises

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We live in a world in turmoil, a world of collapsing ideas, unfulfilled promises, and crashed ideologies and we experience the forces of change invading our classrooms every day, and at the same time, the voices of the discontents demanding radical reform of public education at all levels, including higher 

National Science Standards Are Needed for Stupid Parents

by stlgretchen

From Mother Nature Network, mnn.com and Climate change education in new federal standards:

  

Federal science standards coming later this month will recommend that public schools educate students about climate change. Once students understand, they may just educate their parents.

What little my boys know about climate change, they know from me or their own reading, 

This is what building empathy in kids looks like

by Sam

Imagine if every school did this?

Watch Using Babies to Decrease Aggression, Prevent Bullying on PBS. See more from PBS NewsHour.

Perversion

by Jim Horn

From Corpus Christie's Caller.com by Ray McMurrey:

CORPUS CHRISTI — Exiting Texas Commissioner of Education Robert Scott caught headlines before leaving office in 2012 when he claimed that high-stakes testing in Texas has become a “perversion.” Thank you Robert Scott for telling the truth.

Testing begins this week and the perversion is upon us. The public school calendar has 180 instructional days, 45 devoted to testing and countless others invested in test preparation. Current high-stakes testing undermines student learning and the general health of children. . . . .

Read the rest here.

Association of California School Administrators to honor Sutter Principal - Valley Community Newspapers

Valley Community Newspapers

Association of California School Administrators to honor Sutter Principal Valley Community Newspapers The Association of California School Administrators has selected five Sacramento City Unified School District administrators to be honored at its annual awards ceremony in May. Congratulations to: Becky Bryant, Special Education Administrator; Paula ...

From the lunch line to the stage: LAUSD cafeteria worker featured in new play

by Mary Plummer

Joel Jimenez, Frank Boeheim (center) and Jasmine Rosales in the new play "Lunch Lady Courage."
A new play that tackles healthy eating in schools by following the life of a lunch lady opens tonight. Among the performers is a Los Angeles Unified School District cafeteria worker who will take to the stage for the first time at age 58.
Frank Boeheim is part of the 21-person cast, which features 17 students from Los Angeles High School of the Arts. Boeheim was part of a group of LAUSD cafeteria workers interviewed by playwright Peter Howard last fall. 

ICE Meeting Today: Better Not Shout, Better Not Pout, George Schmidt is Coming To Town

by ed notes online

At ICE's scheduled meeting today we will have the bonus of special guest Substance,  telling us all about what's happening in Chicago with the school closing protests and the CORE re-election campaign. As one of CORE's founding members, George will also talk about the evolution of CORE from an 8 person group of people in 2008 reading Naomi Klein's "Shock Doctrine" to running the Chicago Teachers Union by July 2010. The theme of George's talk will be from dissidents to the realities of power.
George Schmidt, the founder, publisher and editor of

And that is an interesting theme given many Unity Caucus comments over the years that it is easy for a group like ICE or MORE to be critical when it doesn't have to deal with running a union. And those are not points to 

The Best-Case Scenario — Whole Child Education

The Best-Case Scenario — Whole Child Education

THE WHOLE CHILD BLOG

The Best-Case Scenario

March 28, 2013 by Klea Scharberg

As demonstrated by the tragic events of not only the last few months in Connecticut, Georgia, and California, but also the last 10 years across the nation, school safety is a complicated issue with no single or simple solution. We have read, listened to, and participated in discussions on how to keep our schools safe and secure. From our homes, faculty rooms, school board meetings, and the halls of Congress, we are all moving from shock to recovery, fear to resiliency.

As educators, we put our students first every day. We know that fostering trusting relationships between adults and students is the most effective way to improve school safety. We work together to build positive 

The Third Annual ASCD Whole Child Virtual Conference Launches May 6, 2013

by Whole Child Virtual Conference

ASCD's third annual Whole Child Virtual Conference, entitled "Moving from Implementation to Sustainability to Culture," will run May 6–10, 2013. The free and exclusively online event—which attracted more than 900 participants last year—offers educators around the globe 24 sessions to support their work to implement and sustain a whole child approach to education.
From Monday, May 6, through Friday, May 10, daily general sessions will be presented live between 10:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. eastern time. The full agenda and registration information is available at www.ascd.org/wcvirtualconference.

Scheduled speakers include

• Pasi Sahlberg, director general of the Centre for International Mobility and Cooperation in Helsinki, Finland, and an internationally renowned education speaker and writer;
• Michael Fullan, professor emeritus of the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto and a worldwide authority on educational reform;
• Andy Hargreaves, the Thomas More Brennan chair in the Lynch School of Education at Boston College and an internationally recognized researcher, writer, consultant, and adviser; and
• Educators from Milwaukie High School in Milwaukie, Ore., the 2013 Vision in Action: The ASCD Whole Child Award-winning school.

Prominent ASCD authors, experts, and education thought leaders will also present. The lineup includes Thomas Armstrong, Yong Zhao, Eric Jensen, William H. Parrett and Kathleen M. Budge, and Wendy L. Ostroff.
There will also be two international pre-conference sessions held on Friday, May 3, 2013. The Australasian section will be held 10:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m. (Sydney, Australia time) with special presentations for audiences in the Australasian region. The European section will be held 2:00–4:00 p.m. (London, England time) with input from key European education experts.
"ASCD is pleased to once again offer the Whole Child Virtual Conference to educators worldwide," said ASCD Executive Director and CEO Dr. Gene R. Carter. "Attendees from schools and districts around the world will learn how to create sustainable school cultures that serve the whole child. I encourage educators around the globe to attend this powerful virtual conference."
Visit www.ascd.org/wcvirtualconference to register and learn more.

Meet ASCD President Becky J. Berg

by Willona Sloan

Becky J. Berg is from a family of educators. "My dad was a school board president; my mom was a career educator; and my sister, my grandmother, and my great-grandfather were educators," she says. Despite the genetic pull, Berg wasn't completely convinced she would follow in the family's footsteps until her experience as a summer camp counselor while she was in college. It was then that she realized how much she loved working with kids.
Today, Berg is the superintendent of the Deer Park School District in Deer Park, Wash. During her career, she has served at the middle and elementary levels as a teacher, assistant principal, and principal, as well as an adjunct instructor at Eastern Washington University and Washington State University. Berg earned a bachelor's degree at Eastern Washington University, a master's degree in education from Western Washington University, and a doctorate from Teachers College, Columbia University.

Whole Child, Whole Families
Berg, who feels a strong commitment to social justice issues, says it is her mission to help every student to reach his or her potential. Sometimes kids face incredible obstacles. "I think one of the biggest obstacles I have seen kids face is poverty. And exclusion," says Berg.
Deer Park School District consists of four traditional schools, and 60 percent of the families qualify for free or reduced lunch. Berg feels very proud of the district's commitment to providing comprehensive supports for a whole child education. One way they have succeeded in doing so is through the district's vibrant parent partnership program. In addition, Berg organized a first-ever communitywide, whole child–whole family back-to-school event that drew nearly 1,000 participants and included faith-based, district, and social service agencies, as well as additional community-based organizations.
In addition, Berg has organized district efforts around major priority areas, with a driving focus on improving student learning. She is leading implementation of professional learning communities and working with educators across the district to prepare for the implementation of the Common Core State Standards, as well as a new evaluation system and instructional model.
Commitment to ASCD
Berg has been an ASCD member for more than 20 years, where she has served in a variety of roles: Washington State ASCD board member and president, Leadership Council member-at-large, Worldwide Influence Study Group member, Legislative Committee member, and ASCD Board member from 2007–10.
During her tenure as ASCD President, Berg plans to build on the association's rich traditions while also helping the organization to stretch the definition of what an association is and can be. We are looking forward to a busy and exciting year!
Congratulations to ASCD's new president, Becky J. Berg.

NYC Public School Parents: The pushback begins: my response to inBloom's attorney

NYC Public School Parents: The pushback begins: my response to inBloom's attorney:

The pushback begins: my response to inBloom's attorney

by Leonie Haimson

The pushback and spin begins.  See the WaPost oped today, On the question of student privacy by Steve Winnick, the attorney for InBloom, the Gates-funded corporation that is collecting, storing and sharing the confidential student data from nine states,  including NY, MA, LA, CO, IL, NC, GA, DE, and KY.  More states may get added on over time as Gates offers states & districts cash to participate.  (See ourfact sheet here.)

In all, Winnick's oped is a highly unconvincing rebuttal to an earlier WaPost article by Valerie Strauss, about the way the Obama administration is being sued for having gutted student privacy protections under FERPA, to encourage highly risky data-sharing projects like inBloom.  Winnick that does not deny that inBloom will disclose sensitive and personally identifiable student information  to for-profit vendors without parental consent.  Indeed, this is what inBloom is designed to achieve.

Though Winnick goes into great length about whether this plan violates the pre- 2008 or pre- 2011 revisions of FERPA, this is immaterial to most parents; it clearly violates all sense of decency and ethical boundaries to provide such confidential and personally identifiable data, including student names, addresses, photographs, 

Update: Our privacy bill with more sponsors & inBloom videos

by Molly

Our student privacy bill, A06059, now has 35 sponsors in the NYS Assembly, including the original sponsor, AM O'Donnell, and a companion bill, S04284, in the State Senate. Check the links to see if your legislators have signed on, and if not, please call your Assemblymember and your State Senator today.    

Two more recent media clips: 

 Who is Stockpiling and Sharing Private Information About New York Students   (Village Voice) in which the NY State Education spokesperson claims that parents “give up” the right to decide if they want highly confidential  information about their child shared with corporations and for-profit vendors when they register him or her in a public school. 

Privacy, big data and education: more about the inBloom databases (Hechinger) in which InBloom Inc. attempts to disclaim all responsibility, and argues no one should blame them if parents aren’t notified or asked for consent before they share their child’s private information with vendors, as they’re just following orders. (For some of the highly sensitive data elements that inBloom is offering cash rewards to for-profit companies to develop their products around, see our blog here.)

For inBloom's vision of the future, see the spooky video below, in which kids silently sit in huge 

It is now time to name names in the so-called #progressive media. Join me, will you? #p2 #u1 #FU – @ the chalk face

It is now time to name names in the so-called #progressive media. Join me, will you? #p2 #u1 #FU – @ the chalk face:

It is now time to name names in the so-called #progressive media. Join me, will you? #p2 #u1 #FU

by Chalk Face, PhD

Over the last few days, perhaps longer, I have been engaged in a comprehensive media onslaught of emails and tweets to members of the national media, both in front of and behind the camera. I have sent them this press release for the rather unique UOO Occupy 2.0 event next week and, over time, links to various stories and interviews here, most recently our interview with Karen Lewis.  Given what’s happening in Chicago, I cannot imagine why pundits, producers, and reporters would not take a second glance at a link on education containing Karen Lewis, or for that matter Diane Ravitch.
Most surprising to me have been the so-called “progressive” pundits and networks, like Rachel Maddow or Democracy Now. No bites, at all. Nothing. Not a word. Crickets. These networks will give apparently valuable air-time to every Tea Party zealot out there, but little to no air-time to actual progressives, many of them ardent public school defenders, who don’t buy into the testing nonsense. In fact, you might like this little factoid: there are roughly 50 members remaining of the so-called Tea Party Caucus, but there are 77 members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. 
Not even the most progressive of progressive shows on any of the major news networks come close to 

Schools Matter: The Fight in Chicago to Stop Mass School Closings: Model for the Nation

Schools Matter: The Fight in Chicago to Stop Mass School Closings: Model for the Nation:

The Fight in Chicago to Stop Mass School Closings: Model for the Nation

by Jim Horn

From SubstanceNews:

Thousands march, 127 arrested in massive March 27 Chicago Loop protests against school closings, Emanuel dictatorship

George N. Schmidt - March 28, 2013

More than 3,000 teachers, parents, students and other citizens rallies and marched against school closings in Chicago on March 27, 2013, and 129 were arrested during civil disobedience to protest the largest number of public school closings in U.S. history, according to a number of Substance reporters and other sources who were present at the events. The rally, marches, and sit-ins, are a continuation of the protests that began when the current "Chief Executive Officer" of Chicago's public schools, Barbara Byrd Bennett, announced in October 2012 that she had secured an extension of the deadline required by state law to announce the closing list for the 2013-2014 school year.

Protesters filled the block alongside Chicago's City Hall (right in the above photograph) and numbered in the thousands despite the attempt by Rahm Emanuel's out-of-town Chief of Police, Garry McCarthy, who ordered the police to downplay the size of the protest in a move reminiscent of the days when the Nixon administration was downsizing official estimates of anti-war protesters against the Vietnam War. Substance photo by Susan Zupan.On March 27, 2013, the protests, coordinated by the Chicago Teachers Union, others unions, and a broad range of community groups and faith-based entities, began the final assault against the mayor's drive to privatize and sabotage the public schools in the 

Californians Prioritize School Counselors Over School Police, Two to One | K-12 News Network

Californians Prioritize School Counselors Over School Police, Two to One | K-12 News Network:

Californians Prioritize School Counselors Over School Police, Two to One

by admin

A recent survey from the California Endowment asked parents of school-aged children and other voters in the state what school safety measures were most important to them, and they overwhelmingly chose a school counselor or psychologist in every school as opposed to an armed officer or other security personnel.
The LA Times reported additionally that

When asked whether hiring a school counselor or a police officer would be more effective at preventing violence, 67% chose the counselor, according to the survey of 1,200 voters released by the California Endowment, a private health foundation. The survey was done in the wake of last month’s killing of 20 children and six adults by a gunman at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.
…

Some 96% support training school employees in emergency response techniques, and 91% favor