Daily Kos: Thoughts on Snowden, NSA, and more

Daily Kos: Thoughts on Snowden, NSA, and more:

Thoughts on Snowden, NSA, and more

by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken)

As I write this, I sit at the counter of the bookstore at Busboys & Poets at 5th & K IN DC.  For those who do not know it, B&P is a chain of restaurants owned by Iraqi-American Andy Shallal, named for Langston Hughes, who was both a busboy and a poet.  Andy is very left in his politics.  The original store at 14th and V has a bookstore run by Teaching for Change.  Those in the other three stores, now gearing up, are un directly.  I work weekends in both.
i mention this because hanging all the stores is a banner that says FREE BRADLEY MANNING.  That seems appropriate in light of the news of the past few days, intensified with Snowden deciding to come forward and reveal his identity.
Below the fold I want to pul together several sets of thoughts, starting with those previously posted as comments on the posts of others, then adding perhaps a few additional thoughts.
I will note only this -  tomorrow I sign a contract to teach at North County High School in Glen Burnie MD.  It is less than ten miles from Fort Meade.  Many of the students I teach will have one or more parents who work at NSA.

There are a lot of retired teachers in the League of Women Voters. Don’t mess with our TRS. | Fred Klonsky

There are a lot of retired teachers in the League of Women Voters. Don’t mess with our TRS. | Fred Klonsky:

There are a lot of retired teachers in the League of Women Voters. Don’t mess with our TRS.

by Fred Klonsky

There’s an interesting post by Elaine Hopkins on her blog, Peoria Post.
The League of Women Voters had their state meeting in Peoria last week.
Someone proposed a resolution on Illinois public employee pensions. It included some nonsense about shared sacrifice.
It’s nonsense because the only ones sacrificing for past 60 years have been members of the state’s pension systems.
Hopkins reports:

The resolution, which had been approved by the LWV’s executive board, was tabled 

Diane in the Evening 6-9-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all:

Seamus McCarville Explains Why He Fights the “Reformers”

by dianerav

Seamus McCarville knows it would be easier for him if he remained silent when faced with attacks on teachers and public schools. But he remembers the advice his teacher gave him in high school he the class bully went after him: Always leave a mark.
No cowering for him.
He fights because he wants to be honest with his students. How can he teach them critical thinking if he runs

Schneider: Jindal in Hot Water in Legislature

by dianerav

Mercedes Schneider summarizes what happened to education bills in the Louisiana legislature this session.
The good news is that the legislature is no longer rolling over for Jindal.
Some of the damage of last year was undone by the courts and the legislature.
Most surprising was the enactment of a “reverse parent trigger,” allowing charter parents to return their school to the district

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 6-9-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 1 hour ago

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: [image: Click on picture to Listen to Diane Ravitch] Reader: Should Children in Kindergarten Do Third Grade Work? by dianerav In a discussion of the expectations of the Common Core, a reader offered this observation: “Here in Clark County Nevada we have been treated to a special pep talk by our new superintendent, a 25 year veteran of the district and a former kindergarten teacher. He stated on Jon Ralston’s show that we will have to step up to meet the Common Core standards. He bluntly stated that from his exper... more »

Under siege—and in bid to stay relevant—teacher unions evolve | Hechinger Report

Under siege—and in bid to stay relevant—teacher unions evolve | Hechinger Report:

Under siege—and in bid to stay relevant—teacher unions evolve

by Sarah Butrymowicz

HONOLULU — The Hawaii State Teachers Association’s weekly briefing meeting had turned into a battle-planning session; the conference room became a war room. It was late November. Officials were digging in for a protracted fight with the state over teacher evaluations and compensation.
They were also dealing with an internal problem: A rogue group of frustrated teachers had launched a “work-to-rule” campaign without union leaders’ approval, and they had to figure out how to respond.
Hawaii has traditionally been one of the most labor-friendly states in the nation. Collective bargaining is written into its constitution, and more than a fifth of its workforce belongs to a union. Only New York and Alaska have higher union-membership rates. A 2012 study by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a conservative education think tank, ranked the Hawaii State Teachers Association (HSTA) as the strongest teachers union in the country.

Students at James Campbell High School on Oahu join their teachers in a work-to-rule protest. On Thursdays, teachers at the school stop working at 3 p.m. and line a busy street nearby, holding signs to drum up public support. (Photo by Sarah Butrymowicz)

But by last November, Hawaii’s 13,000 teachers had reached a breaking point. They had been working without a negotiated contract for more than 16 months. For two years, the union and state had fought over pay, benefits and a new teacher evaluation plan. Defying the union, the governor-appointed Board of Education mandated a 

Penny Pritzker: Destroys Public Education? | Reclaim Reform

Penny Pritzker: Destroys Public Education? | Reclaim Reform:

Penny Pritzker: Destroys Public Education?

by kenpreviti

Penny Pritzker as Secretary of Commerce?
With all the charges against her for tax evasion and the abuses heaped upon women and children by her companies and herself, why is President Obama nominating Pritzker for a Cabinet position? (Watch HERE)

• The billionaire heiress of the Hyatt fortunes. The recently resigned member of the Chicago Board of Education who approved the closing of 50 public schools for lack of tax funds while approving the payment of those same tax funds to charters she invests in – on land and real estate she invests in for gentrification, industrial use, and railroad yards. (HERE)

• The charter school owner who defunded public school libraries, PE programs, art and music departments while firing school nurses and counselors while funding the Pritzker Academy for offerings of Rugby, 

SCTA Wins Court Case Against Superintendent’s Priority Schools » Sacramento teachers’ union sues to preserve seniority rights in teacher layoffs

Legal Clips » Sacramento teachers’ union sues to preserve seniority rights in teacher layoffs:

SCTA Wins Court Case Against Superintendent’s Priority Schools 

SCTA has been litigating a claim against the district for illegal rehires at Priority Schools for the 2011/12 School Year. The court agreed that the District can't apply subjective and changed criteria to post-layoff rehiring for its Priority Schools, and shouldn't have hired/rehired whoever the Priority School Principals decided they wanted, based on differing and arbitrary standards. In the ruling (SCTA v. SCUSD), Judge Sumner found that the District abused its discretion when it tried to apply a categorical exemption for Priority School hiring/rehiring and deviated from seniority in filling at least 58 positions at Priority schools for the 2011/12 school year. The District did not show that individual laid-off teachers with greater seniority were not competent or that they lacked special training and experience for the positions. The judge has remanded the case to the District for the next stage - figuring out which of the laid-off senior teachers suffered loss of rehire, benefits, etc. This is a BIG WIN for SCTA and our teachers in its battle against Superintendent Raymond’s anti-contract agenda. We will keep you informed as the case progresses.

Sacramento teachers’ union sues to preserve seniority rights in teacher layoffs

According to a Sacramento Bee report in Education Week, the Sacramento City Teachers Association (SCTA) has filed a lawsuit over teacher seniority rights in rehiring after layoffs. SCTA’s lawsuit comes months after the union fought the district’s decision to invoke a seldom-used provision in the California Education Code in order to preserve teachers’ positions at six persistently low-performing schools. The result of the civil lawsuit in Sacramento Superior Court could have implications on a growing movement by some of the largest California districts. More and more districts are deviating from purely seniority-based layoffs and the ensuing rehiring process.

“We just want to see everyone treated equally instead of some getting special treatment,” said SCTA President Scott Smith. “Basically, we are saying the way in which they skipped teachers [for layoff] was incorrect.”

Lawyers for Sacramento City Unified School District (SCUSD) say the case, which was filed in November 2011, should be dismissed because it is “utterly lacking in key details such as naming any teacher or counselor who was laid off and refused reemployment in violation of the Education Code,” according to court filings. California law requires that, in a time of budget-based layoffs, teachers with the least experience in a school district are the first to go. The

NYC Public School Parents: Video of massive rally in Albany today and my speech

NYC Public School Parents: Video of massive rally in Albany today and my speech:

Video of massive rally in Albany today and my speech

The rally in Albany was massive today; with estimates of 25,000.  You can get a sense of the size from the video below.  I was honored and
excited to be a part of it.  Let's hope it is just the beginning of a real movement to rescue public education, led by teachers, parents, administrators and students, to take back our schools.  Here is my speech:

We are here today to call upon the Governor and the Legislature to do what is right for the children of New York. 

Children need good schools. Children need small class sizes. Children need experienced and caring teachers…But instead of giving New York's children what they need, the Governor, the Legislature and the Regents are intent on giving our kids more tests.

Parents are outraged as to how our public schools are being undermined by policymakers who do not seem to realize how their decisions are hurting New York State’s children. 

From the testing obsession, to budget cuts, class size increases, and rampant sharing of private data, the needs of 

Nikhil Goyal on fire at One Voice rally in Albany today

Here was one of the best speeches in Albany today, by teenage rock star/pundit Nikhil Goyal, announcing he will lead a statewide boycott of testing next year.

Good afternoon. My name is Nikhil Goyal. In January 2013, I graduated from Syosset High School on Long Island. I am a member of the No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top generation. My generation has been tested to an extent that is unprecedented in the history of this country, many experts have said. My entire school career has dominated by endless testing and a culture of "drill, kill, bubble fill."

My friend and educator Marion Brady once said, "Even if standardized tests didn’t cost billions, even if they hadn’t narrowed the curriculum down to joke level, even if they weren’t driving the best teachers out of the profession, they should be abandoned because they measure the wrong thing."

My fellow peers, from Portland to Seattle to Providence to Chicago to Newark to Philadelphia, have been walking out of school, protesting, and rallying against high-stakes testing, budget cuts, and the assault on public education. Whether it is gay rights, voting rights, civil rights, women's rights, in every successful social movement, it is always young people taking charge, leading the way, lighting the fire out of outrage within us all.

Wael Ghonim, one of the organizers of the Egyptian revolution, once said, "The power of the people is much stronger than the people in power." We may not be in the White House. We may 

UPDATE: Seattle Schools Community Forum: Ed News from the Times

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Ed News from the Times:

Common Core Discussion in the New York Times

by Melissa Westbrook

Here are two utterly compelling and important opinion pieces from the NY Times (thanks to Seattle Citizen for pointing them out).

This is important stuff.

The first is by Andrew Hacker and Claudia Dreifus called Who's Minding the Schools.  Both are professors and 

Seattle Schools This Week

by Melissa Westbrook

Tuesday starts high school graduations.

Best wishes to ALL the grads and their parents/guardians!

Monday, June 10th
C&I Committee Mtg, 4-6 pm, Agenda This agenda is full of interesting items like a Math Adoption Progress report.

Work Session: Board Evaluation, 6:45-8:00 pm
I'd love to go to this one but I doubt I can make it.  Not sure who is evaluating whom.

Tuesday, June 11th
Special Ed Advocacy&Advisory Council Meeting, 6:30-9:00 pm, JSCEE, Room 2700

Wednesday, June 12th
Executive Ctm Meeting, 8:30-10 am.  Agenda not yet available but this is where they will decide who gets to organize/set agendas for the Board retreats.  

Thursday, June 13th
Audit&Finance Ctm. Meeting, 4-6:00 pm, agenda

Community Meeting w/Director Peaslee, 6-7:45 pm, Lake City Public Library (note, this has been CANCELLED - but still appears on the district calendar)

Saturday, June 15th
Community Meetings:

DeBell - 9-11 am - Cafe Appassionato near Fisherman's Terminal
Martin-Morris - 9:30-11:30 am - Diva's Espress at Lake City Way
McLaren - 12:30-2 pm - High Point Branch Library

Ed News from the Times

by Melissa Westbrook

Two items of interest from the Times.

One is an editorial pushing for the district to fulfill its Special Education obligations to students.  One key paragraph:

The School Board must demand a more informed, inclusive tone around special education.  Board discussions about special education services are frequently framed in terms of costs.  But board members must take care not to make special education a scapegoat for broader budget woes.

Correct on all points but the district needs a clear assessment of the issue before them before they make any changes/corrections.  What is working, what isn't and how do principals/teachers feel?

I introduced myself to the new executive director of special education, Zakiyyah McWilliams, at the Board retreat, and she could not have been warmer.  I think an ability to make people feel welcome to come to her is a big step.

But if the State does not even get close to meeting McCleary AND now OSPI is threatening to bring the hammer down on the district if it doesn't get its Special Ed eggs in a row, something may have to give.  If the district does 

Reflections on Teaching » Blog Archive » Week 36: The end is, well you know…

Reflections on Teaching » Blog Archive » Week 36: The end is, well you know…:

Week 36: The end is, well you know…

by alicemercer

Not much time is left now, and I thought I’d share pictures from Open House, which technically happened in Week 35, but, oh well enjoy!
           
Photo Credit: The End Is Nigh by Jason Cartwright, on Flickr

America’s Student Loan Racket: Stiffer Debt Bondage Coming | DailyCensored.com - Breaking Censored News, World, Independent, Liberal News

America’s Student Loan Racket: Stiffer Debt Bondage Coming | DailyCensored.com - Breaking Censored News, World, Independent, Liberal News:

America’s Student Loan Racket: Stiffer Debt Bondage Coming

by Stephen Lendman

by Stephen Lendman

For growing numbers of American youths, higher education is increasingly out of reach. High tuition and fees make it unaffordable. So does a disturbing government/corporate partnership.

Millions of students need financial aid. They’re exploited for profit. Providers are enriched. Higher education involves debt entrapment.

Students graduate tens of thousands of dollars in debt. Some post-graduates face burdens up to $100,000. If unpaid after 30 years, it’s multiples higher. If default or declare bankruptcy, it’s unforgiven. Bondage is permanent until repaid.  

Loan providers thrive from defaults. Wages can be garnished. So can unemployment benefits, disability payments, tax refunds, as well as Social Security and other retirement benefits.

A conspiratorial alliance of lenders, guarantors, servicers, and 

Rally: Standardized tests must go - Times Union

Rally: Standardized tests must go - Times Union:

Rally: Standardized tests must go

Educators, students, supporters from across the state urge reversal of new mandates

By Matthew Hamilton

Updated 9:52 pm, Saturday, June 8, 2013

Fifteen-year-old Brittany Morris, left, a student from Watertown and Pat DeStefanis, right, a teacher from Indian River join other students and educators during an education rally to press the fight for the future of public education at the Capitol on Saturday June 8, 2013 in Albany, N.Y. (Michael P. Farrell/Times Union)

 Albany

Two characters infamous among educators mingled with the thousands at the One Voice United rally for education reform at the Empire State Plaza Saturday.

No, they weren't State Education Commissioner John King and Gov. Andrew Cuomo, lambasted by some speakers and targets of signs calling for their ouster.

It was the hare and the pineapple.

The characters are from the nonsense story "The Hare and the Pineapple" by Daniel Pinkwater, which appeared on the state's 2012 Eighth Grade English Language Arts test. The questions about it were thrown out because they caused such confusion among students who took the test, leading the State Education Department to determine they were ambiguous.

On Saturday, Kevin Glynn and Anthony Griffin dressed as the characters to underscore the rally's main message: standardized testing must go.

"Our goal was to make sure that (the awareness the story created) isn't forgotten," said Glynn, who teaches third grade in the South Country school district in Brookhaven, Suffolk Count

Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Rally-Standardized-tests-must-go-4588958.php#ixzz2Vk0sMrGK

Investing in Schools Creates More Than Twice as Many Jobs as Military Spending:

Investing in Schools Creates More Than Twice as Many Jobs as Military Spending

Bob Pollin: Education spending is the best job creator - so why are local and state governments firing teachers and closing schools? -   June 9, 13

JAISAL NOOR, TRNN PRODUCER: Welcome to The Real News Network. I'm Jaisal Noor in Baltimore. And welcome to this week's edition of The PERI Report.

Now joining us is Bob Pollin. He's the founder and codirector of the PERI institute in Amherst, Massachusetts. His latest book is Back to Full Employment.

Thank you for joining us, Bob.

ROBERT POLLIN, CODIRECTOR, POLITICAL ECONOMY RESEARCH INSTITUTE: Thanks very much for having me on.

NOOR: So, Bob, the Labor Department just announced that productivity growth is going to be weaker than expected, and some are going to argue that this growth is temporary and that we need to focus on austerity measures. What's your response?

POLLIN: My response is austerity was not the right program a month ago, it wasn't the right program six months ago, and it certainly isn't the right program today and into the future.

As we've talked about in a lot of previous instalments of this, we now know from our own research here in PERI that the single most important piece of research in support of the austerity agenda, by Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff of Harvard, was wrong. It's just wrong as a piece of research, this notion that when government's public debt exceeds 90 percent of the country's GDP, that we are going to experience precipitous declines in economic growth. Our own paper showed that to be wrong, and so that the argument for austerity based on public debt coming up against that threshold is no longer valid.

Now, at the same time, we have other kinds of evidence in both Europe and the United States now that also weakens the argument for austerity. For example, we have the evidence from both the U.S. Social Security Trust Fund and the Medicare Trust Fund that the finances in both cases are not facing the kind of dire 

Short Notes: A Cautionary Tale for Edubloggers - The Jose Vilson | The Jose Vilson

Short Notes: A Cautionary Tale for Edubloggers - The Jose Vilson | The Jose Vilson:

Short Notes: A Cautionary Tale for Edubloggers

by Jose Vilson

Arundhati Roy

A few notes:

• The New York Daily News wants you to nominate teachers for their Hometown Heroes award. Start your engines, ladies and gentlemen. [NY Daily News]
• If you’re sick of the “disruption” talk surrounding technology, specifically education, then read this paper by Audrey Watters. Another hit. [Hack Education]
• Peter DeWitt writes an interview, and the press secretary for the New York State Education Department called up his school to intimidate him. This is an important read

Perdido Street School: Bloomberg: Keep My Education Policies In Place Or NYC Goes Back To The "Taxi Driver" 70's

Perdido Street School: Bloomberg: Keep My Education Policies In Place Or NYC Goes Back To The "Taxi Driver" 70's:

Bloomberg: Keep My Education Policies In Place Or NYC Goes Back To The "Taxi Driver" 70's

Because only Bloomberg and his policies can keep NYC running:

Mayor Michael Bloomberg today warned that should his successor, whoever that might be, not follow his lead on education and crime, the city risked a return to the bad old days.

"All I can say is, whoever follows us, if they don't continue improving the school system and giving the parents choice and letting people who want to start schools like charters, you're gonna see people saying, 'Wait a second, if I can't send my kid to school here, I'm gonna move," said Bloomberg today, during his regular Friday morning radio appearance on the John Gambling Show.

"Same thing happens if crime goes up, same thing happens if 

UPDATE: Sunday reads. | Fred Klonsky

Sunday reads. | Fred Klonsky:

Chicago had the Memphis blues again.

by Fred Klonsky

PopoutIt was Memphis in Chicago at the Blues Festival last night.
Anne and I planted ourselves in front of a speaker on the outer lawn of Butler Field.
We had cleverly transferred the wine to a thermos so as not to be detected by Grant Park security.
The night was beautiful if a little chilly. The skyline sparkled.
Soon enough we were listening to the Bar-Kays and guests Eddie Floyd with Sir Mack Rice.
Floyd had flown in from Jackson, Mississippi. He had been part of the annual memorial of assassinated Civil 

Sunday reads.

by Fred Klonsky

 WPA mural at Nettelhorst Elementary School in Chicago. 1936 Artist: Rudolph Weisenborn (1881-1974)

The Art Institute has posted some examples of WPA murals that are in Chicago public schools. 

“It is more of a challenge to avoid teaching the skills enumerated in the standards than it is to be certain you are covering them all,” writes Claire Needell Hollander, an English teacher in a New York public school.

Have school reformers met their Waterloo in Indiana?

European film makers want no part of US – Euro trade agreements. 

Philly parents want to know, “And what will happen to our schools?”

Educators and our representatives have been on the defensive for so long, many of 

UPDATE: Privacy concerns grow over Gates-funded student database

Privacy concerns grow over Gates-funded student database:

Provocative education tweet of the day

by Valerie Strauss

I am afraid the White House is pushing high speed Internet to make testing platforms easier.
— Wilhelm II (@knightofgood) June 9, 2013

For those who missed it last week, President Obama announced a new initiative to bring broadband and wireless Internet access to nearly all of the nation's public schools and libraries within five years. Click here to read the full text of the speech Obama gave at a West Virginia middle school explaining the new EdConnect program, assuming it can be funded as he proposes.
Read full article >>

Privacy concerns grow over Gates-funded student database

By Valerie Strauss, Published: June 9, 2013 at 11:22 amE-mail the writer

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(Shutterstock)

Privacy concerns are growing among parents, educators and some state officials about a Gates Foundation-funded project that is storing an unprecedented amount of personal information about millions of students in a $100 million database that cannot guarantee complete security.

As a result of the concerns, some states that had initially signed up to participate in a pilot program with the database — operated by a new nonprofit called inBloom, Inc., — are pulling back, including Louisiana. Others states originally listed on the inBloom Web site as project partners told Reuters they hadn’t fully committed, and one, Georgia, asked to be removed from the site. By Reuters’ reckoning, of the nine states originally listed as participating, only three are actively involved — New York, Illinois and Colorado. In New York, parents and educators are protesting the state’s involvement, and there has been legislation introduced in the to pull back.

The database, funded largely with money from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, was launched in March at the SXSWedu conference in Texas.

Supporters say that states already collect the information and that collecting it one place makes it easier for teachers to “plumb” data about their students and target software to improve their academic performance. Parents, they say, could see what schools have