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Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Lauded Harlem Schools Have Their Own Difficulties - NYTimes.com

Lauded Harlem Schools Have Their Own Difficulties - NYTimes.com

Lauded Harlem Schools Have Their Own Difficulties

Robert Stolarik for The New York Times

Promise Academy II is an elementary school run by the Harlem Children’s Zone in public school space.

By SHARON OTTERMAN
Published: October 12, 2010

President Obama created a grant program to copy his block-by-block approach to ending poverty. The British government praised hischarter schools as a model. And a new documentary opening across the country revolves around him: Geoffrey Canada, the magneticHarlem Children’s Zone leader with strong ideas about how American education should be fixed.

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Robert Stolarik for The New York Times

Julio Rodriguez, standing, teaches physics and earth science at Promise Academy. Donielle Richards, foreground, worked on a physics problem.

Last week, Mr. Canada was in Birmingham, England, addressing Prime Minister David Cameron and members of his Conservative Party about improving schools.

But back home and out of the spotlight, Mr. Canada and his charter schools have struggled with the same difficulties faced by other urban schools, even as they outspend them. After a rocky start earlier this decade typical of many new schools, Mr. Canada’s two charter schools, featured as

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Schools Matter: Stand for Children Member Talks Back

Schools Matter: Stand for Children Member Talks Back

Stand for Children Member Talks Back

by Kenneth Libby
This is hardly the only upset Stand member in my area. From the Oregonian:
Public schools
The film "Waiting for Superman" is big on hype and short on facts, yet Tyler Whitmire bought into the film's distortions when she wrote about the "good education" at charter schools ("Fixing our public schools: Being supermen (and superwomen) for our kids," In My Opinion, Oct. 8).

Charter schools typically hire many non-certified teachers and have small class sizes, yet there is
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What if the NYT printed the Pentagon Papers in 1980? � Fred Klonsky's blog

What if the NYT printed the Pentagon Papers in 1980? � Fred Klonsky's blog

What if the NYT printed the Pentagon Papers in 1980?

by preaprez

Monday’s NY Times printed a great expose on the ruinous Bloomberg and Klein testing scam.

Too bad they decided to put a reporter on it now.

It’s like putting Woodward and Bernstein on the Watergate break-in five years too late. Or printing the Pentagon Papers in 1980. Five years after the end of the Vietnam War.

What is troubling now is that in response to the criticisms of the way Bloomberg and Klein used inflated test scores to justify using inflated test scores to measure eveything from kids to teachers and schools, they are now making it more difficult for critics to pursue the data.

Leonie Haimson in NY Public School Parent:

So in future, it will be impossible for another reporter like the intrepid Einhorn to

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The Question for Activists is Always How to Use Available Tools Effectively � Student Activism

The Question for Activists is Always How to Use Available Tools Effectively � Student Activism

The Question for Activists is Always How to Use Available Tools Effectively

by Angus Johnston

The whole Malcolm Gladwell networked activism brouhaha has pretty much petered out, but I’ve just had reason to go back and re-read one of my favorite responses to his piece, and I liked it even better this time.

Here’s a big old quote. Go read the whole thing. It’s good.

The question for activists is always how to use available tools effectively. So blogs are for sharing longer ideas, Facebook is for spreading basic information and links, and Twitter is for sending small amounts of information publicly on the go. We even use phones sometimes. The internet can’t hammer a nail, but that’s what hammers are for. But there are some tools that don’t stand the test of time as well. Gladwell writes, “… what use would a digital communication tool be in a town where ninety-eight per cent of the black community could be reached every Sunday morning at church?” Of course, this is a completely useless question. What good would Twitter have been for dinosaurs? THEY COULDN’T EVEN PRESS

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U.S. Education Secretary Duncan to Visit Florida | U.S. Department of Education

U.S. Education Secretary Duncan to Visit Florida | U.S. Department of Education

U.S. Education Secretary Duncan to Visit Florida

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan will travel to Florida where he will spotlight a promising charter school program Wednesday in Jacksonville and participate in a forum to recognize the progressive labor agreement at the Hillsborough County Public Schools Thursday in Tampa.

Assistant Secretary to Deliver Keynote Remarks at the Ohio Association of Administrators of State and Federal Education Programs Fall Conference

U.S. Department of Education Assistant Secretary Thelma Meléndez de Santa Ana will deliver keynote remarks at the Ohio Association of Administrators of State and Federal Education Programs Fall Conference in Columbus, Ohio on Wednesday, Oct. 13.

U.S. Department of Education Officials to Visit the Northern Mariana Islands

U.S. Department of Education Deputy Assistant Secretary Carl Harris, along with Special Advisor Crystal Martinez, will visit the Northern Mariana Islands Tuesday-Thursday, Oct. 12-14, 2010. They will meet with education leaders, students, parents and teachers.

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Ed Beat: Ed News Wrap-Up: Manifestos, talented teachers, test scores and taxpayers

Ed Beat: Ed News Wrap-Up: Manifestos, talented teachers, test scores and taxpayers

Ed News Wrap-Up: Manifestos, talented teachers, test scores and taxpayers

It was a busy weekend in ed news.

Sixteen urban schools superintendents wrote a "manifesto" on how to fix America's schools and the Washington Post's Outlook section printed it this weekend. Their prescriptions weren't the most surprising: eliminating seniority, getting rid of "poorly performing" teachers, allowing more school choice, closing down failing schools, offering pay-for-performance and other financial incentives. The Post's Answer Sheet blogger, Valerie Strauss, found the manifesto "bankrupt," and regularly featured Answer Sheet
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Number of education civil rights complaints on the rise - NorthJersey.com

Number of education civil rights complaints on the rise - NorthJersey.com
Number of education civil rights complaints on the rise
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
BY CHRISTINE ARMARIO
THE RECORD
ASSOCIATED PRESS

African American boys who are suspended at double and triple the rates of their white male peers. English language learners who, for years, remain in separate classes, falling behind their peers and scoring poorly on standardized tests. Disabled students and those with illnesses who are shortchanged at school because of their impairments.

The Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights received nearly 7,000 complaints this fiscal year, an 11 percent increase and the largest jump in at least 10 years, according to data provided by the department. The increase comes as the office proceeds with 54 compliance reviews in districts and institutions of higher education nationwide, including cases involving disparate discipline rates and

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Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: We're all "radicals" now

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: We're all "radicals" now

We're all "radicals" now

by Mike Klonsky
Even Cosby & Kenny

Okay, I admit it. I like Bill Cosby. No, I don't like his patronizing speeches aimed at fixing the poor and using a broad brush to denigrate urban hip-hop culture. But he's funny and he grew up like me, in Philly so I can relate to a lot of his growing-up stories. I think his heart is in the right place. He gives lots of badly-needed cash to black colleges and I like what he did in New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

But there's one thing I know for sure, Cosby is no "radical" and certainly not a r-r-r-revolutionary. Neither is Harlem Village Academy founder Deborah Kenny, who did make Oprah's 2010 Power List and who's paying herself a hefty
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On School Funding Fairness � School Finance 101

On School Funding Fairness � School Finance 101

On School Funding Fairness

by schoolfinance101

I’ve been toying around for a while on this blog with different ways to compare state school finance systems. This new website presents a summary of much of that playing:

http://www.schoolfundingfairness.org/index.htm

After much discussion and debate, we landed on the following four indicators.

The Fairness Measures
All 50 states are evaluated on the basis of four separate, but interrelated, fairness measures:

  • Funding Level: Using figures adjusted to account for a variety of interstate differences, this
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Are Charters the Silver Bullet? - Bridging Differences - Education Week

Are Charters the Silver Bullet? - Bridging Differences - Education Week

Are Charters the Silver Bullet?

by Diane Ravitch

Dear Deborah,

Davis Guggenheim's "Waiting for 'Superman'" has dominated the air waves for the past few weeks with its message that public education is a failed enterprise and that privately managed charters are the answer to our nation's education problems. The film doesn't include a single successful public school teacher or public school. It is a one-sided, propagandistic attack on public education which echoes the prescriptions of those who have devoutly wished for the privatization of education. I imagine the shade of Milton Friedman chortling as his ideas about school choice become the rallying cry for the Obama administration, the Gates Foundation, the Broad Foundation, and various big-city superintendents allied with allegedly liberal forces.

Before we hop aboard the charter train, which is now driven by Race to the Top and other federal funding, we should pay attention to warning signs. There are new ones every day. In the past few days, I have learned of the

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Number of ed civil rights complaints on the rise Education Week: From the Wires

Education Week: From the Wires

FROM THE WIRES

Lacking storage, Ohio tosses out college books
October 12, 2010
Number of ed civil rights complaints on the rise
October 12, 2010
Cutler defends Maine education plan
October 12, 2010
Charter lawsuit goes before Ga. Supreme Court
October 12, 2010
US school settles 2 webcam spy lawsuits for $610K
October 12, 2010
Principal under fire in school stung by suicides
October 12, 2010
Md. Gov. O'Malley, Ehrlich hold 1st 2010 debate
October 12, 2010
7 Calif. school districts team up for reform
October 11, 2010
Ohio Online Charter Schools Draw More Students
October 11, 2010
Woman drops lawsuit over proposed sex ed program
October 11, 2010
St. Joseph-Kansas City diocese unveils school plan
October 11, 2010
Ohio district where 4 died says it fights bullying
October 11, 2010
Mayetta teacher wins national honor

Deadlines Loom on Districts' Race to Top Plans

States are ramping up the pressure on school districts to show how they will deliver on ambitious education policy changes. (October 11, 2010) | Comments (5)

California Data System Struggles to Clear Hurdles

Technical problems and performance issues have drawn criticism, though officials say they're making progress. (October 11, 2010) | Comments (1)

THE SCHOOL LAW BLOG

Court Finds No Fundamental Right to Alternative Education

(October 11, 2010)

Student-Tracking Devices in School Badges Spark Controversy

(October 11, 2010)

Report: College Dropouts Cost Taxpayers Billions

(October 11, 2010) | Comments (2)

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SAFETY AND VIOLENCE

Anoka-Hennepin School District Superintendent Dennis Carlson sits outside Coon Rapids High School in Coon Rapids, Minn., before the start of homecoming festivities on Oct. 8. Mr. Carlson and the district are facing challenges regarding the suicides of at least five students in the past year, and gay-rights advocates say bullying may have played a role in two of these cases as well.
—Dawn Villella/AP

Suicide Surge: Schools Confront Anti-Gay Bullying

Gay-rights supporters insist that any effective anti-bullying program must include specific components addressing harassment of gay youth, but religious conservatives condemn that approach. (October 11, 2010) | Comments (3)

DIGITAL EDUCATION BLOG

Gates Targets Higher Ed., K-12 With New Ed-Tech Grants

(October 11, 2010)

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Teachers Organizing Together | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

Teachers Organizing Together | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...
“‘Manifesto’ should be resignation letter” “‘Manifesto’ should be resignation letter” is an excellent piece at The Washington Post. It’s a good commentary on the now infamous guest column written by a group of School Superintendents. I’m adding it to The Best Posts About The Appalling ...
Teachers Organizing Together Here in California, I’m a member of a great group that is bringing teachers together from around the state. Accomplished California Teachers is led by David B. Cohen and others. The “tagline” on ACT’s blog communicates our main message: “Classroom ...
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