Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Poll: Majority of N.J. voters oppose Gov. Christie's education cuts, teacher merit pay | NJ.com

Poll: Majority of N.J. voters oppose Gov. Christie's education cuts, teacher merit pay

Published: Wednesday, November 10, 2010, 4:38 PM Updated: Wednesday, November 10, 2010, 4:38 PM

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Andrew Mills/The Star-LedgerN.J. Gov. Chris Christie before a town hall meeting hosted by GOP nominee for California governor Meg Whitman.

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A majority of New Jersey voters oppose Gov. Chris Christie’s hefty state aid cuts and his plan to link teacher pay to student test scores, according to a Rutgers-Eagleton poll released today.

Fifty-nine percent of registered voters said the state is underfunding education and 63 percent oppose merit pay, one of the key education reform proposals Christie unveiled at a town hall meeting in late September.

A large majority, 70 percent, of those surveyed do, however, support the governor’s intentions to overhaul teacher tenure, responding that tenure impedes the removal of bad teachers.

“New Jerseyans generally support their schools and want to see them better funded, even while they want the state to cut back on funding in other areas,” said David

Joel Klein’s bumpy learning curve on the path to radical change | GothamSchools

Joel Klein’s bumpy learning curve on the path to radical change

by Philissa Cramer

Schools Chancellor Joel Klein plotted big ideas throughout his tenure — and sometimes revised them.

When NBC New York broke the story that Joel Klein was about to resign yesterday, the news organization’s report summarized his tenure this way:

He is credited with ending the practice of social promotion but had a somewhat controversial reputation throughout his tenure.

The rest of the description closely mirrored Klein’s curiously incomplete Wikipedia entry, which highlights a 2005 First Amendment spat over a teacher training lecturer as a main feature of his chancellorship.

Wikipedia, use this instead: Klein brought a penchant for radical transformation to the New York City public schools, redrawing the basics of how schools are run, opening hundreds of new schools and closing dozens of

Students Break Windows at Conservative Party Headquarters in Fees Protest - Bloomberg

Students Break Windows at Conservative Party Headquarters in Fees Protest

By Kitty Donaldson and Chris Spillane - Nov 10, 2010 10:27 AM PT

Demonstrating students broke windows at the complex housing the headquarters of U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron’s Conservative Party in London in protest against plans to cut funding to universities and increase tuition fees.

The protesters smashed glass on the ground floor of the 27- story Millbank Tower on the north bank of the River Thames, close to Parliament, today as a planned march turned violent. Demonstrators started a fire outside the building, burning effigies of Cameron and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg. London’s Metropolitan Police said eight people -- both police officers and

Trib wrongdoers want millions in bonuses. « Fred Klonsky's blog

Trib wrongdoers want millions in bonuses.

by Fred Klonsky

The same Chicago Tribune execs who object in their editorials to teachers receiving their average $43 thousand a year in pensions (teachers who must work 35 years before receiving full Teacher Retirement System benefits), are demanding $34 million in bonuses.

Here’s the AP article:

(AP) — The Tribune Co. is asking a Delaware bankruptcy judge to approve up to $43 million in bonuses for top executives and managers this year.
The plan calls for some 640 people to receive bonuses totaling from $16.5 million to $42.9 million if certain cash flow targets are met. The request will be the subject of a hearing Wednesday.

NYC Public School Parents: Waive Goodbye -- No Waiver for Cathleen Black!

Waive Goodbye -- No Waiver for Cathleen Black!

by Steve Koss

With over one million students and eighty thousand employees, the NYC public school system is, in itself, larger than most American cities and represents an enormous educational challenge. Common sense would suggest that leadership of such an enterprise, fraught as it is with issues of academic performance, budgetary constraints, class size concerns, aging school buildings, lack of space and funds for new construction, needs for special education and English language learning, diverse constituencies, and a host of others problems, needs a visionary leader with solid pedagogical and educational experience. However, if you are Michael Bloomberg, you apparently do not think so.

In a stunning move, Bloomberg has followed up the resignation of Chancellor Joel Klein by naming as his successor not an educator, not an academic, not an education policymaker, but the publisher of Cosmopolitan, Country Living, Esquire, Good Housekeeping, O, Redbook, Seventeen, and Town & Country magazines. Cathleen Black has been an executive at New York Magazine, USA Today, and the

Civic Trust in Medicine and Public Schools: Paradoxes Galore « Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Civic Trust in Medicine and Public Schools: Paradoxes Galore

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Cover of Hannah and Her Sisters [Region 2

There is a scene in the film “Hannah and Her Sisters” where the character Mickey, a hypochrondriac played by Woody Allen, goes to his doctor to see if his loss of hearing is due to a brain tumor. The doctor runs a series of tests and can find no evidence that Mickey has a tumor. The doctor says to Mickey: “trust me.”

The film came out in 1986. In the current political climate of contested health insurance, 20-minute visits with harried doctors who scan records on the computer screen, and Internet self-medicating, few doctors would say “trust me.”

Polls do show a decline in public confidence in medicine. The 2010 Harris poll on confidence in institutional leaders, 34 percent of respondents said they had great confidence in their

Teacher and Principal Evaluation Web Resource - Year 2010 (CA Dept of Education)

State Schools Chief Jack O'Connell and the State Board of Education Unveil New Web Resource for Teacher and Principal Evaluation

SACRAMENTO — State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell and the State Board of Education today unveiled a new resource on the California Department of Education's (CDE) Web site about teacher and principal performance evaluation practices. The Web page is at Teacher and Principal Evaluation Systems - NCLB.

"Effective teachers are the most important factor in students' success in school," said O'Connell. "Currently, the way a teacher's effectiveness is measured varies widely from district to district, and from school to school. In order to prepare all students for success and to close the achievement gap, we must support our teaching workforce by giving them frank and fair feedback on their performance, coupled with professional development and resources that help them excel in their profession. This new online resource provides information on evaluation practices that districts can use to help develop and nurture an effective teaching workforce."

The new "Teacher and Principal Evaluation Systems" Web page includes information about teacher and principal performance evaluation practices, model policies, and ongoing reform efforts. The Web page also includes links to relevant facts, data, recommendations, and opinions from local, state, and national sources. It will be updated as the CDE and the State Board of Education work with interested parties who will provide additional resources and articles. The online resource is designed to increase awareness among school districts, local unions, parents, and the public about evaluation systems that may be adopted in communities throughout the state.

The Web page was developed following a presentation by administrators from Los Angeles Unified School District (USD), Fresno USD, and Long Beach USD in September before the State Board of Education, at which time the Board recommended the CDE and it work together to create a Web page to provide useful information. Many school districts are in the process of developing evaluation instruments, or are already using innovative methods to evaluate teachers and principals.

For information on the development of the "Teacher and Principal Evaluation Systems" Web page, please visit State Board of Education agenda Item 3 at Item 3 (DOC; 98KB; 3pp.) and Teacher and Principal Evaluation Systems - NCLB.

Rutgers University student government to form privacy committee in wake of Tyler Clementi's death | NJ.com

Rutgers University student government to form privacy committee in wake of Tyler Clementi's death

Published: Wednesday, November 10, 2010, 11:32 AM Updated: Wednesday, November 10, 2010, 11:36 AM

The Star-Ledger Continuous News Desk
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Ed Murray/The Star-LedgerDavidson C on the Busch campus of Rutgers University, where the roomate of Tyler Clementi allegedly streamed a video of Clementi's sexual encounter with a man.

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NEW BRUNSWICK — The suicide of Tyler Clementi has prompted the Rutgers University Student Assembly to create a committee examining the school's privacy policies, according to a report on DailyTargum.com.

The committee, which has yet to be finalized, will also aim to educate students on University and residential life rules. The report said the school's administration is not aware of the plans to form the committee.

Clementi jumped off the George Washington Bridge in September, a few days after his roommate allegedly live streamed a video of his sexual

LAUSD/UTLA : In a fit of PEAC - Perdaily.com

LAUSD/UTLA : In a fit of PEAC

by Leonard Isenberg

(Mensaje se repite en Español) On November 5th last week, I received the following terse email from David Rapkin of Progressive Educators For Action (PEAC), the self-proclaimed progressive activist arm of UTLA:

"At a certain point, people and groups need to disagree forthrightly on principle and part ways clearly. It is the decision of the PEAC leadership that your posts are no longer welcome nor permitted on the list."

David

Two days later after sending the following incendiary comment to David:

Enjoy the cool aid (reference to Jim Jones, Guiana, and the cult-like adherence to doctrine to the point of adamantly refusing to hear or deal with anything outside accepted dogma, i.e. fanatic.

I received the following email on November 7th:

Lenny,

As un-patronizing as I can make it un

Around the horn. « Fred Klonsky's blog

Around the horn.

by Fred Klonsky

“Almost sold out,” says the announcement on the Catalyst website. IEA Executive Director Audrey Soglin will be speaking at a December 1st forum at the tony Union League Club sponsored by Catalyst and Business and Professional People for the Public Interest. Soglin will be speaking on teacher evaluation and compensation. Given what happened to our local collective bargaining rights on this issue, “almost sold out” is almost right.

Also to be found at Catalyst is some data on student retention and expulsions rates at charter schools. Not surprisingly they run higher than at public schools. Ten out of every 100 students left a Chicago charter last year.

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Wednesday, November 10, 2010