Saturday, January 8, 2011

Saturday coffee. & Old School « Fred Klonsky's blog

Saturday coffee. « Fred Klonsky's blog

Saturday coffee.

by Fred Klonsky

We woke to a Saturday morning with about an inch of white stuff on the ground.

It has been a busy week back at work. I had a Smartboard installed in my classroom over break. With the usual lack of staff development that characterizes schools, I had to play around and teach myself some basics with the help of a few of the early adopters down the hall that have had Smartboards for a couple of years.

Frankly, the kids love it.

We were comparing tessellated designs to landscapes. I was pointing out that tessellations have no focal point. I had some students come up to a copy of Paris, Rainy Day by Gustave Caillebotte. “Circle the focal point,” I


Old School.

by Fred Klonsky

Marianne Faithful.


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New Posts on Parents 4 democratic Schools 1-8-11 Get Involved- Read Education News

New Posts on Parents 4 democratic Schools
Get Involved- Read Education News


Parents 4 democratic Schools
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Education: California's new Board of Education - latimes.com

Education: California's new Board of Education - latimes.com

California's new Board of Education

Gov. Jerry Brown's seven new appointees will dramatically alter the panel's make-up in age, geography and educational resume.

January 8, 2011

NEW MEMBERS

Carl Cohn: Co-director of the Urban Leadership Program at Claremont Graduate University; previously superintendent in San Diego and Long Beach.

Louis "Bill" Honig: President of the Consortium on Reading Excellence; state superintendent of public instruction from 1983 to 1993, resigned after being convicted of conflict-of-interest charges; served on the state Board of Education from 1975 to 1983.


Michael Kirst: Professor emeritus at Stanford University, where he has taught since 1969; served on the state Board of Education from 1975 to 1982.

Aida Molina: Executive director of academic improvement and accountability for Bakersfield City School District; previously on the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing; principal in Bakersfield and Sacramento.

James Ramos: Chairman of the San Manuel Band of Indians and member of the San Bernardino Community College Board of Trustees.

Patricia Ann Rucker: Lobbyist for the California Teachers Assn.; previously a teacher in Sacramento.

Trish Boyd Williams: Executive director for EdSource.

DEPARTING MEMBERS

Ted Mitchell: President and chief
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Del Valle or Braun to Recieve Chicago Teacher Union's Endorsement for Chicago Mayor - Hispanically Speaking News

Del Valle or Braun to Recieve Chicago Teacher Union's Endorsement for Chicago Mayor - Hispanically Speaking News

January 7, 2011

Del Valle or Braun to Recieve Chicago Teacher Union’s Endorsement for Chicago Mayor

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Published at 2:23 pm, January 7, 2011




The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) has made the decision to endorse only one of two candidates in Chicago mayoral race. The endorsement will go to either former U.S. Carol Moseley Braun or City Clerk Miguel del Valle.

Hoping to play a major role in the February 22nd election, the CTU has narrowed the list to these candidates as it believes one of them will take control of Chicago Public Schools from the mayor and create an elected school board.

It should come as no surprise that candidate Rahm Emanuel is not one of those being considered by the CTU as his proposed education policies are not very well liked. Also,

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A New Jersey Reckoning - NYTimes.com

A New Jersey Reckoning - NYTimes.com

A New Jersey Reckoning

Published: January 7, 2011

For almost 40 years, the New Jersey Supreme Court has tried to fulfill its duty to enforce the education clause in the state Constitution by compelling the governor and Legislature to provide equal educational opportunity for public school students. In 2009, the court decided the state had finally devised a way to do that, through a formula that would give each student, especially in poor districts, a chance at “an unhindered start in life.”

This week the matter was back before the court because New Jersey is spending 13.6 percent less on education than the state said was required. The governor is presenting this as an “unavoidable” consequence of “dire fiscal circumstances,” but it is in fact a matter of choice. Eliminating a billion-dollar tax break for the state’s wealthiest

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United Teachers Los Angeles dukes it out with Mayor Villaraigosa over education reform | Opinion L.A. | Los Angeles Times

United Teachers Los Angeles dukes it out with Mayor Villaraigosa over education reform | Opinion L.A. | Los Angeles Times

United Teachers Los Angeles dukes it out with Mayor Villaraigosa over education reform

January 7, 2011 | 3:54 pm

VillaraigosaIn a December speech heard around the halls of LAUSD, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa charged that United Teachers Los Angeles was the biggest obstacle to education reform. Ouch. With L.A. schools' dismal ranking and graduation rates, he implored the teachers union to join the education reform team. Rather than going the "united we stand, divided we fall" route, however, he embarrassed the union. From the full transcript:

When we fought to change the seniority-based layoff system that was disproportionately hurting our neediest students, the teachers union fought back.

When we fought to empower parents to turn around failing schools and bring in outside school operators with proven records of success, the teachers union fought back.

And now, while we try to measure teacher effectiveness in order to reward the best teachers and replace the tiny portion who aren't helping our kids learn, the teachers union fights back.

It's not easy for me to say this. I started out as an organizer for UTLA (United Teachers Los Angeles), and I don't have an anti-union bone in my body. The teachers unions aren't the

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The Answer Sheet - Why Fairfax's textbook recall is surprising

The Answer Sheet - Why Fairfax's textbook recall is surprising

Why Fairfax's textbook recall is surprising

By Valerie Strauss

What is surprising about Fairfax County’s new recall of a social studies textbook approved by Virginia officials despite containing dozens of errors is that every other system using the book hasn't done the same thing.

My colleague Kevin Sieff reported that the superintendent of Fairfax County Public Schools, Jack D. Dale, has decided that fourth-grade history will be taught using supplemental materials until errors in "Our Virginia, Past and Present" are corrected in a subsequent edition.

The book, published by Connecticut-based Five Ponds Press, was written by Joy Masoff, who is not a trained historian and who included

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