Sunday, June 12, 2011

Big Education Ape: 6-12-11 AM A BIG SPOONFUL OF THIS WAR ON TEACHERS Edition

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TELECIRCUS NEXUS: A BIG SPOONFUL OF THIS WAR ON TEACHERS

bigeducationape.blogspot.com - TELECIRCUS NEXUS: A BIG SPOONFUL OF THIS WAR ON TEACHERSA BIG SPOONFUL OF THIS WAR ON TEACHERS"There is something fundamentally anti-democratic about relinquishing control of the public education p...

coopmike48

THE PERIMETER PRIMATE: The New York Times vs Harmony Public Schools

bigeducationape.blogspot.com - THE PERIMETER PRIMATE: The New York Times vs Harmony Public SchoolsThe New York Times vs Harmony Public Schoolsby The Perimeter PrimateThe New York Times has published a lengthy article about some ...

coopmike48

Pelosi and Other Leaders Call on Weiner to Resign

nytimes.com - The House Democratic leader, Nancy Pelosi, on Saturday called on Representative Anthony D. Weiner to resign, underscoring the growing concern among Democrats that his online exchanges with women ha...

leoniehaimson

Schools Matter: Poverty=failure

bigeducationape.blogspot.com - Schools Matter: Poverty=failurePoverty=failureby skrashenPoverty = FailurePublished in the USC Trojan Family Magazine Summer, 2011The deck preceding the stimulating interview with gaming experts ("...

coopmike48

Education First Principles - E.D. Kain - American Times

blogs.forbes.com - Jun. 11 2011 - 3:28 pm | 0 views | 0 recommendations | By E.D. KAIN Shawn Gude has a terrific post up at The League of Ordinary Gentlemen. Much of it is an examination of my “shifting rhetoric” on ...

DianeRavitch

The Questions Education Reformers Aren’t Asking

truthdig.com - Education is moving to domestic policy center stage. The first round of competition for federal “Race to the Top” funds is over, and that competition generated a flurry of school reform activity ac...

DianeRavitch

So Whats Got Your Undies In A Bunch Today? | Dailycensored.com

bigeducationape.blogspot.com - So Whats Got Your Undies In A Bunch Today? | Dailycensored.comSo Whats Got Your Undies In A Bunch Today?Written by Ken_SayersDaily Journal (Opinion)Jun 11, 20110diggSharePlease forgive me, my inabi...

coopmike48

EducationSee all

Big Kindergarten Wait List Limits City’s Pre-K Slots

nytimes.com - There were more applications for children to enter prekindergarten classes in New York City this year than last, but a smaller proportion of them ended up getting in: 68 percent, down from 72 perce...

leoniehaimson

Class Size in Texas May Not Blow Up After All - Houston News

blogs.houstonpress.com - It's not going to be carte blanche and open the door to pack 25 kids into a classroom in Texas public school classrooms after all.Rep. Rob Eissler (R- The Woodlands) whose House Bill 18 wanted to ...

leoniehaimson

The Internet and My Tale of Two Crises | Lefty Parent

bigeducationape.blogspot.com - The Internet and My Tale of Two Crises | Lefty ParentThe Internet and a Tale of Two Crisesby Cooper ZaleThe Internet is our most dynamic new societal institution, developing quickly over the past 2...

coopmike48

StoriesSee all

DoE Releases Partial Search Warrant Related to Yesterday's Raid

townhall.com - by Nick Freiling Update: Yesterday, I wrote about a Stockton, CA man whose home was invaded by federal agents, on orders from the Department of Education, looking for evidence that wasn’t there (hi...

mikeklonsky

The Best Sites For Learning About The Arizona Fire

larryferlazzo.edublogs.org - Jun 11 2011 Larry Ferlazzo The radio says the massive and terrible fire in Arizona is only “six percent” contained. I thought I’d quickly bring together a few related resources. I have quite a few ...

coopmike48

I Feel So Cheap and Dirty, Part I | Mr. Teachbad's Blog of Teacher Disgruntlement

bigeducationape.blogspot.com - I Feel So Cheap and Dirty, Part I | Mr. Teachbad's Blog of Teacher DisgruntlementI Feel So Cheap and Dirty, Part Iby mrteachbadThree days after I published the last video, the sadly prophetic one a...

coopmike48

LivingSee all

These Are the Charges That Require the Department of Education to Kick Through Your Front Door -

bigeducationape.blogspot.com - These Are the Charges That Require the Department of Education to Send a Dozen Armed Agents to Kick Through Your Front Door - Hit & Run : Reason MagazineThese Are the Charges That Require the Depar...

coopmike48

Schools Matter: The NAACP Case Against NYC

bigeducationape.blogspot.com - Schools Matter: The NAACP Case Against NYCThe NAACP Case Against NYCby Jim HornBen Jealous in op-ed at the NY Daily News:The NAACP fights for the rights of all children. As the civil rights organiz...

coopmike48

The 22 Children of Guantanamo

my.firedoglake.com - In November 2008, the UC Davis Center for the Study of Human Rights in the Americas published a report, “Guantánamo’s Children: Military and Diplomatic Testimonies,” presenting evidence that 12 juv...

coopmike48

PoliticsSee all

A Protest to Protect Our Jobs and Our Mountains

huffingtonpost.com - This week an important protest is taking place in the coalfields of West Virginia. The March on Blair Mountain began on Monday as several hundred people embarked on a five-day journey retracing the...

mikeklonsky

Conn. budget awaits ratification of union deal

boston.com - HARTFORD, Conn.—Connecticut lawmakers may have wrapped up the legislative session, but a two-year, $40.1 billion state budget -- the session's hallmark piece of legislation -- remains unbalanced un...

coopmike48

As Karl Rove Targets Waivers, We Need to Protect Vermont’s Path to Single-Payer

fdlaction.firedoglake.com - At the end of May, Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin signed a bill that can put Vermont on the path to single-payer health care. As it stands, Vermont’s plan is to cover every resident of the state fo...

coopmike48

Art & EntertainmentSee all

Creación de imágenes con estilo

vivirlaeducacion.com - Publicado el 12 Junio 2011Archivado en Josep | Estoy en la Conferencia de comunidades de aprendizaje de edificio en Boston esta semana. Me han pedido como blog invitado allí durante la Conferencia...

coopmike48

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital Hosts Latino Gala in Chicago

hispanicallyspeakingnews.com - St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital® will host its fifth Sabor Latino (Latin Flavor) Gala in Chicago on Friday, June 17, 2011, from 6:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m., at the National Museum of Mexican Art,...

coopmike48

Walkerville Weekend Schedule: Feingold Will Visit Sunday

defendwisconsin.org - – June 11, 2011Posted in: Announcements Schedule for Saturday, June 10 3:00 p.m. Walkerville re-opens for business 7:30 p.m. Free concert featuring local country singer Whitney Mann Education ...

coopmike48

CrimeSee all

Michelle Wright talks about Dept. of Education raid at her Stockton home

news10.net - STOCKTON, CA - Michelle Wright has not had any contact with the federal agents who showed up at her home early Tuesday morning, but she did return a phone call to News 10. Wright said she would not...

mikeklonsky

(on the Standardized Test?)Louisiana Civil Rights Activist Sentenced to Fifteen Years in Prison | Dissident Voice

bigeducationape.blogspot.com - Louisiana Civil Rights Activist Sentenced to Fifteen Years in Prison | Dissident VoiceLouisiana Civil Rights Activist Sentenced to Fifteen Years in Prisonby Jordan FlahertyOn June 1, a week past he...

coopmike48

#edu Read this paperSee all

The Internet and My Tale of Two Crises | Lefty Parent

coopmike48

These Are the Charges That Require the Department of Education to Kick Through Your Front Door -

coopmike48

Schools Matter: The NAACP Case Against NYC

coopmike48

#wiunion Read this paperSee all

Last Week's Best Posts on Big Education Ape » PostRank #WIUnion #p2 #pfla #1u Last Week's Best Posts on Big Education Ape » PostRank

bigeducationape.blogspot.com - Last Week's Best Posts on Big Education Ape » PostRankHide10.0More schools rethinking zero-tolerance discipline stand | The Defenders Online | A Civil Rights Blog2011-Jun-10More schools rethinking ...

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DianeRavitch

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Saving We the People is a task for the civic-minded - ContraCostaTimes.com

Saving We the People is a task for the civic-minded

By Robert Jordan
rjordan@bayareanewsgroup.com

Posted: 06/12/2011 12:00:00 AM PDT

PLEASANTON -- A future crop of civic minds could lose a teaching tool that has helped young people understand democracy and the U.S. political system for the past two decades.

Bay Area high school students and educators are part of a national push to try to re-establish funding for the We the People civics program that fell victim to federal budget cuts in April.

The Center for Civic Education, which sponsors the We the People program, is a nonpartisan nonprofit that offers programs for students and teachers related to civics in every congressional district in the country. Three years ago, Congress altered the definition of an earmark as any recipient of federal funds that isn't a federal entity and as a result, the center lost $26.3 million or 93 percent of its budget for next year.

The drop in funding came one month before a National Assessment of Educational Progress report was released in May and revealed that 75 percent of the country's elementary through high school students are not proficient in understanding democracy, the U.S. political system or what it means to be a citizen.

"Civic education is something we desperately need," said Charlotte Powers, a former San Jose City Council

Concerns arise over LAUSD's 'salary credit' system - LA Daily News

Concerns arise over LAUSD's 'salary credit' system

LAUSD: Teachers get $519M for furthering training; some courses are questionable.

By Connie Llanos, Staff Writer

Posted: 06/12/2011 01:00:00 AM PDT

Updated: 06/12/2011 04:04:37 AM PDT

Some people might not object to a high school science teacher getting paid more for having a master's degree in biology.

Or raising the salary of an educator who has learned another language.

But should teachers be able to boost their salaries for going to the opera to enhance their music appreciation? Or for attending union conferences?

Los Angeles Unified spends $519 million each year - or a quarter of the teacher payroll - on salary bonuses for teachers who have taken additional coursework, according to a report released last week. Those classes range from graduate courses taken at a university to online seminars and art appreciation classes.

The salary enhancements are coming under increased scrutiny by the school board as it faces yet another year of shrinking budgets.

"There is a role for ongoing learning ... but unless there is a direct correlation to student achievement, I don't know if it's worth the investment," said LAUSD school board member Yolie Flores.

The "salary credit" system is not unique to Los Angeles Unified. In fact, most school systems in the country

Join Me This Tuesday For An Online Chat About Helping Students Motivate Themselves | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

Join Me This Tuesday For An Online Chat About Helping Students Motivate Themselves Steve Hargadon will be interviewing me this coming Tuesday evening, 5pm Pacific / 8pm Eastern / 12am GMT, in a free one-hour online chat about my new book, Helping Students Motivate Themselves. You can participate in the interview/chat at this link, ...

“YouTube Trends” I periodically post “most popular” lists of websites (and books) that I think educators might find useful. Of course, there are a number of ways to gauge “popularity.” I just view these lists as opportunities to check-out some new sites, and find it ...

Making Book Trailers With Fotobabble I’ve previously posted about the video book trailers we’ll be doing in class during the final week of school next week. As a “warm-up” and for some low-stress practice, we’ve been having students make one minute Fotobabbles about their favorite books ...

Education Secretary May Agree to Waivers on ‘No Child’ Law Requirements - NYTimes.com

Education Secretary May Agree to Waivers on ‘No Child’ Law Requirements Facing a clamor from state school officials to waive substantial parts of No Child Left Behind, Arne Duncan may use his executive authority to free states from the law’s centerpiece requirement.

The Texas Tribune: A Lightning Rod on U.T. Board, Regent Is Not Deterred Alex Cranberg, a regent for the University of Texas for less than six months, has found himself the object of attacks and intense news media scrutiny.

Chicago News Cooperative: Work Cut Out for Him, a Schools Chief Dives In As he begins his new job heading Chicago Public Schools, Jean-Claude Brizard, a former principal from Rochester, N.Y., has his work cut out for him.

The Texas Tribune: School Districts Look at Increase in Tax Rates School districts are looking at trying to raise local property tax rates to compensate for a decrease in state financing.

“Reformers, please listen to what parents want for schools” | Engaging Parents In School...

CNN Interview With New National PTA President CNN has just published a good interview with the new National PTA President. Check it out at New National PTA president Betsy Landers: ‘We cannot balance the budget on the backs of families and children.’

“Immigration law makes school officials uneasy” Immigration law makes school officials uneasy is the headline of a local Alabama newspaper story giving more details about the impact an upcoming terrible state law will have on schools and parent engagement. I’ve previously written about it in ...

“Reformers, please listen to what parents want for schools” Reformers, please listen to what parents want for schools is a nice column at CNN’s website. It’s written by Helen Gym from Parents United For Public Education.

For Email Subscribers There may have been a problem with the email subscription system to this blog recently. If you have stopped receiving email notifications of posts from this blog, please re-subscribe and you should start receiving them again. Sorry for the ...

New Issue of “The School Community Journal” The newest issue of The School Community Journal has just been published and is available online. It has quite a few article worth checking-out….

New Movie: “Parent Power” Here’s a trailer for a new movie, “Parent Power”: Parent Power Trailer from Annenberg Institute on Vimeo. It’s directed by Norm Fruchter, a senior policy advisor at the Annenberg Institute for School Reform.

“5 reasons parents should oppose evaluating teachers on test scores” 5 reasons parents should oppose evaluating teachers on test scores is an excellent post at Valerie Strauss’ blog at The Washington Post. In fact, I’d characterize it as a “must-read” piece…

Southern States Targeting Immigrant Children Alabama is joining North Carolina and Tennessee is going after immigrant students (though Alabama is targeting immigrants in general, too). Alabama’s new law: *…bars illegal immigrants from enrolling in any public college after high school.It ...

“Another Kind Of Parent Trigger?” “Another Kind Of Parent Trigger?” is the question asked by parent organizer Leonie Haimson in a tweet she sent out about parents organizing to kick-out a for-profit charter operator of their school and take it over themselves. You can check-out two ...

“Emerging Leaders in Family Engagement” Emerging Leaders in Family Engagement is the theme of the most recent issue of the Family Involvement Network of Educators. It’s a worth a look.

North Carolina Bill Targets Undocumented Students Hot on the heels of a Tennessee bill targeting undocumented immigrant students, the North Carolina legislature is considering a bill requiring principals to ask each parent if their child is documented or not. Now, that will really be a tool to ...

Court: Government can block business campaign cash- ParentAdvocates.org

Parent Advocates - ParentAdvocates.org

Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Has Upheld Campaign Finesance Regulations in San Diego That Prohibit Businesses From Giving Money To Candidat
Even though the U.S. Supreme Court has opened the door to corporate spending in elections, the government can still prohibit businesses from contributing money to candidates, the federal appeals court in San Francisco has ruled. Thursday's decision by the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld campaign finance regulations in San Diego that allow only individuals to donate to candidates.

Court: Government can block business campaign cash
Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer, Saturday, June 11, 2011
LINK

Even though the U.S. Supreme Court has opened the door to corporate spending in elections, the government can still prohibit businesses from contributing money to candidates, the federal appeals court in San Francisco has ruled.

Thursday'sdecision by the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld campaign finance regulations in San Diego that allow only individuals to donate to candidates.

The ruling supports the constitutionality of San Francisco's ban on corporate contributions, said Deputy City Attorney Jon Givner. He

On one city street, school choice creates a gap - The Boston Globe

A daily diaspora, a scattered street

Every morning, children in Boston disperse to schools all over. Childhood chums, and neighborhood feeling, can be left behind

By Stephanie Ebbert and Jenna Russell

Globe Staff / June 12, 2011

Text size – +

Fourth in a series of occasional articles.

MAP

A neighborhood scatters

Every weekday on Montvale Street this fall, Abel and Aryana Saavedra will leave their second-floor apartment at 6:45 a.m. for Forest Hills Station, where they will board separate buses bound for schools in Wellesley. A half-hour later, their next-door neighbor, Seamus Folan, will emerge from his condo so his mother can drive him to his Hyde Park charter school. Soon, Sophie Rousell will be shooed into her mother’s Jeep for the 5-mile drive to a Chestnut Hill

Duncan pledges ‘No Child’ relief for states - The Washington Post

Duncan pledges ‘No Child’ relief for states

By Michael Alison Chandler, Published: June 11

If Congress fails to act on President Obama’s call to rewrite the No Child Left Behind law by the start of next school year, Education Secretary Arne Duncan said he will take steps to ease some of its most punitive provisions for states that are making strides in improving schools.

“We are hearing a tremendous amount of frustration across the country,” Duncan said in a conference call Friday with reporters. “We are not going to sit back here and do nothing.” He spoke on the condition that his remarks would not be made public until Sunday.

Many teachers and state leaders have long protested that the 2002 law is too punitive, too strict and fundamentally unrealistic. The law sets a goal for all students to show proficiency in reading and math by 2014.

Duncan predicted in March that by next year, the vast majority of public schools would miss their ever-increasing target pass rates on standardized tests in those subjects. Schools that fall short are labeled as failing to make “adequate” progress and face possible

Dealing with the Republican zombie invasion in Wisconsin - blue cheddar blog

Dealing with the Republican zombie invasion in Wisconsin

by bluecheddar

1 person liked this

Image from the Peoples Press Collective

In my dreams of Democracy, recall elections this summer bring some balance back to a state tilting toward authoritarianism. I now fear the dream has a few zombies lurching around. Or “Zombie candidates” as dane101would call them.

Fake senate recall candidates are stepping forward to serve the Republican Party as Democrats in name only. And as I am writing this post, I see the news that Mike Tate says Wisconsin Democrats will use

NYC Educator: Are You Smarter than a Sixth Grader?

Are You Smarter than a Sixth Grader?

by NYC Educator

I have no idea, but here you can see 6th grader Sierra Hull playing mandolin with Alison Krauss. If you haven't heard Alison Krauss yet, well, what are you waiting for?

Daily Kos: One of America's most important documents

One of America's most important documents

by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken)

was on this day in 1776 unanimously adopted by the Virginia Convention of Delegates. Written by George Mason, it predates both our national Declaration of Independence by several weeks, and our national Bill of Rights by more than a decade.

Yet few people, even in Virginia, learn about this document.

It is not that Mason was writing in a total vacuum. After all, Englishmen had a history of protection of rights beginning with the Magna Carta in 1215, from which one of our most basic rights, that of trial by jury, derived. Think about it - in just 4 years we will celebrate the 900th anniversary of that document. The idea of limiting of government and protecting the people continued through things like the Petition of Right and the English Bill of

Schools Matter: NCTQ's LAUSD report's highly questionable veracity shows Bill Gates' pervasiveness and perniciousness

NCTQ's LAUSD report's highly questionable veracity shows Bill Gates' pervasiveness and perniciousness

by Robert D. Skeels * rdsathene

Reformers appeal to the urgency of confronting "failing schools," but the logic of their argument leads inevitably to students' dependence upon parents who know how to maneuver within the system to gain private advantage. This is an abandonment of the goal of a comprehensive public sector that provides equitable, universal opportunities. Such consequences are anathema to progressives when free-market ideas are applied to health care; there is no reason they should be welcome when applied to the education of the nation's children. — Kevin G. Welner (professor of education and director of the National Education Policy Center)

NCTQ is a right of center think tank immersed in neoliberal policy promotion. The LAUSD report is non-peer reviewed propaganda intended to empower privatization pushing poverty pimps like Mayor Villaraigosa.

NCTQ is a right of center think tank immersed in neoliberal policy promotion. The LAUSD report is non-peer reviewed propaganda intended to empower privatization pushing poverty pimps like Mayor Villaraigosa.

Early this week the Los Angeles press was awash with news trumpeting the findings of a report from an organization called the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ). The report, entitled Teacher Quality Roadmap Improving Policies and Practices in LAUSD was heralded by the corporate education reform junta as a definitive report that contained all of the answers to Los Angeles Unified School District's (LAUSD) problems. Among the biggest cheerleaders of the report was the privatization minded Mayor Villaraigosa who said of the NCTQ "I look

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Saving We the People is a task for the civic-minded

Concerns arise over LAUSD's 'salary credit' system

A daily diaspora, a scattered street

Every morning, children in Boston disperse to schools all over. Childhood chums, and neighborhood feeling, can be left behind

Duncan pledges ‘No Child’ relief for states

By Michael Alison Chandler, Published: June 11