K-12 Education News | Education Articles | Teacher Articles :: Teachers Unite for Save Our Schools March

K-12 Education News | Education Articles | Teacher Articles :: Teachers Unite for Save Our Schools March

Teachers Unite for Save Our Schools March By: Annie Condron

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This summer, teachers’ voices will be heard well beyond the confines of a classroom.

Frustrated educators have organized the Save Our Schools: March and National Call to Action to give the power of numbers to their opinions on education reform.

The Washington D.C. march harkens back to the power of peaceful protest demonstrated during the Civil Rights Movement. Organizers will start with an “Activists’ Conference” leading up to the march on the Department of Education on Saturday, July 30.

The Save Our Schools March cause page on Facebook shows just how much they think this movement can achieve:

“In 1963, over 200,000 concerned citizens marched on Washington to participate in a momentous event that forever shifted the national dialogue on race and justice. Consequently, policy changed. Laws changed. America changed.

In 2011, it is our time to change the national dialogue on PUBLIC EDUCATION.

For over a decade, education laws and policies have been enacted without input from those who REALLY know how to improve our schools and society. And now, as we stand at a critical crossroads in the future of public schools and the teaching profession…

• The President has a voice
• The Secretary of Education has a voice
• Politicians have a voice
• Corporate billionaires have a voice
• The media have a voice

Finally, the nation will hear OUR VOICE!”

Though unions have shown support, the Save Our Schools March has been organized by individual teachers and is open to parents, non-union and union teachers alike, students and any other supporters of their education reform goals.

Save Our Schools March Goals

• Equitable funding for all public school communities
• An end to high stakes testing used for the purpose of student, teacher, and school evaluation
• Teacher, family and community leadership in forming public education policies
• Curriculum developed for and by local school communities

Save Our Schools March Details

The event consists of four days of conferences and a rally leading up to the march.

Conference

For the two days prior to the march, organizers are also holding a conference on education policy and activism. The conference does have a fee, but the march is free and open to everyone. The conference will resume on Sunday, July 31 to discuss next steps in the “Save Our Schools” movement.

Rally & March

Supporters are meeting at Ellipse Saturday, July 30 at noon to gear up for the march. Speeches and performances will be given by Diane Ravitch, Jonathan Kozol, José Vilson, Deborah Meier, Monty Neill, Angela Valenzuela, and more.

At 2p.m., the group will “march to the Department of Education, where the demands will be read, we’ll chant, and engage in a call for continued action to reclaim schools as places of learning, joy, and democracy,” according to the Save Our Schools March website.

Save Our Schools March Supporters

A laundry list of educational leaders, universities, teachers of the year, organizations, education writers and bloggers, unions, public officials and others have endorsed the Save Our Schools March.

Here are opinions a few everyday educators and supporters have expressed:

“Our theme is ‘Waking the Sleeping Giant,’ which was inspired by the events in Wisconsin and other places around the country. The public is finally beginning to wake up to what’s been happening for the last few years – we’re seeing evidence of this not only in Wisconsin but in places such as Seattle and Rochester."

~ Kenneth J. Bernstein, blogger and 65-year-old veteran teacher in DC.

“Why are we spending more and more money on testing and less and less on children?
The time to be complacent is over!” ~ N. Creech

"I answered the call to action and will be marching in DC so the voices of my colleagues can be heard when decisions regarding students are made!" ~ Becca R

What do you think about the Save Our School March and Call to Action? Are you a supporter

Daily Kos: The Fourth Amendment is at risk

Daily Kos: The Fourth Amendment is at risk

The Fourth Amendment is at risk

by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken)

and along with it the continuation of our liberal democracy. If you have any doubt, I strongly urge you to readFree to Search and Seize, an op ed in today's New York Times by David K. Shipler.

He begins by recounting a number of the things that have, despite the lessons we had in theory learned in the 1970s, limited the reach of the Fourth Amendment, actions by all three branches of government. He then offers these words, which I urge you to read carefully:

For over a decade now, the government has tried to make us more secure by chipping away at the one provision of the Bill of Rights that pivots on the word “secure” — the Fourth Amendment’s guarantee of “the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures.”

The founding fathers, who sought security from government, would probably reject today’s conventional wisdom that liberty and security are at odds, and that one must be sacrificed for the other. In their experience, the chief threat to individual security came from government itself, as in the house-to-house searches conducted by British customs officers under blanket “writs of assistance.” After the Boston lawyer James Otis Jr. eloquently challenged the writs in 1761, John Adams, who was present in the crowded courtroom, wrote of the audience’s rage, “Then and there the child independence was born.”

Please keep reading.

The Fourth Amendment is at risk

NAEP - Achievement Gaps

NAEP - Achievement Gaps

Achievement Gaps

				Achievement gaps occur when one group of students outperforms another group and the difference in average scores for the two groups is statistically significant (that is, larger than the margin of error). The NAEP reports on the Hispanic-White achievement gap and the Black-White achievement gap use NAEP scores in mathematics and reading for these groups to illuminate patterns and changes in these gaps over time.
Hispanic-White Achievement Gap Publications Browse the executive summary of the report. View highlights of the findings. Download the full report to find out more about score gaps over time in the nation and states. Black-White Achievement Gap Publications Browse the executive summary of the report. View highlights (1001KPDF) of the findings. Download the full report(1003K PDF) to find out more about score gaps in the nation and states.				Resources for Exploring Achievement Gaps Read a brief description of how gaps can change over time to help you understand the gap analyses presented in the reports. Read frequently asked questions for each of the achievement gap reports: Hispanic-White report FAQs Black-White report FAQs Explore the achievement gaps in other subjects and in the context of many different student factors, including race/ethnicity, courses taken, school location, and more with the NAEP Data Explorer. Find out more about the achievement gaps in your state compared to others with the NAEPState Comparisons tool. Read a statement from Jack Buckley, Commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics, and view a PowerPoint presentation about the findings of the Hispanic-White Achievement Gaps report. Read the press release about the results of the Hispanic-White Achievement Gaps report

Rochelle Riley: Roy Roberts: Every DPS job, contract is on the line | Detroit Free Press | freep.com

Rochelle Riley: Roy Roberts: Every DPS job, contract is on the line | Detroit Free Press | freep.com

Detroit Public Schools emergency manager Roy Roberts marched across his private conference room Wednesday morning and pointed to a whiteboard where he had drawn in black marker a chart showing the new top hierarchy for the school district.

Rochelle Riley: Roy Roberts: Every DPS job, contract is on the line

It had only seven jobs, down from the current 30.

But we ain't seen nothing yet.

Roberts, the former General Motors executive who has been with DPS for only five weeks, said he expects to make massive employee cuts. He also plans to cancel and rebid everymajor contract in an effort to eliminate a $227-million deficit and run the city schools like a business -- a business that will pay dividends to the community by successfully educating its children.

Roberts, who said his prime mission is to fully educate children, said

The Root: NAACP Lawsuit Shifts School Debate : NPR

The Root: NAACP Lawsuit Shifts School Debate : NPR

The Root: NAACP Lawsuit Shifts School Debate

Lynette Holloway is a frequent contributor toThe Root. The Chicago-based writer is a formerNew York Times reporter and associate editor for Ebony magazine.

As states grappled with ways to reinvigorate the flagging public education system, charter schools were offered up as an attractive alternative: a way to break outside the mold and offer the kind of innovative learning environment and accountability for results that is more often associated with private schools.

Some critics fear that this alternative is now crowding out the public school system it was meant to supplement, creating a two-tiered system that leaves children in more traditional settings with fewer resources and options. That argument is the crux of a lawsuit filed by the NAACP and the United Federation of Teachers against the New York City Department of

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Save Our Schools [SOS] Flyers (50)

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Save Our Schools [SOS] Flyers (50)

Save Our Schools [SOS] Flyers (50)

Save Our Schools [SOS] Flyers (50):

Straight Up Conversation: Teacher Eval Guru Charlotte Danielson :: Frederick M. Hess

Straight Up Conversation: Teacher Eval Guru Charlotte Danielson :: Frederick M. Hess

Straight Up Conversation: Teacher Eval Guru Charlotte Danielson

by Frederick M. Hess • Jun 23, 2011 at 8:12 am
Cross-posted from Education Week

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There's been a heavy emphasis of late on teacher evaluation, with states and districts making it a pillar of their efforts to rethink tenure, pay, and professional norms. States and districts have adopted systems that rely heavily on observational evaluation to complement or stand in for value-added metrics. In many cases, they are turning to celebrated edu-consultant Charlotte Danielson's "Danielson Framework for Teaching." Just last week, Danielson was in New York City with NYCDOE chief academic officer Shael Polakow-Suransky to discuss NYC's reform efforts (NYC is using Danielson's framework as it designs new teaching standards). The Consortium on Chicago School Research is currently in the midst of a two-year review examining the adoption of the Danielson Framework in Chicago. The first report, released last year, termed the Danielson Framework "a reliable tool for identifying low-quality teaching" and said it "has potential for improving teacher evaluation systems." In light of all this, I thought it worth chatting with Charlotte about some of the ins and outs of teacher evaluation and what cautions or advice she might have for practitioners or policymakers.

Rick Hess: For context, can you say a bit about where the Danielson Framework came from?

Great offer from Amtrak Save Our Schools March Convention Rate

Great offer from Amtrak (62)

Great offer from Amtrak

by Sos March Nebraska-Wyoming on Thursday, June 23, 2011 at 5:38am

GOOD NEWS! Amtrak is giving a 10% discount for those going to DC for what they call the "convention." It's good anywhere in the U.S.

According to the rules, this discount can not be used to get to DC for any other event. Amtrak will offer this discount off the rail fare to Washington , DC

July 25, 2011 –

August 03, 2011

...

To book a reservation call: Amtrak at 1 (800) 872-7245.

Ask for: Save Our Schools March Convention Rate-X08H - 929.

*** MUST BOOK VIA PHONE, NOT VIA INTERNET! *** Or you can see your travel agent

Amtrak will offer a 10% discount off the best available rates to DC