Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Big Education Ape: 10-4-11 PM Leonie Haimson: Challenge the corporate reform movement EDition

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Published by Coopmike48 – 7 news spotters today

The Trouble With the Parent Trigger - Bridging Differences

blogs.edweek.org - Dear Deborah,There is a move under way to promote something called the "Parent Trigger" as a way to reform schools. It is another one of those deceptive schemes that comes packaged with an alluring...

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More to do on Pension Call Tuesday. « Fred Klonsky's blog

preaprez.wordpress.com - At the suggestion of a reader, I have been posting the names of some legislators, mostly members of the House Pension Committee, to call or email on Pension Call Tuesday. The response has been terr...

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coopmike48 Tips Tuesday: Green Tips for Pets « MomsRising Blog -http://t.co/yni8xqGg17 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite

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coopmike48 Common Core State Standards with TI-Nspire™ Technology - Free Webinar - The Educator's PLN -http://t.co/rHTJOKyz11 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite

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coopmike48 Branstad’s Blueprint | Truth in American Education - http://t.co/QqvCUpJ116 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite

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coopmike48 Georgia Teen Hopes American Jobs Act Is Passed | ED.gov Blog -http://t.co/WhnleIpF16 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite

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Together On Teacher Preparation, But Not On Tests

huffingtonpost.com - When Secretary of Education Arne Duncan presented the Obama administration's reforms to teacher training programs before the D.C.-based think tank Education Sector last Friday, he was joined by an ...

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Does Arne Duncan think that harder is better?

schoolsmatter.info - Does Arne Duncan think that harder is better? Council Chronicle 3 Susan Ohanian and Stephen Krashen Posted on NCTE Connected Community: OK to share In "A conversation with US Secretary of Education...

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School Tech Connect: Democracy...

schooltechconnect.com - ...not something to be thrown away just because you've got a charter jones.Hear, hear! Nancy has hit the nail on the head. I do not trust anyone whose ideas are so toxic that they require the suspe...

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Tale of One City, Two Worlds

schooltechconnect.com - Isn't this charming? Doesn't it bathe you in earthly delight? Don't you want to drop what you're doing and register your children for it? Meanwhile, kids at the mayor's school are off to the Dunes....

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How the Free Market Economy Creates Gender Polarization

huffingtonpost.com - This piece is part of a special series on the End of Gender. This series includes bloggers from Role/Reboot, Good Men Project, The Huffington Post, Salon, HyperVocal, Ms. Magazine, YourTango, Psych...

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Green Tips for Pets « MomsRising Blog

momsrising.org - Toxic chemicals don’t just show up in foods, toys, and cosmetics for people; they also like to make an appearance in goods for pets. October is National Pet Wellness month, and we’re celebrating by...

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Celebrate National Taco Day With Us

hispanicallyspeakingnews.com - Published at 11:18 am, October 4, 2011 Photo Credits: National Taco Day Celebrate with Hispanically Speaking News ‘National Taco Day’ and enjoy a crispy, meat stuffed taco somewhere. This Mexican ...

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Bank of America - A Unique Display of Corporate Greed

californiaprogressreport.com - Printer-friendly versionSend to friendBy Mitch Seaman California Labor Federation Forbes magazine as gutsy consumer advocate? Well, not really, but even the favored rag of corporate shills everywhe...

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Blog posts on this issue

whitehouse.gov - The White House Office of the First Lady For Immediate Release October 04, 2011 The White House is pleased to announce that Angella Reid will serve as the next Director of the President’s Executive...

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Schools Dangle Carrot Snacks, but It’s a Tough Sale

nytimes.com - COMMACK, N.Y. — The new vending machine sat unnoticed as students rushed past its baby carrots, yogurt smoothies and hummus to neighbors dispensing Snapple, Doritos, Goldfish and Cheez-It. The lunc...

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Preschoolers improve verbal IQ

educationresearchreport.blogspot.com - ฮฉCanadian scientists who specialize in learning, memory and language in children have found exciting evidence that pre-schoolers can improve their verbal intelligence after only 20 days of classroo...

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    NYC Public School Parents: Video: NYC parent activists get a moment to challenge the corporate reform movement on Education Nation

    NYC Public School Parents: Video: NYC parent activists get a moment to challenge the corporate reform movement on Education Nation:

    Video: NYC parent activists get a moment to challenge the corporate reform movement on Education Nation

    by Leonie Haimson
    Last week, NBC ran three days of programming called Education Nation, filmed at Rockefeller Plaza, which was primarily dominated by representatives from the corporate reform movement, who define accountability as more high-stakes testing and promote privatization through charter school expansion, both trends that in the view of many public school parents undermine our public schools and offer simplistic solutions to complex problems.

    Many of the panelists and speakers were from organizations funded by the program's sponsors, which included the Gates and Broad Foundations, and echoed their pro-testing and pro-privatization views. There was much talk about how we need "great principals" and "great teachers" and "great schools" with little realistic discussion of how we get there. One panelist, Ralph Smith of the Annie Casey Foundation, offered a contrary thought: that
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    PSAT for 1-4-11: Tell Mark Kirk “no” on federal funds for charters

    Parents United for Responsible Education » Blog Archive » PSAT for 1-4-11: Tell Mark Kirk “no” on federal funds for charters:

    PSAT for 1-4-11: Tell Mark Kirk “no” on federal funds for charters

    I have not been able to respond to this survey(which was forwarded to me by a friend) but I hope that’s due to my incompatibility with all things Bill Gates, not a rejection of my views by my senator….

    In the post, Mark Kirk declares that he “strongly supports charter schools.” The post is headlined with the incorrect statement that 9 of top 10 High Schools in Chicago are Charter Schools.

    (Here’s the video demonstrating how some CPS high school students called candidate Rahm Emanuel out on a similar misstatement.)

    But then Sen. Kirk asks what we think:

    “Should Congress use its educational funds to support the expansion of Charter Schools?”

    Why don’t you tell him? You can also leave a message on Sen. Kirk’s Facebook page. So far, comments are overwhelmingly against charter schools – for example, “Charter schools in many cases are run by corporations and receive little money from the government and operate in many

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    So Much for Fair and Balanced With the Washington State PTA | Seattle Education

    So Much for Fair and Balanced With the Washington State PTA | Seattle Education:

    So Much for Fair and Balanced With the Washington State PTA

    by seattleducation2011

    As noted in an earlier post titled Whoa! Where did that come from Washington State PTA?! Charter schools?!, the state PTA has proposed a plank in this year’s platform that would be used to convince our state legislators in the next session that all parents want charter schools in our state. That’s what happened last year with merit pay when Ramona Hattendorf, Government Relations Coordinator for the Washington State PTA, provided testimony in sessions considering such bills. The implication being that because Ms. Hattendorf represented the PTA she therefore represented the majority of if not all parents in our state. Ramona was also busy meeting with our legislators trying to convince them of that as well.

    Many of us countered with phone calls, e-mails and visits to our representatives in Olympia explaining to them what was important to us and how we believed that merit pay would only harm our children due to tests

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    School Tech Connect: Democracy...

    School Tech Connect: Democracy...:

    Democracy...

    by noreply@blogger.com (Tim)
    ...not something to be thrown away just because you've got a charter jones.

    Hear, hear! Nancy has hit the nail on the head. I do not trust anyone whose ideas are so toxic that they require the suspension of democratic representation. We have that here in Illinois now, with the new state charting authority, supported by all of my Democratic friends.

    One hates to quote from the Trib, but here they are:


    God forbid local people make up their
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    Breitbart attacks FairTest, God and the NAACP over standards. « Fred Klonsky's blog

    Breitbart attacks FairTest, God and the NAACP over standards. « Fred Klonsky's blog:

    Breitbart attacks FairTest, God and the NAACP over standards.

    by Fred Klonsky

    Andrew Breitbart, goof-ball of the loony right, hosts an attack on FairTest, the United Church of Christ, Bill Ayers, Barack Obama and the NAACP.

    What do they all have in common according to Big Government poster Seton Motley (Do they all have to have these upper crust names?)?

    What they all have in common is a critique of the SAT.

    Who knew?

    Here’s how it works: FairTest, an organization that has a fine record of exposing the negative impact of the current testing mania, has come out with a book, SAT Wars: The Case for Test-Optional College Admissions.

    Questioning the SAT. Pretty radical. I mean, it doesn’t
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    Arne on Dumbing Down Standards and the Next Generation of Assessments | ED.gov Blog

    Arne on Dumbing Down Standards and the Next Generation of Assessments | ED.gov Blog:

    Arne on Dumbing Down Standards and the Next Generation of Assessments

    Posted on October 4, 2011 by Cameron Brenchley

    Secretary Duncan sits down several times a month to answer questions he receives via his Facebook page. This past week, Arne answered questions that had been received on Facebook’s Facebook in Education page.

    In the video, Arne responds to a question asking why we as a country allowed standards in schools to be “dummied down.” Secretary Duncan explains that dumbed-down standards are an unintended consequence of No Child Left Behind (NCLB), but that over the last two and a half years, 44 states have raised standards and are working to level the playing field for students.

    Arne also responds to a question about the need for a new generation of assessments. Duncan notes ED is helping fund two consortia of states that are providing leadership and working together to develop new assessments that will go beyond today’s fill-in-the-bubble tests that only measure basic skills. These new assessments will support good teaching by measuring crticial thinking skills and complex student learning.


    Click here for an alternate version of the video with an accessible player.

    Join the conversation on Arne’s Facebook page or leave a comment below.
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    Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top Mid Day Posts


    Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top Mid Day Posts


    More to do on Pension Call Tuesday. « Fred Klonsky's blog

    Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 1 hour ago
    More to do on Pension Call Tuesday. « Fred Klonsky's blog:More to do on Pension Call Tuesday.by Fred KlonskyAt the suggestion of a reader, I have been posting the names of some legislators, mostly members of the House Pension Committee, to call or email on Pension Call Tuesday. The response has been terrific, based on page views and clicks to the email sites.But it is most important to call your own member of the General Assembly. Retiree and pension activist ... more »

    Subterranean Homesick Blues #occupywallstreet

    Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 1 hour ago
    Subterranean Homesick BluesJohnny’s in the basementMixing up the medicineI’m on the pavementThinking about the governmentThe man in the trench coatBadge out, laid offSays he’s got a bad coughWants to get it paid offLook out kidIt’s somethin’ you didGod knows whenBut you’re doin’ it againYou better duck down the alley wayLookin’ for a new friendThe man in the coon-skin capBy the big penWants eleven dollar billsYou only got tenMaggie comes fleet footFace full of black sootTalkin’ that the heat putPlants in ... more »

    Schools Matter: Teach for America's Domestic Corporate Colonialism Becomes a Model for Duncan

    Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 1 hour ago
    Schools Matter: Teach for America's Domestic Corporate Colonialism Becomes a Model for Duncan:Teach for America's Domestic Corporate Colonialism Becomes a Model for Duncanby Jim HornTeach for America recruits seniors from high-flying colleges and universities to put in a two-year stint learning to teach on other people's children (only 1 in 20 has any field experience under a professional teacher). Competition is stiff to get in, even as TFA spends more on recruiting than it does on training, which consists principally ... more »

    Missouri Education Watchdog: What Makes a Republican a Republican when talking about Education?

    Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 1 hour ago
    Missouri Education Watchdog: What Makes a Republican a Republican when talking about Education?:What Makes a Republican a Republican when talking about Education?Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to FacebookThis is one of the most coherent articles explaining why supporting centralized education (as many of our state legislators support) as proposed by the present (and past) administration is NOT a conservative viewpoint.Emmett McGroarty raises the crucial questions in this debate:Both candidates believe that public education should be accountable. The real question is accoun... more »

    Misinformed charter punditry doesn’t help anyone (especially charters!) « School Finance 101

    Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 1 hour ago
    Misinformed charter punditry doesn’t help anyone (especially charters!) « School Finance 101:Misinformed charter punditry doesn’t help anyone (especially charters!)by schoolfinance101Misinformed charter punditry doesn’t help anyone. It doesn’t help the public to make more informed decisions either about choices for their own children or about policy preferences more generally. It also doesn’t help charter operators get their jobs done and it doesn’t help those working in traditional public schools focus on things that really matter. This post is in direct response ... more »

    ACLU looking at rest of state's charter schools - TwinCities.com

    Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 1 hour ago
    ACLU looking at rest of state's charter schools - TwinCities.com:ACLU looking at rest of state's charter schoolsBy John Brewerjbrewer@pioneerpress.comPosted: 10/03/2011 12:01:00 AM CDTSince the American Civil Liberties Union sued Tarek ibn Ziyand Academy in early 2009, the ACLU has examined all of the approximately 140 charter schools in the state, executive director Chuck Samuelson said.The group has identified 12 to 15 other charter schools that "we are looking at with the eye toward possible violation of the First Amendment," Samuelson ... more »

    The Trouble With the Parent Trigger - Bridging Differences - Education Week

    Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 1 hour ago
    The Trouble With the Parent Trigger - Bridging Differences - Education Week:The Trouble With the Parent Triggerby Diane RavitchDear Deborah,There is a move under way to promote something called the "Parent Trigger" as a way to reform schools. It is another one of those deceptive schemes that comes packaged with an alluring name, but whose true purpose is to undermine public education.In early 2010, when Arnold Schwarzenegger was governor of California, the state legislature passed the "Parent Empowerment Act." This ... more »

    Shanker Blog » Character Education

    Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 1 hour ago
    Shanker Blog » Character Education:Character Educationby Matthew Di CarloI’m always uncomfortable with personal accusations in our education debate, and they come from both “sides.” For instance, I don’t like hearing accusations that market-based reformers are “profiteers.” The implication is that these people seek to dismantle or otherwise alter the public education system for their own economic advantage.It’s true that a significant proportion of market-based reformers support various forms of privatization, such as vouchers, and that this support is in part ... more »

    Questions regarding Teach for America, Inc. that the Seattle School Board has yet to answer. | Seattle Education

    Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 1 hour ago
    Questions regarding Teach for America, Inc. that the Seattle School Board has yet to answer. | Seattle Education:Questions regarding Teach for America, Inc. that the Seattle School Board has yet to answer.by seattleducation2011The Seattle School Board recently voted 5-1 to hire three more TFA, Inc. recruits. Four of these board membersare incumbents in an upcoming school board race. These four board members also received funding from supporters of TFA, Inc. who poured money into the coffers of the Seattle Foundation ... more »

    Why We Can't Accept De Facto School Segregation - Education - GOOD

    Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 1 hour ago
    Why We Can't Accept De Facto School Segregation - Education - GOOD:Why We Can't Accept De Facto School Segregationby Bill KurtzAfter the historic election of America's first black president, Barack Obama, one would think racial segregation would be on the decline. But the reality is that segregation is alive and well in America: The Brookings Institute reports the average white family lives in an area that is 79 percent white, while the average black family lives in a neighborhood that ... more »
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    White House Report: American Jobs Act Supports Nearly 400,000 Education Jobs | The White House

    White House Report: American Jobs Act Supports Nearly 400,000 Education Jobs | The White House:

    White House Report: American Jobs Act Supports Nearly 400,000 Education Jobs

    by The White House
    Release Time:
    For Immediate Release

    White House Releases Report Outlining the Current Challenges to our Education System and the Impact of the American Jobs Act

    Today, the White House released a report, Teacher Jobs at Risk, outlining how the Administration’s efforts – including the American Jobs Act - will keep teachers in the classroom, strengthen our schools and improve the local economy in communities across the country. The American Jobs Act will support nearly 400,000 education jobs, preventing layoffs of educators and allowing thousands more to be hired or rehired. In addition, the President’s plan will modernize at least 35,000 public school buildings and community college campuses while putting construction workers back to work.

    Here in America, we are laying off teachers in droves. It makes no sense, and it has to stop. This bill will prevent up to 280,000 teachers from losing their jobs – and support almost 40,000 jobs right here in Texas,” said President Obama. “Congress should pass this jobs bill so we can put our teachers back in the classroom where they belong.”

    America’s education system has always been one of our greatest sources of strength and global economic competitiveness, as well as the engine of incredible progress in science, technology, and the arts. We cannot expect to train our children for the high-skilled jobs of today, or for the opportunities of the future, without investments in a world-class education system.

    But the severe recession from which we are still recovering has caused serious budget problems for many state and local governments, which fund the vast majority of the costs of public elementary through high school education. What this means is that school districts have been forced to make difficult decisions. Over the past twelve months, despite private-sector job growth of 1.7 million, local governments have reduced the number of teachers and education personnel they employ by nearly 200,000 people, about two thirds of all local government job losses during this period.

    nd in the coming school year, without additional support, many school districts will have to make another round of difficult decisions. As a result of state and local funding cuts, as many as 280,000 teacher jobs could be at risk in the coming year. Unless they receive federal assistance, many school districts will be forced to reduce the number of teachers in their classrooms, or turn to other measures such as shortening the school year or cutting spending on schoolbooks and supplies.

    President Obama believes that America cannot win the future if its teachers are not where they belong—at the chalkboards or the Smart Boards in our classrooms, teaching our nation’s children. That’s why he put forward a plan – the American Jobs Act – that will prevent further cuts and more than offset these layoffs, providing support for nearly 400,000 education jobs – enough for states to avoid harmful layoffs, rehire tens of thousands of teachers who lost their jobs over the past three years, preserve or extend the regular school day and school year, and support important after-school activities.

    Today, the President will travel to Eastfield College, a community college in Mesquite, Texas, to tour the campus’ Children’s Laboratory School and meet with students and teachers before delivering remarks urging Congress to pass the American Jobs Act now to keep teachers in the classroom and rebuild our schools across the nation. In addition, Vice President Biden will visit Oakstead Elementary School in Land O’Lakes, Florida, a public school which lost teachers due to budget cuts and has seen class sizes balloon as a result.

    To view the full report, click here.
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