Jersey Jazzman: Something Is Very Wrong With Chris Christie

Jersey Jazzman: Something Is Very Wrong With Chris Christie:

Something Is Very Wrong With Chris Christie

by Duke''

March 19, 2012:

"I’m scared to death to talk to you," the woman said.

"Why?" the Gov. Chris Christie asked.

"Because you scare me," she said, prompting laughter from the crowd.

What a difference a week makes.

At a town hall meeting in Roebling last week, a former Navy SEAL repeatedly interrupted the governor with a message he didn’t like: Students at Rutgers-Camden don’t want the campus taken over by Rowan University.

The result was a defiant Christie calling Bill Brown, an erstwhile Democratic Assembly 

What Everyone Missed on the Pineapple Question | TIME Ideas | TIME.com

What Everyone Missed on the Pineapple Question | TIME Ideas | TIME.com:

What Everyone Missed on the Pineapple Question

Much of the uproar about the reading comprehension test was based on bad information

When the New York Daily News posted an article about an Aesop-inspired fable that appeared on the standardized test eighth graders in New York state had to take last month — about a pineapple challenging a hare to a foot race through the forest — all hell broke loose because the passage was so poorly written and the questions about it so incomprehensible. The fable described several animals assuming that the pineapple must have a trick up its sleeve that would enable the immobile fruit to win the race, and when they discovered that it didn’t, they ate it. Test-takers were asked: Why did they eat the pineapple? The correct answer: because the animals were annoyed. And who was the wisest of the animals? An owl that was never mentioned in the passage. Anti-testing activists responded with fury that this set of questions showed why standardized testing is worthless. New York officials quickly turned tail and tossed out the pineapple passage, declaring that they would

Read more: http://ideas.time.com/2012/05/04/what-everyone-missed-on-the-pineapple-question/#ixzz1tuAkSfND

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National Resolution on High-Stakes Testing

Please Take the Tests & Publish Your Scores « Diane Ravitch's blog

Please Take the Tests & Publish Your Scores « Diane Ravitch's blog:

Please Take the Tests & Publish Your Scores

by dianerav

We have a plethora of governors, legislators, and state commissioners of education who are gaga over standardized testing, They can’t imagine a child who is not taking a test today, tomorrow, and next week. They want to test everything: not only reading and math, but the arts, science, civics, history, foreign languages, physical education, you name it and they want to test it.
When the test-lovers see low scores, they want to find the teacher swho did it and fire them. They can’t see any reason for low scores other than those darn teachers. They want “great” teachers and they figure the way to get them is to keep teachers insecure and intimidated. That’s sure to attract the best and brightest!
When the test-lovers see low scores, they not only want to fire teachers, they want to close the schools where

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National Resolution on High-Stakes Testing

LAO proposes even shorter year, fewer special-purpose funds, changes to teacher layoff deadline - The Education Report - Katy Murphy's blog on Oakland schools

LAO proposes even shorter year, fewer special-purpose funds, changes to teacher layoff deadline - The Education Report - Katy Murphy's blog on Oakland schools:

LAO proposes even shorter year, fewer special-purpose funds, changes to teacher layoff deadline

Thursday, May 3rd, 2012 at 10:28 pm in No Comments

Given the financial stresses facing California school districts and the uncertain outcome of Gov. Jerry Brown’sNovember tax initiative, the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office thinks state lawmakers should:

1. reduce the minimum school year from 175 to 170 days
2. remove the strings attached to even more special-purpose funding streams, such as Partnership Academies and K-3 class-size reduction funding. (To see what might happen to such programs when districts can use the money for any legal purpose, look no further than to adult education, which lost its protections in 2009.)
3. lift restrictions on outside contracts for services not related to teaching (food services, clerical, maintenance)
4. make major changes to the teacher layoff timeline, including a rolling emergency layoff window in the 

Kent State and Jackson State: Looking Back/Leaning Forward « Bill Ayers

Kent State and Jackson State: Looking Back/Leaning Forward « Bill Ayers:

Kent State and Jackson State: Looking Back/Leaning Forward

by billayers

Bernardine Dohrn and Bill Ayers
May 4, 2012
Again and again we learn that war and empire abroad will find a way home.
On April 30, 1970, Richard Nixon announced the US invasion of Cambodia, a sovereign nation
the US had been secretly bombing for several months. It was a saturation campaign involving
120 strikes a day by B-52s carrying up to 60,000 pounds of bombs each. But in the common
doublespeak of war, the president claimed: “This is not an invasion of Cambodia… once enemy
forces are driven out of these sanctuaries and once their military supplies are destroyed, we will
withdraw…”
Nixon’s aggression against Cambodia was accompanied by a verbal assault on those inside the
US opposing the war: “we live in an age of anarchy, both abroad and at home,” he intoned. The
next day, Nixon went to the Pentagon to clarify the point: “you see these bums…blowing up the
campuses…burning up the books, I mean storming around about this issue…you name it, get rid
of the war, there’ll be another one.”
On the rolling spring lawns of Kent State in the American heartland, students continued to
press against an illegal, immoral war of occupation. The first entering classes of Black students
formed themselves into what was to become a growing wave of Black Student Unions, even
at Kent State. Returning veterans were throwing their medals back at the war-mongers, and

Kent State Shootings 40 years later and the hidden history of an iconic image

Kent State Shootings 40 years later and the hidden history of an iconic image

Kent State Shootings 40 years later and the hidden history of an iconic image

May 4, 5:15 AMCleveland Photography ExaminerDennis Bodzash

In an era characterized by social upheaval, a few events stand out. One of those tragic, landmark events that showcased the downward spiral of American society took place in our own backyard: the Kent State Shootings.


It was 40 years ago today on May 4, 1970 and the Kent State campus was a figurative powder keg just waiting to explode. Anger over the Vietnam War, recently expanded into Cambodia, was at an all time high, especially among the young, who often had to watch their friends be drafted into the military and then sent off to war. College campuses all across the country went into chaos as students voiced their displeasure with policy.


However, among all those protests, it was nearby Kent State that would become the focal point of the nation.


The Kent State shootings were the culmination of four days of trouble. The first sign of 

Kent State Massacre May 4, 1970

In 1970, in response to Nixon's widening of the Vietnam War into Cambodia, students throughout the US protested. Nixon sent the National Guard to restore order to the Kent State campus. The resulting consequences changed the course of the war.

Follow up on why Publicness/Privateness of Charter Schools Matters « School Finance 101

Follow up on why Publicness/Privateness of Charter Schools Matters « School Finance 101:

Follow up on why Publicness/Privateness of Charter Schools Matters

by schoolfinance101

My post the other day was intended to shed light on the various complexities of classifying charter schools as public or private. Some have argued that the distinctions I make are a distraction from the bigger policy issues. The point was not to address those issues, but rather to dispose of the misinformed rhetoric that charter schools are necessarily public in every way that traditional public schools are. They clearly are not. And the distinctions made in my previous post have important implications not only for teachers employment rights (or any school employee), but also for student rights. Further, it is really, really important that teachers considering their options and parents considering their options understand these distinctions and make fully informed choices.
Preston Green of Penn State University [co-author of Charter Schools and the Law] offered the following comments on my previous post:

Charter schools are always characterized as “public schools.” Many parents assume that they would receive the same constitutional rights in charter schools as other public schools. In fact, I use to think this.
My thinking changed when I spoke at a workshop for charter school attorneys. Several attorneys insisted that they were not beholden to federal constitutional and statutory provisions. They cited the Ninth Circuit’s Caviness decision, in which the Ninth Circuit held that a charter school was not 

The in box. Teachers respond to ABC pension lies. « Fred Klonsky

The in box. Teachers respond to ABC pension lies. « Fred Klonsky:

The in box. Teachers respond to ABC pension lies.

by Fred Klonsky

Among the responses I received responding to ABC’s lies about teachers not paying into our retirement system:

Hey Fred -
This is what I wrote to abc7 “news” yesterday:
Your story titled “Intelligence Report: Most Illinois teachers pay little or nothing toward retirement accounts” includes false information. All Illinois teachers in the TRS system pay 9.4% of their salary toward TRS retirement. Some districts negotiate some of this expense along with their compensation package just as health insurance costs might be bargained. The ISBE website states “Salaries include tax-sheltered retirement contribution paid or deposited by the district on behalf of the teachers to the Teachers’ Retirement System.” The districts collect the money out of teacher paychecks and send it in to the state.
Just as any employer pays to the government half of their employee social security costs, teachers in the State of Illinois expect their employer, the state, to pay their agreed upon amount. You may want to check into the history of TRS and how the state begged off of social security back in the 40′s so they could collect the money themselves. The savings to the state by not paying into SS has been huge. They never would have been able to borrow from SS like they ha

Principal urges state ed chief to take standardized tests to see problems with exams - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

Principal urges state ed chief to take standardized tests to see problems with exams - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post:

Principal urges state ed chief to take standardized tests to see problems with exams

by Valerie Strauss

A New York school principal is urging the state’s education commissioner to review the standardized math assessments recently given to students in grades 3-5 because of a host of serious problems with their design. In a powerful letter, she also told him to take the tests to see the problems for himself.
Read full article >>

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National Resolution on High-Stakes Testing

Funniest commencement speeches

by Valerie Strauss

If you have ever sat at a commencement speech and listened to a speaker droning on and on and on and on and on, then you might appreciate the following excerpts from some of the funniest speeches ever delivered at a graduation.
Read full article >>

Miramonte teachers speak at rally - latimes.com

Miramonte teachers speak at rally - latimes.com:

Miramonte teachers speak at rally

More than 200 parents, students and former Miramonte teachers gathered in South Los Angeles on Thursday to call for the immediate reinstatement of the school’s staff, which was removed in its entirety from the campus in early February, a week after the arrest of former teacher Mark Berndt on 23 counts of lewd conduct.
Thursday’s rally marked the first time that the teachers spoke publicly.
"We just really want to go back to our students," said one teacher in a interview. Like many others, she declined to be identified.
"We never got to say goodbye," she said. "We’re teachers, and we want to teach our kids. It’s been hard, and we’re trying to heal."
Said another teacher: “To our students, we love you and miss you.”
Since leaving Miramonte, southeast of downtown, the teachers have reported to work at nearby Augustus 

School Tech Connect: The Waterbug

School Tech Connect: The Waterbug:

The Waterbug

by noreply@blogger.com (Tim Furman)

I heart Medea Benjamin from Code Pink. I'm going to flat-out steal and post a very short clip from Democracy Now where Medea Benjamin shows how it's done when you need to make an unpopular point. I've never done anything half as ballsy as what Media Benjamin does in this clip.

Watch how she never loses her cool; she makes her point as clearly as if she were sitting in a tea-house. "I love the rule of law," she says as she's dragged away to prison. I especially admire the maneuver she does at the door: I call it "the waterbug."

Popout

I don't know anything about drones. I'm an ed policy guy and a computer guy. The only thing I know about war is 

Step Away From The Children | The Jose Vilson

Step Away From The Children | The Jose Vilson:

Step Away From The Children

by Jose

Nope. I’m not going to let you get away with it.
You think you’re slick with your off-kilter jargon and smooth delivery, but I see right through you.
Before I continue, I need you to step away from the children.
You’re passionate about your subject area, but not about the kids you’re teaching. You say you love teaching, but never actually want to talk to the kids before or after class. Actually, you don’t actually want to talk to the kids, but at them. You refuse to understand where they’re coming from and defer to good old days that never 

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Dr. Enfield Wants You All to Know She Means It

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Dr. Enfield Wants You All to Know She Means It:

Dr. Enfield Wants You All to Know She Means It

by Melissa Westbrook

Dear Readers,

As some of you may know, recently someone posted a comment using Dr. Enfield's name.  (The comment was directed at me, though.)  It had been posted after I had retired one evening and I found an e-mail the next morning from Lesley Rodgers in Communications asking me about it.   Then, there was one from Dr. Enfield that said:

I expect the comment to be removed today.

I replied that I had seen it and removed it.  I apologized and said that sometimes people can be unpleasant.  I then wrote a separate thread reminding readers to NEVER pretend to be a living person/figure.

SUSPENSIONS AND EXPULSIONS, HAS ANYONE ASKED THE TEACHERS ? « Teachers Fight Back

SUSPENSIONS AND EXPULSIONS, HAS ANYONE ASKED THE TEACHERS ? « Teachers Fight Back:

SUSPENSIONS AND EXPULSIONS, HAS ANYONE ASKED THE TEACHERS ?

by alkleen

Spurred by student and community groups demanding a less punitive student discipline system, a Chicago City Council Committee on Wednesday passed a resolution calling on Chicago Public Schools to reduce suspensions and expulsions by 40 percent.
The groups pushing for a less punitive approach want CPS to increase the use of “restorative justice programs”, which include everything from peer juries to determine student punishment to peace circles that bring together offenders and victims.
So, aldermen and “students and community groups” will now decide a new discipline system. How perfect. Has anyone asked the teachers for their input?  Once again we see that unlike all professions known to man, people outside of the teaching profession are thought to know better than the teaching 

A Deafening Silence | Taking Note

A Deafening Silence | Taking Note:

A Deafening Silence

by JOHN MERROW on 04. MAY, 2012 in 2012 BLOGS

 “I want to be a veterinarian, and I want to go to Princeton University,” a smiling 15-year-old girl told us when we were filming at KIPP: Believe, a high-performing charter school in New Orleans. Tell us more, we said. “I want to finish college because I want to have that pride in myself that, to know that I finished something, that I went somewhere and I finished it,” Christine Marcelin added.

Watching her speak, one senses that Christine has what it takes, and it’s easy to imagine her becoming a successful vet, or perhaps a doctor or business leader.

Her history teacher, Scarlett Feinberg, shared that view. “Christine always cared how other people were feeling, she put her team first always. She really cared that her friends were successful too, and she would talk to her classmates about being better. She embodied hope that we could be the change we