Big Education Ape - Mid Day Banana Break
CPS board of ed fraudulently collects merit pay funding. « Fred Klonsky
CPS board of ed fraudulently collects merit pay funding. « Fred Klonsky: CPS board of ed fraudulently collects merit pay funding. by Fred Klonsky The Chicago Public Schools board of ed took $33 million in federal funds for a merit pay program. One of the requirements for receiving the funds was involvement by the Chicago Teachers Union. Which CPS didn’t bother to get. Nor would they have gotten since it CTU President Karen Lewis made it perfectly clear that the union was not doing merit pay. CTU president Karen Lewis says the union told CPS from the get-go that it wouldn’t sign on ... more »
Scott Walker Aide Wanted Union Foe Failed DC Chancellor Michelle Rhee to Counter Teacher Protests, Email Shows | Mother Jones
Scott Walker Aide Wanted Union Foe Michelle Rhee to Counter Teacher Protests, Email Shows | Mother Jones: Scott Walker Aide Wanted Union Foe Michelle Rhee to Counter Teacher Protests, Email Shows —By Andy Kroll | Fri Jun. 1, 2012 3:32 AM PDT 5 - - [image: Michelle Rhee]Former DC schools chancellor Michelle Rhee.The National Academy of Sciences/Flickr Days after Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker"dropped the bomb" on his state's public employees last year by proposing to cut most of their collective bargaining rights, a top Walker aide suggested bringing controversial school r... more »
FCMAT » Cali Education Headlines Friday, June 1, 2012
FCMAT » Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team: Sutter's Mill in Coloma, CA On January 24, 1848, an event occurred in Coloma that would radically impact the history of California and the Nation. James W. Marshall was building a sawmill for Captain John Sutter, using water from the South Fork of the American River. He noticed several flakes of metal in the tailrace water and recognized them to be gold. Though he tried to keep it a secret, the word spread quickly, and triggered the California Gold Rush of 1849. Education Headlines *Friday, June 1, 2012* Tax initiative to have 'pro... more »
Weekly update: Pushback from all sides, standing up to Stand for Children and the poverty pimps are at it again | Seattle Education
Weekly update: Pushback from all sides, standing up to Stand for Children and the poverty pimps are at it again | Seattle Education: Weekly update: Pushback from all sides, standing up to Stand for Children and the poverty pimps are at it again by seattleducation2011 *Know your rights* and protect them because someone is always around to try and take them away from you. During this week when we show our gratitude and respect for those who have died in wars, beginning with the Revolutionary War, to fight and sometimes die for our freedoms and do battle against enemies imagined, con... more »
Shanker Blog » A Game Of Inches
Shanker Blog » A Game Of Inches: A Game Of Inches by Matthew Di Carlo One of the more telling episodes in education I’ve seen over the past couple of years was a little dispute over Michelle Rhee’s testing record that flared up last year. Alan Ginsburg, a retired U.S. Department of Education official, released an informal report in which he presented the NAEP cohort changes that occurred during the first two years of Michelle Rhee’s tenure (2007-2009), and compared them with those during the superintendencies of her two predecessors. Ginsburg concluded that the increases under Ch... more »
RheeFirst! » Did Failed DC Chancellor Michelle Rhee provide cover for Scott Walker’s union busting?
RheeFirst! » Did Michelle Rhee provide cover for Scott Walker’s union busting?: Did Michelle Rhee provide cover for Scott Walker’s union busting? by admin Mother Jones has uncovered a FOIA’d email showing that the Walker administration wanted Rhee to provide the liberal veneer for their union busting agenda. Did Rhee toe the line? Watch this video of her Fox News appearance and decide for yourself: Popout Written by Andy Kroll for Mother Jones. Read the entire article here. “*On February 12, 2011, the day after Walker unveiled his anti-union budget “repair” bill known as Act 10, Wal... more »
Seattle Schools Community Forum: Madison Middle School Counselors Speak Out
Seattle Schools Community Forum: Madison Middle School Counselors Speak Out: Madison Middle School Counselors Speak Out by Melissa Westbrook From our friends at the West Seattle Blog: *An urgent message from the MMS Counseling Department…..* *Dear MMS Families,* *Every year, we have to fight to keep school counselors in our schools and plead with our school district and state to put children’s well-being at the forefront of their priorities. Because elementary school counselors are not put in the WSS (Weighted Staffing Standard), we have had a huge RIF (Reduction-in-Force) in S... more »
The New Living Word School Kerfuffle Is An Education In Itself
The New Living Word School Kerfuffle Is An Education In Itself: The New Living Word School Kerfuffle Is An Education In Itself by MacAoidh Tom Bonnette had an outstanding piece here yesterday about the New Living Word School, the church-sponsored school in Ruston run by Rev. Jerry Baldwin which opened up 315 spots for kids who would qualify for school vouchers under the recently-passed education reform program. It seems that the educational establishment and their political stooges are having a festival of sorts over the revelations in a Monroe News-Star piece last week about the ... more »
Missouri Education Watchdog: Learning From International Experience When It Comes To Education
Missouri Education Watchdog: Learning From International Experience When It Comes To Education: Learning From International Experience When It Comes To Education by Anngie A certain percentage of the population learns through experience. That percentage drops as we get older. As young children we do not have enough experience to make our own decisions or even to trust the warnings of adults. At best, we don't touch the stove because it will make mommy mad. At worst we just have to touch the stove to see what "hot" feels like for ourselves. But with age and experience we learn to bo...more »
Why Can’t These Students Hold Hands? | Edwize
Why Can’t These Students Hold Hands? | Edwize: Why Can’t These Students Hold Hands? Jun. 1, 2012 10:38 am by Leo Casey No Comments *Filed under:*Education Powerful video on standing up to anti-gay bullying that our students should see.
Big Education Ape - Morning Wink 6-1 AM Posts #soschat #edreform
*BIG EDUCATION APE - MORNING WINK AM POSTS* Geaux Teacher!: THE REALITY OF REFORM AS I KNOW IT coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 22 minutes ago Geaux Teacher!: THE REALITY OF REFORM AS I KNOW IT: THE REALITY OF REFORM AS I KNOW IT by noreply@blogger.com (Lee Barrios, M.Ed., NBCT) After reading Diane Ravitch's recent blog *Are Charter Schools Public Schools*, and slogging through all the comments her writing always generates, I responded myself. I realized that I am filled to capacity with the think-tank "research," the back and forth theoretical debate, and the pre-packaged rhetor...more »
Geaux Teacher!: THE REALITY OF REFORM AS I KNOW IT
Geaux Teacher!: THE REALITY OF REFORM AS I KNOW IT: THE REALITY OF REFORM AS I KNOW IT by noreply@blogger.com (Lee Barrios, M.Ed., NBCT) After reading Diane Ravitch's recent blog *Are Charter Schools Public Schools*, and slogging through all the comments her writing always generates, I responded myself. I realized that I am filled to capacity with the think-tank "research," the back and forth theoretical debate, and the pre-packaged rhetoric of reform. I know what I know - the New Orleans experience. That perspective is not based on theory but on the reality of the destruction th... more »
FairTest to Honor Diane Ravitch with the Deborah W. Meier Hero in Education Award | FairTest
FairTest to Honor Diane Ravitch with the Deborah W. Meier Hero in Education Award | FairTest: FairTest to Honor Diane Ravitch with the Deborah W. Meier Hero in Education Award Submitted by fairtest on March 26, 2012 - 1:52pm - about us - assessment - FairTest in the News - in house - k-12 - national - news - whats new *Date and Time: *Tuesday, 5 June, 6:00-830 p.m. *Place*: Julia Richman Educational Complex, 317 East 67th St., New York City Diane Ravitch is an internationally renowned and respected historian of education. Formerly a supporter o... more »
Daily Kos: The Graphic Truth: Disaster Capitalism and Education Reform
Daily Kos: The Graphic Truth: Disaster Capitalism and Education Reform: The Graphic Truth: Disaster Capitalism and Education Reform by rss@dailykos.com (plthomasEdD) Reflecting on how one becomes the person she/he is offers a clarity that both brings into focus and distorts how our history shapes us. But for me, it is undeniable that who I am as a student, teacher, writer, and scholar was profoundly influenced by the coincidence of my becoming a comic book collector in the 1970s. Directly, buying, reading, collecting, and drawing from comic books reinforced my fascination with sci... more »
Modern School: LAUSD Sabotages Harassment Settlement, Imposes Abuser’s Name on School
Modern School: LAUSD Sabotages Harassment Settlement, Imposes Abuser’s Name on School: LAUSD Sabotages Harassment Settlement, Imposes Abuser’s Name on School by Michael Dunn A settlement with an employee who accused formed LAUSD Sup. Ramon Cortines of sexual harassment may be coming apart at the seams over both the disputed terms of the agreement and the disclosure of the victim’s name by LAUSD without his consent, the Los Angeles Timesreported on Wednesday. The proposed settlement would have required the accuser to resign from his post in exchange for $200,000 and lifetime benefit... more »
Policy to Practice: An Abundance of Metaphors | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice
Policy to Practice: An Abundance of Metaphors | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice: Policy to Practice: An Abundance of Metaphors by larrycuban Metaphors simplify yet they can reveal complexity. Over the years, I have used different metaphors (see here, here, and here) to capture the complex interdependence among reform-driven policymakers, practitioners, parents, students, academics, business and civic leaders during times when strenuous efforts are underway to improve schools. At times like this, policymakers decide to expand online instruction in K-12 school... more »
Transforming Schools to Match the Needs of a Minority-Majority Nation
Transforming Schools to Match the Needs of a Minority-Majority Nation: Transforming Schools to Match the Needs of a Minority-Majority Nation by Sam There’s an Op-Ed in today’s *Washington Pos*t in which the New America Foundation’s Maggie Severns urges states to rethink teacher preparation in light of our country’s ongoing shift to a minority-majority nation. As Severns explains, immigrant youths and the children of immigrants are among the lowest-performing groups of students in U.S. public schools, AND they will account for virtually all growth in the workforce over the next 40 ... more »
DOE-Destroyers of Ed, Top Secret Doc To Gut SpEd & Violate Law « New York City Parents Union
DOE-Destroyers of Ed, Top Secret Doc To Gut SpEd & Violate Law « New York City Parents Union: DOE-Destroyers of Ed, Top Secret Doc To Gut SpEd & Violate Law by admin Breaking News | Top Secret | DOE – Destroyers of Education Document from a concerned parent who learned the evil truth of the DOE’s motives | Unveiling the Truth Behind the Special Education Reforms | Forward Widely | Protect Your Children Rights & Education Under Federal Law! The evil plan is to violate our most high needs and vulnerable children’s rights, layoff Special Education teachers and yellow bus drivers. Our ... more »
How to succeed as a Corporate “Education Reformer” Announce Programs That Already Exist - Wait, What?
How to succeed as a Corporate “Education Reformer” Announce Programs That Already Exist - Wait, What?: How to succeed as a Corporate “Education Reformer” Announce Programs That Already Exist by jonpelto The press release from Paul Vallas, the “education reformer” who serves as Bridgeport’s $229,000 part-time superintendent of schools, invited the media and public to attend a major announcement at Bridgeport City Hall. “I have goose bumps, I’m so excited about this” Vallas told the assembled. The initiative? — An Early College Program for Bridgeport high school students. And we aren... more »
2/3 of King 1% Johnson campaign funds come from Fat Cats outside city | KCRA Home - KCRA Home
2/3 of Johnson campaign funds come from outside city | KCRA Home - KCRA Home: 2/3 of Johnson campaign funds come from outside cityPolitical donations total $822,395 *Kevin Johnson tells us why he should be relected King 1% of Sacramento.* SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KCRA) - More than two-thirds of mayor Kevin Johnson's re-election funds came from outside Sacramento, the campaign reported Thursday. - JOHNSON CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS [image: Johnson campaign contributions] VIEW LARGE Johnson received $260,000 from political donors in Sacramento, wrote campaign spokesman Steve Mav... more »
Charter schools drain public finances | The Morning Sentinel, Waterville, ME
Charter schools drain public finances | The Morning Sentinel, Waterville, ME: Charter schools drain public finances [image: Charter Schools - Dividing Communities since 1991] The reliance on charter schools as viable alternatives to public education is part of a larger alarming nationwide trend toward zealous individualism and self-absorption. Rather than being turned outward toward our communities, many of us are turning inward in self-serving ways. As responsible democratic citizens, we should be committed and willing to pour our collective energy, resources and passions into e... more »
A Solution to the Testing Mania « Diane Ravitch's blog
A Solution to the Testing Mania « Diane Ravitch's blog: Upcoming Events *June 5, 2012 (New York)* Fairtest Deborah Meier Award, details TBA. *June 8, 2012 (Providence, RI)* Netroots Nation, details TBA. *June 27, 2012 (Baltimore, MD)* American Association of School Administrators Summer Leadership institute, Renaissance Baltimore Harborplace Hotel, 202 East Pratt Street (registration required) A Solution to the Testing Mania by dianerav The popular rising against high-stakes testing grows larger every day. In Texas, more than 500 school boards have endorsed a resolution opposing hi... more »
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Do you need another reason to resist the testing madness?
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Do you need another reason to resist the testing madness?: Do you need another reason to resist the testing madness? by Mike Klonsky Here's a good one. It comes from veteran high school English teacher, Larry Strauss, posting at Huffington: *A colleague of mine who works as a home and hospital school teacher for those sick and disabled children who cannot make it to school, told me he is required to test all of his students, regardless of the severity of their illness or injury. In most cases, disabled students are given testing accommodations accord... more »
Pass / Fail : UTLA President says union is ready to 'bargain teacher evaluation' | 89.3 KPCC
Pass / Fail : UTLA President says union is ready to 'bargain teacher evaluation' | 89.3 KPCC: UTLA President says union is ready to 'bargain teacher evaluation' By Tami Abdollah [image: UTLA President Warren Fletcher] Grant Slater/KPCC UTLA President Warren Fletcher UTLA President Warren Fletcher says the current teacher evaluation system isn't perfect but that any new process needs to include discussion with the union. "We're at the door, we're more than ready to bargain teacher evaluation," said Fletcher in an interview earlier this month. "Not only do we want to comply with the la... more »
Schooling in the Ownership Society: Gov. Walker called on Rhee to help him fight Wisc. teachers
Schooling in the Ownership Society: Gov. Walker called on Rhee to help him fight Wisc. teachers: Gov. Walker called on Rhee to help him fight Wisc. teachers by Mike Klonsky Soon after Wisconsin's Gov. Scott Walker moved to crush the state's teacher unions, he called on Michelle Rhee for help. While she declined to actually come to Wisconsin and stand behind Walker in the face of angry teacher protests, Rhee did come to Walker's rescue on more than one occasion. Mother Jones writer Andy Kroll gleaned this from some of Walker's newly released internal emails. *Rhee did defend some ... more »
Bush Policy Aviser Mocked for “Most Compellingly Lousy Education Research of the Past Year” | Scathing Purple Musings
Bush Policy Aviser Mocked for “Most Compellingly Lousy Education Research of the Past Year” | Scathing Purple Musings: Bush Policy Aviser Mocked for “Most Compellingly Lousy Education Research of the Past Year” by Bob Sikes Matt Lander, a key policy and research aid to Jeb Bush, referred to “teachers and their unions” to Hitler’s forces in an ALEC paper this summer. His intellectually flawed and dishonest work received just due this week. rom Teresa Stepzinski in the *Florida Times-Union*: He likely won’t be showcasing the award in his office. But Matthew Ladner, a senior advisor... more »
American Students Need to Copy Canada's Tuition Protests - Education - GOOD
American Students Need to Copy Canada's Tuition Protests - Education - GOOD: American Students Need to Copy Canada's Tuition Protests by Liz Dwyer [image: quebec.protests] In the past four months, the Canadian province of Quebec has become a hotbed of Occupy Wall Street-style protests—marches with hundreds of thousands of protesters, and battles with tear gas throwing, pepper-spraying police. And it all started over proposed tuition increases at Quebec's public universities. Indeed the Quebec Spring first blossomed in February when the government proposed hiking tuition from $2,168... more »
Geaux Teacher!: Save Our Schools National Convention
Geaux Teacher!: Save Our Schools National Convention: Save Our Schools National Convention by noreply@blogger.com (Lee Barrios, M.Ed., NBCT) *Get ready for the SOS National Convention! * Join education activists from around the country this August 3-5 in Washington, DC for the Save Our Schools National Convention! Parents, students, and people of all professions and persuasions are encouraged to attend and assist with crafting a progressive set of principles regarding what we expect from public education and how it should function to serve every type of child. Once completed, w... more »
A nightcap with Tony. « Fred Klonsky
A nightcap with Tony. « Fred Klonsky: A nightcap with Tony. by Fred Klonsky When the news came that the pension bill would not be voted on this session I headed over to the Red Line Tap. If ever I needed a drink, it was last night. Two Loyola college kids were over in the corner nursing a couple of beers. And Tony was at the bar. “Dodged a bullet?” “Big time,” I said. “Why don’t you buy this time?” “Nope,” said Tony. “That would ruin my reputation.”
Engaging Parents In School… » NAEP Decides To Reach-Out To Parents
Engaging Parents In School… » NAEP Decides To Reach-Out To Parents: “Fact-checking “Won’t Back Down”” Larry Ferlazzo at Engaging Parents In School... - 5 hours ago I’ve previously posted about an upcoming and apparently very misleading movie about the parent trigger. Caroline Grannan just fact-checked the trailer itself, which was full of inaccuracies. It doesn’t bode well for the whole flick. You might also be interested in The Best Resources For Learning Why The Parent Trigger Isn’t Good For Parents, Kids [...] NAEP Decides To Reach-Out To Parents Larry Ferlazzo at Engaging Parents... more »
Louisiana is following trend of taking ‘State’ out of state colleges in slow move to privatization of higher education « Louisiana Voice
Louisiana is following trend of taking ‘State’ out of state colleges in slow move to privatization of higher education « Louisiana Voice: « Budget crisis! Revenue shortfall! Drowning in Debt! Cut health care and education but fund construction projects Louisiana is following trend of taking ‘State’ out of state colleges in slow move to privatization of higher education May 31, 2012 by tomaswell All but lost in the brouhaha over Gov. Piyush Jindal’s overt moves to privatize the Louisiana Office of Risk Management, Office of Group Benefits, state prisons, Medicaid, the Louisiana Off... more »
Provoked | The Jose Vilson
Provoked | The Jose Vilson: Provoked by Jose Dear disciplinarians and other enforcers within our school communities, Please note: you’re trying to keep kids in school, not keep them out of it. Let me first admit my own biases in this topic, of which I have a couple. As a teacher, I readily admit that I can reasonably reach 90% of my given class, given that my classes aren’t considered “magnet” or “gifted and talented” by most academic measures. I tend to get the classes people forget, the ones that have to fend for themselves in the swarm of adult confusion, the ones that no one hu... more »
The Washington Teacher: Arne Duncan's Close Ties to Victor Reinoso, Former DC Deputy Mayor of Education
The Washington Teacher: Arne Duncan's Close Ties to Victor Reinoso, Former DC Deputy Mayor of Education: Arne Duncan's Close Ties to Victor Reinoso, Former DC Deputy Mayor of Education by Candi Peterson Victor Reinoso (right)*Written by Candi Peterson* Word has it that Victor Reinoso, former DC Deputy Mayor of Education from 2007-10 under the Fenty administration is now a high-powered consultant to the United States Department of Education (DOE), working for Arne Duncan, U.S. Secretary of Education. Confirmation that Reinoso is a local friend of Arne Duncan's was evidenced on R... more »
Modern School: Anti-Teacher Bill Passes California State Senate
Modern School: Anti-Teacher Bill Passes California State Senate: Anti-Teacher Bill Passes California State Senate by Michael Dunn SB 1530 was passed in the California State Senate this week. The bill eliminates timelines for notifying teachers of impending disciplinary action and allows districts to send out dismissal notices during the summer, when many teachers are on vacation and not even in town to receive and act upon the notice. The bill would also allow districts to use old and unrelated information from a teacher’s past to prosecute current misconduct cases, which is like ... more »
