Unexpected allies? « Deborah Meier on Education

Unexpected allies? « Deborah Meier on Education:

http://deborahmeier.com/

Unexpected allies?

by debmeier

Unexpected reminders of importance to those organizing for change!
Howard Anderson of MITs Sloan School of Management is quoted in Commonweal (July 1, 2012) on Catholic Social Teaching. Anderson says, “Private equity doesn’t create jobs; you guys build wealth.” There’s a big difference. “Sometimes you (guys) build jobs. Sometimes you eliminate jobs… ..Private equity is the best of capitalism and it’s the worst of capitalism.” The author, Daniel Finn, of the essay goes on to explain why Catholic thought on capitalism is always a surprise to conservatives–and to me!. E.g. Pope John Paul II: “Ownership of the means of production… is just and legitimate if it serves useful work. It becomes illegitimate, however, when it is not useful or when it serves to impede the work of others, in an effort to gain a profit which is not the result of the overall expansion of work and the wealth of society, but rather is the result of curbing or of 

Growing Up in the South, 3 « Diane Ravitch's blog

Growing Up in the South, 3 « Diane Ravitch's blog:

Growing Up in the South, 3

by dianerav

I posted two other reminiscences of growing up in the South in the years before the Brown decision was implemented. I reiterate that I am not suggesting that there is less segregation today than there was in the 1950s; there may be even more. But so much was qualitatively different, and I find it valuable to recall what the qualitative differences were. There were no black mayors or Congressmen, no blacks on television or in the films. All public (and private) facilities in the South were segregated. I could go on, but I’ll save that for another time.

My take on segregation comes from being an English child brought to America to escape WW!!. Fourth grade in the Aiken, S. C. public school was about 2 years behind my London County Council school near Edgeware Road. No, I was the right color. I just

The Philadelphia Solution: Go Broke

by dianerav

Philadelphia’s School Reform Commission has decided that the best way to address its looming deficit is to increase it. With each new charter approved by the SRC, the public schools lose $7,000. The latest estimate is that the public schools will transfer over $139 million in the next five years to new charters. With the plan drafted by the Boston Consulting Group, the SRC is well on its way to putting public education out of business in Philadelphia by transferring public assets to private hands.

Schools Matter: Where your tax dollars are going: More testing

Schools Matter: Where your tax dollars are going: More testing:

Where your tax dollars are going: More testing

by skrashen

Sent to the Los Angeles Times, July 15

“… the relentless emphasis on covering tested material” with the resulting de-emphasis on creative and critical thinking, so necessary in today’s world (“Education's pendulum: Thinkers or test takers?, July 15), is going to get worse. 

The reaction of the US Department of Education to the excessive testing demanded by No Child Left Behind is to do it harder: Test more grade levels, more subjects, and add interim tests. There may even be pre-tests in the fall. 

Stephen Krashen

Sources: 
More grade levels to be tested: 
http://www.parcconline.org/K2-assessments
Race to the top for tots: http://www.ed.gov/early-learning/elc-draft-summary. (For a reaction, see 

IRS Examining Charter Schools and the for-profit tax consulting firms are rubbing their hands in delight | Dailycensored.com

IRS Examining Charter Schools and the for-profit tax consulting firms are rubbing their hands in delight | Dailycensored.com:

IRS Examining Charter Schools and the for-profit tax consulting firms are rubbing their hands in delight

by Danny Weil

Rothgerber Johnson & Lyons LLP has a team of attorneys dedicated to serving all aspects of charter school operations, from formation, to tax qualification, to charter school financing, to personnel and operational issues.

A reader sent the following article about IRS scrutiny of the financial management of charters, especially for-profit management companies.

http://www.rothgerber.com/showarticle.aspx?Show=1627

Alert: Increased IRS Scrutiny of Charter Schools Operated by For-Profit Management Companies

Author(s): Eric V. Hall, H. William Mahaffey, Christopher D. Freeman Published: 06/18/2012

In some cases, charter schools are managed by for-profit entities (referred to in this article as “management companies”). The management agreements documenting these relationships range from agreements to provide general administrative support to agreements to provide virtually every service to be offered by the 

Mother Crusader: What's The Cost Of Four Cyber Charters in Newark? $17.5 Million.

Mother Crusader: What's The Cost Of Four Cyber Charters in Newark? $17.5 Million.:

What's The Cost Of Four Cyber Charters in Newark? $17.5 Million.

by darciecima

Yesterday we took an in-depth look at how Benjamin Rayer was able to get a his cyber charters approved.  Today I want to take a look at how the state managed to push FOUR cyber charters through, all in the same city, including one that will ultimately serve the whole state but initially pulled all of the start-up funds from Newark.  


Before we get started, let's look at where the NJDOE couldn't get one through, and why.

Don't mess with TEANECK

The Garden State Virtual Academy, if approved, would have taken $15.4M out of Teaneck's budget for 1,000 students that ultimately would have been drawn from the entire state.  But because the drop-in center would have been in Teaneck, and the Lead Founder was from Teaneck, the district would have footed the ENTIRE bill for the 

Utah Public Forum on the Common Core | Truth in American Education

Utah Public Forum on the Common Core | Truth in American Education:

Utah Public Forum on the Common Core

by chascherrie

Public Forum on Common Core (July 10, 2012) in Utah

This video features the following four presentors:

Emmett McGroarty from the American Principles Project
Dr. Bill Evers from the Hoover Institute at Stanford
Jamie Gass, Director of the Pioneer Institute
Kent Talbot, Former counsel to the DoEd under G.W. Bush

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Where is Penny Pritzker? Too much of an embarrassment for Obama but not for Rahm. « Fred Klonsky

Where is Penny Pritzker? Too much of an embarrassment for Obama but not for Rahm. « Fred Klonsky:

Where is Penny Pritzker? Too much of an embarrassment for Obama but not for Rahm.

by Fred Klonsky

This morning’s New York Times answers the question, “Where in the world is Penny Pritzker?”
Penny headed up President Obama’s fund-raising operation in the 2008 campaign.
But in appears that this time around she has pulled back or has been pushed aside because she is simply too much of an embarrassment to the Obama campaign.
For nearly three years the family-run Hyatt Hotel chain has been involved in a labor dispute with UNITE HERE, 

Weekly Update: The KIPP charter school hustle, eight year olds grading their teachers in Georgia and more on Bill Gates | Seattle Education

Weekly Update: The KIPP charter school hustle, eight year olds grading their teachers in Georgia and more on Bill Gates | Seattle Education:

Weekly Update: The KIPP charter school hustle, eight year olds grading their teachers in Georgia and more on Bill Gates

by seattleducation2011

The Weekly Update: News you might have missed.

With Initiative 1240, the charter school  initiative backed by Bill Gates who has provided $1M to the cause, looking like it will be appearing on the ballot this fall, more folks are starting to talk about charter schools in our state.
Fortunately the word so far is that most people don’t want charter schools, just like the last three times it was voted on in a general election. Folks in our state want their schools to be adequately funded. Period.
Someone sent me this comment that was posted on the Seattle Schools Community Forum that brings it home 

Jersey Jazzman: Virtual Cronies

Jersey Jazzman: Virtual Cronies:

Virtual Cronies

by Duke

Darcie Cimarusti, in a stellar bit of reporting, breaks down the cronyism behind the approval of two "blended learning" charter schools that rely heavily on online learning for their education model.  Despite the reports fromPennsylvania, Ohio and the rest of the nation about corruption, exorbitant prices, and poor results from cyber charters, New Jersey seems determined to plow ahead.

Why is that? Why don't we put the brakes on these questionable schools, as NJ Assemblyman Patrick Diegnansuggests? Why not take the time to study the evidence before ramming these schools through at a cost of millions to taxpayers and local school districts?

Here's a clue:

The three of the four virtual charters up for currently up for approval have two things in common: they are going to 

Why Administrators Don’t Care about Content-and Why It Matters « Diane Ravitch's blog

Why Administrators Don’t Care about Content-and Why It Matters « Diane Ravitch's blog:

Why Administrators Don’t Care about Content-and Why It Matters

by dianerav

A reader responds to our discussion about the importance of content and explains how administrators matter in relation to content. If they are indifference to content it shapes their vision and their behavior:
I am a professor of educational administration and I’m struck by how little content area knowledge is required to become a principal or superintendent. Standards related to administrator certification seldom (if ever) include anything related to the need for developing even a basic understanding of math, science, reading, etc. Most preparation programs do not include any instruction at all in this area, and are instead committed to an organizational perspective rooted in a very specific kind of business-thinking that emphasizes efficiency and equality over a sensitivity to difference and equity.
This makes administrators particularly susceptible to the sirens of standardized “accountability” because 

The Negro Motorist “Green Book” 1949 |:

The Negro Motorist “Green Book” 1949

Posted on January 7, 2011 | 14 Comments

This is new to us: The Negro Motorist Green Book is the subject of today’s “Little-Known Black History Fact.”

The Negro Motorist Green Book was a publication released in 1936 that served as a guide for African-American travelers. Because of the racist conditions that existed from segregation, blacks needed a reference manual to guide them to integrated or black-friendly establishments. That’s when they turned to “The Negro Motorist Green Book: An International Travel Guide” by a Harlem postal employee and civic leader named Victor H. Green and presented by the Esso Standard Oil Company. Originally provided to serve Metropolitan New York, the book received such an alarming response, it was spread throughout 

(The Root) -- In 1936 a Harlem postal worker and activist named Victor H. Green decided to develop a guide that would help African Americans travel throughout the country in a safe and comfortable manner. The Negro Motorist Green Book (also called The Negro Travelers' Green Book), often simply known as The Green Book, identified places that welcomed black people during an era when Jim Crow laws and de facto segregation made it difficult for them to travel domestically without fear of racial backlash.

The Green Book listed businesses and places of interest such as nightclubs, beauty salons, barbershops, gas stations and garages that catered to black road-trippers. For almost three decades, travelers could request (for just 10 cents' postage) and receive a guide from Green. Eventually the guide expanded to encompass information about Canada and Mexico.

Like users of today's popular recommendation sites such as TripAdvisor, travelers collected information during their journeys, which they shared with Green 

The Negro Motorist Green Book, 1949

“The Negro traveler's inconveniences,” writes Wendell P. Alston in The Negro Motorist Green Book for 1949, “are many and they are increasing because today so many more are traveling, individually and in groups. . . .

The GREEN BOOK with its list of hotels, boarding houses, restaurants, beauty shops, barber shops and various other services can most certainly help solve your travel problems. It was the idea of Victor H. Green, the publisher, in introducing the Green Book, to save the travelers of his race as many difficulties and embarrassments as possible.”

Click here to see the complete edition of The Negro Motorist Green Book in pdf format.

Images: From the Collections of The Henry Ford. 1) Excerpts from 87.135.1736

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Bartenders Push Tougher NCLB | Mr. Teachbad

Bartenders Push Tougher NCLB | Mr. Teachbad:

Bartenders Push Tougher NCLB

FAKE EDUCATION NEWS

–Atlanta, GA

In a rare foray into edu­ca­tion pol­icy advo­cacy, the National Bar­tenders Asso­ci­a­tion (NBA) will begin lob­by­ing mem­bers of Con­gress next week for a tougher rewrite of the Bush-era national edu­ca­tion law, No Child Left Behind. As orig­i­nally writ­ten and passed in 2001, NCLB man­dated that 100 per­cent of chil­dren be pro­fi­cient in read­ing and math by 2013.

Speak­ing from the group’s head­quar­ters in Atlanta, David Craver, pres­i­dent of the NBA, told Teach­bad Edu­ca­tion News(TEN) that the orig­i­nal goal of 100 per­cent pro­fi­ciency was “pretty good” but that his orga­ni­za­tion is dis­mayed by the Obama Administration’s “dial­ing back” many of the law’s requirements.

Says Craver, “Frankly, and with all due respect, we believe [Edu­ca­tion Sec­re­tary] Arne Dun­can is being a bit of a pussy on this. He’s hand­ing out money and waivers to states left and right who have sim­ply not per­formed under the law. We think this is the wrong way to go. Rather than back down from a chal­lenge, we will push for upping the anti. We want a 

Stand Together for our Children

Stand Together for our Children:

19th Ward Parents Organization: Promoting Quality Education for All

Quote of the Week:

“Never doubt that a small group of committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”                     -Margaret Mead

About Us We are residents of the 19th ward in Chicago fighting for a quality education for all students. Our Work We work together to ensure a quality public education for all students in CPS, while reaching out to other groups who share our vision.  Whether you’re ready to lend a hand at one of our events, you need more information about an issue related to your child's education, or you want to share your story, here’s the place to do it.

Join Us

You do not need to live in the 19th ward to be a member!   The only membership requirement is that you expect quality education for all students in CPS.

Organizations across Chicago share our mission

Chicago Parents for Quality Education

On Monday, April 9th, 2012, several groups across the city held a press conference at city hall to announce the formation of a new coalition: Chicago Parents for Quality Education. They presented a briefing to the mayor's office; this white paper contains information that refutes CPS claims of the effectiveness of a 7.5 hour day. The mayor has yet to contact the Coalition to set up a meeting.

The 19th Ward Parents organization is a member of this coalition.

Click on the link below to open the document presented to CPS by the coalition on April 9, 2012.

	Best_Not_Longest_FINAL.pdf Size : 208.955 Kb Type : pdf

Why the Big Investment in Hardware? « Diane Ravitch's blog

Why the Big Investment in Hardware? « Diane Ravitch's blog:

Why the Big Investment in Hardware?

by dianerav

Con Academy 

Browse Con Academy  library of over 3,100 educational videos...

The Broad-trained superintendent of Huntsville, Alabama, has purchased 22,000 laptops and iPads for the students in the district.
This is the same superintendent who contracted to send recalcitrant students to live in a teepee until they learned to behave.
The laptops and iPads are being readied for use this fall.
Nothing has been said about the curriculum that these machines are supposed to teach/facilitate/whatever.
I remember many years ago when I was on a committee at the National Endowment for the Humanities to pick 

Secular group chides Georgia school district for ‘lack of respect for the First Amendment’ | The Raw Story

Secular group chides Georgia school district for ‘lack of respect for the First Amendment’ | The Raw Story:

Secular group chides Georgia school district for ‘lack of respect for the First Amendment’

 

Topics: freedom from religion foundation ♦ Houston County Schools ♦ school mottos

 

The Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) has called on a school district in Georgia to prevent teachers and other officials from promoting Christianity to their students.

“School-aged children are a captive audience,” the group wrote in a letter to Houston County Schools. “They are young, impressionable, and vulnerable to social pressure, particularly pressure exerted from a position of authority. Religious education is not the province of the public schools