President Obama Talks Child Poverty | First Focus

President Obama Talks Child Poverty | First Focus:

President Obama Talks Child Poverty

By Bruce Lesley

October 19, 2012

Bruce Lesley is President of First Focus, a bipartisan advocacy organization

committed to making children and families a priority in federal policy and budget 

One-in-five U.S. kids live in poverty today. Yet candidates for office rarely mention the word "poverty," let alone offer real solutions for our children. That's why I joined a coalition of leading children's advocates in sending President Obama and Governor Romney a letter last month asking how each would address child poverty if elected President in November. The questions included:

1. What are your plans to ensure that (a) comprehensive health care, (b) quality educational opportunity beginning with appropriate pre-school programs, and (c) food security are available for all at-risk, vulnerable children?
2. What will you pledge to do in your first 100 days to address childhood poverty?
3. What is your long-term vision for how to permanently ensure that future generations of children will not have to face the specter of crushing poverty?

This week the coalition received a response from President Obama. His response cited successful investments in kids under his Administration including the expansion of the Child Tax Credit and the Earned Income Tax Credit, the expansion of the successful bipartisan Children's Health Insurance Program, and the Affordable Care Act that expanded preventive care for 14 million children and keeps insurance companies from denying coverage to kids with pre-existing conditions like asthma or cancer. And he promised that if reelected he would invest in high-quality early childhood education, fix the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, and prevent tax raises on families.

Governor Romney's campaign declined to respond in writing to our letter.

First Focus will be listening for more from the candidates on child poverty, especially solutions to this American problem. And, according to a poll from our partners at First Focus Campaign for Children, voters are waiting too: nearly two-thirds of likely voters want the presidential candidates to focus more on kids.

You can join conversation about child poverty on Twitter by following @First_Focus and using the hashtags #Kids2012 and #talkpoverty.

Schools Matter: Finding 1: OII Did Not Conduct Effective Oversight of Grantees Receiving Charter School Grants

Schools Matter: Finding 1: OII Did Not Conduct Effective Oversight of Grantees Receiving Charter School Grants:

Finding 1: OII Did Not Conduct Effective Oversight of Grantees Receiving Charter School Grants

by Jim Horn

Late in 2010 near the end of his second term, Gov. Phil Bredesen of TN worked up the courage to suggest shutting down one of Tennessee's unnecessary private prisons run by CCA.  When the new governor, Bill Haslam, swept into office with the backing of CCA and ALEC, the plan to shut down the CCA facility in West Tennessee was quickly cancelled, even though Haslam admitted to reporters that the the prison was not needed, and even though Haslam cut $20 million from public colleges and $40 million from Medicaid patients to come up with the $31 million to pay for it.  When asked to respond, Bredesen quipped, "business wants government to act like a business except when they act like a business."

As we now contemplate the significance of Mitt Romney's Gatorade and canned yams relief supplies that he is sending to the Jersey shore to curb the economic pain of starting over from scratch, Bredesen's response to Haslam's public largesse for Corrections Corporation of America is worth keeping in mind.  This kind of dopey 

Stealth Islamist Charter Schools Under Investigation | Islam in America Right Side News

Stealth Islamist Charter Schools Under Investigation | Islam in America Right Side News:

Stealth Islamist Charter Schools Under Investigation

THURSDAY, 01 NOVEMBER 2012 05:41 ARNOLD AHLERT

210 readings

The charter school movement associated with Turkish Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen is under federal investigation.

If one believes that the battle for the nation’s soul is occurring, not just in Washington, D.C., but in schools across the nation, the steady advance of Turkish-Gulen Charter Schools may be cause for alarm. Fethullah Gulen is a Turkish Islamic cleric who fled his native country in 1998, after being charged with seeking to overthrow the secular Turkish government. He currently lives in exile at a 28-acre mountain complex in the Pocono Mountains, with more than $25 billion of assets at his command.

» If you like this article, please donate to Right Side News Daily

The 135 charter schools associated with the Gulen Movement (GM) enroll more than 45,000 students andcomprise the largest charter school network in the United States — all of which are fully funded by American taxpayers. Fethullah Gulen has been underinvestigation by the government since 2011.

That investigation, carried out by FBI and the Departments of Labor and Education, is centere

Diane Ravitch cuts check for local school board candidate | NOLA.com

Diane Ravitch cuts check for local school board candidate | NOLA.com:

Diane Ravitch cuts check for local school board candidate

 It would be hard to find a more obscure election, overshadowed as it is by city council races, not to mention a multi-billion dollar presidential contest. Yet some of the country's biggest names in education are cutting checks to influence the outcome in the 3rd District of the Orleans Parish School Board.

Education historian Diane Ravitch.

The latest celebrity contributor: New York University historian Diane Ravitch, the leading critic of a national education movement centered on school choice and autonomous charter schools.

Ravitch cut a $100 check for the local education activist and parent advocate Karran Harper Royal, according to the latest campaign filings, a small but symbolic counterpoint to the avalanche of donations pouring in for challenger Sarah Newell Usdin, whose haul includes checks from national reform figures like Joel Klein, the former New York City schools chief, and Reed 

 
“We need volunteers, we need your donations and we need you to tell everyone you know in District 3 to vote for Karran Harper Royal,” she said to rounds of applause during her speech. Harper Royal’s campaign web site can be found at www.karran4kids.com.

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 11-1-12 Diane Ravitch's blog

Diane Ravitch's blog:

The Strange Disappearance of “Won’t Back Down”

by dianerav

I decided that I had to see “Won’t Back Down.”
I had read so many reviews that I felt I knew every line.
But I still wanted to see it.
Morbid curiosity.
But it is not showing anywhere in the New York City metropolitan area.
The producer of the movies owns a 12-plex only a few blocks from my home

America’s Largest Charter Chain Is…?

by dianerav

No, it is not KIPP. It is the Gulen charters, a group of nearly 150 charters located in many states and loosely affiliated or “inspired by” a reclusive Turkish cleric, Fethullah Gulen. Mr. Gulen lives in seclusion in the Poconos but leads a major political movement in Turkey.
The Gulen charters often specialize in math and science. They have a board of directors composed of Turkish men. Some though not all of their teachers are Turkish. They have names like Harmony, Magnolia, Horizon, and Sonoran. Check here for a full list.
To find out more about the Gulen schools, check this website.
To learn about the Gulen movement, read this.
To read about Gulen schools in Texas and lucrative deals for Turkish construction firms, read here
To read about Gulen schools that were audited in Georgia, read here
To read about a Gulen school and its treatment of autistic students in Minneapolis, read here..

Ohio Legislature Finds New Way to Meddle in Education

by dianerav

Just when you think that state legislatures have run out of bad ideas, some state takes teacher abuse to the next level.
The Ohio Legislature wants to make sure that every third grade student is a proficient reader. They think they know how to do that: They passed a new law.
It’s called the “Third Grade Reading Guarantee.”
That should do the trick. Just like No Child Left Behind left no child behind.
More testing. And better yet, the law requires every teacher of students in the early grades to take additional 

The Future of Teaching?

by dianerav

TeachPlus is one of those Gates-funded teacher organizations that is supposed to provide a different perspective on teaching than the teachers’ unions. It can be counted on to advocate for the interests of new teachers who allegedly want merit pay, don’t care about job protections, and want to be judged by the test scores of their students. The teachers for whom it seems to speak are part of the New American Economy, where jobs are short-term, not seen as part of a career.
TeachPlus has just conducted a survey of teachers. Its first startling discovery is that “For the first time in almost 

Why Teachers Are Angry and Confused

by dianerav

An article in the Connecticut Post says that “Teachers Are Confused for Good Reason.”
The bottom line:
“If Democrats continue with their right-wing conservative educational policies, they will alienate the teachers and teacher unions that have traditionally been the party’s staunchest supporters. More importantly, these misguided policies and initiatives will deal a severe blow to public education and to the quality of the teaching profession as well as to the morale of our teachers. You cannot on one hand preach about the importance of teachers while implementing educational policies that are destroying public education in this country.”
It is indeed confusing and demoralizing to realize that Democrats have adopted Republican education policies of 

Me Vs. Goliath

by dianerav

I sent a check for $100 to Karran Royal Harper, the parent activist who is running for a seat on the New Orleans school board.
Her opponent has raised more than $110,000 from out-of-state funders.
Karran, who is a champion for children, has raised about $5,500. In other words, she is being outspent about 20-1.
My contribution was so huge that it was enough to produce a story in the New Orleans Times-Picayune.
In the spirit of full disclosure, I admit right now that I also sent an equally whopping contribution of $100 to “No on 1240,” the Washington State charter referendum.
That should strike fear into the hearts of the billionaires on the other side of the issue.
It’s not too late to help Karran in her race against the big boys.
Here is her website, where you can learn more about her. She takes credit cards.
She is strong and fearless.
New Orleans should have a home-grown parent on its school board.

 

“We need volunteers, we need your donations and we need you to tell everyone you know in District 3 to vote for Karran Harper Royal,” she said to rounds of applause during her speech. Harper Royal’s campaign web site can be found at www.karran4kids.com.

Student fees will remain a conundrum, even with a new law | EdSource Today

Student fees will remain a conundrum, even with a new law | EdSource Today:

Student fees will remain a conundrum, even with a new law - by Seth Rosenblatt

by Seth Rosenblatt

Seth Rosenblatt

Administrators and parents alike have long waited for clarity on what fees schools could and could not charge students. With Governor Brown signing legislation that settles a lawsuit over public schools charging students for educational activities and materials, that day has come, right? Think again.

Intended to clarify the law around what fees school districts can charge and to rightfully curb abuses where schools have been illegally exacting fees from students, AB 1575 was the result of the ACLU’s class action lawsuit claiming that public schools have been violating the free school guarantee in the State Constitution. Without rehashing all of the details of the law and requirements, I’d like to point out the dilemma and challenge that school boards and districts face in implementing the law, and posit that the matter is far from settled. The publicity of the ACLU lawsuit prompted many districts, including my own, to start these discussions almost two years ago and analyze what we were charging students.

Although there is little to no dispute about the imperative that public school must be free, it doesn’t work out that neatly in its real-life application. First, we must acknowledge, as many readers of 

Daily Kos: Liberty to Lie

Daily Kos: Liberty to Lie:

Liberty to Lie

by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken)

This election may go down in history as the moment when truth and lies lost their honor and stigma, respectively.

That is the opening line of Liberty to Lie, this morning's New York Times column by Charles Blow.  As is usually the case, it is something you should read and pass on.Blow goes on to point out what those paying attention should already know, which is Mitt Romney's " willingness to say anything and everything to win this election."  Then after noting his performance in the national polls, running about equal with the President, asks

What does this say about our country? What does it say about the value of virtue?

He goes through the claims Romney has made about Chrysler and GM in great detail, providing you all the material you will ever need to disprove those claims and then writes

Romney wouldn’t acknowledge the truth if it kissed him on the cheek. In fact, Romney seems to have decided that the only things standing between him and the White House are stubborn facts. He continues to roll right over them.The question is: will this scurrilous tactic have negative consequences?

But there is more.

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Rahm is the master of division

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Rahm is the master of division:

Rahm is the master of division

by Mike Klonsky

There is no surer way of corrupting the citizens, and to divide the city against itself, than to foment the spirit of faction that may prevail there; for each party will strive by every means of corruption to secure friends and supporters. -- Niccoló Machiavelli, The Discourses. 1517.

Rahm is the master of division. No, I don't mean he could ever teach an elementary level math class. He wouldn't last a day. I mean that everything he does in a school system that he personally rules seems designed to divide 

Ad concerning schools teaching about gay marriage only half true | Local News | The Seattle Times

Ad concerning schools teaching about gay marriage only half true | Local News | The Seattle Times:

Ad concerning schools teaching about gay marriage only half true

A new television ad by the campaign opposed to same-sex marriage warns Washington voters that if same-sex marriage is legalized in Washington state, schools could teach kids about such unions.

The Claim: A television ad by opponents of same-sex marriage claims that if Referendum 74 is approved, "same-sex marriage could be taught" in Washington schools.

The spot features parents in Massachusetts who say their son's school taught that boys could marry boys, in contradiction to the family's religious beliefs. After they and another family sued, they say, the courts ruled the parents had no right to take children out of their classes or be informed when such lessons were going to take place.

We find: Half true.

Campaign ads about the impact of same-sex marriage on children have proved effective for opponents of gay marriage in states where they've been used — primarily in California, where the 2008 passage of Proposition 8 banned gay 

Another big donation to Great Oakland Public Schools PAC - The Education Report - Katy Murphy's blog on Oakland schools

Another big donation to Great Oakland Public Schools PAC - The Education Report - Katy Murphy's blog on Oakland schools:

Another big donation to Great Oakland Public Schools PAC

Tuesday, October 30th, 2012 at 6:45 pm in 41 Comments »

This week’s campaign filings show another major donation to the Great Oakland Public Schools PAC – $49,995 from the California Charter Schools Association. That brings the group’s fundraising total to $184,980 — a staggering amount for local school board races. I wrote about this a couple of weeks ago, when the total was about $123,000.
The GO PAC is supporting three candidates: Jumoke Hinton Hodge in District 3, Rosie Torres in District 5, and James Harris in District 7. It’s supporting neither candidate in District 1.
GO’s director, Jonathan Klein, stressed in a recent letter he posted on an Oakland parents email list that GO is in favor of both charters and traditional public schools, that its staff and board members are Democrats, and that the group is being supported by volunteers from across the city (Policy platform .):

Weinberg: Rules requiring struggling schools to replace half their teachers are misguided

Monday, October 29th, 2012 at 7:03 am in 36 Comments »

Steven Weinberg, a retired Oakland teacher and Education Report contributor, hopes state and federal education officials pay close attention to a new study about teacher replacement.
One of the most divisive elements of the “turnaround model” being used to improve test score results in many low scoring schools throughout the country, is the requirement that half the teaching staff be replaced.
State and federal projects that funnel increased funding to those schools often require such staff changes, arguing that they are necessary for school improvement, while teacher unions and parents oppose them because 

The value of a college degree vs. the debt it takes to earn it:

The value of a college degree vs. the debt it takes to earn it

Posted by Valerie Strauss on November 1, 2012 at 4:00 am

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The cost of a college education and the debt that many students are saddled with when they get out of school are the biggest issues in higher education. Here is a look at the value of a degree versus the debt it takes to get it, by Katherine Pilnick, who writes and blogs about personal financial well-being and issues that influence it for Debt.org, which calls itself America’s Debt Help Organization.

By Katherine Pilnick

 Higher education becomes more expensive each and every year. Tuition costs rise twice as fast as typical inflation, making college less affordable for average Americans with every passing year. Faced with such high costs and near-universal financial hardship, students can find it difficult to determine whether college is actually worth the price tag.

It’s important, then, to look at the expected value of one’s degree versus the estimated

Earth’s story in about 1 minute — video

by Valerie Strauss

 In the everything-is-really-about-education category, here’s an absorbing video tracing the cosmic and biological origins of our species, set to original music.

The above video was inspired by the the one below, which tells the story of Earth in 2 minutes.
Read full article >>

Save Our Schools; Rebuild the American Dream Through EducationSave Our Schools

Save Our Schools; Rebuild the American Dream Through EducationSave Our Schools:

Save Our Schools; Rebuild the American Dream Through Education

by Server

Save Our Schools; Rebuilds the American Dream Through Education

By Betsy L. Angert
Save Our Schools [SOS] is an organization devoted to fair and equitable education for all. We work to preserve and transform public education. We are a venue for active, people-powered, grassroots education innovation. In cyberspace and in communities throughout this country we advance solutions that bring learning back to our children, education back to public school classrooms, and policy decisions back to the students, teachers, and parents.
SOS is dedicated to finding a better, more balanced, path for education reform in this country. In that spirit, we propose The Equitable Education Policy Path. We establish that public education must be an American priority. Education is a basic civil and human right. Every child has the right to attend a high quality public school.
“America’s future will be determined by the home and the school.
The child becomes largely what he is taught; hence we must watch what we teach, and how we live.”
–Jane Addams [Public Philosopher, Sociologist, Author]
Our initiative was born out of an overwhelming awareness that today, and for the last several decades, students 

NYC Educator: An ATR Reports Friday to Help 80,000 Union Brothers and Sisters Accomplish Diddly Squat

NYC Educator: An ATR Reports Friday to Help 80,000 Union Brothers and Sisters Accomplish Diddly Squat:

An ATR Reports Friday to Help 80,000 Union Brothers and Sisters Accomplish Diddly Squat

by NYC Educator

by fabulous and wonderful new ed. blogger Suddenly ATR

One of the hardest parts of being an ATR is the fact that I have to travel to a different place every week. Since I don't have a car, this often means standing at 6 in the morning waiting for my first of three bus transfers. Now, if I had a permanent position the long commute would be worth it, because I'd have my own group of students that I wanted to see through the school year. But one of the worst things about being an ATR is I travel two hours to arrive at a school, and usually the payroll secretary will give me my "program" for the day, whatever that might be.

I've tried to stay motivated and think that I'm fulfilling a '

Thinking about School Reform, Teaching, and “Great” Teachers | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Thinking about School Reform, Teaching, and “Great” Teachers | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice:

Thinking about School Reform, Teaching, and “Great” Teachers

by larrycuban

Writing about school reform from a historical perspective can be, well, depressing. So many examples of hype-on-steroids, past and present, of school reform solving community and national problems. So much policy talk, past and present, that overestimates success while underestimating the difficulties of converting words into classroom deeds. But melancholia and teaching a seminar twice a week do not go hand-in-hand.
For me, teaching about school reform and the history of making “good” schools and districts stimulates the brain and clutches the heart. It lifts me up. My mind races with the questions that I need to ask students. And in asking questions, who do I call upon, which student to probe further with a follow-up question, what to do when a student asks me a question–answer it? Redirect to the class? Ask student to