The Weekly Update: Chomsky on Public Education, SWF’s need only apply, a Stand for Children Fail in Chicago and more | Seattle Education

The Weekly Update: Chomsky on Public Education, SWF’s need only apply, a Stand for Children Fail in Chicago and more | Seattle Education:

The Weekly Update: Chomsky on Public Education, SWF’s need only apply, a Stand for Children Fail in Chicago and more

by seattleducation2011

The Weekly Update for the news and views you might have missed

This week we’ll start with EduShyster and their article

Single White Female

Many studies show that young white teachers are fresher and more innovative than their LIFO lifer peers of other races.

The achievement gap is the civil rights issue of our time—which is why it may be necessary for us to destroy a large part of the Black middle class in order to achieve our goal of closing said gap.

During the Chicago Teachers Union strike I encountered a stunning statistic. 

Transform Principals into Instructional Leaders — Whole Child Education

Transform Principals into Instructional Leaders — Whole Child Education:

THE WHOLE CHILD BLOG

Transform Principals into Instructional Leaders

November 2, 2012 by Efrain Mercado

ASCD has released a new report titled Fulfilling the Promise of the Common Core State Standards: Moving from Adoption to Implementation to Sustainabilityilluminating activities educators and policymakers at all levels can undertake to successfully implement the Common Core State Standards across the nation, including "transform principals into instructional leaders."

Until now, principals have been the overlooked constituency as states have sought to gain acceptance of the standards from rank-and-file classroom teachers while simultaneously working with district-level leaders to create systemic supports and reforms aligned to the standards.

However, principals and related administrators hold the power to leverage the Common Core State Standards in schools: they are the linchpins in either delivering or facilitating the delivery of resources and supports to classroom teachers. One of the most pressing needs is to provide powerful resources and professional development to school building leaders.

The stakes have never been higher for principals as they deal with the transition to the Common Core State Standards and the push in many states for principal evaluation. A recent research report published by the Wallace Foundation (PDF) identified five main functions that effective principals perform well:

• Shaping a vision of academic success for all students.

Are Education "Reformers" Becoming Privatizers? - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher

Are Education "Reformers" Becoming Privatizers? - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher:

Are Education "Reformers" Becoming Privatizers?

by Anthony Cody

Quite a few "liberal" education reformers ought to be doing a bit of soul searching these days, as their movement seems to be veering into territory previously occupied by segregationists and anti-union business and political leaders. Diane Ravitch has begun calling people whom we used to know as "education reformers" by the more loaded term "privatizers."
In California, we are seeing where this path is leading some of our state's most prominent "liberal" politicians, and it is not pretty. The former state senate Democratic majority leader, Gloria Romero, has become the "face" of Proposition 32, an initiative funded by the Koch brothers, which will disallow unions from making political contributions. The initiative has language that makes it appear even-handed, but due to court decisions such as Citizens United, corporations will continue to have few limits on their ability to make contributions.
Education reform has long been an easy ticket to political credibility for liberals. But in the past, this meant

UPDATE: Diane in the Evening 11-2-12 Diane Ravitch's blog

Diane Ravitch's blog:

Big $$$ to Convince Bridgeport Voters to Abandon Democracy

by dianerav

Connecticut blogger and political insider Jonathan Pelto broke the story:
Corporate reformers and privatizers have poured record amounts of campaign cash into Bridgeport, Connecticut, to persuade voters to turn control over their schools to the mayor.
One of the big givers was NYC Mayor Bloomberg, who gave $25,000 to help Mayor Finch gain control over the 

NYC Marathon Cancelled

by dianerav

Responding to growing outrage, Mayor Bloomberg reluctantly canceled the annual marathon scheduled for Sunday.
Hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers have no power, heat or water.
First responders are still recovering bodies of victims.
The city is not ready to celebrate.

What Can We Learn from PISA?

by dianerav

Pat Buoncristiani raises interesting questions about what can be learned from PISA.
Some nations see the international tests as a giant race, and their leaders all want to be number 1. This leads to more and more testing, but not the kind of thoughtful education policies that prepare young people to live in the world. There are no jobs that require bubbling-in skills.
If we could forget the horse race, we might learn what top-performing nations do and sort through it.
Pat is alarmed that New York State is blowing away $32 million on testing. How do you think she would feel about Texas spending nearly $500 million for the same testing?

This Is What the Public Library Does in a Crisis

by dianerav

I recently met Tony Marx, the president of the New York Public Library (and former President of Amherst College).
As you know, New York City is in the midst of a terrible crisis following Hurricane Sandy. Hundreds of thousands of people are without heat, hot water, electricity, or food.
Guess where many are finding refuge?
I received the following email from Tony Marx just minutes ago:
“I am here at Mid-Manhattan [a major branch library] which like 61 branches is open for second day despite 

NYC’s Disrespect for Its Teachers and Principals

by dianerav

A reader in NYC writes:
Diane,
People in Staten Island, which is the borough with the greatest loss of life, is getting very little assistance compared to lower Manhattan. Some areas are not getting food or water. Those people are desperate. When Bloomberg said yesterday that temps in the low 50s is not cold, I wanted to slap him through the TV since this is the same man who had a window-sized air conditioner installed in his SUV so the interior can remain cool during the summer when it’s parked outside City Hall. But the marathon will go on. I suppose if people from 

Angry! (But grateful to be back on line, worried for the 239,000 who aren’t and the thousands who have lost so much) - Wait, What?

Angry! (But grateful to be back on line, worried for the 239,000 who aren’t and the thousands who have lost so much) - Wait, What?:

Angry! (But grateful to be back on line, worried for the 239,000 who aren’t and the thousands who have lost so much)

by jonpelto

But since there are still a few days until Election Day, I’d like to re-post a comment that I made earlier this week on Facebook, thanks to the generator at the local community center.

Let us take a moment to IMAGINE a world in which instead of giving $115 million in taxpayer funds to hedge fund criminals, or tens of millions to UBS who then lay-off 10,000 people or giving scarce public funds to the carrion-birds called “ticket-re-sellers,” all the while postponing vital transportation projects so the money could be shifted to the transportation fund to cover up the deficit in the General Fund, we actually invested in real infrastructure upgrades like burying key electric lines or creating these so-called micro-grids.

Yes, there would still be many people who would have lost power.  There might even be 

Jersey Jazzman: NJDOE Meddles In Local Politics

Jersey Jazzman: NJDOE Meddles In Local Politics:

NJDOE Meddles In Local Politics

by Duke

Not even superstorm Sandy can calm the rancor in Perth Amboy's schools:

A final decision from the state assistant education commissioner on a judge’s ruling upholding the school board’s May vote to place Superintendent of Schools Janine Walker Caffrey on administrative leave has been delayed.

On Wednesday, Board of Education President Samuel Lebreault said the board received a decision from the assistant state education commissioner that sent the case back to the administrative law judge because certain issues required further study.

“We are disappointed by the delay that these proceedings will pose to implementation of the lawful will of this board and we are confident that we ultimately will prevail,” Lebreault said.

So the duly elected local school board made a personnel decision. An administrative judge upheld their decision. 

NYC DOE Stop the colocation of a Success Academy in the Washington Irving HS Campus Coalition for Public Education/Coalición por la Educación Pública

Coalition for Public Education/Coalición por la Educación Pública:

New York City Department of Education: Stop the colocation of a Success Academy in the Washington Irving HS Campus

TO SIGN, GO TO:

https://www.change.org/petitions/new-york-city-department-of-education-stop-the-colocation-of-a-success-academy-in-the-washington-irving-hs-campus

Petition by SOS from Eva

1. Six expanding high schools already reside in the building, with only one shared cafeteria and limited gym space.

2. Placing an elementary school in the building, which will occupy three floors, will divert resources from the growing high-need populations already established in the building.

3. An elementary school can not collaborate to strengthen the community and share resources in a campus of 

New York State Graduation Rates for Black, Hispanic Boys Lowest in Nation

By Melissa Russo and Tom Burke Monday, Sep 24, 2012 
October 30, 2012  •  wnbc.com
New York State with 266,933 Black males only graduates 37% from high school in four years versus 78% for White males

For African-American and Hispanic male students, New York has the worst four-year high school graduation rate in the 

NYC Public School Parents: Update on plans for Monday and tragic losses suffered due to storm

NYC Public School Parents: Update on plans for Monday and tragic losses suffered due to storm:

Update on plans for Monday and tragic losses suffered due to storm

by Leonie Haimson

Jessie and her dog, Max

After a week of disruption due to Hurricane Sandy, NYC public schools are due to restart on Monday.  Yet according to Schoolbook, forty-four school buildings were severely damaged, and students at those schools will likely be relocated to other buildings on Monday. The DOE is supposed to announce which schools will NOT re-open and the re-location sites, hopefully soon.  Check back here or goschools.nyc.gov for further updates.

Meanwhile, many families across NYC have suffered due to the storm.  One of the worst tragedies are the deaths of Jessie Streich-Kest and her friend Jacob Vogelman, who were struck by a falling tree while walking Jessie’s dog on Monday night in Ditmas Park. Jessie was a teaching fellow at Bushwick School for Social Justice; Jacob a theater design student at 

Is Distance Education Opposed to Face-To-Face Education? | Education | M.A.Escotet

Is Distance Education Opposed to Face-To-Face Education? | Education | M.A.Escotet:

Is Distance Education Opposed to Face-To-Face Education?

by Miguel Angel Escotet

Open education is particularly characterized by the removal of restrictions, exclusions and privileges; by the accreditation of students’ previous ex­perience; by the flexibility of the management of the time variable; and by substantial changes in the traditional relationship between professors and students. On the other hand, distance or virtual education is a modality which permits the delivery of a group of didactic media without the necessity of regular class participation or face-to-face interaction, where the individual is responsible for his own learning.

However, there exists a similar use of both terms as a result of the transfer to other countries of the concept which originally was produced in England, derived from the term ‘University of the Air’ and reinforced by other concepts such as ‘lifelong learning’, ‘permanent education’, ‘endless edu­cation’, etc. The transition which the English leaders made with the terms University of the Air and Open University is a product of a reorientation of the objectives 

ARE LAUSD TARGETED TEACHER STILL UTLA UNION MEMBERS WITH RIGHTS? - Perdaily.com

ARE LAUSD TARGETED TEACHER STILL UTLA UNION MEMBERS WITH RIGHTS? - Perdaily.com:

ARE LAUSD TARGETED TEACHER STILL UTLA UNION MEMBERS WITH RIGHTS?

by Leonard Isenberg

(Mensaje se repite en Español)

(For a national view of public education reform see the end of this blog post)

There is an interesting practice that UTLA engages in vis a vis teachers that have been targeted on bogus charges for removal by LAUSD, e.g. rubber room and others. This practice consists of UTLA depriving teachers put on "unpaid administrative leave" by LAUSD- pending a hearing- of all rights as union members. During the last election of UTLA officers, I was able to vote in the initial election, which took place before LAUSD put me on "unpaid administrative leave," but UTLA would not let me vote in the runoffs, even though there had been no adjudication of my culpability of any of the bogus charges that LAUSD had brought against me. I can understand this kind of reprehensible behavior from LAUSD, but why is UTLA rubber stamping LAUSD action against its members without any due process of law or the assumption 

UPDATE: Disenfranchising the old folks in the IEA. « Fred Klonsky

Disenfranchising the old folks in the IEA. « Fred Klonsky:

Disenfranchising the old folks in the IEA.

by Fred Klonsky

I’ve been to every state convention of the IEA for the past twenty years.
I won’t be a delegate at the next one.
It’s not that I don’t want to sit through four days of meetings, speeches and bad food.
I can’t.
The deadline for nominations for IEA-Retired is past. I never got a copy of the nominations form in the mail (yes, the  IEA still does these things by mail).
Ballots went out this week. I didn’t get one of those either.
I don’t take this personally. Even as a critic of the leadership, I don’t

Ten minute drawing. IEA Communications.

by Fred Klonsky

Click on drawing to enlarge.

Des Moines Education Association: Just Let Me Teach!

Des Moines Education Association: Just Let Me Teach!:

Just Let Me Teach!

by Andrew Rasmussen

A teacher group in Indiana has gained some attention in education circles for little black wristbands they have created. (LINK) On the wristbands is a simple request, “Just let me teach!” The wristbands are the brainchild of 35 year old Indiana teacher Justin Oakley. He is 10 year veteran of teaching and also the president of his local teacher’s association. He created the wristbands because he had grown tired of so-called school reformers telling teachers how to do their jobs. The “Just Let Me Teach” wristbands have become a hot item, leading to a Facebook page with 1,240 likes and sales of over 4,000 wristbands to teachers across the country. (LINK) So what has led so many teachers to snatch up these wristbands? The answer is a loss of professional autonomy.

When I started my teaching career 17 years ago, it was a much different world. Teachers were seen as professionals who were allowed to use their creativity to produce countless numbers of approaches to provide learning opportunities that fit the diversity of the children they served. I taught the same subject, Civics, but every 

Seattle Times Buries Info that is Critical of Initiative I-1240 | Seattle Education

Seattle Times Buries Info that is Critical of Initiative I-1240 | Seattle Education:

Seattle Times Buries Info that is Critical of Initiative I-1240

Posted on November 2, 2012 by seattleducation2011 | Leave a comment

Over at the Seattle-McKenna Times, the ‘copy editors’ continue to allow errors in the headlines of stories that contain negative viewpoints on I-1240, the pro-charter initiative its publishers support.

Take a look: The headline in yesterday’s Letters section about the charter school initiative(1240) erroneously lists the number for the legalizing marijuana initiative (502).

See: Initiative 502: Charter schools in Washington state

It’s hard to believe this is accidental. There are layers of editors and copy editors and the writers themselves who all could have and should have caught 

Detroit Teacher Wonders: What If I Could Quit When I "Didn't Have the Tools" I Need? - Teacher in a Strange Land - Education Week Teacher

Detroit Teacher Wonders: What If I Could Quit When I "Didn't Have the Tools" I Need? - Teacher in a Strange Land - Education Week Teacher:

Detroit Teacher Wonders: What If I Could Quit When I "Didn't Have the Tools" I Need?

By Nancy Flanagan on November 2, 2012 11:58 AM

Next Tuesday, Michigan voters will decide whether to dump a new law that grants broad powers to "emergency managers" who, under Public Act 4, passed in 2011, assume managerial control over financially floundering municipalities and school districts, stripping elected boards and officials of power. Detroit Public Schools have been under the direction of an Emergency Manager, off and on, for years, but Public Act 4 radically expanded outside control. The current Emergency Manager of DPS, Roy Roberts, sent a letter to the governor, about the "tools" he needs to effect change. This is how an award-winning, veteran Detroit Public Schools teacher--who clearly must remain anonymous-- interprets that letter:

This morning in my email I read a letter from the Emergency Financial Manager of Detroit Public Schools, Roy Roberts, to Rick Snyder, Governor of Michigan, detailing his concerns about Proposal One. He basically indicated if it Prop One didn't pass, he would be resigning. It 

Daily Kos: My predictions - by how much Obama wins, and more - if anyone cares

Daily Kos: My predictions - by how much Obama wins, and more - if anyone cares:

My predictions - by how much Obama wins, and more - if anyone cares

by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken)

Above the fold I will offer what are, for now my predictions.
EV  347- 191.  The states Obama won last time now have 359 EVs.   Subtract IN and 2nd CD of NE takes you to 347.   Obama holds all other states, NC and FL  and CO narrowly.  He narrowly loses AZ.
Popular Vote  currently thinking 51-47-2.   I note Romney has ceiling in most battlegrounds of 47 or 46.  I presume 2% to minor parties.  If that goes down, it could be only a 3 point margin, but I expect Obama to be >50%, thus being 1st(wrong) 2nd President since Eisenhower  (also Reagan) to reach a majority of popular vote twice.
Senate  56-42-2  (independents Sanders & King, both voting with Dems) - in other words, we hold ALL of our seats, even NE (late movement towards Kerry) and pick off ME, IN, NV, MA & AZ.  I am least confident on Tester holding his seat, but think the presence of a Libertarian Senate candidate may be enough to enable him to hang on.
House -  we net 16  - we win 23 current Republican seats but lose 7 current Dem seats  -  Good news, we defeat at least 3 (and maybe all 4) of Walsh, King, Bachmann and West.
Go below the cheese doodle for some explanation of my rationale.

Louisiana Educator: LDOE Proposing Radical Changes in Teacher Salary Schedules

Louisiana Educator: LDOE Proposing Radical Changes in Teacher Salary Schedules:

LDOE Proposing Radical Changes in Teacher Salary Schedules

by Michael Deshotels

If you thought that the Governor and John White were through messing with teachers for a while, you were wrong. A recent briefing session for local personnel directors by the State Department of Education on implementation of Act 1 salary mandates proposed radical changes in teacher salary schedules for all parishes. The examples provided by the DOE to local systems are just suggestions. No particular salary schedule is mandated by Act 1. But Act 1does mandate that the teacher salaries in all school systems must be revised to include a performance component based on the new Act 54 evaluation system (COMPASS).  According to the law, all such revised schedules must be adopted by local school boards by January 1, 2013. That means that in less than two months, school systems that are faced with ever tightening budgets will be expected to totally overhaul all teacher salary schedules to go into effect next school year. And since in almost all cases there is no new money, school systems will be expected to "rob Peter to pay Paul".

Local personnel administrators were presented by DOE officials with two suggested models for revamping 

FCMAT » Cali Education Headlines Friday, November 2, 2012

FCMAT » Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team:

Education Headlines

Friday, November 2, 2012

Third Stockton USD campus has gun incident

A 14-year-old freshman was arrested Thursday afternoon at one of Stockton Unified's small high schools after he was found in possession of a loaded semiautomatic handgun, the third incident involving a gun on a district campus in less than one month.

Schools report is first ever

The Calaveras County Office of Education is distributing its first “Annual Report to the Community,” part of a larger effort to inform the public about local schools.

Redlands Unified prepared for midyear hit if Prop. 30 fails

Unlike many school districts, Redlands Unified won't suffer any midyear cuts if Prop. 30 fails at the ballot box on Tuesday.

Twin Rivers board hires legal firm, reversing earlier vote

Twin Rivers Unified School District trustees reversed their vote on which law firm they'd like to hire following a special board meeting Wednesday night.

Fresno USD: FTA signs off on $37.3m federal grant

Fresno Unified announced at 2:30 a.m. that the Fresno Teachers Association signed the Race to the Top grant application.

Big districts divided over cutting school year if Prop. 30 fails

California’s 30 largest school districts are about evenly divided on whether they plan to further shorten this academic year if Proposition 30 fails next week, according to a new survey by EdSource Today.

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Sale of Pacific View Elementary site in Encinitas falls through

A deal to sell the Pacific View Elementary School site to a regional arts group that wanted to create an arts center there has fallen through, after a deadline passed with little progress and group leaders decided not to risk losing their deposit.

Online petition supports school yoga program

A local yoga enthusiast who runs a website about the practice has started an online petition to try to encourage the Encinitas Union School District to keep its controversial yoga lessons.

Long Beach area districts may shorten school year if Proposition 30 fails

Like struggling school districts across the state, some Long Beach area districts also are considering shortening the school year if Proposition 30 fails Tuesday.

Michael Moore's Latest Ad: 'Romney STEALS The Election' - Home - The Daily Bail

Michael Moore's Latest Ad: 'Romney STEALS The Election' - Home - The Daily Bail:

Michael Moore's Latest Ad: 'Romney STEALS The Election'

Grandma goes off.

A Message From The Greatest Generation (NSFW) - Profanity Warning

Seniors accuse Romney of stealing the election through voter ID laws.  Not a Michael Moore fan, but this is pretty funny.  One grandmother threatens to cock-punch Romney in the nut satchel.  Moore produced this ad for MoveOn.org, which I mention so that I can link to this classic letter Occupy Wall St. sent to MoveOn telling them to F*CK OFF.

Occasionally, I still can't get an adult beverage without showing a drivers license.  I live in a college town with heavy ID enforcement, but you get my point.  And my point is Beer Suppression.  It must be stopped.  Here's what the ACLU says about voter ID laws.

http://www.aclu.org/voter-suppression-america

New What for New Who?: Some More | The G Bitch Spot

New What for New Who?: Some More | The G Bitch Spot:

New What for New Who?: Some More

by G Bitch

Document 6: A roundup of some of NSNO’s highest-paid “independent contractors for professional services.”

One question—I thought NSNO offered professional services for charter schools and their boards? And looking at the mission statement again, I’m not sure what funds where went to “[a]ttracting and preparing talent to teach and lead” or “[a]dvocating for accountable and sustainable high quality public schools.”
From 2007-2011, The New Teacher Project in Brooklyn got $1,031,571, Marci Cornell-Feist got $222,485 for “consulting” and “board governance,” and Nancy Euske got $465,327 for “consulting” and “leadership training.” A grand total of $3,371,555 of NSNO funds went to individuals and organizations outside Louisiana to “achieve excellent public schools for every child in New Orleans.”
Documents 7 and 8: Usdin’s candidate’s report listed on 10/9/12 $110,467.50 in contributions and $23,351.98 in expenditures, leaving Usdin with $87,115.52 at the time the paperwork was filed to run for “a part-time job, with a ceiling of less than $10,000 fixed by state law” [Johnson, A. So You Want to Run for School Board?Gambit/bestofneworleans.com, 7/13/2004.].