Big Education Ape Wildly Achieving Cohort Award

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU

Big Education Ape Wildly Achieving Cohort Award

My Gift to you during this holiday season and nearly everyday is the voices of people who love public education. Most of the people are fighting to keep education Public and Free. I follow these people for news, ideas and inspiration. There are others but these guys are working it everyday to fight privatization of our Public Schools and for a free and great education for all kids. They are truly American Heroes. 

RheeFirst Rheefirst

www.RheeFirst.com: Exposing Michelle Rhee's lies and deceptions, 140 characters at a time
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ritacolleen Rita Solnet

jerseyjazzman Jersey Jazzman

Music educator, composer, and political gadfly
.

BobSikes Bob Sikes

Former NY Mets trainer is a current high school teacher. By blog's currenty focused on the dynamic that exists between education reform, politics and money
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AnthonyCody Anthony Cody

Worked in Oakland schools for 24 years, 18 of them teaching in a high needs middle school. He writes a blog, Living in Dialogue, for Teacher Magazine
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K12NN Cynthia Liu

Founder, K12NewsNetwork. Education news: made and reported by parents, students, educators
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arneduncan Arne Duncan 

The official Twitter page of the US Secretary of Educatio
n

ModSchool ModernSchool

High school science teacher, union organizer, activist and advocate for children and teachers
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TomTorlakson Tom Torlakson

California State Superintendent of Public Instruction. My staff & I provide updates on events and education issues. Official SSPI & CDE feed is @TorlaksonSSPI.

studentactivism Angus Johnston

Historian and advocate of American student activism. I teach at CUNY
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Smallschools SmallSchoolsWorkshop

Rethinking public school design, teaching & learnin
g

alfiekohn Alfie Kohn

author and lecturer on topics in education, parenting, and human behavio
r

walterASCD Walter ASCD

Lifelong learner, teacher, leader and connector making use of social media to take it to the next level
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shankerblog Shanker Blog

Commentary and research on education, labor, and democracy from the Albert Shanker Institute. You can also follow us on Facebook: http://on.fb.me/oliLk
z

mariashriver Maria Shriver 

I am an activist, author, journalist and mother. I consider myself a work in progress. My mission: to inspire and empower people to be Architects of Change
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SchlFinance101 Bruce Baker

Professor at Rutgers University specializing in school finance, education policy & quantitative analysis
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OklaBrett Brett Dickerson

An Oklahoma high school history teacher who is committed to integrity in education and government
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brucelesley Bruce Lesley

President of First Focus (@First_Focus &@Campaign4Kids). Child advocacy, politics, policy. Father: 4 kids. Basketball fanatic. Views expressed are mine alone
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jeannewman Jeanne Newman

public school math teacher, obama canvasser, proud mother, adoring wife, bleeding heart liberal, Woodstock 69 attende
e

tonnet Milton Ramirez

Education, Translation, Math, Physics, Technology, Social Media, Blogging
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DebMeier Deborah Meier

Education Activist/Write
r

Thanks2Teachers Richard Lakin

educator, child and teacher advocate, edu-tweeter, author of Teaching as an Act of Love:Thoughts and Recollections of a Former Teacher, Principal and Ki
d

teacherken Kenneth Bernstein

tchr Quaker liberal Dem, music, puns, 60+, blogger (Daily Kos, BLue Commonwealth, etc
)

scusdsupt SCUSD Superintendent

Striving to do all we can so our young people can achieve their goals and dream
s

valeriestrauss Valerie Strauss

The Washington Post's Valerie Strauss writes about everything that matters in education -- and some things that don't
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KenMLibby Ken Libby

PhD student at CU-Boulder studying education. Doctoral student researcher at NEPC. Tweets do not represent the university. RTs ≠ endorsements
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TomasWelcome Tomas Karkalas

My pictures opens my diary where poetry embellishes rough luck
!

emilyschoolsyou Emily Alpert

educationnation Education Nation

Examining and redefining education in America. Hosted by @NBCNews.

jfenster John Fensterwald

Educated Guess blogger on California ed policy and editor, Thoughts on Public Education in Calif. (top-ed.org); former opinion writer for San Jose Mercury News
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TheJLV Jose Vilson

You can't stop my go. I been born to be where I am. Bright light from a distant star ...http://thejosevilson.co
m

tomwhitby Tom Whitby

Prof of Education. Founder: #Edchat, The EDU PLN Ning, Linkedin group Technology-Using Professors et al. BLOG: My Island View http://tomwhitby.wordpress.co
m

Larryferlazzo Larry Ferlazzo

Inner-city High School teacher -- ESL & Mainstrea
m

fklonsky fklonsky

Art teacher, union gu
y

leoniehaimson leonie haimson

NYC public school parent, Exec. Director, Class Size Matters and founding member, Parents Across Americ
a

CohenD David B. Cohen

English teacher, blogger, assoc. dir. of Accomplished California Teachers. Interests: ed. leadership, practice & policy. Follows/retweets are not endoresements
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tbfurman Tim Furman

Chicago-Based 2.0 Teacher, Tech Support Person. All about reclaiming the progressive vision of education before it's tested completely away
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TeacherReality TeacherReality

FL teacher; parent; advocate for public education; working tirelessly to expose 'ed reform' profiteer
s

cajacobson CJ

Hoping Godot will come
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TeacherSabrina Sabrina Stevens

Teacher, writer & advocate for teachers, kids, & communities. Tweets, bad jokes, & unpopular opinions are mine alone :
)

MoniseLSeward Monise L. Seward

#NotreDame Alum, Soccer Mom, Edu-Blogger, Fndr @Wake_The_Artist, #GrantWriter & CEO of@HvnMustB_LkThis. Advocate 4 all things Kid-Arts-Education related
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katymurphy Katy Murphy

Education reporter and blogger for the Oakland Tribune. Reach me at kmurphy@bayareanewsgroup.com
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united4edu Stud Protest

alexanderrusso alexanderrusso

I used to be a Hill staffer. Now I write about education. Follow my other feeds @district299 (Chicago schools) &@hotofored (ed-related gossip and pop culture)
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EDPressSec Justin Hamilton 

Official twitter account for Department of Education Press Secretary Justin Hamilto
n

DianeRavitch Diane Ravitch

I write about education. I blog at Bridging Differences at Education Week
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mikeklonsky Mike Klonsky

Education prof, writer, blogger, high school basketball coac
h

alicemercer A. Mercer

Elementary teacher, ed tech enthusiast, wife, mother. Oh, and I knit too. Like a ninja, I'm full of surprises
!

Please Note: Many others qualify for the 

Big Education Ape Wildly Achieving Cohort Award

they have been remove for National Security Reasons

Editorial: Real hurdle to education reform is poverty - Chicago Sun-Times

Editorial: Real hurdle to education reform is poverty - Chicago Sun-Times:

Editorial: Real hurdle to education reform is poverty

Editorials December 31, 2012 9:54AM

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Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis addresses the City Club of Chicago during a luncheon at Maggiano's Banquets in Chicago, Ill., on Tuesday, November 20, 2012. | Andrew A. Nelles~Sun-Times Media

There is nothing easy about trying to boost academic outcomes for poor kids.

That is why we’ve supported a range of aggressive interventions for the Chicago Public Schools over the years, including school closures, charter openings, turnarounds, improved teacher evaluations, a longer school day and changes to teaching tenure, hiring and firing rules.

We remain convinced those interventions can make the difference at individual schools, for individual kids and, across all schools, can move the needle slightly.

But until society and our schools figures out a way to deal, in a comprehensive and systemic way, with child poverty — a parent’s income and educational level is the biggest predictor of school success — the odds of major improvement are low.

The Chicago Teachers Union has been pressing this point with greater urgency in recent days — 

School Reform Network Shutters National Office - District Dossier - Education Week

School Reform Network Shutters National Office - District Dossier - Education Week:

School Reform Network Shutters National Office

By Gina Cairney on December 31, 2012 12:00 PM

From guest blogger Gina Cairney

The Public Education Network has announced plans to close its national office in Washington, D.C., today, after 21 years of working to help all children—especially minority and disadvantaged children—have access to quality education. The announcement did not give a reason for the national office's closing.

But PEN's network of independent, community-based, nonprofit organizations called local education funds, will continue working with their school districts and local communities in high-poverty areas—much as they did before PEN was formed, Amanda Broun, PEN's former senior vice president, said in an email.

The LEFs were first started with funding from the New York-based Ford Foundation in 1983 as a response to the landmark "A Nation At Risk" report, Broun said, with the intention of 

Daily Kos: Please read Eugene Robinson: Stop the gun madness

Daily Kos: Please read Eugene Robinson: Stop the gun madness:

Please read Eugene Robinson: Stop the gun madness

from Daily Kos by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken)

Georgia has featured Robinson's Washington Post column in the pundit round- up, which is good.
It is not enough.
Everyone should read it.  Consider:

In 2010, guns took the lives of 31,076 Americans. Most of the deaths were suicides; a few were accidental. About a third of them — 11,078 — were homicides. That’s almost twice the number of Americans who have been killed in a decade of war in Afghanistan and Iraq.In Britain, by comparison, the number of gun homicides in 2010 was 58. Here we’d consider that a rounding error.

Let's convert those actual gun homicides into death rates:  UK  58 deaths in an estimate population of 62.3 million
US 11,078in a population of  308,745,538
Deaths per 100,000 of population
UK 58/623 = .093
US 11078/3087 = 3.59
.093/3.59 = .0259    
The UK is increasingly diverse in its population.
It has a strong rural constituency that hunts - with shotguns, with hunting rifles.
And it has a gun homicide rate less than 3% of ours.
Or if you prefer, 3.59/.093 = 38.6
The gun homicide rate in the US is 38 times that of the UK.
Stop the gun madness
There is more. . .   unfortunately too much more . . .

Modern School: Labor History Timeline--The Colonial and Revolutionary Eras

Modern School: Labor History Timeline--The Colonial and Revolutionary Eras:

Labor History Timeline--The Colonial and Revolutionary Eras

by Michael Dunn

The Colonial and Revolutionary Eras

Popout

1619    First slaves brought to American colonies: They were brought to Jamestown by Dutch traders who had stolen them from a Spanish ship. Because the Spanish usually baptized captured Africans and the English exempted baptized people from chattel slavery, these first African Americans joined 

MORNING UPDATE: LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 1-1-13 Diane Ravitch's blog

Diane Ravitch's blog:

My News for 2013

by dianerav

Faithful readers of the blog may recall that I started a new book last June.
I am pleased to announce that it will be published next fall by Knopf, the finest publishing house in the United States.
The title is under wraps for now.
If you have been reading the blog, you know what it’s about.

EduShyster’s Predictions for 2013

by dianerav

EduShyster, that merry prankster of edu-reform offers her predictions for the New Year.
She says 2013 will be the year of the edupreneur. 
This is a new genus american us, the ultimate result of turning the public education system into an emerging market.

The Best of 2012

by dianerav

2012 was a year in which supporters of public education–parents, educators and concerned citizens–won some huge victories against the privatization movement.
Let’s begin with the elections of 2012.
Reform idol Tony Bennett was booted out by the voters of Indiana, who elected veteran educator Glenda Ritz as State Superintendent of Education.
Idaho was a great victory for supporters of public education. Idaho voters decisively repealed the Luna laws, which would have committed the state to spend $180 million for laptops while imposing merit pay, crushing the 

The Worst of 2012

by dianerav

December 14, 2012, will be engraved in our hearts and memories forever as a dark and terrible day in our national history.
It was a day when the unthinkable, the unimaginable, happened in Newtown, Connecticut.
It was a day when every parent’s worst nightmare became a reality.
It was a day when educators heroically defended their children, making the ultimate sacrifice.
It was a day we will never forget.
It was the worst day of 2012.

Diane in the Evening 12-31-12 Diane Ravitch's blog

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 4 hours ago

Diane Ravitch's blog Noa Rosinplotz Speaks for Herself! by dianerav Earlier today, I published an essay about testing (“The Voice of a Data-Point”) by a sixth-grade student, Noa Rosinplotz. Her story was so thoughtful and well-written that some commenters could not believe it was written by a sixth grade student. I emailed Noa and asked her to read the comments and respond. This is what she wrote: “This is Noa, original writer of the letter. I’m responding to all the comments that I’m not actually in sixth grade or that someone else wrote my letter for me. While my mom did read w... more »

"May the Force be with you"

The power of school music programs: Students come for the music and stay for the math | Get Schooled

The power of school music programs: Students come for the music and stay for the math | Get Schooled:

The power of school music programs: Students come for the music and stay for the math

by Maureen Downey

Melissa Walker, a professional jazz vocalist and president and founder of Jazz House Kids in Montclair, N.J., and Peter Smagorinsky, Distinguished Research Professor of English Education at the University of Georgia, joined forces to write a piece on the benefits of music education.
Here is their essay:

By Melissa Walker and Peter Smagorinsky
Public schools, in general, have become incriminated in the public mind for having failed society. They must be re-envisioned, restructured, reassessed, and refinanced if they are to serve the public good, according to commentators ranging from folks waiting in line at the post office to governors and national policymakers. Given that schools provide the one common experience that all Americans have, it’s easy to blame them for anything that might follow from attendance, no matter how tenuous the connection. If something’s wrong with society, it must be a problem that schools and teachers are responsible for.
One approach to

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: New Year's resolution: Ban the term, 'fiscal cliff'

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: New Year's resolution: Ban the term, 'fiscal cliff':

New Year's resolution: Ban the term, 'fiscal cliff'

by Mike Klonsky

"No matter what happens, let’s agree never again to call anything a 'fiscal cliff.'' -- Gail Collins

Here's where I was at as we headed into 2012. I'm still there as we head into 2013.

Last year on New Year's eve, Obama was busy signing a $662 billion Defense Bill, while at the same time,complaining about certain provisions that supposedly regulated the "detention, interrogation, and prosecution of suspected terrorists."

The news that we intoxicated masses received last night was that we're not going over the fabricated fiscal cliff. Once again, I was not fazed. Did anyone really believe that the Pentagon was going to take a $20 billion hit while the pols played back-room beat-the-clock with the nation's economy? Once again, the "herd of rabid ferrets", as Collins calls them, saved Obama from himself (giving away Social Security) by settling for a $450,000 tax-increase floor (at least for now). The deal fails to bring in enough 

solidaridad: Precinct Walking Kickoff Robert D. Skeels for LAUSD School Board

solidaridad: Precinct Walking Kickoff Robert D. Skeels for LAUSD School Board:

Precinct Walking Kickoff Robert D. Skeels for LAUSD School Board

Join with Student, Teacher, Family, and Community volunteers in getting the word out about School Board candidate Robert D. Skeels. We’ll be walking neighborhoods, talking to voters, and distributing literature. Campaign T-Shirt, light refreshments, and volunteer training provided.

Saturday, January 5, 2013 @ 12:30PM

Cafe in the Heights

3510 N Broadway Lincoln Heights, CA 90031

( across from Lincoln High School | map: http://g.co/maps/3xh7a )

Únase a los Estudiantes, Maestros, Padres de familia y Comunidad en hacer correr la voz acerca de Robert D. Skeels, el candidato corriendo para la junta escolar LAUSD. Vamos a caminar por los vecindarios para hablar con los votantes y la distribuir volantes. A los voluntarios se proporcionará una camiseta de la campaña, refrescos, y formación (training).
교육위원 후보, 로버트 디 스킬즈(Robert D. Skeels) 의 선거운동을 위해 학생, 선생님, 가족 그리고 지역사회인들의 참여를 부탁드립니다. 우리는 함께 이웃을 방문하여 투표인들과 함께 이야기하며, 정보를 제공하는 선거캠페인을 할 것입니다. 티셔츠, 간단한 음식, 그리고 자원 봉사 교육등이 무료로 제공됩니다. 많은 관심과 참여를 바랍니다. 감사합니다.
Precinct Walking Kickoff Robert D. Skeels for LAUSD School Board

I love you Seattle. Happy New Year! | Seattle Education

I love you Seattle. Happy New Year! | Seattle Education:

I love you Seattle. Happy New Year!

by seattleducation2011

Well, I did it… my very first video. This one, my love song for Seattle.

There was so much more that I wanted to show but it couldn’t fit in one video.

Happy New Year Seattle.

Dora Taylor