Our View: States' education laws aren't making the grade – Schools of Thought - CNN.com Blogs

Our View: States' education laws aren't making the grade – Schools of Thought - CNN.com Blogs:

Our View: States' education laws aren't making the grade

By Michelle Rhee and Joel Klein, Special to CNN

Editor's note: Michelle Rhee is the founder and CEO of StudentsFirst, a nonprofit organization that identifies as a “grassroots movement” to produce “meaningful results" for education on local and national levels. She previously served as chancellor of schools in Washington D.C.

Joel Klein is CEO of Amplify, the education division of News Corporation, and a StudentsFirst board member. He is the former chancellor of New York City schools.

(CNN) - It’s hard to watch Robert Griffin III play football and not think about education policy.

RG3, as fans call him, is a rookie who has been playing in the National Football League for all of 18 weeks, but led the Washington Redskins to twice as many victories as they had last year, their first winning season since 2007 and their first divisional championship in 13 years. Now imagine if the Redskins had a little less money to pay salaries next year and cut Griffin from the team, keeping instead a handful of bench-warmers. It sounds ridiculous, but that practice is exactly what happens in most school districts where policies require teachers to be laid off based on seniority, not talent.

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 1-7-13 Diane Ravitch's blog

Diane Ravitch's blog:

Parents: It Is Time to Change the Stakes

by dianerav

Parents across the nation are taking a stand against the use of tests to measure, rate, and rank their children.
Local school boards are passing resolutions against high-stakes testing.
People are increasingly angry that tests are being used inappropriately in ways for which they were not

Here It Is: The ALEC Agenda

by dianerav

This is a point by point replication of the ALEC agenda to privatize public education and abolish the teaching profession.
Follow this template and your state will get the same performance as Louisiana and DC.

A Letter to Hari Sevugan

by dianerav

The other dy we learned from an article on the Huffington Post that several top Democratic staff members quit Michelle Rhee’s StudentsFirst. One of them was Hari Sevugan, who had been a leading figure in the 2008 Obama campaign. Sevugan’s departure set off speculation about why he left: was it Rhee’s union-busting goals? Was it her advocacy for rightwing governors? Was it her support for privatization?
Sevugan dashed off a comment to this blog in which he insisted that he cares deeply about helping children,

Jersey Jazzman Deconstructs Klein Record, Part 3

by dianerav

Jersey Jazzman decided to analyze Joel Klein’s claims of compelling progress in New York City during his tenure.
In this post, he takes a closer look at how New York City students fared on NAEP compared to other cities.
Some gains, but not as large as other, less heralded cities who took the same tests.

Prediction: Score Inflation in Louisiana

by dianerav

A reader forwarded this prediction and analysis of the forthcoming manipulation of school grades in Louisiana.
We will hear that scores are going up and that the achievement gap is closing.
Don’t believe it.
It is what as known as gaming the system.
This analysis was picked up and amplified by a blogger in Louisiana who knows the inside of the state Department of Education. This blogger describes the game as “John White’s White Lies”

Michelle Rhee: The Mask Is Off

by dianerav

Michelle Rhee issued her report card for American education and now we know what she stands for: privatization of American public education.
States that endorse charter schools, for-profit schools, the parent trigger, school closings, vouchers and online for-profit charters get high marks from Rhee.
States that bust unions, take away teacher tenure, and use standardized tests to evaluate teachers get high 

Start Your Own Business: Make Easy Money

by dianerav

This reader learned the secret of charter success. Make money by doing what the local public school did until the budget was cut. Ofer that service but without any of the overhead or services:
“After a couple of years in retirement, I decided to take an assistant’s job at a charter school in order to continue to be involved in the education of young people. I started working at the Audeo Charter School which is a part of a larger organization Altus which in turn is chartered through the San Diego, CA school district. The Audeo site I work at is set up in a bare bones large room in the office complex adjoining a shopping center. Audeo seeks students from the surrounding district, Moreno Valley, who have fallen seriously behind in credits and thus are 

Randi Asks Mayor Bloomberg to Apologize for Comparing Union to NRA

by dianerav

In a gracious and polite letter, AFT President Randi Weingarten asked Mayor Bloomberg to apologize for likening the New York City United Federation of Teachers to the National Rifle Association:
January 6, 2013
Mayor Michael Bloomberg
City Hall
New York, NY
Dear Mr. Mayor:
There are times when we say things in the heat of the moment that we regret. I hope that is the case with the comments you made on Friday during your radio show comparing the NRA with the UFT. They were offensive and way over the line. I strongly urge you to apologize to the thousands of UFT members and their leaders for making such incendiary and insensitive remarks—especially coming on the heels of the tragedy in Newtown.
You know full well that UFT members and other school employees do everything they can to make their schools safe and secure places so that children can learn and thrive. As educators, they take a solemn vow to keep their 

How to Reform Milwaukee’s Schools

by dianerav

Alan Borsuk is a knowledgeable journalist who has covered education in Milwaukee for many years. He is now professing at Marquette, but still keeps a close watch on what is happening to education in Milwaukee.
In this article, Borsuk says that a new vision is needed to get beyond the stale and failed answers of the past. He is right.
Milwaukee has had vouchers since 1990. longer than any school district in the nation. The students in the voucher schools perform no better than those in the public schools.
Milwaukee has had charter schools for about 20 years. The students in the charter schools do no better than 

Diane in the Evening 1-6-13 Diane Ravitch's blog

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 3 hours ago

Diane Ravitch's blog: Is This the School-to-Prison Train? by dianerav A reader offers this comment, responding to the Washington Post article about the incredibly high expulsion rate from DC charter schools: Bad kids need education too. The Good kids still in Public Non-Charter schools need education too. I am going to go out on a limb and suggest that it seems highly unlikely that you have a dog in either fight. I don’t either as I am here in Detroit area where they are doing the opposite, setting up a shadow state wide system to warehouse the “Worst and the Dumbest” as a sepa... more »

Lawmakers ignore their moral and constitutional duty to support public education | Get Schooled

Lawmakers ignore their moral and constitutional duty to support public education | Get Schooled:

Lawmakers ignore their moral and constitutional duty to support public education

by Maureen Downey

Here is an essay by Matt Jones, president of EmpowerED Georgia, a statewide education advocacy organization of students, citizens, parents and educators. He has taught world geography, civics, and English literature. He now teaches Engineering Technology at Toombs County High School in Lyons and is the Toombs County Teacher of the Year.

By Matt Jones
In a recent speech to the Marietta Council of the Cobb Chamber of Commerce, Georgia House Speaker David Ralston said that due to a $300 million shortfall in Medicaid, this upcoming session of the General Assembly would be “another year where you’re going to see budget cuts as 

High School Educators Resolve to Do Better in the New Year - High School Notes (usnews.com)

High School Educators Resolve to Do Better in the New Year - High School Notes (usnews.com):

High School Educators Resolve to Do Better in the New Year

By KELSEY SHEEHY

January 7, 2013 RSS Feed Print

Teachers resolve to challenge students and brag about their jobs in 2013.

Educators across the country are wrapping up their winter breaks and returning to school with a fresh list of New Year's resolutions. Forhigh school teachers and administrators, 2013 will be about improving their craft and helping students meet their goals.

"My main resolution is to continue to show my students a positive learning environment while fostering the nurturing relationships I have with them," Jenny Michael, a language arts and ACT prep teacher at Seckman High School in Missouri, said via E-mail. "My students show me something new every day and it is one of the best parts of my job, which encourages me to continue educating."

[Find out what 2013 will have in store for high schoolers.]

But to truly succeed, sometimes students need to fail. Mark 

A Backward Glance O’er Travel’d Roads « The Core Knowledge Blog

A Backward Glance O’er Travel’d Roads « The Core Knowledge Blog:

A Backward Glance O’er Travel’d Roads

by Robert Pondiscio
January 7th, 2013

Tags: civic education, core knowledge, Curriculum, E. D. Hirsch, Literacy
Posted in Core Knowledge, Curriculum, Education News, Educational Policy, Literacy | No Comments »

NOT

After over 5 years and 1500 posts, this will be my final blog entry as host of the Core Knowledge Blog.

The good news – no, great news – is that the blog will continue to host an ongoing conversation on curriculum, literacy, teaching and learning.  It will continue to make the case for a content-rich education as the indispensable key to language proficiency,vocabulary growth, critical thinking, problem solving and nearly all of the big picture goalswe prize in education.   A guy named E.D. Hirsch will be taking over this space for now.  I believe you’ve heard of him.

K-12 education looked very different when this blog launched in December 2007.   The education reform discussion largely revolved around structural concerns—teacher quality, testing, charter schools, school choice, and the like.  This blog expressed frustration early and often at the blithe lack of concern among policymakers

Schools chief unveils plan to 'reset' the Philadelphia School District | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

Schools chief unveils plan to 'reset' the Philadelphia School District | Philadelphia Public School Notebook:

Schools chief unveils plan to 'reset' the Philadelphia School District

by thenotebook

by Dale Mezzacappa and Benjamin Herold

Saying it’s time to “reset our District,” new Superintendent William Hite this weekend released a reform blueprint based on consolidating scarce resources in the hopes of strengthening Philadelphia’s traditional public schools and staunching the flow of students and dollars to city charters.

Photo: Harvey Finkle

by Dale Mezzacappa and Benjamin Herold

Saying it’s time to “reset our District,” new Superintendent William Hite this weekend released a reform blueprint based on consolidating scarce resources in the hopes of strengthening Philadelphia’s traditional public schools and staunching the flow of students and dollars to city charters.

“That’s what this work is about: developing better options and better opportunities for parents in District schools,” said Hite. “We can become more competitive as a District.”

With some 60,000 Philadelphia children already enrolled in the city’s publicly funded, independently managed charters, Hite said he believes that sector has reached a “natural saturation point.” But he knows that winning parents back to the beleaguered District won’t be easy.

Hite’s “Action Plan 1.0” highlights the challenges: the new superintendent hopes to “professionalize” teachers while cutting their compensation, improve student 

UPDATE: What’s missing from Michelle Rhee’s memoir

What’s missing from Michelle Rhee’s memoir:

What’s missing from Michelle Rhee’s memoir

Posted by Valerie Strauss on January 7, 2013 at 5:00 am

Michelle Rhee will soon be publishing her memoir, “Radical, Fighting to Keep Children First,” and I thought it would be interesting to see what the Washington Post reporter who covered her tenure as D.C. schools chancellor thought about it. Bill Turque agreed to review it, and here’s his piece.  You can see a piece I recently wrote about the book here.

By Bill Turque

Michelle Rhee left town more than two years ago, but the debate about her stint as D.C. schools chancellor shows no signs of cooling. It remains a hot button for the education commentariat and is the subject of a “Frontline” documentary that airs Tuesday evening. And now Rhee has produced “Radical, Fighting to Put Students First,” a memoir/manifesto to to be published next month.

She offers some interesting coming-of-age detail, especially about life with her staunchly traditional Korean immigrant parents who expected her to wash the dishes after every meal 

Bloomberg likens teachers union to NRA

by Valerie Strauss

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg (I), blaming the teachers union for stalled talks on a new teacher evaluation system, expressed his anger on his radio show by comparing the United Federation of Teachers to the National Rifle Association.
Read full article >>

Moco schools chief on new teacher/principal evaluation systems

by Valerie Strauss

Here is a new message to the public from Montgomery County Public Schools Superintendent Joshua Starr about forced changes to the district's nationally known teacher/principal evaluation system.
Moco's teacher evaluation system has been seen as a model because it has been successful in removing ineffective teachers without the use of standardized test scores and it is led by teachers.
Read full article >>

Districts pay more for special ed, feds underfund | EdSource Today

Districts pay more for special ed, feds underfund | EdSource Today:

Districts pay more for special ed, feds underfund

January 6th, 2013 | Add a Comment | 
By Kathryn Baron

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California school districts are shouldering a bigger share of the cost of special education, reflecting a further shift of the burden from state and federal governments, according to a new report from the state Legislative Analyst’s Office. Between the 2004-05 school year and 2010-11, the local portion of special education services grew from 32 percent to 39 percent, or about $3.4 billion a year. During that same period, the percentage paid by the federal and state governments fell. School districts now pay more than twice what the federal government puts in. The LAO report says the feds have never paid their full share under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act(IDEA).

About 10 percent of California’s K-12 students – nearly 690,000 – receive special education services. The majority of them have learning disabilities, such as dyslexia or speech or language impairments. However, those are declining while the number of children with more serious disabilities, which require more extensive and expensive services, are on the rise. Autism diagnoses have grown by 241 percent in the past decade, while other health problems, including asthma, epilepsy and diabetes, have increased by 120 percent.

The average annual cost of education for a student with disabilities has grown by 9 percent in 

EdWatch 2013: Head Start funding and transitional kindergarten - by Lillian Mongeau

by Lillian Mongeau

Head Start in Los Angeles County, the largest provider in the nation, could be broken up into a cluster of smaller programs under a new grant process aimed at improving quality in the federally-funded early childcare program for low-income families. For the first time in Head Start history, grantees whose programs did not meet certain quality standards in federal inspections have been required to...

Creativity in the classroom is what’s really at stake with accountability - by Merrill Vargo

by Merrill Vargo

Many readers of EdSource know that a variety of factors have combined to put rethinking accountability on state leaders’ to-do list. But most people don’t understand what is really at stake. It’s not just about whether we add measures of “college and career readiness” to the API. This is a worthy goal, but the issue of accountability is much bigger than that.  Accountability isn’t just testing;...

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: WEEKEND QUOTABLES

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: WEEKEND QUOTABLES:

WEEKEND QUOTABLES

by Mike Klonsky

Michael Madigan

"We are telling people who have worked for governments, and who have been told for years how much their pension would be, that the number is going to change." -- Ward Room

 Geri Armitage,  Naperville North High School teacher

“The state has not paid their portion — we have paid our dues — and now they are attacking us from every which way saying it’s our fault when, in reality, this is their obligation to us.” -- Daily Eastern News

Charles Blow

As [Michelle] Alexander confirmed to me Friday: “Today there are more African-American adults under correctional control — in prison or jail, on probation or parole — than were enslaved in 1850, a decade before the 

Suspended learning

by Mike Klonsky

What's the point?

Crazy suspension and expulsion stories have become almost commonplace in this era of zero tolerance,especially in the wake of the Sandy Hook shootings. The Washington Post ran a story last week about a 6-year-old boy being suspended in Montgomery County, Md. for pointing his finger at another student and saying "pow."

Then there's the story of Courtni Webb, the 17-year old San Francisco high school student, suspended for a poem she wrote about Sandy Hook.

But these incidents, often an ill-considered, bureaucratic response to the real fears of gun violence, mask the 

Rhee, Klein Now Giving Grades Out to States on Education Policy | Scathing Purple Musings

Rhee, Klein Now Giving Grades Out to States on Education Policy | Scathing Purple Musings:

Rhee, Klein Now Giving Grades Out to States on Education Policy

by Bob Sikes

So Joel Klein has jumped on the Michelle Rhee bandwagon as a board member of StudentsFirst. How fitting that two former big city education city school chiefs – both with dubious records presume to give grades out to all 50 states. Here’s a bit from their CNN piece today:

CNN) – It’s hard to watch Robert Griffin III play football and not think about education policy.
RG3, as fans call him, is a rookie who has been playing in the National Football League for all of 18 weeks, but led the Washington Redskins to twice as many victories as they had last year, their first winning season since 2007 and their first divisional championship in 13 years. Now imagine if the Redskins had a little less money to pay salaries next year and cut Griffin from the team, 

Boston Globe to Miracle Charter: You’re Not All That! | EduShyster

Boston Globe to Miracle Charter: You’re Not All That! | EduShyster:

Boston Globe to Miracle Charter: You’re Not All That!

by edushyster2012

The red-hot love affair between the Boston Globe and UP Academy has officially hit the skids.

It’s time now for another installment of EduShyster’s favorite telenovela: “Nos Encanta Los Escuelos Charteros.” This long-running series features the Boston Globe in the role of love-besotted suitor, intent on showing its love for local charter schools through cartas de amor, otherwise known as news articles. When we last tuned in, theGlobe’s mad luv for local miracle school UP Academy, appeared to have hit a rough patch. EduShyster can now officially confirm that the Globe and UP Academy are done, splitsville, broken up.

What went so wrong?
The Globe went public about the split last week, airing UP’s dirty laundry all over the Metro section, complete