UPDATE: Joy Resmovits: White House On School Safety, No School Closure Savings? ? Ed Today

Joy Resmovits: Texas Zeroes Out Standardized Testing, Can Tablets Replace Textbooks? Ed Today:

White House On School Safety, No School Closure Savings? Ed Tonight

by Joy Resmovits

No Closure Cash? A recent trend in urban education has been school closures. New York City recently made headlines for releasing a lengthly list of schools slated to be closed. Philadelphia has made similar news. And Chicago is now deciding which of its "underutilized" schools it will close. A similar thread between all these closures has been the argument that closing schools saves money. But a new study adds to the growing body of evidence that shows this may not actually be true.

According to the Washington Examiner, a new report from the DC Fiscal Policy Institute shows that closing 20 

Obama On Guns: School Police Should Be Funded By Federal Government, But Not Required

by Joy Resmovits

President Barack Obama's recommendations in the wake of the Newtown, Conn., elementary school shooting leaves questions about school safety mostly to schools to answer.

"We won't be able to stop every violent act, but if there is even one thing that we can do to prevent any of these events, we have a deep obligation -- all of us -- to try," Obama said in a statement.

According to guidelines released by the White House in advance of Obama's speech Wednesday, schools that want to have armed guards will be supported in that pursuit, but schools won't be pushed to staff them. The plan calls for the creation of 1,000 new "school resource officers," which the White House describes as "specially trained police officers that work in schools," and mental health professionals to "help prevent school crime and student-on-student violence."

The White House says it will "provide incentives" for police departments to train and hire these special officers. 

Texas Zeroes Out Standardized Testing, Can Tablets Replace Textbooks? Ed Today

by Joy Resmovits

Less Texas Testing? As Texas prepares its budget, lawmakers in the Lone Star State are trying to make a statement on standardized testing. Currently, KUT News notes, testing is "zeroed out" in the House budget. That means it's still in there, just followed by a bunch of zeroes. "We want to start the conversation on testing," House Budget writer and Republican state representative Jim Pitts told KUT. "And we're gonna have a lot of hearings between now and the end of the session on education and some things that we're going to do in education.  And we sure want testing to be one of the number one things. And that's why we did it." We are grateful to KUT for asking, since we were wondering ourselves: yes, says Texas Education Agency spokesperson Dabbie Ratcliffe, this is probably the first time in Texas history such a tactic has been used to discuss testing.

Movement On NYC Evaluations? While the public loves a good fight, it seems the dynamic some negotiators are painting of the talks over New York's teacher evaluations are more boisterous than reality. "State education officials said the city Department of Education and the UFT had been laying the groundwork for a successful 

Your Privatization Score Card - 2013 Charter Law Ranking Chart

2013 Charter Law Ranking Chart:

Public Charter Schools Reach New Milestone: Record 6,000 Schools Are Serving 2.3 Million Students

Data from Current School Year Shows 80% Growth in Enrollment Over Five Years Washington, D.C. — The number of public charter schools operating in the United States has surpassed 6,000 for the first time in the 20-year effort to provide innovative alternatives to traditional public schools, the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools announced today. These new figures are based on estimates from the 2012-13 school year. The 6,000 public charter schools are now educating more than 2.3 million students – also a record number – in the current school year. The public charter school movement had a net gain of 381 schools for the 2012-13 school year. Charter schools are enrolling 275,000 more students this year than in 2011-12 – the largest single-year increase since the movement’s inception. “The growth of the public charter sector continues because parents are demanding quality options for their children,” said Nina Rees, the president and CEO of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. “Charter leaders are opening schools to respond to parents and to provide more students with a quality education that meets their needs.” The first public charter schools opened 20 years ago in a handful of states and the movement has grown steadily to comprise more than five percent of public schools in the country, according to the data the National Alliance collected on the current school year. Five states were responsible for a net gain of 237 total new schools this school year. The five leading states include: California with 81 total schools added; Florida with 67 schools added; Texas with 41 schools added; New York with 25 schools added; and Michigan with 23 schools added. These five states now account for more than 2,400 of the nation’s public charter schools. These increases continue five years of significant growth for public charter schools. Since 2007-08, the public charter sector has added 1,700 schools – almost a 50 percent increase – and is serving an additional one million students – an increase of 80 percent. “The growth over the past five years has been truly remarkable,” Rees said. “Our movement has momentum that will continue to positively impact public education because our leaders are committed to pursuing innovation and replicating success in communities across America.” The new data is available on the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools’ data dashboard: http://dashboard.publiccharters.org/dashboard/home. ### The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools is the leading national nonprofit organization committed to advancing the charter school movement. Our mission is to lead public education to unprecedented levels of academic achievement by fostering a strong charter sector.

Modern School: California Flunks Rhee’s Reform Ratings—Badge of Honor?

Modern School: California Flunks Rhee’s Reform Ratings—Badge of Honor?:

California Flunks Rhee’s Reform Ratings—Badge of Honor?

by Michael Dunn

Image adapted from Flickr image by Calsidyrose

Michelle Rhee’s Students First advocacy group issued its ratings of state reform efforts last week. California was ranked 41^st nationally, with an overall score of F, according to the Los Angeles Times.  According to Students First, California has been asleep at the wheel with respect to the “reforms,” failing to limit teacher tenure and require student test scores to evaluate teachers.

Richard Zeiger, Deputy Supt. at the California Department of Education called the F grade a "badge of honor."

While it may be refreshing to hear a high ranking education official disparage Rhee’s astroturf school privatization organization, the fact that California ranked so high on her list should still be an embarrassment. Consider that there are 9 other states that ranked lower than California which, according to the backward logic of Rhee, means there are 9 that have done a better job than California at resisting free market refor

Jersey Jazzman: It's Always Good To Be Chris Cerf's Friend!

Jersey Jazzman: It's Always Good To Be Chris Cerf's Friend!:

It's Always Good To Be Chris Cerf's Friend!

by Duke

NJ Education Commissioner Chris Cerf has a history of taking care of his buddies.

He got fellow Broad Superintendents Book Club Academy alumnus Marcia Lyles her job in Jersey City, complete with company car and a hefty relocation bonus. Another fellow Broadie, Mike Myles, was pulling down big bucks as a consultant in Paterson. Broadie Penny MacCormack was getting $1,000 a day as an NJDOE consultant before she was confirmed. Cerf's old pal from NYC and Edison, Joel Rose, got an in on a fat contract in Perth Amboy (no word I've seen yet about whether it went through). Cerf's old firm, Global Education Advisors, got one of the earliest tastes of the Zuckerberg Newark money; so did Bradley Tusk, whom Cerf knew from their days working together for Mike Bloomberg's NYC mayoral campaign. Cerf also knew Cami Anderson from his NYC days; he appointed her to run Newark's schools and has all but assured that she will remain in the position indefinitely.

And let's not forget all the Broadies being placed in the NJDOE, or the charters are being placed into the care ofCerf-approved CMOs.

Yes, it's good to be Chris Cerf's friend. Just ask Mt. Olive superintendent Larrie Reynolds:

The Mount Olive proposal won the approval of Education Commissioner Cerf. Cerf and 

CP: Failed DC Chancellor Michelle Rhee on Charters, Vouchers and StudentsFirst as a Political Player | Pith in the Wind

CP: Michelle Rhee on Charters, Vouchers and StudentsFirst as a Political Player | Pith in the Wind:

CP: Failed DC Chancellor Michelle Rhee on Charters, Vouchers and StudentsFirst as a Political Player

POSTED BY STEVEN HALE ON MON, JAN 14, 2013 AT 2:55 PM

Over at The City Paper, Andrea Zelinski sits down with former Washington, D.C., schools chancellor and StudentsFirst leader Michelle Rhee.

Rhee has been a major player in the national education debate for several years, and more recently she has gotten particularly involved in Tennessee, where she is a part-time resident. (Also, state Department of Education Commissioner Kevin Huffman is her ex-husband.)

StudentsFirst, the education lobbying and advocacy organization she started, threw around $200,000 at state and local races this election season, and will undoubtedly be involved in the coming push for a state charter authority this year.

From the interview:

What do you think about the debate of local decision-making versus having some other independent board approving schools? You’ve talked a lot about community involvement as a parent. How do you balance that?
A lot of states and jurisdictions, in order to make sure that that community is being taken into account, require a number of forums to be held, public forums 

MORNING UPDATE: LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 1-16-13 Diane Ravitch's blog

Diane Ravitch's blog:

New Legal Challenge to Tax Credits in New Hampshire

by dianerav

Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the New Hampshire Civil Liberties Union, and the American Civil Liberties Union have filed a lawsuit challenging a state law that allows tuition tax credits, saying it subsidizes religious schools.
Where are the lawsuits in Indiana, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Louisiana to challenge voucher programs that directly 

$50 Million. 3 Years. No Clue.

by dianerav

Gary Rubinstein, the brilliant math teacher at Stuyvesant High School in New York City, has done it again.
He has dissected the Gates MET study–the one that says test scores are better at determining teacher quality than observations–and he says that the data in the study don’t make the point that has been widely reported.
Gene Glass, Research Professor at the University of Colorado, takes apart the MET study, and like Gary, says 

Daily Howler on Washington Post’s Fawning Coverage of Rhee

by dianerav

Bob Somerby at the Daily Howler is a watchdog of American journalism.
He regularly criticizes the media, and is especially good when he looks at education. He recently dissected the misleading and overly negative coverage of international tests.
In the past few days, he has been on a roll. He was incensed by the Washington Post‘s fawning coverage of our 

What Happened When a Researcher In Louisiana Wanted Answers

by dianerav

Mercedes Schneider has a Ph.D. In statistics. She teaches in St. Tammany Parish in Louisiana. Recently, she has discovered that the Louisiana Department of Education has engaged in fancy statistical manipulation of test scores and school grades. The bottom line is that the public is not getting spin and hype from that agency, not 

EduShyster Celebrates the Annual Liftin’ O’ the Cap Rituals

by dianerav

EduShyster continues to set the gold standard for reformy humor.
In this post, she describes the annual campaign by charter operators in Massachusetts to pressure the state legislature to lift the cap so they can open more charter schools.
She notes that the students most involved in demanding more charter schools are already enrolled in one. She 

NC Teacher: This Is How Democracy Ends

by dianerav

Kris Neilsen wrote an amazing post (“NC Teacher: I Quit“) a few months back, which was opened by 150,000 people, at a minimum.
He continues to teach and to write. He has recently written a series called “This Is How Democracy Ends.” In this post, he expresses his profound opposition to the Common Core State Standards.
He believes that the corporate reform movement has foisted the Common Core standards on the schools, with 

Maine Charter School Commission: “Backbones of Titanium”

by dianerav

Maine Governor Paul LePage had a tantrum (or hissy fit) when the state’s Charter School Commission rejected four out of five applicants. He was especially annoyed because two of the four rejected were for-profit online corporations. As we learned from an exposé last fall in the Maine press, the state commissioner of education got help from Jeb Bush’s friends in writing a “digital learning” law for Maine. Governor LePage must have longed to 

Indiana Legislators Hope to Silence Ritz

by dianerav

Karen Francisco, the fearless education writer at the Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette, describes here howRepublican legislators are planning to hack away at the powers of the state superintendent.
They are trying to reverse the defeat of Tony Bennett and negate the will of the voters, who overwhelmingly voted to Glenda Ritz as state superintendent.
With Republican supermajorities in both houses of the legislature, they have the votes to silence Ritz and the 

Hamburg Teachers: Stop Threatening Us

by dianerav

The Hamburg (NY) teachers union has refused to agree to a deal on teacher evaluations that would give all power to the superintendent; they want an independent person to make the final judgment when a teacher appeals a bad evaluation.
Negotiations broke down when an administrator threatened that teachers would be fired if no agreement was 

Diane in the Evening 1-15-13 Diane Ravitch's blog

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 2 hours ago

Diane Ravitch's blog: St. Louis Post-Dispatch Blasts Rhee Report Card by dianerav The St. Louis Post-Dispatch tore apart Rhee’s shoddy report card, recognizing tat it is nothing more than an effort to foist her personal political preferences on the nation’s schools. Unfortunately the newspaper admires some of her bad ideas–like evaluating teachers by test scores–and is unaware that her IMPACT program in DC hasn’t made a difference. And it accepts her mistaken notion that teachers are the problem, not poverty, not inequitable resource, not overcrowded classes, not bad polici... more »

Wall Street Behind Charter School Push | toteachornototeach

Wall Street Behind Charter School Push | toteachornototeach:

Wall Street Behind Charter School Push

by aristotlethewise

Wall Street Behind Charter School Push

by Jason Stanford
About a quarter of the kids in the San Antonio Independent School District attend charter schools. Most are the low-income, minority students we think about when we imagine providing innovative opportunities for kids stuck in failing public schools in bad neighborhoods. For a long time, school reform has targeted only kids from poor families. You know, the lucky ones who get those free lunches.
Starting this fall, though, no longer will Texas exclude upper-middle class white kids like mine from the gravy train of school choice. Last November, the State Board of Education approved a charter allowing Great Hearts Academies to open a school in North San Antonio, the wealthier, whiter section of a majority-Hispanic city.
Great Hearts Academies operates out of Arizona, where they survive not just on public funding that would 

Daily Kos: So you know what is at stake in Virginia

Daily Kos: So you know what is at stake in Virginia:

So you know what is at stake in Virginia

by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken)

We now know the lay of the land.  The only candidate for the Republican nomination for Governor will be Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli.  The Democratic nominee will be former DNC chair Terry McAuliffe.
Many already know about Cuccinelli's extreme positions on abortion, his attempts to oppose scientific research into global climate change, and so on.
Perhaps it is time to take a look at who is supporting him financially.
This Huffington Post pice provides some relevant information.
Let me stipulate the following - in Virginia it is legal for corporations to donate to state political campaigns.  Information about all contributions is accessible online. There is NO ceiling on how much an individual or 

The Innovative Educator: This is how Democracy Ends Part II: Dispelling 6 Common Myths of the #CCSS

The Innovative Educator: This is how Democracy Ends Part II: Dispelling 6 Common Myths of the #CCSS:

This is how Democracy Ends Part II: Dispelling 6 Common Myths of the #CCSS

by noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Nielsen)

By Kris Nielsen.  Originally posted at Middle Grades Mastery. 
This is the second installment in the This is How Democracy Ends series. Part one is here.  This is How Democracy Ends–Part II –Reality Check–will give an abbreviated version of why the Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSSI) is worse than we think and why it has been pushed so hard on states, districts, and schools.  Hopefully, Part Three will be my ideas for action, and my proposal for an alternative to the current reform movement, based on a humble teacher’s perspective.

Let’s look for a moment at a majority (yet shrinking) consensus among professional educators and the perspective that the public has accepted has been fed regarding the Common Core State Standards (CCSS).

This is part of a comment left by a professional educator on the first article in this series:

 I have a hard time believing that the whole thing is a ploy to destroy education and teachers. I doubt that our country would maliciously and hurt our children.

I post this comment because it’s a good start to a list of things that teachers and parents have been told to 

Online education: a leg up for high school kids? - The Education Report - Katy Murphy's blog on Oakland schools

Online education: a leg up for high school kids? - The Education Report - Katy Murphy's blog on Oakland schools:

Online education: a leg up for high school kids?

By Katy Murphy
Tuesday, January 15th, 2013 at 3:36 pm in Uncategorized.

photo by Gary Reyes/Bay Area News Group

I’ve been at San Jose State today, learning about an online education experiment that could affect high school and college students – and would-be college students – alike.

The latest idea is to offer three entry-level or remedial courses online, for CSU credit, at $150 each. San Jose State professors created the course using the platform of a Palo Alto-based online education startup, Udacity.

The pilot will start with just 300 students – 150 from San Jose State and another 150 from community colleges and the two high schools Gov. Jerry Brown started when he was the mayor of Oakland — Oakland Military Institute and Oakland School for the Arts.

If the experiment works – and, as Udacity CEO Sebastian Thrun acknowledges, it 

Pop quiz on standardized testing:

Pop quiz on standardized testing

Posted by Valerie Strauss on January 16, 2013 at 4:00 am

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Here’s a short quiz on the latest developments in the world of standardized testing, written by Lisa Guisbond of the National Center for Fair and Open Testing, also known as FairTest, a nonprofit organization dedicated to ending the abuse and misuse of standardized tests.

By Lisa Guisbond

If you are surprised at the surge of support for Seattle’s Garfield High teachers’ boycott of district-mandated standardized tests, you probably haven’t been paying enough attention. Perhaps a pop quiz will help. In June, I constructed a pop quiz on our national obsession with testing that proved surprisingly popular. It included questions on subjects such as Florida’s decision to dramatically lower the passing score on its writing exam due to embarrassing scoring glitches, New York’s eighth grade test and its absurdly confusing 

Schooling in the Ownership Society: The up and down sides of privatization

Schooling in the Ownership Society: The up and down sides of privatization:

The up and down sides of privatization

by Mike Klonsky

“If what gets measured is what gets managed, then what gets managed is what gets done.” -- From, "The Org: The Underlying Logic of the Office," by Fishman and Ellis.

There are instances in which privatization can help achieve broad social goals, writes Eduardo Porter in today's NYT, "When Public Outperforms Private in Services", but while profit is one of the most potent incentives known to man — it also has dangerous drawbacks. Drawing on Fishman & Ellis' analysis of  the transformation of BP from government-run to private as an example, Porter shows privatization's potential for distorted objections and social devastation.

He offers offers of the the consequences of prison privatization along with that of of mortgage banks "blindly offering risky mortgages to shaky borrowers and bundling them into complex bonds to sell to unwary investors." 

Rick Scott’s Not Fooling Florida Educators | Scathing Purple Musings

Rick Scott’s Not Fooling Florida Educators | Scathing Purple Musings:

Rick Scott’s Not Fooling Florida Educators

by Bob Sikes

Tampa Bay Times columnist Steve Bousquet was in the audience when Governor Rick Scott addressed a group of school administrators and he recognized the air skepticism:

“Education changed my life,” Gov. Rick Scott said Monday.
His young life, yes. His political life? Not yet.
Two years in junior college led Scott to the Navy, then a four-year degree on the GI Bill and a law degree led to success in business.
“Education was the ticket,” Scott told 200 members of the Florida Association of School 

NYC Educator: Inside the Top Secret UFT Evaluation Committee

NYC Educator: Inside the Top Secret UFT Evaluation Committee:

Inside the Top Secret UFT Evaluation Committee

by NYC Educator

We have come into possession of this top-secret recording and transcribed it for you below.

Please come to order. Thank you. Do I hear a motion to approve the minutes?

So moved.

Second.

All in favor? Opposed? The minutes are approved. Please place them in the shredder, Mike Shulman.

I'm Mike Shulman, dammit! Mike Shulman used to be vice-president of UFT!

Thank you for sharing that, Mike. Are there any opening comments? 

How can we use value-added to judge UFT members? Hundreds of teachers lost their jobs in DC! Won't that happen here?

The chair rules the member is out of order. (screaming in background) The member will be quiet or once again spend the meeting in the copy room listening to Mike Shulman. (audible protesting ceases immediately) Are 

Florida – Fund Education !! – Call To Action -> Phone List #CallToday ! « Continuing Change

Florida – Fund Education !! – Call To Action -> Phone List #CallToday ! « Continuing Change:

Florida – Fund Education !! – Call To Action -> Phone List #CallToday !

by gatorbonbc

The House Education Appropriations Subcommittee meets today (1/16) at 9 am. Please call them and give this message:

I am a registered voter in Florida and I respectfully request you fund education in accordance with the Constitution of the State of Florida!

K-12 Subcommittee Chair 

• Adkins, Janet H.* R (850) 717-5011

K-12 Subcommittee Vice Chair 

• Renuart, Ronald “Doc”** R (850) 717-5017

K-12 Subcommittee

• Baxley, Dennis K. R (850) 717-5023
• Porter, Elizabeth W.** R (850) 717-5010
• Diaz, Jr., Manny R (850) 717-5103
• Stark, Richard D (850) 717-5104
• Zimmermann, Carl F. “Z” D (850) 717-5065
• Clarke-Reed, Gwyndolen “Gwyn” D (850) 717-5092
• Baxley, Dennis K. R (850) 717-5023
• Zimmermann, Carl F. “Z” D (850) 717-5065
• Hood, Jr., Charles David “Dave” R (850) 717-5025
• Bracy, Randolph D (850) 717-5045
• Castor Dentel, Karen D (850) 717-5030
• Eagle, Dane R (850) 717-5077
• Porter, Elizabeth W.** R (850) 717-5010

“Florida’s Constitution explicitly guarantees citizens a “high-quality system of free public schools.”

Yet, when it comes to funding public education,
Florida received an F.

Privatization: The Black & White of Education in Chicago's Public Schools Coalition for Public Education/Coalición por la Educación Pública

Coalition for Public Education/Coalición por la Educación Pública:

Privatization: The Black & White of Education in Chicago's Public Schools 
Black & White of Chicago Ed

FROM http://www.ctunet.com...

The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) released on December 1st 2012 a report on the “underutilization crisis” in the Chicago Public Schools system, a crisis that has been manufactured largely to justify the replacement of neighborhood schools by privatized charters. The study, titled The Black and White of Education in Chicago’s Public Schools, analyzes the mechanisms and effects of CPS schemes that masquerade as educational policy.

While the policy of neighborhood school closings and charter openings has not moved education in Chicago forward in any significant way, the benefits to charter school operators, private testing companies, real estate interests, and wealthy bankers are growing. Far from being a system of reform that improves education, the policy of closing schools in one area of the city and opening schools in another has been the failed status quo in Chicago for nearly 20 years, and key outcomes are:

• Increased racial segregation in schools
• Depletion of stable schools in Black neighborhoods
• Disrespect and poor treatment of teachers
• Expansion of unnecessary testing
• Decreased opportunities for deep, conceptual learning
• Increased punitive student discipline
• Increased student mobility
• Minimal educational outcomes

“When it comes to matters of race and education in Chicago, the attack on public schools is endemic,” said CTU President Karen GJ Lewis.  “Chicago is the most segregated city in the country, and our students of color are routinely deemed as second-class by a system that does nothing but present one failed policy after the next.”

The Black and White of Education in Chicago’s Public Schools has three major sections describing CPS’ failed public education policy. Part One, “Playing Musical Chairs with CPS Schools—Facilities Decisions and School Actions in the Age of Mayoral Control,” assesses the processes and outcomes of school actions, facilities