The Weekly Cheddar : blue cheddar

The Weekly Cheddar : blue cheddar:

The Weekly Cheddar

February 2, 2013

By bluecheddar

January 27 - February 2, 2013

This is my 4th weekly round-up of the Wisconsin political news and opinion I think you
gotta read like yer life depends on it should see.

Robin Vos Got Served A
Subpenis Subpoena
“Correction: Wisconsin State Assembly Speaker was served with a “subpoena” not a “subpenis.” We regret any confusion this error may have caused.” Wish I had the photoshop skillz of Root River Siren.

Walkergate Updates
Walker transfers $40,000 to legal fund – from Daniel Bice at M.J. Sentinel
and
Walkergate: The Question Still Remains – What Is Walker Still Cooperating With? from 

Churn for Charters is No Solution - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher

Churn for Charters is No Solution - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher:

Churn for Charters is No Solution

by Anthony Cody

The latest report from the research team at CREDO could be seen as solace to some critics of charter schools. This article from the New York Times summarizes the report's message:

Despite a growing number of studies showing that charter schools are generally no better -- and often are worse -- than their traditional counterparts, the state and local agencies and organizations that grant the charters have been increasingly hesitant to shut down schools, even those that continue to perform abysmally for years on end.

If the [charter] movement is to maintain its credibility, the charter authorizers must shut down failed 

Arlene Ackerman, 66, dies of cancer | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

Arlene Ackerman, 66, dies of cancer | Philadelphia Public School Notebook:

Arlene Ackerman, 66, dies of cancer

by thenotebook

Former Philadelphia schools Superintendent Arlene Ackerman, who led the District from 2008 to 2011, died Saturday of pancreatic cancer. She was 66.

Ackerman had been living in Albuquerque, N.M. since she accepted a controversial buyout of her contract after leaving the District in August 2011. Before coming to Philadelphia, she had served as a superintendent in Washington, D.C. and San Francisco.

Raised in St. Louis where she attended a racially segregated elementary school, she was a lifelong educator who began her career as a teacher in 1968.

School District Superintendent William Hite issued the following statement Saturday:

On behalf of The School District of Philadelphia, I would like to extend my deepest sympathies to the family of Dr. Arlene Ackerman and all who loved her. Dr. Ackerman devoted her life to children and public education, and in doing so, encouraged countless other individuals to commit their lives to teaching, learning and leading.  For that, we are grateful.  Our thoughts and prayers are with her family, friends and colleagues.

Today: Strike Debt Bay Area Presents Oakland’s First Debtors’ Assembly | OccupyWallSt.org

Today: Strike Debt Bay Area Presents Oakland’s First Debtors’ Assembly | OccupyWallSt.org:

Today: Strike Debt Bay Area Presents Oakland’s First Debtors’ Assembly

Posted 4 hours ago on Feb. 2, 2013, 9:10 a.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
Tags: oakland, strike debt

Saturday, February 2, 2013 - 2pm
Eastside Arts Alliance, 2277 International Blvd.
Oakland, CA
On Saturday, February 2nd, Strike Debt Bay Area will host Oakland’s first Debtors’ Assembly.
As individuals, families, and communities, most of us are drowning in debt for the basic things we need to live, including housing, education, and health care. Even those of us who do not have personal debt are affected by predatory lending. Our essential public services are cut because our cities and towns are held hostage by the same big banks that have been bailed out by our government. All of us are outraged that big banks don’t have to pay their debts, but we do.
Debt keeps us isolated, ashamed, and afraid—of becoming homeless, of going hungry, of being 

The public's right to know and Freedom of Information is so passé… - Wait, What?

The public's right to know and Freedom of Information is so passé… - Wait, What?:

The public’s right to know and Freedom of Information is so passé…

by jonpelto

As Wait, What? readers learned, yet again, this week, policies and procedures put in place by Stefan Pryor, Governor Malloy’s Commission of Education, continues to prevent parents and public education advocates from accessing important public information about the Malloy administration’s education reform and privatization efforts.  In this case the question posed to Pryor’s agency was a simple one, a question that any parent might ask, but the answer was never forthcoming.

As a participant and student of Connecticut State Government for going on four decades, I can say with certainty that no gubernatorial administration during that period has done more to undermine the sanctity of Connecticut’s once legendary Freedom of Information Act.

Cutting the Freedom of Information Commission’s budget, merging it into another agency and revealing a general disregard for its mission has done significant damage.  And the 

Chicago Teachers Union | Disappearing acts: The decline of black teachers

Chicago Teachers Union | Disappearing acts: The decline of black teachers:

Disappearing acts: The decline of black teachers

BY BRANDON JOHNSON, CTU ORGANIZER  |  01/31/2013

As long as I can remember, there has been a perennial plea for black people to enter the teaching profession, and many of us enthusiastically headed this righteous call.

However, as the nation's population and students have grown more diverse, the teaching force has done the opposite — it's grown more white and less diverse; the growing shortage of black teachers, especially black men is an issue in the nation's schools.

Although many stakeholders of public education agree that our elementary and secondary teaching force "should look like America," recent policy has ignored conventional wisdom and has led to the greatest involuntary exodus of blacks from the teaching profession.

In 2000, 52 percent of Chicago Public Schools (CPS) students and 41 percent of CPS teachers were black. Today, 43 percent of students and just 25 percent of teachers are black.

"Stand up to the Fat Cats" tells the story of outsider billionaires wreaking havoc on Chicago's schools. 

Black teachers are more likely to work in high-poverty schools with high percentages of black students. In other words, the data indicates that black teachers are employed at higher rates in schools serving 

Students Last: Giving New Meaning To Class Action Lawsuit

Students Last: Giving New Meaning To Class Action Lawsuit:

Giving New Meaning To Class Action Lawsuit

by Students Last

Newark, NJ - On Thursday morning, there was a shouting match outside of Elma Street Elementary School as a teacher and several parents exchanged angry words.

"I deserve that $5,000 bonus," the teacher yelled.

"Well if you're such a good teacher then why didn't my boy pass that exam?" countered a parent.

What was the hullabaloo about? Several parents had discovered that they and their children were being sued by fourth grade teacher Sandra Wettfeld. In a legal maneuver widely acknowledged to be the first of its kind, the New Jersey educator filed suit against five of her former students and their families for loss of income. The basis for Wettfeld's lawsuit was explained that afternoon at the law offices of Slaughter & Hem.

Lawrence Slaughter, who specializes in educational 

Schools Can't Do It Alone: Why 'Doubly Disadvantaged' Kids Continue to Struggle Academically | Alternet

Schools Can't Do It Alone: Why 'Doubly Disadvantaged' Kids Continue to Struggle Academically | Alternet:

Schools Can't Do It Alone: Why 'Doubly Disadvantaged' Kids Continue to Struggle Academically

A report on childhood poverty proves once again that no single measure can cure poverty's ills.

Photo Credit: AISPIX by Image Source | Shutterstock.com

January 30, 2013  |  

 

Q: In what international comparison does the U.S. rank lower than its educational test scores rankings?

A: Childhood poverty.

“Today, 22 percent of our children live in poverty. The U.S has the second worst infant mortality rate among industrialized nations,” details America’s Report Card 2012, a report supported by First Focusand Save the Children to highlight the condition of children in the U.S.

Research has shown for decades that education, health and safety outcomes for children in homes struggling with poverty remain some of the greatest challenges facing this country. As America’s Report Card 2012 explains:

“We are falling behind because we are ignoring these problems. England has reduced child poverty through policies enacted with the goal to eliminate child poverty by 2020, while America has seen rising poverty levels and no national push to reverse that trend. But we can do better.”

Less often acknowledged is the fact that impoverished children are likely to be 

Schools Matter: Memphis Commercial-Appeal Continues to Ignore Reasons Behind Projected School Budget Deficit

Schools Matter: Memphis Commercial-Appeal Continues to Ignore Reasons Behind Projected School Budget Deficit:

Memphis Commercial-Appeal Continues to Ignore Reasons Behind Projected School Budget Deficit

by Jim Horn

Today the Memphis Commercial-Appeal has a big story on the 80-90 million dollar hole in next year's school budget for the new "unified" Shelby County Schools.  Reporter Michael Kelly manages to point to a number of reasons for the shortfall without ever mentioning the primary reason, charter schools, the expansion of which creates inefficiencies throughout the system that will cost taxpayers hundreds of millions over the next decade if current charter plans continue.  

Has Kelly not bothered to read the transition plan ( it is available on the Web), which spelled out these facts in a report from last summer?  

Or is the Commerical-Appeal to beholden to oligarchs like Bill Gates to carry out the responsibilities of a free press to inform the public on civic issues? 

Some of Report presented below from an earlier post at SM:

UPDATE: Kwame draws the news. The bus strike + CTU VP and family opt out of CPS high stakes testing. « Fred Klonsky

CTU VP and family opt out of CPS high stakes testing. « Fred Klonsky:

Kwame draws the news. The bus strike.

by Fred Klonsky

From the NY Times: Kids draw the news. Bus strike.

CTU VP and family opt out of CPS high stakes testing.

by Fred Klonsky

CTU web site.

Joenile S. Albert-Reese
AN Pritzker School
2009 W. Schiller Ave.
Chicago, IL 60622
January 15, 2013 
Dear Dr. Reese, 
We are writing to inform you that we are exercising our right to exempt our children from all non-state mandated tests for the current school year. This includes, but is not limited to: NWEA/MAP, REACH, DIBELS, and mCLASS. In addition, please do not place the grades, ISAT scores, or results of previous standardized tests of either of our children on display in the classroom, hallway, or other public place.
During whole class standardized testing we understand that our children will be provided with appropriate accommodations in order to engage in quiet, self-guided activity like silent reading, drawing, writing, or other appropriate activities so as to not disrupt the classroom in any way. 
We do not take this decision lightly given the high stakes attached to performance on these tests for everyone involved-our children, our school, and our teachers. Unfortunately we do not believe these tests to be in the best interests of our children’s education and cannot continue to allow them to participate.
We have become alarmed at the incredible increase in high stakes standardized testing at CPS. This year our kindergartener is scheduled to take fourteen standardized tests. Our fourth grader is 

Removing Barriers to Latino College Success | NEA Today

Removing Barriers to Latino College Success | NEA Today:

Removing Barriers to Latino College Success

February 1, 2013 by twalker  
Filed under Featured News, Top Stories

Leave a Comment

By Mary Ellen Flannery

“Do you know what semillas means? Or crecer?” asks Mimi Blaber, a senior director in LaGuardia Community College’s (LCC) adult and continuing education department.

In Spanish, semillas means seeds and crecer to grow, and both words are apt for the supportive work done at LCC, a City University of New York campus where more than 50 percent of students are immigrants from more than 100 countries. Recently, the nonprofit Excelencia in Educationhonored Blaber and her colleagues for their efforts to support students as they transition from popular non-credit adult programs (like GED classes) to degree-granting programs, a necessary but difficult part of the journey to middle-class life in America.

“They come here because they’re hoping to have a better life and often they see education as the door to a better life,” said David Housel, an assistant director who coordinates the support of social workers for students. “They know you need a degree or a certificate to get a job. They understand that. Especially in New York, those entry-level manufacturing jobs are gone. But sometimes they need support to fulfill those 

Saturday coffee. « Fred Klonsky

Saturday coffee. « Fred Klonsky:

Saturday coffee.

by Fred Klonsky

The Black Fives of Brooklyn.
Anne got up to make the coffee and I slipped on my new boots that have been waiting all winter for more than a dusting of snow.
I leashed up Ulysses and out we went, first sweeping the three inches of powder off the front steps and then shoveling the 25 feet of sidewalk in front of our house.
Our neighbor to the south had already shoveled.
He and his family have lived next door for 22 years. I know the names of all his children and grandchildren. I have watched them grow, talked with them about their college and career plans and attended the middle

Old school.

by Fred Klonsky

James and Bobby Purify.
Popout

National School Choice Week—Is It Really Over Already??? | EduShyster

National School Choice Week—Is It Really Over Already??? | EduShyster:

National School Choice Week—Is It Really Over Already???

by edushyster2012

National School Choice Week may be over but you can wear this choice swag every day of the year.

Reader: I fear the dreaded day has at last arrived—the end of National School Choice Week. Like you, I find myself wrestling with an urgent, existential question: how is it that an issue as fiercely urgent as school choice can be confined to a single week? Good news choice lovers: it turns out that National School Choice Week is actually a year-round organization with its own president who shows up for work during the other 51 weeks of the

Got Choice? Ubetcha! 

Celebrating National School Choice Week

National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA) Group: 1 in 5 charter schools not doing well enough to stay open

A group that oversees more than half of the nation's 5,600 charter schools said
 as many as one in five U.S. charter schools should be shut down because of 
poor academic performance. 
http://seattletimes.com/html/nationworld/2019784379_charterschools29.html

CHARTER SCHOOL SCANDALS WEBSITE

CHARTER SCHOOL SCANDALS

A compilation of news articles about charter schools which have been charged with, or are highly suspected of, tampering with admissions, grades, attendance and testing; misuse of funds and embezzlement; engaging in nepotism and conflicts of interest; engaging in complicated and shady real estate deals; and/or have been engaging in other questionable, unethical, borderline-legal, or illegal activities. This is also a record of charter school instability and other unsavory tidbits.

Couldn't Find Your Own Special Charter School Scandal
Just Type the name of your city or charter school in the box below

  

CHARTER SCHOOL SCANDALS

If you don't find yours today

Keep checking

CHARTER SCHOOL SCANDALS

Be sure to check out two other Great blogs:

-THE BROAD REPORT (as in Eli) 

-THE PERIMETER PRIMATE