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Sunday, March 3, 2013

Home « A Community Concern

Home « A Community Concern:


A Community Concern

A film giving visibility to the power of organizing as a way to improve urban public schools
NOW PART OF THE AMERICAN GRADUATE PROJECT, A NEW PBS INITIATIVE
Amy Shaw, Sr. VP of Community Engagement, managing the initiative for the CPB, writes,“The ability to view the film and segments on multiple platforms will be ideal for the community hubs around the country. I so appreciate the work that you are doing and think it is so important.”
Across the United States, graduation rates in most urban districts still remain between 50 and 60 percent. A Community Concern is a documentary about people who refuse to accept the system’s failures, and are working for change. Their spirit, passion and commitment shows that when organizers, parents, youth and educators work together, they are successful. It brings together stories of people facing different challenges, but share similar goals.
“[The film] highlights the failures each group confronts and how they craft their strategies… A Community Concern is a valuable resource from the front lines of education organizing.” – Norm Fruchter, Annenberg Institute for School Reform
“This documentary captures the spirit of parents’ and students’ struggles to confront problems in their schools that are too often seen as overwhelming” – Tom Dolan, California Organizer
This film can be screened in organizations, workshops, classrooms, forums, conferences, community gatherings or in your own home
A Community Concern is sectioned into chapters, so that the film can be viewed:
  • as a whole (75 mins)
  • as individual stories: Oakland, The Bronx and Boston
  • as a thematically grouped set of clips – see suggestions in Viewer Guide
The OAKLAND story shows how it is possible for community members, educators, and policy makers to come together to transform their School District.
The BRONX story shows how a group of organized youth can be the force behind designing their own high school.
The BOSTON story shows the importance of the relationship between school and parents, and how the school system adopted the reform that the community fought for.
A Community Concern is the central component of an outreach project built on partnerships with community and educational organizations
Our prime audiences are:
  • Organizers
  • Educators
  • Youth
  • Parents
  • Community members concerned with the state of education
As Oakland Community Organization (OCO) Director Ron Snyder explains, the goal of organizing ”is to take the best ideas, incorporate them into practice, and assist community members to get the power needed to maintain them.”

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Charter Schools USA Stonewalls in Refusal to Answer Questions About Relationship With Bush Foundation | Scathing Purple Musings

Charter Schools USA Stonewalls in Refusal to Answer Questions About Relationship With Bush Foundation | Scathing Purple Musings:


Charter Schools USA Stonewalls in Refusal to Answer Questions About Relationship With Bush Foundation

by Bob Sikes


Fresh off news that it’s about to build an $11 million charter school in Jacksonville, it’s no surprise that Charter Schools USA wouldn’t want to answer any questions about the entity that’s enabled it’s rise. But when asked to respond to questions about it’s relationship to Jeb Bush’s Foundation for Excellence in Education, the charter school corporation sent this to Tampa Tribune reporter William March:
“We’re not interested in being used in an article meant to misrepresent the great work the Foundation for Educational Excellence does to promote positive educational choices for students and parents by improving the performance of public schools in the U.S.”
Attacking a large state newspaper is never a good idea. Especially when your own mouthpieces have been so open about “bad actors” in the charter school industry and are pushing legislation which helps you open more 
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UPDATE: The Dumbest Thing Anyone Has Ever Said, Ever Jersey Jazzman: Camden's Schools: It's All Going According to Plan

Jersey Jazzman: Camden's Schools: It's All Going According to Plan:



The Dumbest Thing Anyone Has Ever Said, Ever

by Duke

I posted about this yesterday, but it really does deserve repeating, because it is so very, very dumb:

ACTING Secretary of Education Hanna Skandera - protege of Jeb! Bush and a political hack - is facing a tough confirmation hearing. One of the primary complaints against her is that, according to the New Mexico Constitution, Skandera is not qualified to serve:
 Sec. 6. [Public education department;
public education commission.]
A. There is hereby created a “public education
department” and a “public education
commission” that shall have such powers
and duties as provided by law. The


Camden's Schools: It's All Going According to Plan

by Duke


As far as the NJDOE is concerned, it's all working out perfectly in Camden:
With the aid numbers now released, the Camden City Board of Education unanimously approved its tentative 2013-14 budget Thursday night. The $369 million budget includes 88 staff cuts, 45 of which were teaching positions, as well as 15 administrative positions, 10 vice principals and five guidance counselors.
District officials said staff cuts were necessary due to 
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‘Neovouchers’: A primer on private school tax credits

‘Neovouchers’: A primer on private school tax credits:


‘Neovouchers’: A primer on private school tax credits

Posted by Valerie Strauss on March 3, 2013 at 11:30 am
tax1Some people, not surprisingly, weren’t thrilled with my post titled “Welfare for the rich? Private school tax credit programs expanding.” Here Kevin Welner, director of the National Education Policy Center, housed at the University of Colorado Boulder School of Education, looks at the criticism and gives us a primer on private school tax credit programs, which he calls “neovouchers.” He’s the author of the 2008 book “NeoVouchers: The Emergence of Tuition Tax Credits for Private Schooling.”
By Kevin Welner
In a March 1st statement on the Hoover Institution’s “Education Next” blog, Jason Bedrick of the Cato Institute offers his conclusion that policies he calls “scholarship tax credit (STC) programs” primarily benefit lower-income families. Because so little evidence exists, Mr. Bedrick avoids making many specific claims about the actual distribution of benefits. But he does make some broad claims that I think are worth engaging.
As a policy matter, there are many issues worth considering. There are, for instance, the basic questions applicable to all voucher and voucher-like policies concerning outcomes for students offered vouchers, competition effects, constitutional establishment clause (separate of church and state) issues, philosophical issues about liberty and choice, and societal issues 
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Jersey Jazzman: Teachers As Political Targets?

Jersey Jazzman: Teachers As Political Targets?:


Teachers As Political Targets?

by Duke


Teachers in New Mexico have had enough of reformy "leaders" like Hanna Skandera:
The Senate Rules Committee will have to meet for a third time to vote on whether to recommend Hanna Skandera as the [New Mexico] state’s secretary of education following a long day of testimony from her supporters and opponents Saturday — the second day of the process.

[...] 
Sen. Sander Rue, R-Albuquerque, said this is the first time in his five years in the Legislature in which a confirmation hearing has lasted three days. “That is not very common,” he said. 
Although Gov. Susana Martinez appointed Skandera as her secretary of education late in 2010, the Senate Rules Committee did not schedule a confirmation hearing for her in either 2011 or 2012. State law does not prohibit Skandera from serving as a secretary-designate, however. 
Saturday’s session attracted about 150 people to the Senate chamber. About 55 people — primarily teachers — spoke against confirming Skandera, while about 35 — including fellow state Cabinet secretaries, business leaders, principals and superintendents — spoke in favor of her confirmation. A half-dozen speakers voiced their views without clarifying whether they support or oppose Skandera. 
Opponents cited Skandera’s implementation of a new A-F school-grading system that is, in their 
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“The Night That We Were Shocked, That We Were Shocked…By CPS” by Missy Hughes & Dave Stieber. | Fred Klonsky

“The Night That We Were Shocked, That We Were Shocked…By CPS” by Missy Hughes & Dave Stieber. | Fred Klonsky:


“The Night That We Were Shocked, That We Were Shocked…By CPS” by Missy Hughes & Dave Stieber.

by Fred Klonsky
From: Dave Stieber’s blog. Performed at this week’s Louder Than a Bomb, Chicago.
Popout.
Our skin has become thicker
From Chicago
Thicker from the winters
Thicker from the corruption
The lies and double speak “The Night That We Were Shocked, That We Were Shocked…By CPS” by Missy Hughes & Dave Stieber. | Fred Klonsky:
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The Onion Apologizes | The Onion - America's Finest News Source

The Onion Apologizes | The Onion - America's Finest News Source:


The Onion Apologizes



 Dear Readers,
On behalf of The Onion, I offer my personal apology to Quvenzhané Wallis and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the tweet that was circulated last night during the Oscars. It was crude and offensive—not to mention inconsistent with The Onion’s commitment to parody and satire, however biting.
No person should be subjected to such a senseless, humorless comment masquerading as satire.
The tweet was taken down within an hour of publication. We have instituted new and tighter Twitter procedures to ensure that this kind of mistake does not occur again.
In addition, we are taking immediate steps to discipline those individuals responsible.
Miss Wallis, you are young and talented and deserve better. All of us at The Onion are deeply sorry.
Sincerely,
Steve Hannah
CEO
The Onion


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