9-24-13 Wait What?

Wait What?:

Get out your wallets, Bass Pro wants their corporate welfare check.

“Bass Pro often fails to deliver on its promise to be an economic development anchor and major tourist destination.  Its stores attract shoppers but often do not produce sought-after economic benefits associated with major tourist destinations.”  (Public Accountability Initiative 2010) “The stores are billed as job generators by both companies when they are fishing for […]The post Get out your wal

2 by jonpelto / 1min 

Wendy Lecker takes on the Myth of the STEM crisis

In another “must read” commentary piece, fellow public education advocate confronts the propaganda machine that is spinning out the rhetoric that we need more and more STEM Academies of that a “STEM Education” is the salvation for America’s education system. STEM is the political concept of the day that says rather than receiving a comprehensive […]The post Wendy Lecker takes on the Myth of the ST

4 by jonpelto / 2min 

Congressman Jared Polis…. A voice for DFER

The Democratic congressman who called American’s leading public education advocate, Diane Ravitch, “an evil woman” turns out to be a player for Democrats for Education Reform, a leading political action committee for the corporate education reform industry. Polis’ outrageous and inappropriate attack on Diane Ravitch may not have been some random, bizarre act on the […]The post Congressman Jared Po

4 by jonpelto / 5min

9-23-13 Wait What?

Wait What?: Vallas faces Supreme Court, Colorado Congressman returns to twitter rantA Monday morning in the on-going battle to stop the education reform industry and take back our public schools. Paul Vallas: In a final, desperate move to hold onto his position, faux superintendent Paul Vallas and his taxpayer funded attorneys go before the Connecticut Supreme Court today to explain why he is so s

by mike simpson / 10h 

9-24-13 Schools Matter

Schools Matter:

Diane Ravitch Is More than a Writer of Books

On Diane Ravitch: A Brief EssayJim HornOn September 18,  Joe Bowers listed 33 reviews of Diane Ravitch’s new book, Reign of Error: The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to America’s Public Schools.  Since then, many other reviews have appeared, including a very substantial one by George Schmidt at Substance News.  Please see Joe’s list for some very good play-by-play reviews. 

by Jim Horn / 3h 

Children should not be allowed to behave like children

Testing will finally put an end to all the kindergarten tomfoolery. Published in the Statesman Journal (Oregon), Sept 17, 2013It's wonderful to know that children in Oregon will be tested on a uniform test just after starting kindergarten ("Oregon kindergartners tested to help gauge first steps in school," Sept 9).Testing at the beginning of kindergarten testing will ensure that preschoo

by skrashen / 9min 

The missing core

The core of all successful literacy programsSent to the Greenville (South Carolina) News, Sept. 23, 2013."Education officials hope new reading program will put students on track to success," (Sept. 21) does not mention the one essential ingredient in all programs aiming to improve literacy: Access to interesting books. There is massive evidence that self-selected reading, or reading what

by skrashen / 10min 

Why Poverty Matters and Is an Excuse

Diane Ravitch has been getting a lot of press lately as she tours the country promoting her latest book, Reign of Error, The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to America's Public Schools. The book's popularity is sending shockwaves through the corporate ed deformer community who thought they could continue their smoke and mirrors show that started more than three decades ago. Howev

by Judy Rabin / 0min 

If You Ask, They Will Answer

I have recently asked, Whatever Happened to Scientifically Based Research in Education Policy?And it appears that the USDOE has come forward with an answer, as reported by Valerie Strauss:The U.S. Education Department routinely awards millions of dollars in grants to states and organizations, but it seems that it doesn’t have enough money to maintain its “Doing What Works” Web site.... The site ha

by P. L. Thomas / 31min 

Schools Matter: ASD Follows Up Again on Charter Corruptionist Story

Schools Matter: ASD Follows Up Again on Charter Corruptionist Story: ASD Follows Up Again on Charter Corruptionist StoryThe ASD remains in response mode to this story and its follow-up, and as long as they are, we will remain responsive to them.  Jeremy writes:1. if by "corporate" you mean the literal definition of a group of people authorized by law to function as a single entity, then

by mike simpson / 9h 

9-24-13 @ THE CHALK FACE

@ THE CHALK FACE:

Second Grade - Skills Strand Lesson 1: Thanks Engageny

Reblogged from An Antique Teacher: So, today, I did the Core Knowledge Skills Strand Lesson 1 from Module 1. This is the lesson that SHOULD HAVE been taught on Day 1 of Second Grade. There were many materials that I didn't have - flip picture cards (hat, cat, sad, etc), and some things I didn't […]

by antiqueteacher60 / 1h 

DC Insiders See Bleak Future for CCSS

Reblogged from Diane Ravitch's blog: This poll of DC insiders shows a deep pessimism about the prospects for Common Core and reauthorization of NCLB. Most interesting observations: • “Any bandwidth Congress has seems to be devoted to re‐litigating the health care act.” • “There’s no sense of compromise and no incentive on either side to […]

by Michael Paul Gold... / 2min 

Disaster Capitalism and Charter Schools: Revisiting New Orleans Post-Katrina | the becoming radical

Disaster Capitalism and Charter Schools: Revisiting New Orleans Post-Katrina | the becoming radical.

by plthomasedd / 12min 

If You Ask, They Will Answer

I have recently asked, Whatever Happened to Scientifically Based Research in Education Policy? And it appears that the USDOE has come forward with an answer, as reported by Valerie Strauss: The U.S. Education Department routinely awards millions of dollars in grants to states and organizations, but it seems that it doesn’t have enough money to maintain its […]

by plthomasedd / 30min   

9-23-13 @ The Chalk Face

@ THE CHALK FACE: The Indignant Teacher Goes AbroadSusan DuFresne and Katie Lapham are the women behind the website, Teachers’ Letters to Bill Gates; they are experienced public school teachers and amazing authors. Susan recently invited Him to take part in an interview with her, to discuss his role in public education and some of the issues on the table. “After all, public education is […]by jill

by mike simpson / 10h 

9-24-13 Perdido Street School

Perdido Street School:

Bloomberg Red-Baited Mark Green Back In 2001

Republicans are calling Bill de Blasio "Sandanista Bill" and likening him to an "ACORN project" Manchurian-style candidate.Odd that we're talking about 1982 foreign policy in a 2103 NYC mayoral race.Odder still that we're talking about a 1962 Frank Sinatra movie in a 2013 NYC mayoral race.But 2013 would not be the first time that a GOP mayoral candidate red-baited a Democratic

by reality-based edu... / 48min 

The Right Wing Smear Campaign Against Bill De Blasio

They're smearing him as an "ACORN project," calling him "Sandanista Bill"for doing humanitarian work in Nicaragua in his youth, and comparing him to Raul Castro in the newspapers.Will this kind of right wing smear campaign work in NYC?It would work elsewhere in the country, of course, where corporatist president Barack Obama has been called a "socialist" by idiots lik

by reality-based edu... / 6min 

Bloomberg's DOE Manipulates Graduation Rates

The Mayor of Money has hailed graduation rate increases as another piece of proof that is education reforms have worked.But just as the test scores were jive, just as the crime stats are jive, just as the emergency response times are jive - the graduation rates are jive too:Dozens of struggling city high schools allowed students to use a mishmash of makeup assignments — sometimes requiring little

by reality-based edu... / 5min 

Perdido Street Reviews “Reign of Error”

Blogger Perdido Street School reviewed “Reign of Error” and said that he would be giving it to his friends and family who got their views from Oprah and the Today Show. He might have added NBC’s “Education Nation” and many other outlets in the mainstream media that spread misinformation about our nation’s public schools.   He writes: Those are the people we want to read this book and to become fam

by dianerav / 4min 

There Must Be NO CONCESSIONS In The Next UFT Contract

NYC Educator and I had a discussion about pattern bargaining for the UFT contract.When the last UFT contract expired, the pattern for municipal contracts at the time was 8% over two years without concessions.Mayor Bloomberg decided that the city would not negotiate that contract with the UFT because of the recession, claiming the city no longer had the money, and the comptroller at the time, Bill

by reality-based edu... / 4min 

Cory Booker May Have A Senate Race On His Hands

DFER favorite-Cory Booker is supposed to win this New Jersey Senate race hands down.But Quinnipiac finds the race has narrowed with a little more than six weeks to go before election day:A new Quinnipiac poll in New Jersey finds Cory Booker (D) leading Steve Lonegan by 12 points in the U.S. Senate race among likely voters, 53% to 41%.Said pollster Maurice Carroll: "Maybe that 'show horse vs.

by reality-based edu... / 53min mark as read  //  save

A Few Reasons To Vote For Tish James

9 days til runoff, here's a few reasons 2 #voteOct1 for #LetitiaJames #letswinthis pic.twitter.com/J5cPAqcM1D— Letitia James (@TishJames) September 23, 2013She's gotten a lot of political endorsements.She's got the unions.She has the Working Families Party.Her opponent, Dan Squadron, has the Wall Street crooks and the Democrats for Education Reform and Chuck Schumer.You should vote Tish James next

by reality-based edu... / 3h 

9-23-13 Perdido Street School

Perdido Street School: Bloomberg Plans Final Destruction Of Zoned High Schools Before He GoesFrom the Daily News: In a push that is alarming parents, the Bloomberg administration plans to stop guaranteeing eighth-graders a spot in the city’s remaining neighborhood high schools. “It’s ridiculous to think that children are not able to go to their zoned school automatically,” said Kim Alvarez, who wa

by mike simpson / 10h 

Education Department suspends ‘Doing What Works’ website:

Education Department suspends ‘Doing What Works’ website

By Valerie Strauss, Published: September 24 at 5:00 amE-mail the writer

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The U.S. Education Department routinely awards millions of dollars in grants to states and organizations, but it seems that it doesn’t have enough money to maintain its “Doing What Works” Web site.

Here’s a description on what it used to offer, from a department website page:

Videos, slideshows, and tools for using proven teaching practices. Based on findings from the What Works Clearinghouse. GO >

Subscribers to the Doing What Works site recently received the following e-mail:

Dear subscriber: The U.S. Department of Education has suspended operation of the Doing What Works website. We sincerely regret this unfortunate event. You can still acquire many DWW media and materials through other channels. Please email dww@wested.org for specific instructions on how you can gain access to DWW media and materials. Sincerely, The DWW Team

The site has already disappeared.

According to Massie Ritsch, the department had no money for Doing What Works. He said in an e-mail:

The ED office managing Doing What Works did not have sufficient funding to 

National student poets show that STEM isn’t everything

Science, technology, engineering and math are not everything, even in this STEM-obsessed world. Luisa Banchoff is proof of that. She was in eighth grade when her English teacher in Arlington, Va., gave her class an assignment to write poetry. Other kids felt that writing a poem was as tough as having a tooth pulled, but not Luisa. To her, it seemed like the most natural thing in the world. She ne

7 by Valerie Strauss / 3h  

Enrollment in teacher preparation programs plummets | EdSource Today

Enrollment in teacher preparation programs plummets | EdSource Today:

Enrollment in teacher preparation programs plummets

September 24th, 2013 | 1 Comment | 
By Louis Freedberg

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California is producing fewer credentialed teachers. Photo by cybrarian

Enrollments in teacher preparation programs in California are continuing to decline at a precipitous rate, according to new figures prepared for the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing.

A report for the commission indicates that 26,446 students were enrolled in teacher preparation programs in 2011-12 – a 24 percent reduction from the previous year’s total of 34,838 students. That was by far the biggest decline recorded over the past decade, during which enrollments have steadily dropped. Enrollments have declined by 66 percent from a decade earlier, when 77,700 students were enrolled.

The declining enrollments are echoed by the plummeting numbers of teaching credentials being issued in the state. At the California State University system, which has traditionally produced about half of the teachers in the state, only 5,787 credentials were issued in 2011-12 to students in its teacher preparation programs, down from 13,933 in 2003-04, according to CSU figures.

It is impossible to know what is causing the drop in numbers, but experts point to multiple factors.

One is that over the past five years, the teaching profession in California has been devastated by layoffs; some 26,000 teachers lost their jobs as a result of the state’s budget crisis. Except for openings in high-needs areas – special education, math and science, and English learners – it may be difficult for new teachers to find positions, especially in school districts or geographic areas of 

NYC Educator: Scraping the Skies

NYC Educator: Scraping the Skies:

Scraping the Skies

That was how a piece in the UFT blog Edwize characterized the 2005 contract. The guy who wrote the piece used a false name, then retired at the end of the year to score a cool patronage gig, The rest of us got extra time, hall patrols, lunchroom duty, the ATR brigade, and lost the right to grieve file letters simply because they were factually untrue.

At the time, people like me warned against the contract. We said that while money comes and goes, hall patrol is forever. For example, we knew that there were contracts with no raises. One of them was very recent, having been predicated by a fraudulent vote that sent DC37 leaders to jail. No one objects to things like that, and if every employee of NYC is screwed, that's just the way things go.

At this point, things are even worse than I could have predicted. In fact, not only did we not get a raise during the last round of pattern bargaining, but virtually everyone else in the city did. This means that whatever monetary