Special Midnight Sneak Preview - Witch Hunter starring Campbell Brown - News Break

Special Midnight Sneak Preview - 

Witch Hunter 

starring Campbell Brown 

 News Break

Coming to a theater near you!

After much speculation and rallying, LA school board retains superintendent

About 100 people gathered Tuesday morning to support L.A. Unified Superintendent John Deasy before the Board of Education delivered his annual review.; Credit: Adolfo Guzman-Lopez After nearly five hours behind closed doors, the L.A. Unified school board announced Tuesday that it’s keeping its superintendent. The board gave John Deasy a satisfactory approval – an annual condition of extending his

by Annie Gilbertson ... / 2h 

Oct. 30 PEP: Parents, Teachers, Clergy and Students to Rally for End To School Closures and Co-Locations

Gotta switch mind-sets after the last post and focus on the PEP at Prospect Hts HS. I will be there to get what footage I can. First a rally, then let's go in a sign up for 2 minutes of speaking time and support the schools under assault.From MORE: Attached is the final flier for Wednesday's PEP in Brooklyn at Prospect Heights HS. Print some copies and bring them at 5:30 for the Funeral Procession

1 by ed notes online / 2h 

Study: State defections from Common Core testing consortia won’t greatly affect costs

When Florida decided last month to withdraw from a consortium of states that is writing tests for the new Common Core academic standards in math and reading, it sent a ripple of concern through the remaining states. Read full article >>    

3 by Lyndsey Layton / 2h 

What L.A. School District SHOULD Have Done Before Going 1:1 in Classrooms

When students in the L.A. Unified School District received new iPads, they figured out how to hack them within a week. Not surprising to CTQ blogger and high school teacher Paul Barnwell who recommends four key things that SHOULD have been in place before establishing a one-to-one (student to device) relationship in the district. Add your own thoughts on technology in schools by clicking the link

2 2h 

City charters without signed agreements get revocation threat

In the midst of its continuing financial crisis, the School District of Philadelphia has lowered the boom on charter schools in the city.

33 1h 

Scores of Philadelphia teachers reassigned

The fallout from the Philadelphia School District's budget crisis continues: As of Monday, 139 teachers had been moved to new schools - seven weeks into the term, and shortly before students' first report card grades are due.

100+ 1h mark as read  //  save

Starting Teacher SAT Scores Rise As Educators Face Tougher Evaluations

American teachers may be getting smarter. Still, scrutiny of their work and cries to overhaul the education system intensify. The education reform group National Council on Teacher Quality, and Harvard University's Education Next journal on Wednesday each released a paper about the state of the teaching force. The paper by National Council on Teacher Quality, a Washington-based think tank that

10 2h 

Deasy Staying; Board Extends Contract through June 2016

Supt. John Deasy John Deasy‘s tenure as superintendent of LA Unified School District is continuing for another 20 months as the school board today gave him a ”satisfactory” performance evaluation and extended his contract to June, 30, 2016. The announcement, after nearly five hours of a closed door meeting at the district’s downtown headquarters, ended five frenetic days of uncertainty that began

61 by Vanessa Romo / 3h 

NJ Takes New Route in Latest ‘Race to the Top’ Funding Application

Four state departments join in bid for $44M to finance improvement, expansion of preschool and early childhood programs

8min mark as read  //  save

Protests Halt Kelly’s Speech at Brown University

Protesters shouting chants and complaints about the police’s stop-and-frisk tactics prevented Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly from speaking on Tuesday.    

100+ by By EMMA G. FITZSI... / 3h 

Op-Ed Guest Columnist: Homecoming at Howard

Howard University’s special role in integration is paving the way for its own obsolescence.    

100+ by By TA-NEHISI COAT... / 3h 

Reflections on Seeing The King Last Night in Port Chester, NY

My stream of consciousness about last night: What many people do not know, is that Port Chester Middle School is actually in the Village of Rye Brook. Rye Brook is one of the tonier areas of Westchester County. It even has a D'agastino's. But more on Rye Brook later. So there I was last night in Port Chester, #47 in line to speak. On one side of the dais, the so-called "educators"

18 by noreply@blogger.c... / 1h 

TODAY

Who's Really Behind Campbell Brown's Sneaky Education Outfit? | Mother Jones

Who's Really Behind Campbell Brown's Sneaky Education Outfit? | Mother Jones: Who's Really Behind Campbell Brown's Sneaky Education Outfit?The former CNN anchor says her nonprofit seeks to protect kids from predators in the classroom. Its real agenda may be union-busting.DFER'S REFORMER of the Month? Early one morning in July, former CNN anchor Campbell Brown appeared on MSNBC's Morning Joe, pen i

3 by mike simpson / 2h 

10-29-13 Ed Notes Online

Ed Notes Online: Speakers to testify release for NYC's Senate hearing on school issuesI was going to go to the Portelos hearing today but I'm in a car heading to Philly - don't worry, I'm not driving. My alternate was to go to the Flanagan hearings today where many of our allies from Change the Stakes and Class Size Matters are testifying today.The unholy trio - Tisch, Mulgrew and Walcott, all pus

by mike simpson / 5h 

Brevard Public Schools teach contempt of the law by blatantly violating the constitution | Reclaim Reform

Brevard Public Schools teach contempt of the law by blatantly violating the constitution | Reclaim Reform: Brevard Public Schools teach contempt of the law by blatantly violating the constitutionPosted on October 29, 2013by Ken PrevitiThe Brevard County School Board and its superintendent are teaching all of the children to violate the law if there is money to be had. This is teaching by example.T

by mike simpson / 5h 

PSAT for 10-29-13: Plan to attend 11/21 forum on student data privacy

Parents United for Responsible Education » Blog Archive » PSAT for 10-29-13: Plan to attend 11/21 forum on student data privacy: PSAT for 10-29-13: Plan to attend 11/21 forum on student data privacyPURE, Parents Across America, More Than a Score, the Chicago Teachers’ Union, and other groups are co-sponsoring an important forum on the threat to student data privacy.The free, public event will take

1 by mike simpson / 6h 

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Grassroots Collaborative calls on Aldermen to act for working families

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Grassroots Collaborative calls on Aldermen to act for working families: Grassroots Collaborative calls on Aldermen to act for working familiesGRASSROOTS COLLABORATIVE637 S. DEARBORN, THIRD FLOOR CHICAGO, IL 60605www. t h e g r a s s r o o t s c o l l a b o r a t i v e . o r gPRESS RELEASEFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEOctober 29, 2013Contact:Nathan Ryan, Communications Organiz

by mike simpson / 6h 

Billionaires Going Bonkers: Trying to Reboot Reform - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher

Billionaires Going Bonkers: Trying to Reboot Reform - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher: Billionaires Going Bonkers: Trying to Reboot ReformBy Anthony Cody on October 29, 2013 4:27 PMFrom coast to coast, the billionaire-backed education reform project is back-pedaling, and there are signs of desperation showing up all over. At Education Nation there was little attention paid to the fract

3 by mike simpson / 6h 

Nite Cap 10-29-13 #BATsACT #RealEdTalk #EDCHAT #P2

James Baldwin said it best: "For these are all our children, and we will profit by or pay for whatever they become."A BIG EDUCATION APE NITE CAPTODAYBREAKING: Deasy offers to resign in Feb, stay available as consultant in proposed settlement #lausdBREAKING: Deasy offers to resign in Feb, stay available as consultant in proposed settlement Saint Deasy Flash Mob Crest Fallen1 by mike simps

1 by mike simpson / 7h 

Who's Really Behind Campbell Brown's Sneaky Education Outfit? | Mother Jones

Who's Really Behind Campbell Brown's Sneaky Education Outfit? | Mother Jones:

Who's Really Behind Campbell Brown's Sneaky Education Outfit?

The former CNN anchor says her nonprofit seeks to protect kids from predators in the classroom. Its real agenda may be union-busting.

DFER'S REFORMER of the Month?

 Early one morning in July, former CNN anchor Campbell Brown appeared on MSNBC's Morning Joe, pen in hand, notes fanned out in front of her. Viewers might have mistaken her as a fill-in host, but Brown had swung by 30 Rock in her new role as a self-styled education reformer, a crusader against sexual deviants in New York City public schools and the backward unions and bureaucrats getting in the way of firing them. "In many cases, we have teachers who were found guilty of inappropriate touching, sexual banter with kids, who weren't fired from their jobs, who were given very light sentences and sent back to the classroom," Brown, the mother of two young sons, explained.

Brown was there to plug her new venture, the Parents' Transparency Project, a nonprofit "watchdog group" that "favors no party, candidate, or incumbent." Though its larger aim is to "bring transparency" to how contracts are negotiated with teachers' unions, PTP's most prominent campaign is to fix how New York City handles cases of sexual misconduct involving teachers and school employees—namely by giving the city's schools chancellor, a political appointee, ultimate authority in the process.

Shortly after it was launched in June, PTP trained its sights on the New York mayoral race,asking the candidates to pledge to change the firing process for school employees accused of sexual misconduct. When several Democratic candidates declined, perhaps fearing they'd upset organized labor, PTP spent $100,000 on a television attack ad questioning whether six candidates, including Republican Joe Lhota and Democrats Bill de Blasio and Anthony Weiner, had "the guts to stand up to the teachers' unions." The spot stated that there had been 128 cases of sexual misconduct by school employees in the past five years, suggesting that 

10-29-13 Ed Notes Online

Ed Notes Online:

Oct. 30 PEP: Parents, Teachers, Clergy and Students to Rally for End To School Closures and Co-Locations

Gotta switch mind-sets after the last post and focus on the PEP at Prospect Hts HS. I will be there to get what footage I can. First a rally, then let's go in a sign up for 2 minutes of speaking time and support the schools under assault.From MORE: Attached is the final flier for Wednesday's PEP in Brooklyn at Prospect Heights HS. Print some copies and bring them at 5:30 for the Funeral Procession

1 by ed notes online / 2h 

Speakers to testify release for NYC's Senate hearing on school issues

I was going to go to the Portelos hearing today but I'm in a car heading to Philly - don't worry, I'm not driving. My alternate was to go to the Flanagan hearings today where many of our allies from Change the Stakes and Class Size Matters are testifying today.The unholy trio - Tisch, Mulgrew and Walcott, all pushing the same drug in different doses lead off. There's even an E4E slug listed. (Did

1 by ed notes online / 1h 

Sandy Redux: Norm in The Wave

I've been a little too busy to do regular blogging the past few days and I am not reporting on lots of stuff going on. Tomorrow (weds) night is the 2nd of the Bloomberg forced co-loco PEP meetings. I'll report on that tonight as there are some interesting events going on before the meeting.I just finished my column which will be published Friday, Nov. 1. Last week The Wave published a spectacular

1 by ed notes online / 1h 

10-28-13 Ed Notes Online

Ed Notes Online: Ravitch on MSNBCI haven't seen this yet but am reposting from the Ravitch blog for the Ed Notes archives. The discussion about charter schools has been changing - just see this: Top 16 NYC charter school executives earn more than Chancellor Dennis Walcott - Daily Newshttp://m.nydailynews.com/1.1497717The interview and panel discussion were broken into three segments which do not f

by mike simpson / 1h 

Brevard Public Schools teach contempt of the law by blatantly violating the constitution | Reclaim Reform

Brevard Public Schools teach contempt of the law by blatantly violating the constitution | Reclaim Reform:

Brevard Public Schools teach contempt of the law by blatantly violating the constitution

Posted on October 29, 2013by Ken Previti

The Brevard County School Board and its superintendent are teaching all of the children to violate the law if there is money to be had. This is teaching by example.

The board intentionally broke the law that set limits on class size knowing it would be punished with a fine, a fine paid with the education tax money they control. None of them are personally penalized. They refuse to hire necessary staff as required by law. They refuse to comply with the educational law they were elected to serve and protect for our children. Openly break the law and then spin the message. Shameful.

This is arrogance and abuse of office – no matter how much media spin is applied.

If one teacher taught children one lesson in one class to intentionally break the law for monetary gain, that teacher would justifiably be fired. How Superintendent Binggeli ever expects to get another job in any district in any state is questionable. Why a thinking voter would ever nominate or elect any 

PSAT for 10-29-13: Plan to attend 11/21 forum on student data privacy Parents United for Responsible Education

Parents United for Responsible Education » Blog Archive » PSAT for 10-29-13: Plan to attend 11/21 forum on student data privacy:

PSAT for 10-29-13: Plan to attend 11/21 forum on student data privacy

PURE, Parents Across America, More Than a Score, the Chicago Teachers’ Union, and other groups are co-sponsoring an important forum on the threat to student data privacy.
The free, public event will take place in Chicago on Thursday, November 21, 2013, from 7 to 8:30 pm at Fosco Park, which is conveniently located at 13th and Racine.
Childcare and Spanish translation will be provided.
The main speaker will be Leonie Haimson, executive director of Class Size Matters in New York City. Leonie is the nation’s foremost parent expert on inBloom and the current threat to student data privacy.
You can find some excellent background information on the CSM website, and local highlights on the More Than a Score website.

Why is this forum so important right now?

Beginning in January 2014, the state of Illinois may begin collecting up to 400 “data points” about each CPS and Illinois student under a contract with inBloom. This information that may be shared with for-profit companies. The program, called the Illinois Shared Learning Environment, or ISLE, is already being piloted in Bloomington and Normal.

PURE, MTAS and other groups sent letters to state superintendent Christopher Koch and CPS CEO Barbara Byrd Bennett on October 10 expressing opposition to the overall concept of sharing confidential student and teacher information with third parties without permission of parents or teachers, especially for commercial purposes. To date, we have not received a response from either school official.

Our letters detailed our concerns about the possibility of data breaches and potential unintentional misuse or future inappropriate use of the extensive private information about children, families and school employees that will be gathered and stored. We know that InBloom refuses to guarantee the security of this data. We also know that Wireless Generation, which designed the operating system for inBloom, is a subsidiary of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, and that Murdoch has been accused in the UK and the US of wiretapping and phone hacking.

The information to be collected about individual students may include name, address, grades, test scores, detailed disciplinary and health records, race, ethnicity, economic status, disabilities & other highly sensitive personal and family details. In the past, students’ school records could not be shared outside of school agencies without parents’ permission, but the federal government recently rewrote the regulations protecting student privacy to allow student data to be shared with for-profit companies involved in “educational programing.” This can be any company CPS or the state board of education chooses.

For more on this serious threat to our children’s privacy, read the MTAS fact sheet and backgrounder, “More Testing, Less Privacy?”

And please plan to attend the important forum on November 12. You can download a flyer to share here.

- See more at: http://pureparents.org/?p=20973#sthash.P2HaupOA.dpuf

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Grassroots Collaborative calls on Aldermen to act for working families

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Grassroots Collaborative calls on Aldermen to act for working families:

Grassroots Collaborative calls on Aldermen to act for working families

GRASSROOTS COLLABORATIVE

637 S. DEARBORN, THIRD FLOOR CHICAGO, IL 60605

www. t h e g r a s s r o o t s c o l l a b o r a t i v e . o r g

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 29, 2013

Contact:

Nathan Ryan, Communications Organizer, 920-445-3920, nathan@thegrassrootscollaborative.org

HALLOWEEN BURIAL PROTEST HIGHLIGHTS ORDINANCES BURIED IN RULES COMMITTEE. PARTICIPANTS DEMAND  VOTE ON TIF SURPLUS ORDINANCE

Over 75 students, parents, and community members joined together at City Hall Tuesday to demand that the TIF Surplus Ordinance be released from the Rules Committee and brought to a vote in City Council.

Participants held signs with photos of Rules Chair Michelle Harris and Rule Vice-Chairs calling on them to unbury the TIF Surplus Ordinance and bring it to the Council floor for a vote.

Two protesters were dressed in corporate vampire costumes labeled ‘DePaul University’ and ‘Bank of America’.

The 2014 budget introduced by Mayor Emanuel releases a small percentage of TIF money as surplus back into our schools and neighborhoods, but leaves hundreds of millions of our tax dollars in TIF slush funds.

“Budget cuts have affected my neighborhood tremendously,” stated Vicky Lugo, a parent of a CPS student and community member of Pilsen Alliance. There’s not enough money being put into affordable housing. Last year the city closed half of our mental health clinics, making it harder for people to seek mental help, which can lead to them hurting themselves or others in our communities. Meanwhile Chicago says its budget can’t afford to fund our schools and our mental health clinics, but it keeps hiding our tax money away in these TIF accounts, and giving it to rich downtown corporations.”

“In Brighton Park, budget cuts have hurt our schools and our communities,” echoed Juan Estrada, a student at Kelly High School and leader with the Brighton Park Neighborhood Council. “Last summer I was going to take a geometry course, but I couldn’t because it got cut. This year we have to use old editions of our textbooks, because our school doesn’t have enough money in the budget to buy up to date textbooks.”

“The crisis of democracy in City Council has caused a crisis in the whole of Chicago,” said Christel Williams, a parent of a CPS student and a CTU member. “It’s not just the TIF Surplus Ordinance that’s buried. There’s an ordinance sitting in the Rules Committee that would stop all new charter school construction in Chicago until we fund our public schools. There’s an ordinance requiring that all contracts between the city and private corporations be subject to close scrutiny in City Council, not signed behind closed doors. There’s a resolution calling for a referendum to ask the people of Chicago if we want an elected school board. For the sake of our children and our communities, we need the Rules Committee to stop burying this critical legislation.”

Grassroots Collaborative is Action Now, American Friends Service Committee – Great Lakes Region, Bickerdike Redevelopment Corporation, Brighton Park Neighborhood Council, Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, Chicago Teachers Union, Enlace Chicago, Illinois Hunger Coalition, Service Employees International Union Local 73, Service Employees International Union Healthcare Illinois Indiana, Southsiders Organized for Unity and Liberation, UNITE HERE Local 1

Billionaires Going Bonkers: Trying to Reboot Reform - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher

Billionaires Going Bonkers: Trying to Reboot Reform - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher:

Billionaires Going Bonkers: Trying to Reboot Reform

By Anthony Cody on October 29, 2013 4:27 PM

From coast to coast, the billionaire-backed education reform project is back-pedaling, and there are signs of desperation showing up all over. At Education Nation there was little attention paid to the fractured fairytale that corporate reform has become, but the cracks are appearing everywhere now. At a recent conference of mayors, few would even utter the words "education reform."  In Los Angeles today, there has been a hastily organized rally in support of Superintendent John Deasy, who has coyly suggested he "might" resign. This rally was organized by the Gates-funded Educators for Excellence, Teach Plus, and Los Angeles' chapter of the United Way, which distinguished itself a few months ago by hosting a school reform summit on the eve of a school board election.

This minor furor temporarily takes attention away from the much more significant questions being raised about the billion dollars in construction funds that Los Angeles Unified has invested in iPads and related curricular materials, at Deasy's urging. Deasy has remained adamant in the face of the