Bill de Blasio gives cold shoulder to education reformers as he prepares to choose a chancellor - NY Daily News

Bill de Blasio gives cold shoulder to education reformers as he prepares to choose a chancellor - NY Daily News:

Bill de Blasio gives cold shoulder to education reformers as he prepares to choose a chancellor

De Blasio chose to place high-profile critics of Bloomberg’s policies on his 60-member transition team, troubling education reformers and advocates for charter schools

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BY BEN CHAPMAN AND RACHEL MONAHAN / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2013, 10:28 AM

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De Blasio has vowed to end the city’s policy of giving charters free rent in public school buildings when he takes office

Charter school operators and Bloomberg-style education reformers are getting the cold shoulder from mayor-elect Bill de Blasio as he assembles his transition team and prepares to choose a chancellor.

De Blasio snubbed charter school educators and education reformers from his 60-member transition team announced Wednesday, choosing instead to place high-profile critics of Bloomberg’s policies on the roster.

His choices worry education reformers and advocates for charter schools, which enroll about 6 % of city students.

“There are members of the transition team that we have deep respect for and look forward to working with, but it’s disappointing that the charter parent voice isn't represented,” said Jeremiah Kittredge, director of the pro-charter advocacy group Families for Excellent Schools.

De Blasio has vowed to end the city’s policy of giving charters free rent in public school buildings when he takes office, a move that could slow the movement’s growth. He said at a mayoral forum in

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/bill-de-blasio-cold-shoulder-education-reformers-article-1.1527321#ixzz2lazSYunp

11-24-13 Wait What?

Wait What?:

NEWS FLASH: Secret Deal for Malloy Political ally turns Education Funding Formula into a joke

Apparently without the approval of the State Board of Education or the approval of the Connecticut General Assembly, the Malloy administration is planning to provide Malloy ally, Mayor Bill Finch, with a special deal so that he doesn’t have to have the City Bridgeport meet the state law concerning their minimum budget expenditures for local […]The post NEWS FLASH: Secret Deal for Malloy Political

by jonpelto / 1h

Will Rogers, the “unequal distribution of the money” and the elections of 2014 and 2016

“I was born on Nov. 4, which is Election Day. . . . My birthday has made more men and sent more back to honest work than any other days in the year.”  – Will Rogers There was a time in our nation’s history when one out of three Americans followed the writings of a […]The post Will Rogers, the “unequal distribution of the money” and the elections of 2014 and 2016 appeared first on Wait What?.

by jonpelto / 44min 

Oh and in case you missed it: Vallas lawyer’s gratuitous attack on those who sued Vallas

Although it didn’t get a lot of play at the time, following the Supreme Court’s decision in the Carmen Lopez v. Paul Vallas case that let Paul Vallas off the hook for not having the credentials necessary to get his 093 State of Connecticut superintendent certification, attorney Steven Ecker wrote a commentary piece following the […]The post Oh and in case you missed it: Vallas lawyer’s gratuitous

by jonpelto / 1h 

11-23-13 Wait What? All Week

Wait What?:        mark as readHartford Board of Education schedule re-vote for MondayMatt Poland, the Chairman of the Hartford Board of Education, has scheduled a “Special Meeting” of the board on Monday, November 25, 2013 at 5:00 p.m. in the plaza level conference room at 260 Constitution Plaza in Hartford. According to the agenda that was sent out at 4:59 pm Friday (for a Monday meeting, state

by mike simpson / 8h

What the next Pennsylvania governor must say about education | Parents United for Public Education

What the next Pennsylvania governor must say about education | Parents United for Public Education:

What the next Pennsylvania governor must say about education

Posted on November 24, 2013 by HELENGYMLeave a comment

Five of the eight candidates for Pennsylvania governor. From top left, clockwise: Katie McGinty, RobMcCord, John Hanger, Allyson Schwartz, and Tom Wolf.

Yesterday, a lively crowd kicked off the Pennsylvania governor’s race in proud Philadelphia style. The first governor’s forum featured five of eight candidates for governor: John Hanger, Allyson Schwartz, Rob McCord, Katie McGinty, and Tom Wolf. It was hosted by the Working Families Party and PCAPs among others, and touched on core areas such as education, health care, and jobs/pension. Rob McCord and John Hanger drew the largest enthusiasm from the crowd with a mix of energy, clear politics, and good old-fashioned Corbett bashing. Katie McGinty also had a good showing. As the front runner, Allyson Schwartz felt strangely lackluster, especially given the depth of her education platform.

But the race is just getting started, and as parents, there’s no question that education remains the top issue of the day. We worked with Shippensburg Education Matters parent leader Susan Spicka and Pittsburgh Yinzercation’s Jessie Ramey to craft a parents’ platform on “What the next Pennsylvania governor must say about education.” We’d love to know what you think.

You can also watch the entire forum below courtesy of Media Mobilizing Project.

What the next Pennsylvania Governor should be saying about education

Public Education Funding

• I believe that public education is a public good. Public education is an investment that we as taxpayers make together to benefit students, parents, and communities. Public schools play a vital role in building strong communities throughout the Commonwealth.
• Adequate, equitable, and sustainable funding of public education will be a top priority of my administration.
• I will reverse the more than $1 billion in state funding cuts to public K-12 schools and public higher 

Equity, Testing Madness, and the Ongoing School Wars | Bruce Lesley

Equity, Testing Madness, and the Ongoing School Wars | Bruce Lesley:

Equity, Testing Madness, and the Ongoing School Wars

Posted: 11/18/2013 8:08 pm

At the Save Texas Schools rally in March 2011 on the grounds of the Texas State Capitol, I was fortunate to be in Austin and present to see Perrin-Whitt Consolidated Independent School District Superintendent John Kuhn's passionate speech against the billions of dollars in proposed cuts to education and the simultaneously increases in the testing regimes that were being imposed upon schools, teachers, and students by the Texas Legislature. I was impressed by his willingness to break out of the silence and speak out for the poorest and most disadvantaged children in schools in Texas. And, as an advocate for children, I am even more pleased to see his passion is as strong as ever in his new book, Test and Punish: How the Texas Education Model Gave America Accountability Without Equity.

The book is a tale that goes back to the original battle in 1968 in which a parent, Demetrio Rodriguez, who had a child in the underfunded Edgewood school system sued seven other school districts and the State of Texas (San Antonio Independent School District vs. Rodriguez) to require a more equitable funding system to improve the opportunity and life chances of the poorest and most disadvantaged children who should not be left behind just because of their zip code. Although the district court found in favor of Rodriguez's suit, the defendants appealed to the United States Supreme Court and won a narrow 5-4 decision in March 1973 but the battle was far from over and continues to this day.

As a child, I attended school in what was then the sixth poorest city in the country, El Paso, Texas, during the 1970s and 1980s and had parents, who were educators in those schools. Everybody did the best they could with inadequate resources, but it was difficult to not see the massive inequities. While we sat in classrooms in sweltering heat without air 

Ipad “Opposition” Is Not – redqueeninla

Ipad “Opposition” Is Not – redqueeninla:

Ipad “Opposition” Is Not

Written by redqueeninla in Education

 John Deasy’s ipad fiasco is not just a roadbump on the path to Reform that has triggered an irrational “emotional opposition” as the LA Daily News complains.  Objecting to any number of insupportable dimensions embedded in this boondoggle does not an obstructionist make.

First of all, what does an “opponent” of ipads look like?  Is this a luddite objecting to the advent of any form of technology?  I’ve seen little evidence of any opposition from this front.  Every single member of the school board has been immaculately clear that they are united in the axiom that technology is integral to modern life and children must learn from within its framework.  There is little need of parading a dog and pony show starring children who enjoy ipads to the LAUSD school board or Bond Oversight Committee or even to the public directly.  No one contends the technology is not alluring, no one contends it is bereft of educational potential.

The objection is to the mindless plastering of one-size-fits-all implementation of a poorly-conceived and equally poorly-understood technology plan for all 

11-24-13 Schools Matter

Schools Matter:

Massachusetts Halts Common Core - Damaging to Students

Hold on there - wait. There is still intellectual curiosity and common sense in Massachusetts. There are now 15 states pushing back on the Common Core and PARCC. From Brittany Corons,The FoundryFor one thing, as Sandra Stotsky—one of the leaders of Massachusetts’s 1993 education reform movement who resigned from the Common Core review committee—argued, the diminished emphasis on literature would a

by Judy Rabin / 7min 

Where to Begin on Frank Bruni's Stupidity and Ignorance

Every time I see another stupid, clueless and poorly written NYT editorial on education, or having anything to do with education, I am saddened by the lack of journalistic integrity that was and should be a part of one of the nation's leading newspapers.Frank Bruni really outdid himself today with this pile of garbage, titled "Are Kids Too Coddled" in his defense of Arne Duncan's same st

by Judy Rabin / 2h 

Teach Campaign Star RIFed Last Year Just Before Tenure

Alexandria Hollet is one of the young, female white teachers chosen by Microsoft-TFA to provide 40 second testimonials on teaching for Arne Duncan's new campaign to attract the vulnerable and uninformed into what was once a profession.  With corporate ed policies in place to demean, abuse, blame, punish, and fire teachers for another generation of failed testing accountability practices, there is

by Jim Horn / 2min 

11-23-13 Schools Matter All Week

Schools Matter:  Schools Matter All Week mark as readDisaster Capitalism, Dugger, Indiana, and the Fall of Community SchoolsBy Doug MartinAs Naomi Klein shows in her frightening book Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism, for decades the big plan of America’s millionaires and billionaires and the government officials they buy with campaign money has been to slash taxes (“austerity"

by mike simpson / 1h 

11-24-13 Fred Klonsky | Running for our pensions. | VOTE 4 Fred Klonsky.

Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher who is just looking at the data.:

Ten minute drawing. Stink tank.

by Fred Klonsky / 20min skip  //  save

Sunday reads.

  Pension-busting Ilinois State Senator Dan Biss and IEA Retired member Jack Tucker at our SORE witness in October. The Illinois coalition of state public employee unions, We Are One, will be holding actions at key legislative district offices on December 2nd. Join me in being at one of them. Tired of the flash mob thing? I like that In North Carolina they are steppin’ for a union at WalMart. The

by Fred Klonsky / 0min 

11-23-13 Fred Klonsky | Running for our pensions. | VOTE 4 Fred Klonsky.

Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher who is just looking at the data.: Fred Klonsky | Running for our pensions. | VOTE 4 Fred Klonsky. mark as readSpringfield is the new gambling mecca. Place your bets. ADM or pensions or both?John Dillon blogs at Pension Vocabulary. So, what’ll it be in December in the General Assembly? Will the General Assembly supply ADM with the paym

by mike simpson / 49min

The Big Pension Makeover | EduShyster

The Big Pension Makeover | EduShyster:

The Big Pension Makeover

When a state pension fund gets a *glamourous* makeover, public employees get taken to the cleaners…

 By Mazinger Z

Few people personify the ethos of post-industrial, post-partisan, and post-scruples America like Gina Raimondo. General Treasurer of the great state of Rhode Island—which I am told by reliable sources is to be found somewhere north of Manhattan—self-described venture capitalist, a fanatical mathematics enthusiast, hedge fund darling and neoliberal Democrat—but I repeat myself. Now it is an unfortunate reality of our times that finance-preneurs like Gina inevitably attract their share of haters…

Cue haters
There has been much hullabaloo about Gina’s investing Rhode Island’s $7 billion state pension fund she manages into her *own* firm, just because it charges enormous fees and has no public track record. OK—so it’s true that in the finance industry it is considered somewhat unseemly to directly pocket the assets one is paid to manage. One is supposed to set 

11-24-13 The Answer Sheet

The Answer Sheet:

More states delay Common Core testing as concerns grow

Massachusetts and Louisiana, both seen as important in the world of school reform, have decided to delay the implementation of high-stakes standardized tests aligned to the Common Core State Standards in the face of  growing concern about the initiative. The two states follow nearly 10 others — including Florida, the pioneer of corporate-influenced school reform — […]    

by Valerie Strauss / 35min 

Following Common Core money: Where are millions of dollars going?

In this post, award-winning Principal Carol Burris of South Side High School in New York raises some new questions about the Common Core State Standards and curriculum being developed around them. Burris has for more than a year chronicled on this blog the many problems with the test-driven reform in New York (here, and here and here and here, for example). She was […]    

by Valerie Strauss / 23min 

All Week @ The Answer Sheet 11-23-13

The Answer Sheet:mark as readWhy the Obama administration should drop its plan to rate collegesA group of college presidents met recently with Education Secretary Arne Duncan and among the topics that were discussed was the Obama administration’s plans to make colleges more transparent about value and outcomes for students.  In this post, Janet Riggs, president of Gettysburg College in Gettysburg,

by mike simpson / 36min