11-28-13 teacherken at Daily Kos

teacherken at Daily Kos:

Linda Greenhouse has a fascinating piece re ACA

for those who do not know, Greenhouse was the long-time Supreme Court reporter for the New York Times who won the 1998 Pulitzer Prize for her beat reporting.  Since taking an early buyout she has been a senior fellow and journalist in residence at Yale Law, from which she got her legal training after graduating from Radcliffe College in 1967. Her piece is occasioned by the decision of the Supreme

by rss@dailykos.com ... / 18min 

YESTERDAY

Kristof asks "Where is the Love?"

in this New York Times column for Thanksgiving. Trust me, it is well worth the read. He wrote it in response to those who criticized him when he recently wrote about  about food stamp recipients, the uninsured and prison inmates (and he provides links to those columns in the piece). He provides data that answers their criticism. Much of that data will be familiar to people here. He acknowledges th

by rss@dailykos.com ... / 8h 

11-27-13 teacherken at Daily Kos

teacherken at Daily Kos: Teaching - Giving Thanks to studentsFor me, teaching is more about relationship that it is about content or skill.  That is, unless I can build a relationship where students will trust me, it is hard to challenge them to the kind of intellectual growth that really matters, which is far more than memorizing facts or performing well on various tests, mine or those imposed fr

by mike simpson / 8h 

11-28-13 @ THE CHALK FACE

@ THE CHALK FACE:

@slekar dabbles in #commoncore and #edreform memes: Any questions?

Follow Tim Slekar on Twitter: @slekar

by Timothy D. Slekar / 4h hide  //  save

My hometown of Pgh puts carpetbaggers and amateurs on notice. Stay away, TFA!

Behold, from the Pittsburgh City Paper. Thirty dirty corps members may not seem like much, but it’s a toehold, an opening on the beach that will stage future invasions. It would be just a beginning.

by Shaun Johnson / 4h 

Kids are preconditioned to draw hand turkeys. Hands down.

I wanted to keep the discussion of Thanksgiving in my classroom to a minimum. What I did do, unsuccessfully, was lead a discussion, after reading through a Peanuts Thanksgiving on the iPad, about the many things they have to be thankful for this holiday.  Besides a few initial responses about food, kids’ responses went to […]

by Shaun Johnson / 3min 

I’m thankful for…

On this Thanksgiving Day, here are a few reasons why I’m thankful for being a professional educator. I’m truly thankful for… 1. I’m thankful for my colleagues who show up, everyday, to influence students. My school is definitely not a “walk in the park,” so I’m grateful for all of my colleagues who show up, everyday, […]

by Angel Cintron Jr. / 51min 

The Indignant Teacher’s Unfortunate, Yet Enlightening, Experience

The Indignant Teacher’s Unfortunate, Yet Enlightening, Experience

by jillconroy / 2h 

My Thanksgiving Post

On October 3, 1789, at the urging of both the House and Senate, President George Washington officially declared Thursday, November 26, 1789, to be “a day of publick thanksgiving and prayer”: WHEREAS it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His […]

by deutsch29 / 4h hide  //  save

YESTERDAY

Putting the “Public” Back into Public Education

I made my very first video! Yes, it’s catered specifically to New Mexico, but that’s the fight in which I’m embroiled at this point in time.  But I think that it can be shared with all parents of all states, just to get people exposed. And, hey–it’s set to “Uprising” by Muse.  The best modern […]

by Kris Nielsen / 8h 

11-27-13 @ The Chalk Face

@ THE CHALK FACE: Education Reform as Collaboration, Not CompetitionEducation Reform as Collaboration, Not Competition. via Education Reform as Collaboration, Not Competition.by plthomasedd / 2h 11-26-13 @ The Chalk Face@ THE CHALK FACE: Misreading “Grit”: On Treating Children Better than Salmon or Sea TurtlesMisreading \”Grit\”: On Treating Children Better than Salmon or Sea Turtles. via Misreadi

by mike simpson / 8h 

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Rahm busts a move. Pushes elected school board off the ballot

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Rahm busts a move. Pushes elected school board off the ballot:

Rahm busts a move. Pushes elected school board off the ballot

Rahm and "Slow Eddie" Burke

Some Thanksgiving thoughts...

I just learned that a group of domesticated turkeys is called a rafter.

Thanks this morning, go out to the handful of stand-up aldermen (those very words have a strange sound leaving my vocal chords) who make up the Progressive Caucus. It must be hard to soar like eagles when you're surrounded by turkeys, meaning the rafter of lickspittleswho make up the City Council.

Rahm and his boys pulled another fast one in the Council the other day when he got Ald. Anthony Beale (9th), chairman of the Transportation Committee, to introduce an innocuous resolution placing a non-binding taxi-cab fare hike referendum on the March 18th ballot. Then Ald. Balcer (11th) and "Slow Eddie" Burke (14th) introduced two more resolutions related to gun control.

But what people didn't see what that this filling up of the dance card for March 18th means 

Weekly Address: Wishing the American People a Happy Thanksgiving | The White House

Weekly Address: Wishing the American People a Happy Thanksgiving | The White House:

Remarks of President Barack Obama

Weekly Address -- Thanksgiving

Thursday, November 28, 2013

Hi, everybody.  On behalf of all the Obamas – Michelle, Malia, Sasha, Bo, and the newest member of our family, Sunny – I want to wish you a happy and healthy Thanksgiving. 

We’ll be spending today just like many of you – sitting down with family and friends to eat some good food, tell stories, watch a little football, and most importantly, count our blessings. 

And as Americans, we have so much to be thankful for. 

We give thanks for the men and women who set sail for this land nearly four centuries ago, risking everything for the chance at a better life – and the people who were already here, our Native American brothers and sisters, for their generosity during that first Thanksgiving. 

We give thanks for the generations who followed – people of all races and religions, who arrived here from every country on Earth and worked to build something better for themselves and for us. 

We give thanks for all our men and women in uniform – and for their families, who are surely missing them very much today.  We’re grateful for their sacrifice too. 

We give thanks for the freedoms they defend – the freedom to think what we want and say what we think, to worship according to our own beliefs, to choose our leaders and, yes, criticize them without punishment.  People around the world are fighting and even dying for their chance at these freedoms.  We stand with them in that struggle, and we give thanks for being free. 

And we give thanks to everyone who’s doing their part to make the United States a better, more compassionate nation – who spend their Thanksgiving volunteering at a soup kitchen, or joining a service project, or bringing food and cheer to a lonely neighbor.  That big-hearted generosity is a central part of our American character.  We believe in lending a hand to folks who need it.  We believe in pitching in to solve problems even if they aren’t our problems.  And that’s not a one-day-a-year belief.  It’s part of the fabric of our nation. 

And we remember that many Americans need that helping hand right now.  Americans who’ve lost their jobs and can’t get a new one through no fault of their own.  Americans who’ve been trapped in poverty and just need that helping hand to climb out.  Citizens whose prayers and hopes move us to act.

We are a people who are greater together than we are on our own.  That’s what today is about.  That’s what every day should be about.  No matter our differences, we’re all part of one American family.  We are each other’s keeper.  We are one nation, under God.  That core tenet of our American experience has guided us from the earliest days of our founding – and it will guide us to a future that’s even brighter than today. 

Thank you, God bless you, and from my family to yours, Happy Thanksgiving.

Federal officials still don't sign off on California testing changes | Pass / Fail | 89.3 KPCC

Federal officials still don't sign off on California testing changes | Pass / Fail | 89.3 KPCC:

Federal officials still don't sign off on California testing changes

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez | November 28th, 2013, 6:00am

 US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan speaks about student loan interest rates during the Daily Press Briefing in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, DC, April 20, 2012. US President Barack Obama, with his administration, is urging the US Congress to step in and stop interest rates on federal student loans from doubling to 6.4 percent on July 1, 2012. For each year that Congress allows the rate to double, the White House said, the average student with these loans racks up an additional 1,000 USD in debt. AFP PHOTO / Saul LOEB (Photo credit should read SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)

Two weeks after the California Dept. of Education announced it was changing next year's standardized tests, there's still no word from the U.S. Department of Education as to whether the changes will resolve tensions between the two agencies.

"The Department of Education continues to have conversations with California officials on student assessments," spokesman Cameron French wrote in an email, "once the request is received, we will review the application as we would any state and respond accordingly."

Education Secretary Arne Duncan had threatened to withhold billions of dollars in federal funds after California said it would test students in either English or math - but not both - this school year. The state also said it would withhold test scores because the new computerized tests, aligned with new learning standards called the Common Core, are still in development.

Federal accountability rules require students be tested in both subjects in certain grades - and that the results be public.

After weeks of negotiation, the California Department of Education decided to offer both tests - sort of. Students will get half of each test, officials said, which will save 

NYC Educator: I'm Thankful

NYC Educator: I'm Thankful:

I'm Thankful

Last night I was watching television, and I saw ads for stores opening at 7 AM this morning. No Black Friday for them. To squeeze more pennies from crazed consumers, they can't wait. So low-paid workers will be rushing to sell computers and TVs they themselves probably can't afford to thrifty Americans who need them more than a quiet day with their families.

I have my differences with my union, but I'm grateful to be part of it. It will be a while before my brothers and sisters and I will have to teach on Thanksgiving. And there are some indicators that the crazy people who'd have us due so are suffering from waning influence. There is the landslide election of Bill de Blasio in Fun City. More significantly, the traveling road show of King and Silent Tisch is being met with the derision and contempt it so richly merits. The overreaching insanity of Common Core is not being received warmly anyplace else I know of, and Arne Duncan is shaking his wooden head in wonder.

I'm also grateful to have the best job in the world. There are few things more exciting to me than constantly interacting with eager and interesting young people from all over the world. After almost 30 years my students continue to fascinate me. Of course they make me crazy on a regular basis, but that's kind of their job, and one thing I always pride myself on is being crazier than they are. I've no doubt many of them will back me up on that.

I'm thankful for the thoughtful and inspiring people with whom I work, and honored they choose me to represent 

Jury in charter fraud trial hears of excess - Philly.com

Jury in charter fraud trial hears of excess - Philly.com:

Jury in charter fraud trial hears of excess

PHILADELPHIA Jurors in Dorothy June Brown's federal fraud trial heard Tuesday about multiple salaries paid to Brown and money she received from management firms she controlled.

Brown is accused of defrauding the four charter schools she founded of $6.7 million and then conspiring with two former administrators to obstruct justice by orchestrating a cover-up.

Francis L. Gizaza, an accountant who began preparing tax returns for Brown's schools in 1998, reviewed several years of nonprofit tax forms for the schools. Assistant U.S. Attorney Joan E. Burnes asked him to highlight Brown's salaries.

In the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2006, Brown was paid a total of $472,483 from three of her schools: $186,929 as the chief executive of the Laboratory Charter School; $108,554 as CEO of Ad Prima Charter School; and $177,000 as executive director of Main Line Academy, a small private school for students with special needs she established in Bala Cynwyd.

Laboratory has campuses in Northern Liberties, Overbrook, and Wynnefield. Ad Prima is in Overbrook and Frankford.

Brown stepped down as CEO of both charters in 2008 after the state law was changed to bar charter administrators from 

CPS will use state-run data program, not controversial inBloom storehouse - Chicago Sun-Times

CPS will use state-run data program, not controversial inBloom storehouse - Chicago Sun-Times:

CPS will use state-run data program, not controversial inBloom storehouse

BY BECKY SCHLIKERMAN Staff Reporter November 26, 2013 9:06PM

Chicago Public Schools has decided against using inBloom, a controversial data storehouse run by a nonprofit, and will work directly with a state-run data program, a spokeswoman said.

In Illinois, an online platform called the Illinois Shared Learning Environment, or ISLE, is in development to collect student data in one place.

The services of inBloom, which would allow access to a broader range of digital applications and content, were an optional add-on, but not mandatory, Illinois State Board of Education officials have said.

On Tuesday, CPS spokeswoman Becky Carroll said CPS will use only ISLE.

She said CPS has the resources to implement the data-sharing effort on its own and doesn’t need a third party.

“We believe the best course of action for CPS is to work directly with [the state board of education] to provide the data needed to participate in this important 

My Thanksgiving Post | deutsch29

My Thanksgiving Post | deutsch29:

My Thanksgiving Post

November 28, 2013

On October 3, 1789, at the urging of both the House and Senate, President George Washington officially declared Thursday, November 26, 1789, to be “a day of publick thanksgiving and prayer”:

WHEREAS it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favour; and Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me ‘to recommend to the people of the United States a DAY OF PUBLICK THANSGIVING and PRAYER, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:’

NOW THEREFORE, I do recommend and assign THURSDAY, the TWENTY-SIXTH DAY of NOVEMBER next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation….

To read the full proclamation and view a photo of the original, click this link: George Washington’s 1789 Thanksgiving Day Proclamation

The word “thank” is a transitive verb; that is, it requires a direct object. When I “thank,” 

Four Random Things I'm Grateful For - Teacher in a Strange Land - Education Week Teacher

Four Random Things I'm Grateful For - Teacher in a Strange Land - Education Week Teacher:

Four Random Things I'm Grateful For

By Nancy Flanagan on November 27, 2013 10:46 PM

Four Random Things I'm Grateful For: 

#1) That I seldom encountered coddled students in my long career--you know, the gritless wonders whose egos are "bloated" from all those unearned trophies and encouraging remarks from their teachers. I'm also grateful for teaching colleagues who regularly gave credit where credit was due and treated my own children with care and concern, rather than subscribing (as Sabrina Stevens says) to "this weird assumption that we have to make kids suffer in order to prepare them for life."   

As for David Coleman, principal architect of the Common Core, and his remark that "rigorous standards will redefine self-esteem as something achieved through hard work"--I am curious about when self-esteem was ever defined, in schools, as looking the other was when kids slacked off. Not in my 30-year career. And the suggestion that content standards will somehow spur students to work harder is magic-bean territory.

#2) That I get regular opportunities to visit schools--and keep going into orderly buildings filled with 

Holiday Thoughts | Larry Miller's Blog: Educate All Students!

Holiday Thoughts | Larry Miller's Blog: Educate All Students!:

Holiday Thoughts

Filed under: MPS — millerlf @ 8:25 pm 

Larry Miller 11/27/2013

I wish a safe and joyous holiday to my friends, my allies and even my adversaries.

Over the last two weeks, I have been hearing the voices of many people in the MPS family. Other Board members have as well.

While I can speak only for myself, I believe this Board wants to find ways to have a meaningful conversation.

These are extremely challenging times. The attempts at MPS takeover continue. The MMAC leads this effort, along with allies in city government and in the state legislature. Having lost the attempted mayoral takeover in 2009 – 2010, they have used a piecemeal approach to try to dismantle MPS. The most recent example is the facilities legislation (Senate Bill 318) waiting to advance from committee.

The MMAC has also called for legislation to turn a large number of MPS schools into a “recovery school district.” It is my understanding that this legislation will move forward in January. The MMAC has lobbied publicly for both of these pieces of legislation. Behind the scenes, certain city officials and power brokers are also lobbying for both bills.

These are examples of the constant threat that the MPS Board of Directors must fend off. The recent success we had in stopping the takeover by a private school of the Malcolm X facility was the result of many community organizations, allies in the Common Council and the MPS community coming together for what is right. But there is no time to celebrate. There is too much at stake and too many issues to 

Bill Gates Wins Hearts for the Common Core By Lining Pockets | Truth in American Education

Bill Gates Wins Hearts for the Common Core By Lining Pockets | Truth in American Education:

Bill Gates Wins Hearts for the Common Core By Lining Pockets

Filed in Common Core State Standards by Shane Vander Hart on November 27, 2013 • 0 Comments

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The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation spent millions to advance the Common Core State Standards in 2013.

From Valerie Strauss at The Washington Post:

Millions of Gates dollars were awarded this year for various Core-related activities, including to increase public support for the Common Core;  a $3.2 million grant to the New Venture Fund is intended “to support successful implementation of the Common Core State Standards by building public awareness and understanding.” (The fund’s Web site says it is a nonprofit organization “offering domestic and international grant-making services, executing donor-developed projects, and providing full fiscal sponsorship including grant and contract management for innovative public-interest projects.”)

Some of the grants are to help develop new standardized tests aligned to the Core; the Council of Chief State School Officers won $4 million in July “to support the development of high quality assessments to measure” the standards. Other grants are to help teachers develop materials for the Common Core. The NEA Foundation for the Improvement of Education won a few grants in this regard, including one in July for $3,882,600 to “support a cohort of National Education Association Master Teachers in the development of Common 

Happy Thanksgiving? IL Dems & Repubs collude to CUT teacher pensions. | Reclaim Reform

Happy Thanksgiving? IL Dems & Repubs collude to CUT teacher pensions. | Reclaim Reform:

Happy Thanksgiving? IL Dems & Repubs collude to CUT teacher pensions.

Posted on November 27, 2013

by Ken Previti

No one wants to read about this on a Thanksgiving weekend. That is why Illinois Democrats and Republicans have agreed to cut teacher pensions today. Corporate owned legislators and politicos are like that.

That’s the way domestic, psychological terrorism works. Pick on those who cannot defend themselves. Choose a day when everyone wants to devote themselves, their friends and family to a time of serenity and gratitude. Then, strike ruthlessly. Make the victims examples of what will happen to those who defy the powers of political opposition. Retirees. The elderly and ill are perfect victims. They are useless, therefore slowly starving them is better than meeting their contractual agreements. The agreements are old and your billionaire re-election donors want tax kickbacks now. Hedge fund managers are like that.
(What sane person wants to become a teacher or remain a teacher who is targeted like this? The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein explains it all.)

According to the Chicago Sun Times and Capitol Fax, the four legislative leaders have struck a tentative deal on “Pension Reform”:
Three elements are
· Change to the COLA
· Defined Contribution Plan
· Adjustment to the Retirement Age
Vote is expected next week as both House and Senate will be in session on December 3, 2013.
Read Crain’s Business Report HERE.
Read or view ABC News HERE.

What is behind this present sneak attack?
Read John Dillon HERE.

Since we all refuse to stupidly sit around and become willing victims, what can we do to stop it from happening? Read Fred Klonsky HERE.

Do teachers have Constitutional protections against this attempted atrocity? Watch this straightforward and simple message from Tim Furman HERE.

Yes, these politicos are protected by their gerrymandered districts, but how safe are their governmental positions? Let them know on December 2nd. Read the We Are One Illinois plan enumerated by Glen Brown HERE.

Who are the lead legislative betrayers?