1-22-14 Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher

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

The adventures of Bruce Rahmer in Bizarro World.

3 by Fred Klonsky / 1h

A fair income tax for Illinois? Dude, that’s so not cool!

  Lyman Stone, Transylvania University, class of  ‘13. Capitolfax is reporting that a group called the Tax Foundation will be holding a press conference today to oppose efforts to create a fair tax in Illinois. Currently Illinois is one of the few states in the country that has a flat tax, which means that Rahm and Rauner’s best bud, Ken Griffin (Illinois’ riches man according to Forbes), pays th

by Fred Klonsky / 7min 

All is lost.

. I said at the time that the Robert Redford movie, All is Lost, was among the worst films I have ever seen. Even worse that Pooty Tang. Which I actually never saw, but love writing the name. It was so obviously a set-up for the aging Redford to get a late-career Oscar nomination other than another one of those honorary ones. He’s never received an acting Oscar. Only for directing the endlessly d

by Fred Klonsky / 14min 

Fighting Rahm and The Hawk to stop Chicago charters.

  Sue Sadlowski Garza, Kristine Mayle, Sarah Chambers and Nathan Goldbaum pull an all-nighter outside CPS HQ. The Polar Vortex is rolling through Chicago again and the temperature dropped to minus four degrees last night. But that didn’t keep parents and union teachers from camping outside of Chicago Public School offices over night. Today the board will follow Rahm’s directive and approve 21 ne

by Fred Klonsky / 42min hide  //  save

Ten minute drawing. Two Squeezy posters.

2 by Fred Klonsky / 1h 

1-21-14 Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher

Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher who is just looking at the data.: Coffee with Aaron Goldstein.  Candidate for the 40th Illinois House seat, Aaron Goldstein. Former Machine Democratic Boss Dick Mell gave his daughter the 40th State Rep seat on Chicago’s north-west side. Machine bosses do that kind of thing. Just like Cook County Democratic Chairman Joe Berrios. He ga

by mike simpson / 7h 

1-22-14 @ The Chalk Face

@ THE CHALK FACE:

Sneak peek of @unitedoptout version of Dvorak, only available if you register for their spring event in Denver.

This will be a playable deck of collectible trading cards, people, of all those involved (Defenders) and those against (Deformers). I have not seen anything else like it, anywhere, so get your hands on this one-of-a-kind item. That is, only if you register, and pick them up in person in Denver, although we may make […]

6 by Shaun Johnson / 2h 

Goodness gracious, the PARCC samples are ready! Thanks @PARCCplace

Is there no irony sensed that PARCC Place is a play on words of the most expensive place on the Monopoly board? Ok, let’s shoot on over to PARCC Place, then, and see what they’re about. Let’s practice! Damn it!! All right, all right. I’ll play along. Even though all the cool kids use Chrome. […]

35 by Shaun Johnson / 3h hide  //  save

With all due respect @jeffbcdm, this doesn’t sound like a good idea at all

There are a lot of folks out there nibbling at the edges of this Common Core ordeal. We get it, it’s a “flashpoint,” or what have you. It’s tough to debate because so many emotions enter the conversation; that is, if you care about this sort of thing. I think a poll of the larger […]

4 by Shaun Johnson / 3h 

Thomas Friedman And The In Crowd

Sometimes really smart people get really dumb. It isn’t on purpose. They just start to believe too much of what they have to say, or write. When they also love to be in the limelight because of what they write, the light that shines on them also blinds them. I believe that is the case […]

1 by davidgreene207003... / 2h

Vergara V. California Would Turn Teachers into Second Class Citizens

David Cohen’s “Education Policy vs Litigation” at InterACT provides a balanced analysis of Vergara vs California, a corporate reform effort to kill five California laws because they supposedly violate the rights of poor children of color. Students Matter, a nonprofit founded by entrepreneur David Welch, sponsors Vergara.  It asks the Court to strike down teachers’ […]

by John Thompson / 2min

1-21-14 @ The Chalk Face

@ THE CHALK FACE: Pulling a Greene: Why Advocacy and Market Forces Fail Education Reform [Redux]Pulling a Greene: Why Advocacy and Market Forces Fail Education Reform [Redux]. via Pulling a Greene: Why Advocacy and Market Forces Fail Education Reform [Redux].1 by plthomasedd / 9min ALEC and Its (Reluctantly) Newly-created Jeffersonian ProjectThe American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) has bee

by mike simpson / 9h 

1-22-14 the becoming radical | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness by P. L. Thomas, EdD

the becoming radical | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness (the public and scholarly writing by P. L. Thomas, Furman University):

The Place of English in General Education (1940)

The Place of English in General Education (1940).

1 by plthomasedd / 32min hide  //  save

Students Should Be Tested Less, Then Not at All

Students Should Be Tested More, Not Less by Jessica Lahey is not a compelling case to test students more, but another example of journalism failing to represent accurately a relatively limited study related to education. Several aspects of the article reveal that the title and apparent claim of the need for more testing are misleading: Henry L. Roediger III, a cognitive psychologist at Washington

11 by plthomasedd / 1h 

 

1-21-14 the becoming radical | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness by P. L. Thomas, EdD

the becoming radical | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness (the public and scholarly writing by P. L. Thomas, Furman University): Pulling a Greene: Why Advocacy and Market Forces Fail Education Reform [Redux]Jay P. Greene, Ph.D., is Endowed Chair and Head of the Department of Education Reform at the University of Arkansas. The Department of Education Reform is heavily funded by Walton money, and it

by mike simpson / 9h 

1-22-14 Perdido Street Schoo

Perdido Street School:

It's All De Blasio's Fault

The Murdoch news outlets ran with the story that the de Blasio snow response was incompetent and inept, with the Post putting the story on the front page and Fox 5 playing the story on the TV.The meme went something like, Socialist de Blasio played payback with the UES by failing to plow the streets there promptly during yesterday's snow storm.The Times and other outlets picked up the story, de Bl

by reality-based edu... / 22min 

Cuomo's Pre-K Proposal Doesn't Add Up

From Jessica Bakeman at Capital NY:ALBANY—Some lawmakers and advocates are questioning whether Governor Andrew Cuomo's proposal of $1.5 billion over five years is enough to fund full-day pre-kindergarten statewide, or whether it's a wise expenditure when schools are struggling to educate students in mandatory grades. The governor announced Tuesday during his annual budget address plans to allocate

by reality-based edu... / 37min

Stop Saying Cuomo Has "Joined The Fight" Against Common Core

From the Daily News: ALBANY — Gov. Cuomo has joined the fight to change the state’s new Common Core curriculum. Cuomo, as part of his budget presentation Tuesday, announced plans for a special advisory panel that will recommend “corrective action” in the way the state implements the curriculum — which is part of a national effort to raise academic standards. “I support the Common Core agenda,” Cu

by reality-based edu... / 49min hide  //  save

NYC Schools Are Opened

New York City schools are opened this morning.It remains to be seen how many students actually come to school.Or how many teachers - especially the ones who live on Long Island.But the world's largest day care center cannot close unless conditions are so prohibitive that there is no sane reason it should remain open.There's anywhere from 8-12 inches of snow out there and it's 9 degrees this mornin

by reality-based edu... / 3h 

1-21-14 Perdido Street School

Perdido Street School: Governor Cuomo Will Fund After School Programs Through Gambling LossesCome on seven, mamma needs junior to get that after school SAT prep class!Buried in the Daily News article reporting that Governor Cuomo is funding universal full-day pre-K across the state for the year, attempting to cut off Bill de Blasio's campaign pledge that NYC will fund its own universal full-day pr

by mike simpson / 9h 

We Party Patriots » With Strike Imminent, Portland Teachers Wear Black to Mourn the Death of Bargaining

We Party Patriots » With Strike Imminent, Portland Teachers Wear Black to Mourn the Death of Bargaining:

With Strike Imminent, Portland Teachers Wear Black to Mourn the Death of Bargaining

   

Teachers in Portland remain on the verge of striking as their attempts to negotiate a new contract are stuck at a crossroads.  

On Tuesday, Teachers wore black to “mourn the district’s refusal to continue bargaining.”  This came after the board offered their “best offer” which did nothing to help alleviate growing class and ignored a push for more teacher hiring, a main priority of the teachers union.  The district’s refusal was made more egregious as it announced a larger than expected budget surplus.  The teachers union has been attempting to negotiate a new contract for over nine months.

On Monday night, students joined teachers, parents, and local unions at a school board meeting in solidarity with their teachers.  The 400-plus students in attendance declared that they would join their teachers on the picket lines if a strike occurred.  The Portland Student Union organized the “Pack the School Board” event demanding to have its needs heard.  

According to Infoshop the student union’s demands include:

Class sizes less than 20
Proper funding of the arts
More time with guidance counselors
Student-teacher collaboration in building curriculum
Rich, relevant curriculum—not Common Core
Democratic process in the allocation of funds
Restorative justice—not suspensions and expulsions
Funding for wrap-around programs
Support for all teachers
No school closures

All board members except pro-union Steve Buel exited the meeting quickly, refusing to hear the students demands.  

As Oregon Live notes, superintendent Carole Smith has said that she does not believe district officials will work with the latest proposal from the teachers union:

Smith has said she doesn’t believe the district can offer more than the concessions the two sides worked 

Gay-straight alliances in schools cut suicide risk for all students, researchers say | The Raw Story

Gay-straight alliances in schools cut suicide risk for all students, researchers say | The Raw Story:

Gay-straight alliances in schools cut suicide risk for all students, researchers say

Topics: suicidal thoughts

 Schools that set up programs to fight homophobia helpreduce the suicide risk for all students, a recent study showed.

Canadian researchers said all students at schools that set up gay-straight alliances and enacted anti-homophobia policies showed lower odds of discrimination, suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts, particularly when both were enacted or after they had been in place for three years or more.

“We know that LGBTQ students are at higher risk for suicide, in part because they are more often targeted for bullying and discrimination,” says Elizabeth Saewyc, a University of British Columbia nursing professor and lead author of the study. “But heterosexual students can also be the target of homophobic bullying. When policies and supportive programs like GSAs are in place long enough to change the environment of the school, it’s better for students’ mental health, no matter what their orientation.”

The study examined data from the British Columbia Adolescent Health Survey and was published in the International Journal of Child, Youth, and Family Studies.

One-fifth of the nearly 22,000 students examined in the survey attended schools with anti-

More time in school, with a drain on Chicago’s teachers | Hechinger Report

More time in school, with a drain on Chicago’s teachers | Hechinger Report:

More time in school, with a drain on Chicago’s teachers

By Sara Neufeld

This story also appeared at:

Part two of two

CHICAGO –– Two years ago, Mayor Rahm Emanuel and public school officials faced a difficult predicament. They wanted to rectify the fact that Chicago had one of the shortest school days in the nation. But they didn’t have the money to pay the city’s 20,000 teachers to work more.

To make their plan economically viable –– and to end a weeklong teachers strike that resulted partly from their proposal for longer teacher hours without a proportionate pay increase –– they agreed with the union to rearrange the workday.

Before the change, teachers were typically required to arrive at least a half hour before their students each morning. They often used that time for staff or parent meetings and collaborating with colleagues.

Patrick Henry Elementary School Principal Januario Gutierrez, with student Camila Siles-Syrek, runs after-school enrichment activities in 10-week cycles so staff members can rotate who leads them to avoid burnout. (Armando L. Sanchez / Hechinger Report)

Now, more than a year after the strike, teachers are only contractually bound to arrive and leave at the same time as students, a proposition that many say they find absurd and leaves them working far more hours. Dozens report that the revised schedule has made two hallmarks of any successful school –– teacher collaboration and training –– more difficult.

The Hechinger Report informally surveyed 70 Chicago teachers from around the city, all enrolled in a class preparing for the prestigious National Board Certification, which recognizes distinguished teaching. When asked if they receive less training than they did before the longer school day began, 

Daily Kos: important op ed on food by Mark Bittman

Daily Kos: important op ed on food by Mark Bittman:

important op ed on food by Mark Bittman

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in today's New York Times, titled Abundance Doesn't Mean Health.

Consider the following information, derived from Oxfam's "Good Enough to Eat" index rating of 125 nations:

The results for the United States make a fine case for American exceptionalism, though not in the way chauvinists will find pleasing.

We rank first in food affordability; food is cheap compared with other things we buy, and prices are relatively stable. We also rank highly (4th) in food “quality,” which is measured by (potential) diversity of diet, though access to good water is shockingly low (tied for 41st, about a third of the way down the list).

Then the hammer falls: When it comes to healthy eating as measured by diabetes and obesity rates, we’re 120th: sixth from the bottom, better off only than Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Jordan, Fiji and our unlucky neighbor Mexico. (Canada fares a little better; it’s 18th worst.) We’re also in a tie (with Belarus and other powerhouses) for 35th in “enough to eat.” Really.

In fact, it’s hard to imagine having a food supply as abundant as ours and doing a worse job with it.

Please keep reading.

Bittman points out that what we grow does not necessarily turn into nutritious and health food: