Sunday, February 23, 2014

Heroin in Fallsburg NY? southbronxschool.com

http://www.southbronxschool.com:



Heroin in Fallsburg NY?

Let's get one thing out of the way first.
In no way does this blog, myself, nor The Crack Team condone or excuse any drug use by staff members in or near our schools. If a teacher is caught on drugs, having drugs on their person, in their personal space in the school, they should be dealt with accordingly. 

With that being said, we can now move on.

On February 18, the Times Herald Record of Middletown NY reported that heroin and needles were found in a bathroom at the Benjamin Cosor Elementary School in Fallsburg NY on February 11, 2014. This was not the first time such paraphernalia was found. Back in December, heroin and needles were found in the bathroom at the same school. Surveillance cameras were set up and eight people, including a contract employee providing occupational therapy were identified as the possible culprits.

All were asked to submit to urine tests. The contract employee immediately agreed and gave a sample. The teachers at first agreed, but then balked at the advice of their union. Since then it seems that all hell has broken lose and there are those that are speaking without facts, such as our friends atEducation Action Network, and the chief of police in Fallsburg NY. But more on EAG a little later.

The chief of police for Fallsburg, Simmie Williams, was quoted in the Times Herald Record as saying;
"If you got nothing to hide, give me some urine,"
Fine. But as we have seen in this country time after time once you acquiesce, once you give up or yield on any of your constitutional rights, more will be asked for you to give up in the future.

Then there is something known as the 4th Amendment to the Constitution which says;
"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, 

2-23-14 Seattle Schools Community Forum

Seattle Schools Community Forum:











The Shooting at Chardon High
An important story about a football coach who went above and beyond, not just one day but for all the days that followed when a shooting happened at his high school.   A great piece from 60 Minutes.I will note - again - that in all the (sadly) multiple stories about school shootings that I have yet to read one where teachers or staff did NOT protect the students in the building.  All the stories I
Seattle Schools This Week
Back to work.As one reader reported, the dates for school year 2014-2015 are up.  One of the earlier last-day-of-school dates in recent memory, June 15, 2015.Tomorrow, Monday the 24th, starts the two-week Open Enrollment period.  I expect to see JSCEE jam-packed this week (and I would advise getting there early).  Info here.  Unfortunately, the "choice" form for those who want an alterna


2-22-14 Seattle Schools Community Forum Week
Seattle Schools Community Forum:Seattle Schools Community ForumData Walls in Classrooms (Coming to a School Near You?)Read this article by Valerie Strauss of the Washington Post.  It should cause you to consider what is coming.   Following on the heels of that article is her next one where one privacy expert says this could violate FERPA.Really, the photo, from Caledwell County Schools in North Ca




Expand Pre-K, Not A.D.H.D. - NYTimes.com

Expand Pre-K, Not A.D.H.D. - NYTimes.com:



Expand Pre-K, Not A.D.H.D.


BERKELEY, Calif. — THE writing is on the chalkboard. Over the next few years, America can count on a major expansion of early childhood education. We embrace this trend, but as health policy researchers, we want to raise a major caveat: Unless we’re careful, today’s preschool bandwagon could lead straight to an epidemic of 4- and 5-year-olds wrongfully being told that they have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
Introducing millions of 3- to 5-year-olds to classrooms and preacademic demands means that many more distracted kids will undoubtedly catch the attention of their teachers. Sure, many children this age are already in preschool, but making the movement universal and embedding transitional-K programs in public schools is bound to increase the pressure. We’re all for high standards, but danger lurks.
The American Academy of Pediatrics now endorses the idea that the diagnosis of A.D.H.D. can and should begin at age 4, before problems accumulate. In fact, Adderall and other stimulants are approved for treatment of attentional issues in children as young as 3.
Early intervention for children with A.D.H.D. could provide great relief. Children who go untreated have major difficulties in school and with their 

Sharing Our Successes Can Erode the ‘Teacher Shaming’ Culture, Says Award-Winning Educator | NEA Today

Sharing Our Successes Can Erode the ‘Teacher Shaming’ Culture, Says Award-Winning Educator | NEA Today:



Sharing Our Successes Can Erode the ‘Teacher Shaming’ Culture, Says Award-Winning Educator

February 23, 2014 by twalker  
Filed under Featured News, Top Stories
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By Susan Anglada Bartley
Ten years ago, as I struggled through my first days and weeks of teaching, I was amazed at how majestic and powerful the veteran teachers seemed. They approached their craft with single-minded devotion, self-discipline was worn into their every expression, and a sense of altruistic self-sacrifice seemed to guide their every move. The pace of one single day seemed like a marathon, but I knew I was among a cast of heroes.
But I also sensed bitterness. Many of these teachers had worked for many years with crowded classrooms, and experienced school reconfigurations that blamed teachers for the failure of their students in poorly funded schools. How, I wondered as they retired or left the profession for other reasons, could such dedicated, knowledgeable, experienced educators simply depart after twenty five to thirty years with little recognition for their life’s work?
Despite the strife I saw, I committed to giving my all to my profession. With a group of colleagues, I co-founded the Franklin High School Advanced Scholar Program, dramatically increasing participation and success in AP classes by students of color or poverty at our school. I also worked to found a writing project for first-generation students navigating the college admissions process.
Last summer, for my efforts to bring equity to education, the NEA’s Human and Civil Rights Committee awarded me the H. Councill Trenholm Memorial Award. More than anything, this award has made me look harder at the fantastic, too-often unacknowledged educators around me.
As I recently departed from a Monday staff meeting, I noticed fellow teacher Portia Hall setting up plastic 

2-23-14 Schools Matter

Schools Matter:











Please take a closer look at the Common Core

Sent to the School Library Journal 2/23Librarians may be "findings aspects of the common core to celebrate"("What's happening at the core," Feb. 2014), but they are ignoring very serious problems.  The standards might look like look like they involve "deeper levels of critical thinking" but they are completely untested. There were no pilot studies. The language arts s
2-22-14 Schools Matter All Week
Schools Matter:  Schools Matter All WeekColonial Philadelphia, or Colonized?from Ken Derstine:Is the School District of Philadelphia a colony of the state of Pennsylvania?by Ken DerstineFebruary 20, 2014Parents of Philadelphia students and prospective students should know their right to choose a school for their children is under attack. Several weeks ago the SRC held round table discussions about


Audit of D.C. TAG tuition assistance program shows millions of dollars unaccounted for - The Washington Post

Audit of D.C. TAG tuition assistance program shows millions of dollars unaccounted for - The Washington Post:



Audit of D.C.TAG scholarship program shows millions of dollars unaccounted for



 The popular D.C. tuition assistance program that helps city students pay for college can’t explain how millions of taxpayer dollars have been spent since 2004, according to an unreleased audit that describes weak financial controls and management problems at the city agency that administers the program.

The federally funded D.C. Tuition Assistance Grant (TAG) program is unique to the District and has become key to how thousands of families budget for college, providing as much as $10,000 a year to students who attend schools outside of the city. But the audit, obtained by The Washington Post, shows that the District’s oversight of TAG money has been riddled with shortcomings, leaving uncertainty about how much money the program should have in its accounts.
More news about education

After Fairfax student deaths, a focus on mental health

The school system works with many students to help address mental health issues.

Millions of D.C. scholarship dollars unaccounted for

An audit obtained by The Washington Post shows weaknesses in oversight of the popular college aid program.

Charter board adopts new way to judge alternative schools

Charter board adopts new way to judge alternative schools
D.C. board has new definition for schools that serve at-risk students and will develop measurement tools.
TAG was conceived as a way to defray the cost of college for D.C. residents, who don’t have access to a strong in-state university system. Available to all D.C. students from families who have household incomes below $1 million a year, it provides as much as $50,000 over the course of college for students to attend eligible schools: public universities outside the city, private schools in the Washington region and historically black colleges.
The program has served as a powerful incentive to stay in the city for many families who might otherwise have moved to the suburbs, and more than 5,000 students a year take advantage of the tuition assistance. Since TAG’s inception in 2000, more than $317 million has gone to help 

Same Teachers, Similar Students, Similar Tests, Different Answers |

Same Teachers, Similar Students, Similar Tests, Different Answers |:



Same Teachers, Similar Students, Similar Tests, Different Answers



 One of my favorite studies to date about VAMs was conducted by John Papay, an economist once at Harvard and now at Brown University. In the study titled “Different Tests, Different Answers: The Stability of Teacher Value-Added Estimates Across Outcome Measures” published in 2009 by the 3rd best and most reputable peer-reviewed journal, American Educational Research Journal, Papay presents evidence that different yet similar tests (i.e., similar on content, and similar on when the tests were administered to similar sets of students) do not provide similar answers about teachers’ value-added performance. This is an issue with validity, in that, if a test is measuring the same things for the same folks at the same times, similar-to-the-same results should be realized. But they are not. Papay, rather, found moderate-sized rank correlations, ranging from r=0.15 to r=0.58, among the value-added estimates derived from the different tests.

Recently released, yet another study (albeit not yet peer-reviewed) has found similar results…potentially solidifying this finding further into our understandings about VAMs and their issues, particularly in terms of validity (or truth in VAM-based results). This study on “Comparing Estimates of Teacher Value-Added Based on Criterion- and Norm-Referenced Tests” released by the U.S. Department of Education and conducted by four 

Why We Never Get Over High School - Deborah Fallows - The Atlantic

Why We Never Get Over High School - Deborah Fallows - The Atlantic:



Why We Never Get Over High School

Mentioning high school is loaded with hidden meaning

"Ridgemont High. Why do you ask?"
“Hello. Where did you go to high school?” When so many of you nominated this question as your natural conversation starter, as I mentioned here last week, it was tempting to dismiss it as an example of how Americans never quite get over high school. Was this just about Fast Times at Ridgemont High, or 90210, orThe O.C., or forever remembering all the other schools in your league? Or maybe you all are 18 years old. But you wrote with such enthusiasm, thoroughness, and conviction, that it looked like something else was going on. So, I decided to look again. 
Inside Marriage Special Report bug
Reinvention and resilience across the nation
Read more
Your nominations of this particular question came in from all corners of the country-- all mid-sized cities-- like Louisville, New Orleans, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Baltimore, Charlotte. They came from all ages of you, from the millennials to those who wrote that a half century ago, this question was also asked in Chicago and San Francisco,  when those cities were arguably more “mid-size” than they are today. You also said this was the question of Oahu (where we know the young Barack Obama of modest means attended the elite private school, Punahou) and from Melbourne, Australia.
From your descriptions, it became clear that “Where did you go to high school?” is another way of asking “Where do you live?” But you aren’t seeking a simple 

Newark school board meeting Tuesday–more outrage? | Bob Braun's Ledger

Newark school board meeting Tuesday–more outrage? | Bob Braun's Ledger:



Newark school board meeting Tuesday–more outrage?

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Antoinette Baskerville-Richardson
Antoinette Baskerville-Richardson
The last meeting of the elected Newark school board erupted in boos and catcalls when state-appointed superintendent Cami Anderson stormed off the stage, closely followed by her senior staff. The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday at the Rafael Hernandez school in the North Ward and, already, tension is building—with the board president saying Anderson should expect “outrage” in the face of her attitude toward the city’s residents.
“State superintendent Anderson: You own this situation. For the third year in a row, you have forced your plans on the Newark community without the measure of stakeholder input that anyone, lay or professional, would consider adequate or respectful,” wrote Antoinette Baskerville-Richardson, the board president. She called on Anderson, appointed by Gov. Chris Christie, to impose a moratorium on her plan—called “One Newark”– to close neighborhood public schools and expand charters—or resign.
“You are obviously painfully aware of the depth and breadth of community discontent,” Baskerville-Richardson wrote.
It is a measure of the gulf between Anderson and the board that each has a 

solidaridad: LAUSD's own facts demolish Deasy and Daily News' defense of iPad Profligacy

solidaridad: LAUSD's own facts demolish Deasy and Daily News' defense of iPad Profligacy:



LAUSD's own facts demolish Deasy and Daily News' defense of iPad Profligacy

Repairs Not iPads
From KPCC

Even life-cycle repairs such as roof or air-conditioner replacements will inevitably exhaust available bond funds. Officials estimate those repairs will run over $13 billion over the next fifteen years, much more than the remaining bond funds.
How can John Deasy and his stenographers at the Daily News keep saying we can afford "both" when they must be aware of simple fact mentioned above? There's not even enough money for necessary repairs. Deasy is so afraid of being confronted on these questions, that he's avoiding an interview with Univision.

None of this includes the funds needed for earthquake retrofits!

The only explanation is that Deasy and his well heeled supporters are


Why corporations want our public schools (from YES!)
Why corporations want our public schools (from YES!). pic.twitter.com/szW5Q3vBcx— Stephen Krashen (@skrashen) February 23, 2014 Infographic: Why Corporations Want Our Public Schools
Univision wants Deasy to answer questions about his corporate priorities in light of Repairs not iPads phenomenon
@DrDeasyLAUSD W are requesting an interview with U ABT the teacher’s campaing #repairsnotipads http://t.co/nGOCB8LwMg pic.twitter.com/DbmFwPUx83— Univision LA (@NU34LA) February 21, 2014 Univision wants to interview Deasy about the Repairs not iPads phenomenon, let's pressure him into doing it! Retweet, repost, and demand he answer to the press about his wrongheaded corporate priorities.
Corps member sums up Teach For America tenets in a phrase—"Survival of the fittest"
Corps member sums up @TeachForAmerica tenets in a phrase—"Survival of the fittest" #resistTFA pic.twitter.com/Bt97DUTOUe pic.twitter.com/uXNmCZc686— Robert D. Skeels (@rdsathene) February 23, 2014
Rest easy TFA missionaries! Wealthy white reactionary Andy Smarick rides to your aid with vapid snark and non-facts!
Rest easy @TeachForAmerica missionaries! Wealthy white reactionary Andy @Smarick rides to your aid with vapid snark & non-facts! #ResistTFA— Robert D. Skeels (@rdsathene) February 22, 2014 Right-wing charter profiteer Andy Smarick was mocking working class students of color for considering self determination and resisting their Teach for America colonizers. Needless to say, I know who is is an

FEB 21

SKrashen: Our focus should be on protecting children from the impact of poverty
SKrashen: Our focus should be on protecting children from the impact of poverty: Published in the Wall Street Journal, February 21. Response to: "A progressive education" (Editorial, Feb. 14) Your editorial s...
CORE and Jacobin present Class Action: An Activist Teacher’s Handbook
After many delays, Class Action: An Activist Teacher’s Handbook is finally ready. Backers of the initial Kickstarter (and those who order within the next week) should receive their print copies by the end of the month. The booklet will be distributed to educators and school support staff in Chicago, New York, Portland, Newark, Washington DC, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, and elsewhere in March to help
Article exposes reactionary extremist David F. Welch, plutocrat funding Vergara suit
Article exposes reactionary extremist David F. Welch, plutocrat funding #Vergara suit #LAUSD http://t.co/j5qW765rL4 pic.twitter.com/5ESmaWCX2E— Robert D. Skeels (@rdsathene) February 21, 2014