3-15-14 Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Schooling in the Ownership Society All Week

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog:
Schooling in the Ownership Society

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk 

Schooling in the Ownership Society

The privatization of science replaces public good with super-profits

INTEL billionaire Gordon Moore and his new Thirty Meter Telescope which will sit on a Hawaii mountain top.In Washington, budget cuts have left the nation’s research complex reeling. Labs are closing. Scientists are being laid off. Projects are being put on the shelf, especially in the risky, freewheeling realm of basic research. Yet from Silicon Valley to Wall Street, science philanthropy is hot,

by Mike Klonsky / 29min 

Killing rats and beavers

Word is that the mayor is freaking out and berating his staff over being outflanked by Ald. Fioretti in the rat fight. "The rat problem in our city is out of control," Ald. Bob Fioretti (2nd) said Wednesday. "They carry diseases that negatively impact our communities. We urgently need to do more to stem the population growth. This is a quality-of-life issue that we should be dealing

3 by Mike Klonsky / 19h 

MAR 13

A Two-Tier School System

“This is a city blessed with such diversity. Our schools, especially our particularly exceptional schools, need to reflect that diversity.” -- Mayor de Blasio.But black students continue to be pushed out or excluded altogether from top-tier urban schools and re-segregated charters as cities increasingly become whitenized. New York's selective-enrollment schools are a great example.This from the N.

5 by Mike Klonsky / 2d 

MAR 12

Test boycott support grows. Berrios takes a vow of silence.

There's 3 good letters and one crappy one in this morning's Trib. Julie Woestehoff writes re. the ISAT test boycott calling on Rahm, BBB, the Board and ISBE to "respect parents' rights to direct our children's education, to treat students who opt out respectfully and ethically, and, most important, to change the fundamental values in this district and this state that continue to prioritize te

17 by Mike Klonsky / 3d 

MAR 11

untitled

At yesterday's Let Us Teach rally in Pilsen protesting CPS threats to punish teachers who support parents and boycott useless standardized testing (h/t Michael Harrington)Moses... Good news from DePaul College of Ed Dean Paul Zionts. Civil Rights leader and Algebra Project founder Bob Moses will be this year's commencement speaker.THANKS to Bill Ayers for being an inspiring guest speaker in last n

5 by Mike Klonsky / 4d 

MAR 10

Weekend Quotables

Team Englewood at LTABTeam Englewood Spoken Word Team"Hide Your Schools, Hide Your Homes, Hide Your Children, 'Cause [Rahm's] wrecking it all." -- Louder Than A Bomb Fran Spielman, Sun-Times reporter"What is the one thing that trumps money? Movement." -- Rahm’s re-election and GOP gov raceFox Business commentator Todd Wilemon"If You’re Poor, Stop Being Poor." -- Truth

3 by Mike Klonsky / 4d 

School-to-prison pipeline

Former judge Mark Ciavarella was sentenced to 28 years in federal prison for his involvement in the Kids for Cash scandal;NEW FILM...Robert May's documentary Kids For Cash, tells the story of the Zero Tolerance scandal that rocked northeast Pennsylvania, and led to the 2011 conviction of former judge Mark Ciavarella for funneling thousands of children into for-profit prisons in exchange for kickba

by Mike Klonsky / 4d 

True 'grit'

The next of my fellow academics who mentions the word "grit" to me is going to feel the wrath of my electric sander on their behind. This latest in a long line ed clichés, has become the buzzword du jour of the no-excuses, corporate school reformers like University of Pennsylvania psychologist Angela Duckworth, who claim that grit is the critical ingredient to academic success. The notio

by Mike Klonsky / 5d 

MAR 09

Was Rahm lying about a deal with Preckwinkle?

Last week's interview with S-T City Hall reporter Fran Spielman, Rahm claimed Toni Preckwinkle has promised him that she won't run against him.“She has said that and I believe she’s a person of her word. … I believe she’s not running.I wrote (prophetically?) :  "If he's telling the truth (big if)..." A big IF indeed. Now Preckwinkle's people are denying that she ever made such a promise.

33 by Mike Klonsky / 6d 

MAR 08

Oh mama, can this really be the end...?

Sens. McConnell & Coburn at CPACNow the senator came down hereShowing ev’ryone his gunHanding out free ticketsTo the wedding of his son-- Dylan, Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again

15 by Mike Klonsky / 6d 

I can almost hear Bill Gates saying, "What do you mean you don't want our money?"

Vicki Phillips, who runs the Gates Foundation’s education division, said her team is “disappointed by Randi’s decision.” -- Politico Our big investment in school reform. "hasn't led to significant improvements." --Bill Gates I have some idea what it was that prompted Randi Weingarten and the AFT leadership to reject millions of dollars in Gates funding. Politico's Caitlin Emma with help

1 by Mike Klonsky / 3d hide  //  save

MAR 10

No Austin City Limits at Rahm's fundraiser in Texas

Cash cow for Rahm's Texas pals.What else? He's stuffing his election war chest at an Austin fund-raising party put on by a group of heavy-hitters who do business in Chicago. According to Sunday's Trib:The event will be held Monday evening at the home of Charlie Jones, one of the co-founders of C3 Presents, according to an invitation to the fundraiser that Emanuel campaign consultant John Kupper pr

1 by Mike Klonsky / 4d 

MAR 06

Big shake-out in the test-prep industry predicted as SAT is revamped

The College Board is going to "radically revamp" the SAT — with the goal of putting SAT test prep companies out of business and aligning the test to the Common Core academic standards. But as long as Common Core is chained to high-stakes standardized testing, test-prep will continue to trump authentic classroom teacher and assessment.According to Politico,The overhaul reflects deep conce

by Mike Klonsky / 9d

3-15-14 Wait What? All Week

Wait What?:

  Wait What? All Week

Another reader speaks truth to power about the Common Core SBAC Test

Wait, What? has the greatest readers.  Here is another great comment to  today’s blog. The Memo from Commissioner Pryor’s office is a minor classic of doublespeak in the service of damage control. Just look at the opening: “We wish to convey a time sensitive update with you…” Yes, that is one way to put it; […]The post Another reader speaks truth to power about the Common Core SBAC Test appeared f

by jonpelto / 3min 

More testing, less learning

So many comments on Wait, What? posts deserve to be their own post. In fact, more often than not, the most interesting information and observations can be found in the comment section. Here a reader confronts the mindlessness of the decision, that in the name of ensuring that students are college ready, the Malloy administration […]The post More testing, less learning appeared first on Wait What?.

by jonpelto / 36min 

Common Core Smarter Balanced Assessment Field Test of a Test delayed a week

As teachers and school administrators learned on Friday, the Common Core Smarter Balanced Assessment Field Test isn’t (quite) ready to be given. Years in the making and the consortium behind the absurd Common Core test informed partner states on Friday that things would not be ready to go this coming Monday, as scheduled. The “shocking […]The post Common Core Smarter Balanced Assessment Field Test

14 by jonpelto / 3h 

YESTERDAY

The list of towns (Part 1) misleading parents on the Common Core Test grows…

As an increasing number of parents know, Governor Malloy’s Commissioner of Education is engaged in an immoral attempt to force school districts to prohibit parents from opting their children out of the Common Core Smarter Balanced Field Test. Last December Commissioner Stefan Pryor sent out a memo providing public school superintendents with step by step […]The post The list of towns (Part 1) misl

18 by jonpelto / 21h 

MAR 13

Would one of the top four leaders of the Connecticut General Assembly please stand up?

Governor Malloy and Stefan Pryor, Malloy’s Commissioner of Education are lying to Connecticut parents. Parents have the right to refuse to allow their students to be guinea pigs for the corporate education reform industry. There is absolutely NOTHING in Connecticut law that prevents Connecticut parents to opt-out their children from this year’s absurd Common Core […]The post Would one of the top f

33 by jonpelto / 1d 

Look out Bridgeport, here comes Capital Prep Principal Steve Perry

According to the website that hosts his “inspirational” speaking business, Steve Perry is the “Most Trusted Educator in America.” His “non-nonsense” approach to education takes many forms, including an obsession with his Twitter Account. Just the other day Steve Perry Tweeted, “Uncoachable kids become unemployable adults. Let your kid get used to somebody digging in […]The post Look out Bridgeport

6 by jonpelto / 1d 

Common Core: The solution for poverty, language barriers and special education needs?

According to Governor Malloy’s Commissioner of Education, Stefan Pryor, and those who support the corporate education reform industry, the “solution” that will create a better educated society is the Common Core Standards, the Common Core Smarter Balanced Assessment Testing scheme and evaluating teachers based on those inappropriate tests.Two things became painfully clear at yesterday’s Common […]

44 by jonpelto / 2d 

MAR 12

A snapshot into how the Malloy/Pryor political operation really works

The follow document reveals why Malloy’s new Common Core TASK FORCE is little more than a joke.  Malloy’s choice to co-chair the Task Force has is already a strong supporter of the Common Core, a point he was going to make clear Legislative testimony today.  But someone intervened in order and the new co-chair’s testimony […]The post A snapshot into how the Malloy/Pryor political operation really

53 by jonpelto / 3d 

Hey I know, let’s have a Taskforce!

Faced with growing opposition to the Common Core, the Common Core Smarter Balanced Testing scheme and the unfair and faulty teacher evaluation program, Governor Malloy held a press conference in late January 2014 to announce that he would push off the implementation of the teacher evaluation system until January 2015 (60 days after election day) […]The post Hey I know, let’s have a Taskforce! appe

24 by jonpelto / 3d 

MAR 11

NEWS FLASH: Pryor threatens public school superintendents

A number of public school superintendents were recently instructed to join an emergency conference call with Governor Malloy’s Commissioner of Education, Stefan Pryor. According to numerous sources, Stefan Pryor used the call to threaten public school superintendents by telling them that if they testified at the Education Committee’s Common Core public hearing their school districts […]The post NE

100+ by jonpelto / 3d 

More crazy sh*t Capital Prep Steve Perry has said

Steve Perry is the principal of a public school in Hartford, Connecticut.  For that job, the taxpayers of Hartford and Connecticut pay Perry close to $200,000 in salary, benefits and retirement credits. But Steve Perry also has a lucrative speaking business that means he is absent from his job about 20 percent of the school […]The post More crazy sh*t Capital Prep Steve Perry has said appeared fir

6 by jonpelto / 3d 

Bribing the guinea pigs (aka our students)

Governor Malloy, his Commissioner of Education, Stefan Pryor, and the corporate education reform industry are fond of claiming that the Common Core and massive Common Core testing scheme is about making sure students are “College and Career Ready.” As a result of their warped belief in more and more standardized testing, most Connecticut towns will […]The post Bribing the guinea pigs (aka our stud

18 by jonpelto / 4d 

MAR 10

The Malloy/Pryor Jumoke Charter School Gravy Train

For those looking for a case study about the growing privatization of public education in America need only look as far as Connecticut and the tenure of Democratic Governor Dannel Malloy. Call it the Jumoke Academy Charter School Case Study. First there as was Charter School called Jumoke Academy. Like all charter schools in Connecticut, […]The post The Malloy/Pryor Jumoke Charter School Gravy Tra

18 by jonpelto / 4d 

Malloy full steam ahead on Common Core, Common Core Testing and “education reforms”

Just over a month ago, Governor Malloy took the the microphone to announce his election year effort to persuade teachers, parents and public school advocates to overlook his three years of failed education policies and throw their support behind his re-election aspirations. In essence, Malloy said, “I hear you and we’ll wait until after I’m […]The post Malloy full steam ahead on Common Core, Commo

15 by jonpelto / 5d 

MAR 09

Malloy Administration: Clark Elementary Parents – You must accept Friendship Charter School or else

Parents, teachers and the community that makes up Hartford’s Clark Elementary School in Hartford are still reeling from the Malloy Administration’s threat that the Clark “Turnaround Committee” must agree to turn their local Hartford neighborhood school over to Washington D.C.’s Friendship Charter School Inc or else they won’t get the funds necessary to improve their […]The post Malloy Administrati

37 by jonpelto / 5d 

MAR 08

The two “MUST READ” columns of the weekend

Fellow pro-pubic education advocates and commentators have done it again – with two more MUST READ pieces. Sarah Darer Littman with “The Brave New World of being ‘College and Career Ready” and Wendy Lecker with “A crisis of low standards” Wendy Lecker writes, Not poverty. Not inadequate resources. Not toxic stress. Not segregation. According to […]The post The two “MUST READ” columns of the weeken

20 by jonpelto / 7d