3-18-14 Perdido Street School Week

Perdido Street School:

Surprised These Poll Numbers Aren't Worse

A new Quinnipiac poll shows Mayor de Blasio under water in job performance:Less than half of New York City voters approve of the job Mayor de Blasio is doing in his first three months in office, a mediocre rating that is well below his NYPD Police Commissioner Bill Bratton and City Controller Scott Stringer, according to a new Quinnipiac poll. Forty-five percent of voters said they approved of de

by reality-based edu... / 20min 

Mayoral Control Of Yonkers School System Not A Done Deal

From Politics on the Hudson:A plan to give Yonkers Mayor Michael Spano more control over the city’s schools appears unlikely to garner Assembly support.The state Senate last week signaled its support for mayoral control of Yonkers schools as part of its one-house budget resolution, which was passed just after 2 a.m. Friday.But the two senators who represent Yonkers—Senate Democratic Leader Andrea

by reality-based edu... / 14min 

Chancellor Farina: Policy Changes Coming Soon

Lindsey Crist interview Chancellor Farina on NY1 and asked the following:Christ: So obviously, so much of the first two-and-a-half months, the conversation in the city has been about pre-K and after school, and there's many years after pre-K and many hours before after school in the day. When are we going to start hearing more about these concrete proposals and policy changes related to the rest o

by reality-based edu... / 1min 

Bridgegate Scandal Gets Closer To Christie

Chris Christie is making like he doesn't have three scandals dogging him (Bridgegate, Sandy aid, Samson at the Port Authority), going about his business as if he can be a viable 2016 presiential candidate and an effective New Jersey governor.But then you get news like this that pops up every now and then that let's you know just how tenuous a thread he hangs upon:Records released today by a legisl

by reality-based edu... / 1h hide  //  save

Cuomo: Secrecy = Transparency

You just can't make this stuff up:Gov. Andrew Cuomo today defended the closed-door budget negotiations, saying “just because something is done behind closed doors doesn’t mean the process isn’t transparent.” He said he and legislative leaders have made their budget positions know publicly, and they need to meet privately to hash out the details. “Just because something is done behind closed doors

by reality-based edu... / 6h 

3-17-14 Perdido Street School Week

Perdido Street School: Adivce For De Blasio To Recover From His Early MisstepsI've talked about how de Blasio needs to start getting savvier in his handling of the press and these phony "scandals" that have popped up like "forkgate" (when he ate a slice of pizza with a fork and some in the the press, barely out of middle school, mocked him for days over it) and the UES snow plo

by mike simpson / 9h 

Deborah Meier, Libertarian? - Bridging Differences - Education Week

Deborah Meier, Libertarian? - Bridging Differences - Education Week:

Deborah Meier, Libertarian?

By Guest Blogger on March 18, 2014 9:13 AM

Robert Pondiscio of Democracy Prep writes again to Deborah Meier today.

Dear Deborah,
One of the joys of sharing this space with you is how often you surprise me, acknowledging last week, for example, that in some ways you are "exceedingly conservative." Who'd have thought it? One of the fascinations of education for me is the ways in which policy and practice can challenge our ideologies. My liberal credentials were in pretty good order until I became a South Bronx schoolteacher. As I have argued since, progressive means may not be the best way to achieve progressive ends.

An education manifesto crossed my desk last week and perhaps yours, too. As I read the following words, I thought you might agree with them: "To some, accountability means government-imposed standards and testing, like the Common Core State Standards, which advocates believe will ensure that every child receives at least a minimally acceptable education. Although well-intentioned, their faith is misplaced," the missive continued.

"True accountability comes not from top-down regulations but from parents financially empowered to exit schools that fail to meet their child's needs. Parental choice, coupled with freedom for educators, creates the incentives and opportunities that spur quality. The compelled conformity fostered by centralized standards and tests stifles the very diversity that gives consumer choice its 

Russ on Reading: The Devil's Dictionary of Education Reform

Russ on Reading: The Devil's Dictionary of Education Reform:

The Devil's Dictionary of Education Reform

As a teenager one of my favorite books was The Devil's Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce. His satirical definitions of words struck at the heart of hypocrisy in the early 20th century. For example Bierce defined absurdity as a "statement or belief manifestly inconsistent with one's own opinion." The humor struck a chord in my snarky teenage brain. Now as a snarky senior citizen,  I borrow from Bierce to present The Devil's Dictionary of Education Reform. 

A month ago I set out to write 30 twitter size sound bites capturing the hypocrisy of the corporate education reform movement. Here is a compilation. If you have some defintions to add to the collection please send them along to me.

21st Century Skills - a broad range of abilities, enumerated in the Common Core , that 21st century children need to thrive in the 20th century.

accountability - holding the 99%, especially teachers, students and administrators, responsible for the damage done by the 1%.

achievement gap - symptom of income inequality and segregation treated by education reformers by testing children and punishing teachers and public schools.

blended learning - a unique blend of educational experiences that combines inferior online learning with inadequate classroom instruction. 

Warning: Do Not Be Beguiled by David Brooks | janresseger

Warning: Do Not Be Beguiled by David Brooks | janresseger:

Warning: Do Not Be Beguiled by David Brooks

Posted on March 18, 2014 by janresseger

I do not pretend fully to understand Newark, New Jersey’s mayoral politics.  I’m a Clevelander and David Brooks is a New Yorker, and we are both outsiders.  But this morning, as a Clevelander, I need to correct what I’ll be generous and call an oversimplification in Brooks’ article in the NY Times.  The too frequent problem with David Brooks is that while his observations about our society are often interesting, when it comes right down to any particular issue, he doesn’t get the implications on the ground.

Today David Brooks writes about the mayoral race in Newark, New Jersey.  Brooks clearly prefers Shavar Jeffries over Ras Baraka for mayor of Newark. He portrays Jeffries as a change agent—a reformer, while he portrays Baraka as “regular,” the status quo.  (This sounds a little like Arne Duncan who frequently criticizes those who might be in favor of supporting the “weak, status quo” of traditional public schooling.)  Brooks titles his column, “How Cities Change,” implying that the person who opposes change is just in the way.   I am not going to take sides in Newark’s mayors race. I don’t know Shavar Jeffries; I know a little bit more about Ras Baraka.  What I do know something about is the drama currently playing in Newark.

There are three urban stages today in America where the battle of the imposition of so-called “corporate school reform” is being most distinctly and unambiguously dramatized: Chicago, Philadelphia, and most bitterly Newark, New Jersey. To call Newark’s raging battle about 

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan Distorts the Data — Again

Yesterday on the website of the Washington Post Valerie Strauss posted this column by New York’s award winning public high school principal Carol Burris to correct misinformation being spread by U.S. Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan. Speaking at a Boston charter school last week, Duncan said, according to news reports: “Forty percent of your high-school graduates are taking remedial classes whe

by janresseger / 2h 

for the love of learning: Chair-less classrooms?

for the love of learning: Chair-less classrooms?:

Chair-less classrooms?

Here's a news story about a chair-less classroom.

I'm all for teachers and schools who make play and physical activity a priority. I've seen classrooms use core stability balls in really cool ways. But let's examine this story a little closer.

Did you notice the trifolds?

I'm less impressed with the "core stability balls" and more concerned about the trifolds on the desks. Don't get wrong, I think the core stability balls are kind of cool. I enjoyed watching the kids exercise and play with the balls.

However, if I had to choose between a chair-less classroom with tri-folds on every desk and a trifold-free classroom with chairs, I'd keep the chairs.

So what's wrong with the trifolds?

Alfie Kohn explains that when we say to children, "I want to see what you can do, not what your neighbour can do", this turns out to be code for "I want to see what you can do artificially deprived of the skills and help of the people and resources around you. Rather than seeing how much more you can accomplish in a well functioning team that's more authentic like real life."

Of course, we shouldn't have to choose between trifolds and chairs.

I think my point here is that we need to be careful about how we justify play for our elementary children. I have three points:

1. We shouldn't have to justify play for young children. Jean Piaget told us a long time ago that "Play is a child's work". We borrowed the termkindergarten from Germany where it literally translates to "children's garden" which is suppose to focus on playing, singing, practical activities and social interactions. There is something very wrong with our elementary schools wh

PETITION: Make Math Memorable

Here is a petition by Educators For Thoughtful Pedagogy that supports Alberta's recent shift away from mechanistic pedagogy and teaching strictly through rote memorization and repetitive worksheets.Here's what the petition stands for:The OECD’s most recent Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) results have Math should be about understanding not followinginstructions and memorizing.

by Joe Bower / 3h

EdTracker: EdSource’s guide to education legislation | EdSource Today

EdTracker: EdSource’s guide to education legislation | EdSource Today:

EdTracker: EdSource’s guide to education legislation

March 17th, 2014 | Add a Comment |
By EdSource staff

EDTRACKER: EDSOURCE’S GUIDE TO EDUCATION LEGISLATION | EDSOURCE TODAY

Last year California state legislators passed the Local Control Funding Formula, transforming how schools are funded. They ended the state’s existing system of standardized testing and created a roadmap for introducing new assessments of student performance.  And they approvedsignificant funding for implementing the new Common Core standards.

While collectively the raft of education bills introduced this year do not approach that level of magnitude, they do address a range of important issues: universal kindergarten for 4-year-olds, school discipline, teacher dismissal, and bachelor’s degrees at the community college level, to name a few.  EdSource will focus on a number of key bills through our EdTracker, reporting their status as they go through the legislative process. Our list will likely expand in coming weeks.  Check back for updates.

Assembly bills

AB 364 – Child care oversight

• AB 364, by Assemblyman Ian Calderon, D-Whittier, would institute unannounced visits to state-funded child care providers with the goal of providing more effective oversight.
• Why it’s important: State-funded child care centers currently operate with very little oversight, as first reported by the Center for Investigative Reporting. When state evaluators do visit the sites, they provide advanced warning, creating the possibility of an unwarranted positive review.

AB 420 – Student discipline

• AB 420, by Assemblyman Roger Dickinson, D-Sacramento, would eliminate willful defiance or disruption of school activities as a reason to expel students and would limit its use in suspensions.
• Why it’s important: The “willful defiance” category, which accounts for more than 40 percent of suspensions statewide, is subjective and has been used disproportionally in many districts against African-American and Latino students. Discipline issues have also received increased scrutiny under the new Local Control Funding Formula for schools, which requires districts to create a Local Control and Accountability Plan that must include how they plan to improve school climate, including minimizing expulsions and suspensions. AB 420 is Dickinson’s second attempt to limit the use of willful defiance. The bill was first introduced last year and passed in the Assembly, but was held over to the current session to hash out remaining disagreements. The bill now sits in the Senate Education Committee’s inactive file; discussions between Dickinson’s staff and Gov. Jerry Brown’s staff are ongoing because Brown vetoed a similar bill in 2012.
• Previous EdSource Today coverage

AB 1444 – Mandatory kindergarten

•  AB 1444, by Assemblywoman Shirley Weber, D-San Diego, would make kindergarten attendance mandatory.
• Why it’s important: Kindergarten is an optional grade and only 81 percent of eligible children enroll. Advocates of mandatory kindergarten say this first year of public schooling is critical to future success and should be mandatory for all students.

AB 1866 – Student attendance

• AB 1866, by Assemblyman Raul Bocanegra, D-Pacoima, would collect data on absenteeism using the California Department of Education’s student record system. The bill is one of a package of five attendance-related bills backed by state Attorney General Kamala Harris to address what she calls an “attendance crisis” in California.
• Why it’s important: Chronic absenteeism, defined as missing 10 percent or more days during the school year, is a strong predictor of dropping out, yet the California Department of Education currently does not track absenteeism on a statewide basis. Bill advocates say tracking chronically absent students will allow schools to use more effective interventions.
• Previous EdSource Today coverage

AB 2235 – School construction bonds

• AB 2235, by Assemblywoman Joan Buchanan, D-Alamo, would place a multi-billion dollar facilities bond on the November 2014 ballot; the exact amount has not yet been set. The K-12 portion of the bond would be for new construction, modernization and charter school facilities. Districts would gain flexibility in the design of facilities.
• Why it’s important: It’s been eight years since voters last approved funding for school construction ($10 billion in 2006), and the state exhausted its money two years ago. Districts report billions of dollars in needed projects. This bill will require a two-thirds vote of the Legislature to place the measure on the ballot.

AB 2319 – Common Core

• AB 2319, by Assemblywoman Susan Bonilla, D-Concord, would authorize a second block grant of about $1.5 billion that school districts could use to train teachers, buy textbooks and instructional materials, develop curriculum and support career technical education needed to implement Common Core State Standards. California and 44 other states have adopted the voluntary standards in math and English, which outline the skills students need.
• Why it’s important:  Districts received a one-time grant of $1.25 billion in the 2013-14 state budget – about $200 per student – for Common Core implementation, but say they need much more to continue that work.
• Previous EdSource Today coverage

Senate bills

SB 837 – Universal transitional kindergarten

• SB 837, by Senate President pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, and several fellow senators, would expand transitional kindergarten to serve all 4-year-olds.
• Why it’s important: A publicly funded pre-kindergarten year for all 4-year-olds, regardless of income, would create a new grade level in California.
• Previous EdSource Today coverage

SB 843 – Teacher dismissal

• SB 843, written by the California School Boards Association and carried by Sen. Lou Correa, D-Santa Ana, would shorten the time it would take to fire a teacher accused of “egregious” misconduct, including sex crimes, abuse and immoral conduct, and expand the ability to gather more evidence to support the charges. An administrative law judge, instead of a three-person panel, would decide the case against teachers accused of misconduct.
• Why it’s important: High-profile cases of serial pedophiles in schools have angered the public and underscored flaws with the current law. Lawmakers have failed for the past two years to change it. An initiative, now gathering signatures, would make more drastic changes than the school boards association favors.
• Previous EdSource coverage

SB 850 – Community college baccalaureates

• SB 850, by Sen. Marty Block, D-San Diego, would create an eight-year pilot program allowing each California community college to offer one baccalaureate degree in a high-need occupation, such as respiratory therapy and automotive technology management, as long as it doesn’t duplicate a degree offered by nearby California State University and University of California campuses.
• Why it’s important: Due to advances in technology and complexity of the work, an increasing number of skilled professions that used to require an associate degree or certificate are now giving hiring preference to candidates with bachelor’s degrees. Bill proponents say the measure would increase the number of graduates prepared for high-paid careers.
• Previous EdSource Today coverage

SB 1108 – English learners

• SB 1108, by Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Los Angeles, would require the State Board of Education to adopt uniform procedures for reclassifying English learners, based on best practices. Districts currently have their own criteria to determine if English learners have enough language proficiency to be reclassified as a fluent English speaker, and reclassification rates among districts widely vary. Students who have been reclassified typically perform better academically than those who continue to be classified as English learners and often as well as native English speakers. 
  
• Why it’s important: As highlighted in a new report by the Public Policy Institute of California, the criteria used and the rates of reclassification vary significantly among districts, often to students’ detriment. The Local Control Funding Formula, which awards extra dollars for English learners, may create a disincentive for reclassification.

SB 1174 – Bilingual education

• SB 1174, by Sen. Ricardo Lara, D-Long Beach, would put an initiative before voters on the November 2016 ballot to repeal Proposition 227, the 1998 initiative that banned most bilingual education in California and required that English learners be taught in English.
• Why it’s important: Being multilingual is essential to success in the global economy, Lara said. He also cited several studies showing that students who are bilingual do better in school.
• Previous EdSource Today coverage

Staff writers Jane Meredith Adams, Kathryn Baron, John Fensterwald, Susan Frey and Lillian Mongeau contributed to this report. Sign up here for a no-cost online subscription to EdSource Today for reports from the largest education reporting team in California.

Effort to repeal affirmative action ban stalls in the Legislature - by Michelle Maitre

Facing an outcry from some Asian-American groups and shifting support in the Legislature, a state lawmaker on Monday backed off efforts to repeal California’s ban on affirmative action programs in university admissions. Senate Constitutional Amendment No. ... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit the Edsource Today website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

by Michelle Maitre / 7h hide  //  save

Electric school buses roll out in effort to reduce emissions - by Jane Meredith Adams

An all-electric school bus quietly began transporting students in the Escondido Union High School District on Thursday, part of a state-funded pilot program meant to introduce districts to the merits of bus fleets that are ... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit the Edsource Today website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

2 by Jane Meredith Ada... / 7h 

Cami, where are the books? | Bob Braun's Ledger

Cami, where are the books? | Bob Braun's Ledger:

Cami, where are the books?

Where the hell are the books?

It’s not the ideology. It’s not the politics. It’s not the ego (see mostrecent HuffPost by Cami Anderson, the overpaid tsar of Newark education). It’s not the national pundits screaming at each other over the Internet.

It’s just plain incompetence and indifference to babies of all shades.

This is from a teacher and it’s a better blog than I or anyone else could write about the subject:

 ”I’m a special education teacher and my students do not have any math books. My children are low functioning so all the math workbooks are in color. Try making photocopies of colored books! I’ve contacted the union and they helped me to at least get the Teacher’s guides. Here it is March and my students have no books and probably won’t get them this year. I am private messaging you because I am fearful of Anderson. I am an experienced teacher at the top of the pay scale and I believe if I or my colleagues make waves she will close our happy little school so I will be forced to retire. The books are ordered by Anderson’s staff not at the school level. I can’t sit by anymore. To me it’s criminal not to give children what they need to learn.”

Does anyone really

Survey: Few Southern California school districts can afford comprehensive arts instruction | Pass / Fail | 89.3 KPCC

Survey: Few Southern California school districts can afford comprehensive arts instruction | Pass / Fail | 89.3 KPCC:

Survey: Few Southern California school districts can afford comprehensive arts instruction

Mary Plummer | March 18th, 2014, 5:00am

Maya Sugarman/KPCC

Students participate in a figure drawing class during the four-week California State Summer School for the Arts program at CalArts.

See survey results | KPCC arts education coverage

While state law requires school districts to give students access to music, dance, theater and visual arts instruction from first to 12th grade, few Southern California school districts responding to a survey by KPCC said they actually offer that level of arts access. Of the respondents, two dozen told KPCC they provide comprehensive arts access to fewer than half of their students.

The results were compiled from responses by 41 districts in Orange, Riverside, Ventura, Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties.

“It has been a challenge to maintain these programs due to state budget cuts over the past 5-6 years,” wrote Nick Salerno, superintendent of El Monte Union High School District, which serves ninth-12th graders. Salerno reported that more than 80 percent of his students are offered instruction in music, theater and visual arts – but no more than 10 percent have access to dance instruction.

School officials told KPCC funding is the biggest obstacle to providing arts instruction.

“We have an exceptional program - but it is due to the funding efforts of our La Canada 

UPDATE: Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Early (but not too early) and Often + 'Let's finish the job'

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: 'Let's finish the job':

Early (but not too early) and Often

Jay Travis and friends.When progressive 26th Dist. Rep. candidate Jay Travis went to her polling place to vote at 6 a.m. this morning, she and dozens of others, including lots of seniors, were turned away due to alleged "voting machine" problems and told to "come back later". Travis has mounted a fiercely competitive challenge against machine-backed Christian Mitchell.Mitchell

1 by Mike Klonsky / 31min 

'Let's finish the job'

From Will Guzzzardi

Mike --Two years ago today, we came within 125 votes of doing what no one thought was possible. When I decided to challenge one of the most powerful political families in Illinois, I knew it wouldn't be easy. But what I didn't know was just how many people across the district -- parents, teachers, progressive leaders, young and old -- would come together to support this campaign.

Looking back on it, the reason that's happened is simple: this community is ready for change. Our neighbors deserve better than leaders who put political allies ahead of the people who elected them. And our families deserve better than the distasteful smear tactics that have been filling all our mailboxes for more than a month now. Today, we have an opportunity to prove that a better kind of politics is possible. Let's go finish the job.

Thank you so much.-Will

New Orleans teacher/blogger Mercedes Schneider opens up a can of whoopass on Bill Gates. Can she do that? Doesn't she know