8-7-14 Schools Matter

Schools Matter:

Rating Schools: Use Library Quality

Response to LA Times editoral: Grading California's Schools, August 7More relevant than using outcomes (test scores, graduation rates) in rating schools is an "input" factor: the quality of the library.Study after study shows that that students living in states with better school libraries do better on tests of reading achievement.  California ranks near the bottom of the country in sc

by skrashen / 30min 

Listen to teachers, read the research

Sent to the Jewish Journal, August 7, 2014Ellie Herman ("To save education, listen to teachers," August 6) points out that many of those driving education policy in the US have never taught. The situation is even worse: Education policy makers are also ignorant of educational research: They are unaware that scientific studies published in professional journals provide no support for the

by skrashen / 17min 

Failure at An Early Age

Fourteen years ago Louisiana had the dubious distinction of being the first state in the Union to require elementary school students to pass a state test, the LEAP, to be promoted to the next grade.  Parents, teachers, and principals in high poverty neighborhoods all over Louisiana knew what was coming, and all the "Lean on Jesus" test prep rallies that could be staged by parents and chu

by Jim Horn / 3min

Access to books helps close the reading gap in kindergarten

Access to books helps close the reading gap in kindergartenStephen KrashenFryer and Levitt (2004) examined reading and math test scores in kindergarten and grade 1 from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (about 1000 schools). Their focus was the gap between black and white children.For reading, the difference between black and white children at the start of kindergarten was .40 (where 0 = me

by skrashen / 0min 

8-6-14 Schools Matter

Schools Matter: Rahm Slashes Schools to Funnel Cash to Corporate PalsThe reptilian Rahm Emanuel has a conscious strategy to allow profiteers and privatizers to take over Chicago Public Schools, and he is using the money saved by starving the schools and cutting teacher pensions to provide corporate subsidies to his cronies.  David Sirota has the story:Months after Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said b

by mike simpson / 23h 

Kenzo Shibata: What's the Plan for Chicago Public Schools? Look No Further Than Detroit

Kenzo Shibata: What's the Plan for Chicago Public Schools? Look No Further Than Detroit:

What's the Plan for Chicago Public Schools? Look No Further Than Detroit

Detroit Public Schools (DPS) "Emergency Manager" Roy Roberts stepped down from his position on May 2. During his announcement, Roberts said that his instructions when he took the job were to "blow up the district and dismantle it."

"Emergency managers" were tasked with fixing local governments in Michigan after the state declared a financial emergency.

The decimation of public school districts is nothing new in the world of slash-and-burn education reform, but his candidness is extremely rare. The justification for closing neighborhood public schools while opening publicly subsidized, privately profitable charter schools is constantly changing. Currently, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is switching between "utilization" and "achievement" as reasons to close 61 public schools, about 10 percent of the district. These reforms will effectively "blow up" and "dismantle" the district without ever using those words.

What does Detroit have to do with Chicago Public Schools?

Chicago's current schools CEO, Barbara Byrd-Bennett, worked in the Emergency Manager Office in Detroit from 2009 to 2011. During her tenure, DPS closed 59 schools and cut 30 percent of the workforce. Toward the end of Byrd-Bennett's tenure in Detroit as "Chief Academic and Accountability officer," DPS announced its "Renaissance Plan 2012," which included creating 41 charters, making 29 percent of district run by private interests.

CPS CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett and Mayor Rahm Emanuel (AP Photo)

That looks like the perfect canvas for "blowing up" and "dismantling" a district.

Byrd-Bennett has a history of swooping into a district and leaving it dismantled. When leading the Cleveland Public Schools, Byrd-Bennett cut hundreds of teacher jobs and closed Kenzo Shibata: What's the Plan for Chicago Public Schools? Look No Further Than Detroit:

AN OPEN LETTER TO "THE VIEW" FROM BATs! Badass Teachers Association

Badass Teachers Association:

AN OPEN LETTER TO "THE VIEW" FROM BATs!

Your recent comments, which were perceived as an attack on teachers, have caused commotion within our respective communities. In good faith we would like to believe that you did not intend to attack teachers and we would like to believe that you may actually be supportive of good teachers. However, there were several misconceptions that were expressed during these shows and we would like to address them. 

First, Jenny McCarthy asked “But who is protecting the students?” We would like to make it clear that teachers are, quite often, the last line of defense for students and without our “tenure” (due process) protections, we would be unable to provide this protection without fear of termination. Another point was made regarding teachers having a union and students having no union. We would like to assure you that many of the issues our unions fight for, such as class size limits and safe working conditions are for the benefit and safety of students. The working conditions of teachers ARE the learning conditions for students. There are many other items negotiated by teachers that benefit students including preparation time for teachers. No student deserves to be taught by a teacher that does not have the necessary amount of time to prepare a quality lesson. Due process rights that protect teachers in their positions allow the students to benefit from the longevity, consistency and the experience of teachers that have a vested interest in their school and the surrounding community.

The rhetoric of “bad teachers” has become a direct campaign by the wealthy to target teacher unions. It is important to note that teaching is a predominantly female profession. The perception of “bad teachers” has been greatly exaggerated in media stories as this attack gains momentum. As our assistant manager, Melissa Tomlinson, posted on your Facebook page, “Bad teachers do not have any business being in education. But there is more to it than that. What is a bad teacher for one student, can be a wonderful teacher for another student. What may be a bad teacher could be the result of an unfair job placement because administration is trying to run that teacher out due to Badass Teachers Association:

Limousine Liberal David Boies Wants to Fix Our Schools | John Thompson

Limousine Liberal David Boies Wants to Fix Our Schools | John Thompson:

Limousine Liberal David Boies Wants to Fix Our Schools

They used to be called "Limousine Liberals." Now, dilettantes like David Boies are known as corporate reformers.

Boies has become the kinder, gentler face of the blood-in-their-eye teacher-bashing of Michelle Rhee and Campbell Brown. A board member of Rhee's "astroturf" anti-union StudentsFirstNY, Boies will co-host the Campbell - "I'm blaming the teachers unions" - Brown dog and pony show, the Partnership for Educational Justice.Presumably, the liberal Boies will be more credible in spinning their incredible soundbite - the striking down our fundamental rights is "pro teacher."

Boies is shilling for the decade-long, test-driven, scorched earth campaign that demonstrates its pro-student commitment by imposing nonstop test prep on kids, and crippling teachers' power to resist mandates for soul-killing, bubble-in accountability.

There once was a time when Democrats were the party of the people. Rich and poor persons from all backgrounds formed "big tent" coalitions for equity and justice. Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, the Kennedys, and many others rubbed elbows with working people in struggles for civil rights and economic justice. With deindustrialization and the decline of labor unions, fewer and fewer progressive leaders have any experience in the working worlds where most people live.

Boies joins an unfortunate tradition of some elites posing as working class heroes/civil rights advocates; when Leonard Bernstein and Marlon Brando went slumming and hosted revolutionaries, however, that was merely an embarrassment. Bernstein and Brando, like Bois, were sincere and superbly talented in their own fields. But, they leaped to weird conclusions without looking at realities that they didn't understand.

Boies claims no experience with public school teaching. I don't imagine he actually knows and loves any individual poor students of color. I wonder how many he takes out sailing on his yacht, for instance. But he loves them in the abstract. Not realizing how much harm his agenda would do to actual students, Boies would help drive Limousine Liberal David Boies Wants to Fix Our Schools | John Thompson:

OMG - The Sacramento Bee Editorial Integrity (Better late than not at all?)

To our readers - Opinion - The Sacramento Bee:

To our readers

Published: Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2014 - 5:01 pm

Editorial board member Pia Lopez took a leave of absence earlier this year to help her husband, Jim Read, run for Congress in a Minnesota district where he teaches political science. The Sacramento Bee approved this leave to avoid any conflicts of interest between her role as journalist and her role as political spouse.

Since her return to The Bee, however, we learned that in some email conversations with Sacramento-area sources prior to her leave, Lopez discussed Read’s campaign as she conducted editorial board business. Lopez used her board title and company email for other campaign-related communication as well. She also failed to notify her supervisor of potential conflicts of interest between topics addressed by the board andcampaign donations and support in the Sacramento area.

These activities are incompatible with Lopez’s role on the editorial board. We believe our board journalists must avoid even an appearance of a conflict of interest to protect our credibility and the public trust. Because of this, Lopez and The Bee have parted ways.

The Bee did not alter its editorial positions during this period. But appearances matter, as does any public perception that the favor of the editorial board depended on political contributions to Read’s Minnesota race. It did not, and we apologize if anyone felt otherwise.

Cheryl Dell, Publisher and President

Joyce Terhaar, Executive Editor and Senior Vice President

Dan Morain, Editorial Page Editor

To our readers - Opinion - The Sacramento Bee:

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2014/08/06/6610794/to-our-readers.html#storylink=cpy

UPDATE: It's Time to Abandon Zero-Tolerance Discipline | National Opportunity to Learn

It's Time to Abandon Zero-Tolerance Discipline | National Opportunity to Learn Campaign | Education Reform for Equity and Opportunity:

New York Owes Its Schools $5.9 Billion in Funding

New York State is $5.9 billion behind on providing constitutionally required funding for its public schools. A new report from the Alliance for Quality Education lays out the stunning gap between what New York schools need and what they're actually getting. New York State is $5.9 billion behind on providing constitutionally required funding for its public schools. A new report from th

4 by jocelyn / 57min 

It's Time to Abandon Zero-Tolerance Discipline

Posted on: Thursday August 7th, 2014

Kavitha Mediratta

The movement to reform harsh, discriminatory school discipline policies in our nation's schools is picking up steam, with calls for change coming from grassroots organizers nationwide all the way up to the US Departments of Education and Justice.

In a recent commentary for Education Week, Kavitha Mediratta of Atlantic Philanthropies writes about the problems in our nation's discipline system – and the cities and communities that are changing things for the better. 

Harsh, zero-tolerance discipline policies were originally implemented with an eye towards making schools safer. Instead they've made school a less welcoming environment for students and teachers: 

"Rather than improving safety in schools, harsh zero-tolerance discipline has far-reaching negative consequences—dramatically increasing the risk of failure, dropping out, and involvement with the justice system. Even worse, these types of severe punishments disproportionately fall on children of color, particularly African-American students, who are three times more likely than white students to be suspended, even for similar types of misbehavior."

School discipline doesn't have to look this way. For example, Mediratta tells the story of Baltimore's dramatic reduction in suspension rates, and their corresponding jump in graduation rates:

"In 2007, the high school graduation rate in Baltimore, a city where the school system serves 85,000 mostly African-American and low-income students, was an abysmal 34 percent. Then Andrés A. Alonso, the chief executive for the city’s schools, took action. He revised the code of discipline to prevent suspensions for less serious offenses and instituted targeted counseling, after-school programs, and academic interventions to help students succeed.

Four years later, the dropout rate had been reduced by more than half. Eighty-seven percent of Baltimore students who began high school the year the reforms were implemented had either graduated or were completing their studies."

How can other cities and states follow Baltimore's example? In June, the Council on State Governments Justice Center released "The School Discipline Consensus Report," an in-depth report on the effects of harsh discipline and alternative policies. You can also check out the OTL It's Time to Abandon Zero-Tolerance Discipline | National Opportunity to Learn Campaign | Education Reform for Equity and Opportunity:

8-7-14 LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD

LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District):

Department of education reviews testing standards in schools

Department of education reviews testing standards in schools Via Edweek | by Catherine Gewertz The U.S. Department of Education is on the verge of releasing the first draft of new guidance on the peer-review process for standards and tests, a document that could exert a powerful influence on how states set academic expectations. Little known outside the assessment world, the process is wonky and t

2 by Aaron Stella / 37min 

LAUSD schools assured to start with no new teacher contract

LAUSD schools assured to start with no new teacher contract LA Unified teachers will return to school next week with no new UTLA contract. Negotiators met for the second time yesterday, and the next session is not scheduled until Aug. 21 — nine days after school starts. While the teachers union put out a press release yesterday, chiding the district for not being cooperative, the district’s chief

by Vanessa Romo / 1min 

Johnson: LAUSD needs more graduates, fewer dropouts

Johnson: LAUSD needs more graduates, fewer dropouts Photo: Johnson campaign Since the June 3 primary that produced Alex Johnson and George McKenna as the finalists for LA Unified’s District 1 board seat election on Aug. 12, the candidates have engaged in no public debates that would give voters a better opportunity to learn their views on contemporary issues. As a result, LA School Report has aske

1min hide  //  save

Morning Read: LAUSD pushes ahead with glitchy records system

Morning Read: LAUSD pushes ahead with glitchy records system LAUSD to launch new records system despite glitches, lack of training Los Angeles Unified will push ahead with plans to launch a new computer system when classes start Tuesday, despite educators’ concerns that glitches and a lack of training will leave some students without class schedules and cause other problems that could plague the s

1min 

8-6-14 LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD

LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District): Morning Read: Supporters want school bond back on ballotMorning Read: Supporters want school bond back on ballot Backers push to put school bond on ballot Despite widespread bipartisan support from state legislators and school districts, Gov. Jerry Brown is remaining mum on whether he supports putting a m

by mike simpson / 22h 

8-7-14 Answer Sheet

Answer Sheet:

Ten ways to fix the mess that is kindergarten

I’ve posted a number of pieces recently about how kindergarten has been changing over the last decade or so. (See here, here, here and here.) Once a time for socialization and learning through play, school reformers have turned it into an academic exercise that, in some classrooms, leaves little or no time for play, recess […]

by Valerie Strauss / 1min 

8-6-14 Answer Sheet

Answer Sheet: A lesson from South Korea: Student resistance to high-stakes testingEducation Secretary Arne Duncan has said repeatedly that the United States isn’t as serious about educating its young people as the South Koreans. It’s just one of the many things he has said in comparing the U.S. public education system with that of other countries. But is South Korea really the country we should be

by mike simpson / 2min 

8-7-14 Jersey Jazzman

Jersey Jazzman:

Summertime Celebrity Education Ignorance: David Boies

1967 become known as the "Summer of Love."2014 will become known as the "Summer of Hate -- For Teachers Unions."Here in the steaming days of early August, the anti-union, anti-teacher, anti-tenure forces are whipping themselves into a froth over the idea that a school district might have to give a senior teacher a reason for not renewing her contract. Inspired by the widely bro

10 by Duke / 30min 

8-3-14 Jersey Jazzman

Jersey Jazzman: Campbell Brown, Meet Mike Mignone: The Whistle-blowing Teacher Whose Job Was Saved By TenureI have a wish:I wish that every time Campbell Brown made one of her many, many incoherent media appearances where she bad-mouths teachers unions and insists teachers don't need tenure...She would be forced to sit next to Mike Mignone.As I've reported before, Mignone -- a veteran middle schoo

by mike simpson / 11min 

Snake River teacher who fought to keep her position appears to have lost it anyway - Snake River teacher who fought to keep her position appears to have lost it anyway: Members

Snake River teacher who fought to keep her position appears to have lost it anyway - Snake River teacher who fought to keep her position appears to have lost it anyway: Members:

Snake River teacher who fought to keep her position appears to have lost it anyway

MORELAND — A popular Snake River High School science teacher may have successfully fought to keep her job next school year, but she appears to have lost her position anyway. 

Although Elaine Asmus was offered a contract, she didn’t sign it due to concerns about the terms of her probation, which her attorney, Paul Stark, general counsel for the Idaho Education Association, said contained “vindictive and punitive language.” Asmus filed a grievance with the school board to resolve her concerns and asked for time to work things out, but district officials have since told her that her position was deemed vacant because she failed to sign the contract in time and her concerns appear to be moot at this point.

“(It’s not that she was) unwilling to sign a contract, there were important things that needed to be talked about and the school district didn’t give her the time of day,” Stark said, adding that teachers can lose their certificate if they fail to meet the terms of their contract, so the terms are important.

School officials either declined to comment or were unavailable for comment when contacted by the Idaho State Journal on Tuesday, but they have released the names of the high school science teachers who’ve contracted to work with the district next year: Cass Baldwin, who was hired in 2013, and Jessica Croxford and Mimi Argyle, who were both hired this year. Asmus, who has been with the district for 28 years, was not on the list. 

Asmus asked for a due process hearing earlier this year after her contract wasn’t renewed following a harassment complaint — that was filed by Superintendent Mark Gabrylczyk’s wife, Laura, a science teacher at the junior high, who said Asmus started yelling at her over the use of some equipment — and other alleged violations of board policy. 

Following the public due process hearing and related meetings that cost the district more than $61,000 in legal fees, the school board determined that Asmus didn’t violate district policies regarding harassment and bullying; however, they felt her actions did go against other board policies and the Idaho Code of Professional Ethics for Professional Educators. They said she could keep her job, but would be placed on probation. 

Stark said Asmus didn’t have a chance to comment on the probation terms before the board approved them, and she was concerned about some of the conditions. For instance, the probation period was for a year rather than the eight weeks typically required. 

“That’s outside of the realm of normal,” Stark said. 

In addition, the probation terms would require her to write weekly reports detailing her interactions with others, which Stark said would leave her little time to do her job.  

When Asmus took her concerns to the principal, Ed Jackson, he told her she had to talk to the school board, Stark said. Asmus did that, but it took three weeks for her to be able to meet with the board and she was then told she had to file a grievance.

She did that, too, but was then told her grievance wasn’t filed within the five-day period required, didn’t follow the proper processes and didn’t meet the necessary requirements for filing a grievance. And since she never signed her contract, they said the probation plan was no longer necessary. 

“The concerns you express regarding the Probation Plan appear to be moot, by virtue of your failure to execute a teacher’s contract for the 2014/2015 school year. Inasmuch as your position is now automatically deemed vacant as provided by Board resolution adopted on June 23, 2014, you will not be employed for such school year,” according to the school board’s response. 

Stark said they’re considering several options right now, but haven’t made any decisions about how to proceed. Still, he believes Asmus’ efforts were hindered by school officials, and she deserves better after nearly three decades on the job.  

“(There is a) pattern of unwillingness to sit down and work together on finding a solution,” he said, adding that that is all Asmus wants to do. 

“All we want is a fair chance. (Asmus) is beyond dispute one of Idaho’s best teachers and she deserves better than the bureaucratic runaround,” he saidSnake River teacher who fought to keep her position appears to have lost it anyway - Snake River teacher who fought to keep her position appears to have lost it anyway: Members:

NAACP prepares challenge to new School Board districts | News | The Advocate — Baton Rouge, Louisiana

NAACP prepares challenge to new School Board districts | News | The Advocate — Baton Rouge, Louisiana:

NAACP prepares challenge to new School Board districts

Plan shrinking seats on panel drawing criticism

BY CHARLES LUSSIER | CLUSSIER@THEADVOCATE.COM

 Residents interested in running for the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board will have just nine seats to pursue when qualifying begins two weeks from now — two fewer seats than available during the last elections held in 2010.

The School Board approved a new nine-member plan by a narrow 6-5 vote on July 24. The Louisiana NAACP has promised to challenge in federal court to this last-minute redistricting, arguing that the new maps dilute minority voting strength. The civil rights organization wants a court to revert the School Board back to the 11-member plan it approved in November 2012, a plan which already cleared by the U.S. Justice Department.

Alfreda Tillman Bester, general counsel for the NAACP, said Wednesday she is preparing litigation that she hopes to file any day now to try to stop the new maps from being in place at qualifying, which takes place Aug. 20-22.

“Getting very close,” she said.

On paper, the racial balance on the board is similar.

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 RELATED DOCUMENTS

• Maps show 11 current School Board districts and newly drawn 9 districts (PDF)

The 11 current districts break down into six majority white and five majority black districts. The new board that takes office Jan. 1 will have five majority-white districts and four majority black districts.

See the two district maps here.

Newly drawn District 5 is drawing objections from some local black leaders. First-term board member, Evelyn Ware-Jackson, who is black, is the incumbent — board member Craig Freeman says he’s not running again.

District 5, however, is composed of 55 percent black versus 42 percent white residents. In the 2012 plan, which has been jettisoned, the lowest black majority was in District 6. That district had 59 percent black versus 33 percent white residents.

John Couvillon, a Baton Rouge-based political and demographic analyst, pointed out in a blog post that ran soon after the July 24th vote that the 55 percent figure is misleading.

Black voting registration in the new District 5 is 50 percent black versus 46 percent white. And at election time, those 25 precincts are more white still.

Even at peak black turnout during the 2008 and 2012 president elections, white voters showed up in greater numbers, 49 to 47 percent each time. In a lower black turnout elections, such as the 2010 Senate race between David Vitter and Charlie Melancon, the white advantage grew to 56 percent versus 41 percent black.

Couvillon, president of JMC Analytics and Polling,NAACP prepares challenge to new School Board districts | News | The Advocate — Baton Rouge, Louisiana: