8-27-14 Seattle Schools Community Forum

Seattle Schools Community Forum:

OSPI Releases State Test Results

Someone at OSPI has a sense of humor.  Their press release is called, "State Test Scores in a Waiverless World." Seattle's Test scores  I have to say that those 10th grade scores are looking pretty good for reading and writing:Reading: 81.2%, Writing 84.5%Math and Science EOC - looks they are holding steady at about 61-64%, not great.From the press release: More than 90 percent of 12th g

by Melissa Westbrook / 22min 

I Have a New Twitter Follower

Welcome, Mr. Gates (no, I don't believe he reads anything I write but it brought a smile to my face).Bill Gates @billgates_sInspirational quotes from Bill Gates Following: 1409 · Followers: 1115 Follow

by Melissa Westbrook / 1min 

Finding Common Ground

I have been an education activist for a long time and I have never had any delusions about my effectiveness. After all, the district officials have all of the power and all of the authority, so they don't have to do anything they don't want to do and they are free to do whatever they like. We have seen that there is almost no accountability or consequences for them, so they really aren't answerabl

by Charlie Mas / 36min 

8-26-14 Seattle Schools Community Forum

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Tuesday Open Thread In the "grrrr" editon of Open Thread:In Jurupa Valley (a small city near Irvine, California), school officials apologized to parents of high school Sped students because, as part of a "functional skills program," the schools had them dig through trash for items that could be recycled for money.  The Superintendent carefully p

by mike simpson / 21h 

8-27-14 Schools Matter

Schools Matter:

Lee County, Florida First to Opt Out Entire System From State Standardized Testing

Lee Schools made history Wednesday night when they voted to become the first school district in the state to opt out of all statewide, standardized tests.

by Jim Horn / 50min 

"TeacherTown" Now Paying Charters Over $80 Million Per Year in Projected Enrollment Cash

Not only is Shelby County and the State coughing up over $80 million each year for corporate reform schools whose test scores are, for the most part, the same or worse than the schools they replaced, but almost $20 million of that is for enrollment that never materialized.  In 2013-14, the profiteering charters over-estimated their enrollment to collect millions they use to make more.  When they d

2 by Jim Horn / 25min 

8-26-14 Schools Matter

Schools Matter: Klein Doing Damage Control for Deasy While Selling His Own Tablet SolutionOle McChoakumchild, himself, Joel Klein, had his media mothballs removed long enough this morning to go on CBS to pretend to defend "Dr." John Deasy's slimeware that he provided for Apple hardware  and Pearson software to complete the Los Angeles IPad fiasco deal.  What he was really for is to get M

by mike simpson / 18min 

8-27-14 Hemlock on the Rocks

Hemlock on the Rocks:

Susan Ohanian's Take on the Latest LAUSD Outrages

http://www.susanohanian.org/outrage_fetch.php?id=1864

by Rene Diedrich / 4min 

Audit says $2.1 million in L.A. school computers unaccounted for - LA Times

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-lausd-computer-security-20140827-story.html?track=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+lanowblog+(L.A.+Now)

by Rene Diedrich / 10min

Infographic: LA schools iPad project: How it started ... before the bidding began | 89.3 KPCC

http://www.scpr.org/blogs/education/2014/08/25/17192/how-did-la-schools-decide-on-ipad-software-it-star/#timeline Superintendent John Deasy was a year into his tenure at the Los Angeles Unified School District when he started talking to the largest publishing company in the world, Pearson PLC, about working together on a digital transformation in

by Rene Diedrich / 7min 

Interview with LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy on pausing the $1billion iPad program | Which Way L.A.?

http://blogs.kcrw.com/whichwayla/2014/08/lausd-superintendent-john-deasy-on-why-hes-halting-the-ipad-programTo hear the interview, use the link above.   The iPad program at LAUSD has been halted following criticism of the bidding

by Rene Diedrich / 3min 

Criminal Charges Should Be Brought Against Lausd'S Superintendent John Deasy

CRIMINAL CHARGES SHOULD BE BROUGHT AGAINST LAUSD'S SUPERINTENDENT JOHN DEASY (Mensaje se repite en Español) Whether the Los Angeles Unified School District's  (LAUSD) Superintendent John Deasy is criminally culpable for his actions in dealing with Pearson and Apple on behalf of the district concerning his clearly collusive actions in complete derogation of the public bidding process

by Rene Diedrich / 6min 

Truth Out: Education, Inc.

(Illustration: Jared Rodriguez / t r u t h o u t) This story could not have been published without the support of readers like you. Click here to make a tax-deductible donation to Truthout and fund more stories like it! Presidential administration proclamations about the state of public education over the past 30 years: 1983: "Our Nation is at risk. . . . the educational

by Rene Diedrich / 2min 

ELITE Attackers of Public Schools Don't Admit the Impact of Economic Inequality, Racism on Education

Elite Attackers of Public Schools Don't Admit the Impact of Economic Inequality, Racism on Education Wednesday, 27 August 2014 09:56 By Mark Naison, Haymarket Books | Book Excerpt

by Rene Diedrich / 4min hide  //  save

.:: LAUSD Ethics Office ::.Guidelines from an Office that Should be Ethical Enough to Address Issues Concerning Apple, Person , Deasy and More

http://ethics.lausd.net/default.asp?Page=help_faqs_01#faqsP About Ethics 1. Why does ethics matter? 2. Isn't ethics subjective and relative? 3. Isn't ethics just about following the rules? 4. Can you really influence people in behaving more ethically? 5. Why should anyone behave ethically if it's not in their self interest? 1

by Rene Diedrich / 54min 

OUR Urgent Need for an Ethical Education :LAUSD BOE / Deasy Ethics Remediation :Lesson 2

Our Urgent Need for an Ethical Education

by Rene Diedrich / 5min hide  //  save

Remediation for LAUSD BOE and Mr. Deasy : Psychology of Selfishness: What is ethics and why do we need it?

http://ifat-glassman.blogspot.com/2009/10/what-is-ethics-and-why-do-we-need-it.html What is ethics and why do we need it? We make decisions every day, all the time.  What do you think is the fundamental reason for our need to act, to make decisions?   One thing to notice is that our feelings

by Rene Diedrich / 9min 

LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy says he is not scrapping district’s $1 billion iPad program

From Bond Report Image: AppleLos Angeles Unified School District officials issued a statement Tuesday saying the district still plans to put an electronic tablet in the hands of every student after scrapping its original contract for iPads and software after questions were raised about the procurementhttp://www.dailynewsen.com/education/

by Rene Diedrich / 34min 

LAUSD SCAMS Go Beyond the Apple- Pearson Collusion: Payroll is Pillaging Paychecks with Phony OVERPAYMENT Claims t

*If you are a current or retired employee of the Los Angeles Unified SchoolDistrict (LAUSD) there is yet another assault you might find yourself beingsubjected to- the clearly false allegation that you were overpaid by LAUSD,when the reality is that there is a greater likelihood and in many casesclear and convincing evidence that you were significantly underpaid. In thelast few years, LAUSD has

by Rene Diedrich / 0min 

The Walking Dead and their Whipping Boys of Public Education

WordPress.com Lloyd Lofthouse posted: "Thanks to the fake Ed reformers—for instance, Bill Gates, President Obama and his Secretary of Education Arne Duncan (there

by Rene Diedrich / 1min 

Open Letter to lAUSD Board of Education.

Dear Board of Education:Relative to latest shocker athttp://www.scpr.org/blogs/education/2014/08/25/17202/la-schools-cancel-ipad-contracts-after-kpcc-publis/, it is quite a brazen pronouncement from the Superintendent: he is simply says "never mind" to his multi-million dollar (to date) iPAD plan. He treats taxpayer money and children's education as simply a video game where if he screws

by Rene Diedrich / 5min 

Those Who Go Unsung | FrontPage Magazine

http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/ben-shapiro/those-who-go-unsung/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:%20FrontpageMag%20(FrontPage%20Magazine%20%BB%20FrontPage) Those Who Go Unsung The vast

by Rene Diedrich / 1min 

Can Supt. Deasy survive LAUSD's iPad fiasco? - Los Angeles Times |

http://itcompanyegypt.com/can-supt-deasy-survive-lausds-ipad-fiasco-los-angeles-times-2/ Can Supt. Deasy survive LAUSD's iPad fiasco? – Los Angeles Times So, remember that $1-billion plan to get iPads for each and every Los Angeles Unified student the district has been

by Rene Diedrich / 5min 

8-26-14 Hemlock on the Rocks

Hemlock on the Rocks: Publishing giant Pearson says LA school officials emails part of pilot project | 89.3 KPCCEmails also show Pearson offered to hire four, full-time staff members to help train teachers – which would be an extraordinary expense for an eight-classroom pilot. "In addition, we would hire one elementary math and one elementary ELA and one secondary math and one secondary ELA t

by mike simpson / 32min 

What Chicago's upcoming mayoral race says about the power of movements - Waging Nonviolence

What Chicago's upcoming mayoral race says about the power of movements - Waging Nonviolence:

What Chicago’s upcoming mayoral race says about the power of movements

Karen Lewis, the former high school chemistry teacher who led the Chicago Teachers Union to an unprecedented strike in 2012, is seriously considering running for mayor of Chicago — and she’s already beating incumbent Rahm Emanuel in the polls. But what’s exciting about a potential Karen Lewis candidacy, however, isn’t Lewis herself, but rather what her popularity says about the movements that made it possible.

Increasingly, attacks on public education in the United States have also come with a surge in militant, social justice unionism from teachers across the country, often through progressive caucuses within larger city and statewide unions. The most notable of these has been Chicago’s Caucus of Rank and File Educators. CORE won a majority within the Chicago Teachers Union in 2010, and — with commitments to grassroots organizing and public education — led a strike in September 2012 with 98 percent support within the 30,000-person union. The strike leveraged pressure not only for that year’s contract negotiations with the city, but also drew attention to broader education cuts that resulted in larger class sizes, fewer music and arts programs and an influx of test-based curriculums. While results were mixed, the strike successfully defended tenure and prevented the implementation of merit pay, which would tie teachers’ compensation to students’ test scores. Perhaps most crucially, it brought the crisis of public education funding to the national stage.

In Massachusetts, the Educators for a Democratic Union successfully ran Barbara Madeloni as president of the 110,000-member Massachusetts Federation of Teachers. Madeloni has been persistent in injecting conversations around race and class into her state’s public education fight, pushing a more progressive platform than is typically What Chicago's upcoming mayoral race says about the power of movements - Waging Nonviolence:

Is Smart the New Gangsta? | Missouri Education Watchdog

Is Smart the New Gangsta? | Missouri Education Watchdog:

Is Smart the New Gangsta?

inShare

My daughter has left the nest and been safely delivered to University. Modern communication technology makes this parting not as difficult  as it might have been even 5 years ago. Thanks to smart phones we can Facetime any time we want (make that any time she wants) which means we can have more frequent conversations than my mother and I had when I was away at school. More frequent conversations means I can hear more of the little details of what is happening at school. That’s probably why she shared this story with me. To her it was just a funny little anecdote about her day. To me it was an insight into the thinking at our institutions of higher education.

At the induction ceremony for honors students, they presented with a little video that opened with the statement “Smart is the new gangsta.” I am happy to hear, via my daughter, that this remark earned a groan from the entire student audience. I’m sure the kids that were there who worked hard to get mostly A’s in school and score a 31 or better on their ACT’s were not pleased to be equated with the thugs who refer to themselves as gansta.

Ironically, the urban dictionary defines a gansta as, “A sociopathic member of the inner-city underclass, known primarily for being antisocial and uneducated.” So now being smart is the same as being uneducated??

The video then went on to prove their point, which apparently was that it is now hip to be smart, by citing popular media figures who are smart, whose tv shows have good ratings thus proving that Is Smart the New Gangsta? | Missouri Education Watchdog: