UPDATE: Everything I know about what kids need I learned in the Utah classroom | Lily's Blackboard

Everything I know about what kids need I learned in the Utah classroom | Lily's Blackboard:

Everything I know about what kids need I learned in the Utah classroom

Aug 27th, 2014

by Lily.

SALT LAKE CITY — Lily Eskelsen Garcia will take office Sept. 1 as president of the more than 3.5 million-member National Education Association.

Garcia began her career in education as the salad girl in the school lunch program in Colorado Springs, Colo., where her husband, Ruel Eskelsen, was stationed in the Army. Within a year she became an aide to a special-education teacher, who encouraged her to go to college.

Read the rest of the article here

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Lily Eskelsen Garcia prepares for the office of NEA president by traveling around the nation giving talks and meeting teachers, who she said are excited for the new year. Courtesy photo

Lunch lady rises to teachers union leader and takes on all comers, bluntly

She began her career in a school cafeteria, as a lunch lady. In three weeks, she will take over as head of the nation’s largest labor union, representing 3 million educators. Lily Eskelsen García, 59, a telegenic, guitar-slinging firebrand, has made her unlikely rise to the top of the National Education Association as the union faces [...]

by Lily / 21min hide  //  save

First Latina elected head of the nation’s largest teachers’ union

Lily Eskelsen García began her career in education working at a school cafeteria, and now she is gearing up to become the head the nation’s largest teachers’ union. She was elected president of the National Education Association over the weekend at the union’s annual convention in Denver, becoming the first Latina to hold the position. The union represents more [...]

by Lily / 21min 

Teachers Paying Out Of Pocket For School Supplies

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – Imagine if you had to spend hundreds of dollars of your own money just to get your job done. Lily Eskelsen García, President Elect of the National Education Association, said that’s how much the average teacher had to spend on school supplies for their students in past years. Check out the [...]

by Lily / 21min 

Multi-Craft Core Project Launched - Year 2014 (CA Dept of Education)

Multi-Craft Core Project Launched - Year 2014 (CA Dept of Education):

State Schools Chief Tom Torlakson Launches Pre-Apprenticeship Pilot Project

SACRAMENTO—Nine California high schools will participate in a pilot project this fall designed to help students earn pre-apprenticeships into the construction trade industries, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson announced today.

As part of this pilot project, the nine California Partnership Academies will use the "MC3" program. Standing for "Multi-Craft Core Curriculum," the course of study will lead students to a better-than-entry-level position or pre-apprenticeship with a number of construction trades industries. The curriculum includes: building trades math; labor history; training to recognize and prevent hazards in construction sites; first aid and CPR training; and an introduction to the trade industries. The MC3 program has only been previously used with adults over 18 years of age.

"Career technical education gets at the heart of what we want for our students: real-world skills and knowledge that will allow them to succeed outside our classrooms," Torlakson said. "The MC3 program makes clear to students that what they are learning in school can have a direct effect on their careers after they leave school, keeping them engaged in their own learning."

Staff from the California Department of Education worked with members of the California Labor Federation, North America's Building Trades Unions, and the State Building & Construction Trades Council of California to create the MC3 program in California Partnership Academies (CPA). A CPA is three-year high school program structured as a school-within-a-school. Academies integrate academic and career technical education, business partnerships, mentoring, and internships designed to give students hands-on learning experiences. CPAs serve students at risk of dropping out, whose schools rank below average on the state's Academic Performance Index. The successful program has resulted in a 95 percent graduation rate among CPA students.

Nine career technical education teachers in the pilot project CPAs have received training from their partner industry professionals and earned certifications to teach the MC3 program. Teachers will now design lessons to assure students are prepared for each succeeding step, ultimately building up to a "capstone" course. The capstone course prepares students for a pre-apprenticeship position in the construction trade industries or for further training in college or certification programs.

Students are recruited to participate in CPAs in ninth grade and begin this coursework in tenth grade. In each year, students will learn their regular rigorous coursework, such as social studies, and English language arts and mathematics aligned with the Common Core State Standards and the Career Technical Education Model Curriculum Standards, as well as a career technical education course aligned with the MC3. The coursework will be designed to help students understand the connection between what they learn in school and what they will need to know for careers. The coursework will also meet the "A-G" requirements for entry into college. Successful students will receive a Certificate of Completion from the North America's Building Trades Unions, which is a national industry certification.

This falls under Torlakson's Career Readiness Campaign initiative, designed to keep kids in school and provide high school graduates with career-readiness skills.

The list of nine CPA high schools using the MC3 program is attached.

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Attachment

List of Pilot Project MC3/CPA Schools

1. Laguna Creek High School; GETA-Green Energy Technology Academy; Elk Grove Unified School District; Contact: Eric Johnson, ejjohnso@egusd.net.
2. Jordan High School; ACE Academy of Long Beach; Long Beach Unified School District; Contact: Dr. Melissa Brookman,mbrookman@lbschools.net.
3. Norte Vista High School; Green Construction Academy; Alvord Unified School District; Contact: Gary Packler,gpackler@alvord.k12.ca.us.
4. Salinas High School; Sustainable Design and Green Construction; Salinas Union High School District; Contact: Chuck Felice, charles.felice@salinasuhsd.org.
5. Arroyo Valley High School; CORE Academy; San Bernardino City Unified School District; Contact: Laura Gallardo,laura.gallardo@sbcusd.com.
6. Hoover High School; Sustainable Academy of Building and Engineering (SABE); San Diego Unified School District; Contact: Angie Kania, akania@sandi.net.
7. North County Trade Tech High School; GreenBuild and Engineering Academy; Vista Unified School District; Contact: Philip Lutgen, plutgen@tradetechhigh.org.
8. Arvin High School; Construction and Design Academy; Kern High School District; Contact: Jessica Sinden,jessica_sinden@khsd.k12.ca.us.
9. Soquel High School; Green Manufacturing, Engineering, and Construction (gMEC); Santa Cruz City High School District; Contact: Gail Atlansky, gatlansky@sccs.net.

# # # #

Tom Torlakson — State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Communications Division, Room 5206, 916-319-0818, Fax 916-319-0100

8-27-14 Ed Notes Online

Ed Notes Online:

Charter Angst: Democracy Prep Parent Ready to Pull Child After 5 Days

All I see every morning and evening is this tall man dressed in bright clothing yelling at the parents every single day since school started... parent at Democracy PrepDP founder Seth Andrews - or Eva Moskowitz in dragOh the joy in this comment on another beloved crooked charter, especially with today's news (see Perdido) about Eva Moskowitz and her move to the financial district - call it "W

by ed notes online / 6min  

8-26-14 Ed Notes Online

Ed Notes Online: Black and Latino plaintiffs win back pay in Gulino v BOEBefore ed deform - or maybe an early stage of it - one of the first shots at teachers of color was the lifting of licenses from experienced teachers over a test - even if those teachers had excellent ratings.One of them was in my school, an impeccable pre-k special ed teacher who had worked her way up from a para. My principa

by mike simpson / 2min 

8-27-14 @ The Chalk Face

@ THE CHALK FACE:

About the radio show

Join Drs. Shaun Johnson and Tim Slekar 

LIVE Sundays at 6PM EST and Wednesdays at 7PM EST 

on Blog Talk Radio for progressive, pro-public education talk radio. 

Call in to speak live with Tim and Shaun during the show, (805) 727-7111. 

You can also listen to our Monday "Sunday-Replay" at 7PM EST, and re-broadcasts of the archives every Tuesday and Thursday at 7PM EST.

Visit the @ the Chalk Face radio main page for more information on the show and syndication.

Eva Moskowitz: Wall Street Stage Mother

Hedge-funded, politically-connected New York charter pusher Eva Moskowitz is trying to paint herself as a “protector of children.” She insinuates that her charter school forcefulness is.. ahem.. “for the children,” and likens herself to to a “mama bear”: “I’d be bullied, maybe, if children weren’t at stake,” she said. “But my momma-bear instinct kicks in […]

1 by deutsch29 / 35min 

Elizabeth Green Asks Whether True Believers in “No Excuses” Can Learn

The first rule of teachers in schools that serve every child who walks through the door is “pick your battles.” A teacher’s key skill, we’re often told from day #1, is “learn what to ignore.”   A charter school teacher who does not understand the essential nature of such survival skills may claim to teach the “same […]

1 by John Thompson / 29min 

8-26-14 @ The Chalk Face

@ THE CHALK FACE: About the radio showJoin Drs. Shaun Johnson and Tim Slekar LIVE Sundays at 6PM EST and Wednesdays at 7PM EST on Blog Talk Radio for progressive, pro-public education talk radio. Call in to speak live with Tim and Shaun during the show, (805) 727-7111. You can also listen to our Monday "Sunday-Replay" at 7PM EST, and re-broadcasts of the archives every Tuesday and Thursd

by mike simpson / 23min 

Eva Moskowitz: Wall Street Stage Mother | deutsch29

Eva Moskowitz: Wall Street Stage Mother | deutsch29:

Eva Moskowitz: Wall Street Stage Mother

August 27, 2014

Hedge-funded, politically-connected New York charter pusher Eva Moskowitz is trying to paint herself as a “protector of children.”

She insinuates that her charter school forcefulness is.. ahem.. “for the children,” andlikens herself to to a “mama bear”:

“I’d be bullied, maybe, if children weren’t at stake,” she said. “But my momma-bear instinct kicks in when people try to do bad things to children. And the school system on a regular basis is doing bad things to children.”

She continued ripping into city public schools, saying the majority are“incredibly segregated and getting unbelievably poor results.”

“There are many, many hundreds of schools I would not send my own children to,” she added. [Emphasis added.]

Of course, teachers unions are the problem, and Moskowitz is the solution.

The only problem is, for all of her relentless driving of students to achieve on those high-stakes tests, Moskowitz cannot even deliver on her test-results-driven “bottom line.” In June 2014, Moskowitz’s Harlem Success Academy 1 graduated its first eighth grade class– at 32 students, only a remnant of the original 76 to enroll– and not one was accepted into New York City’s elite high schools.

These 32 survived “mama,” and it took them nowhere remarkable.

In my book exposing those exploiting public education, A Chronicle of Echoes, I compare Moskowitz to a mother– a stage mother. Here’s the opening of my chapter on Moskowitz:

If Mama Rose had forsaken Vaudeville and instead had focused on a career establishing and running charter schools, she might have been mistaken for Eva Moskowitz.

The entire chapter on Moskowitz is available here for readers to view for free, compliments of Amazon.com.

In it, I reveal Moskowitz’s drive to establish her charter school business– which is a business– one described as an “education corporation.” Moskowitz is heavily Eva Moskowitz: Wall Street Stage Mother | deutsch29:

8-27-14 Curmudgucation

CURMUDGUCATION:

PARCC and Test Prep

When PARCC wrote a press release earlier this month addressing some testing concerns, most commentators focused on this quote:“High quality assessments go hand-in-hand with high quality instruction based, on high quality standards,” said Laura Slover, the Chief Executive Officer of the PARCC nonprofit. “You cannot have one without the other. The PARCC states see quality assessments as a part of in

1 by Peter Greene / 39min 

Law Professor Says Duncan's Actions Un-Constitutional

An upcoming article in the Vanderbilt Law Review argues that the administration's waiver program is both illegal and a very, very bad precedent. University of South Carolina law professor Derek W. Black has written articles about the intersection of federal power and school law before, but none quite as feisty as "Federalizing Education By Waiver." And folks have questioned the legality

by Peter Greene / 5min 

8-26-14 Curmudgucation

CURMUDGUCATION: The Cult of OrderMany, many, many reformsters are members of the Cult of Order.The Cult of Order believes in blind, unthinking devotion to Order. Everything must be in its proper place. Everything must go according to plan. Everything must be under control.It is not new to find cult members in education. We all work with a least a couple. Desks must be just so. The surface of the t

by mike simpson / 19h 

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:

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

Wednesday, 27 August 2014 09:56By Mark Naison, Haymarket Books | Book Excerpt

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(Image: Nick Thompson)

Wayne Au, editor of Rethinking Schoolsand coeditor of Pencils Down: Rethinking High-Stakes Testing and Accountability in Public Schools, writes of the book, Badass Teachers Unite: "In this powerful collection of essays, education activist and historian Mark Naison offers teachers, parents, students and anyone else concerned with the health of public schools in this country some invaluable tools in the fight against corporate education 'reform.' Badass Teachers Unite is a clarion call for all of us to reclaim public education in the name of social justice."

Naison's broadside attack on the co-opting of public schools is in the same vein as Jose Vilson's This Is Not a Test: A New Narrative on Race, Class and Education (previously featured as a Truthout Progressive Pick).

The following is an excerpt from Bad Ass Teachers Unite, which you may obtain from Truthout by clicking here.

Education Reformers and the New Jim Crow

If somebody told me 15 years ago, when I was spending many of my days working with community groups in the Bronx and East New York, dealing with the consequences of the crack epidemic, that you could solve the problems of neighborhoods under siege by insulating students in local schools from the conditions surrounding them and by devoting every ounce of teachers' energies to raising their test scores, I would have said, "What planet are you living on?" Students were bringing the stresses of their daily lives into the classroom in ways that no teacher with a heart could ignore, and these stresses created obstacles to concentrating in school, much less completing homework. People living in middle-class communities couldn’t imagine these forces. To be effective in getting students to learn, teachers had to be social workers, surrogate parents, and neighborhood protectors, as well as people imparting skills. At times, the interpersonal dimensions of their work were more important than the strictly instructional components.

The leaders of the education reform movement, from Secretary Arne Duncan - to the head of Teach for America, to Michelle Rhee, to the heads of almost every urban school system - regard discussions of neighborhood conditions as impediments to the quest to achieve educational equity and demand that teachers shut out the conditions they are living in. Teachers must now inspire, prod and discipline their charges to achieve results on standardized tests that match those of their middle-class counterparts living in more favorable conditions.

The position they are taking, that schools in depressed areas can be radically improved without doing anything to improve conditions in the neighborhoods they are located in, flies in the face of the common sense of anyone who lives or works in such communities, so much so that it represents a form of collective madness! The idea that an entire urban school system (not a few favored schools) can be uplifted strictly through school-based reforms, such as eliminating teacher tenure or replacing public schools with charter schools, without changing any of the Elite Attackers of Public Schools Don't Admit the Impact of Economic Inequality, Racism on Education:

Common Core: Headache or Brain Tumor? | LFA: Join The Conversation - Public School Insights

Common Core: Headache or Brain Tumor? | LFA: Join The Conversation - Public School Insights:

Common Core: Headache or Brain Tumor?

By The American Federation of Teachers on August 27, 2014

By Amber Chandler, American Federation of Teachers member and 7^th grade English Language Arts Teacher at Frontier Middle School in Hamburg, NY

Religion. Politics. Sexual Orientation. Breastfeeding. Abortion. Homeschooling. Salary. Buy or lease. Immigration. Organic.  In no particular order, these are some of the topics of conversation that I generally avoid talking about with complete strangers or getting in to verbal duels on Facebook about.  Sure, if you are in my inner circle, you might know how I truly feel about these issues.  That is not to say that I don’t have an opinion, but that is to say, I’m not generally the type to try to indoctrinate anyone, and I’ve been known to play devil’s advocate to make the conversation more interesting. It isn’t that I don’t have conviction, I do. I just try to intellectually consider the other side.  To some people, this makes me interesting. To others, infuriating.  If you would fall in to the later category, you have my permission to stop reading, no hard feelings.

In the last year, I’ve added the words “Common Core” to my inner radar of “let’s not go there unless you have an hour” topics.  I have heard and read so many ideas about this topic that I am certain we are not all talking about the same thing.  The conversations have stopped being healthy debate, but rather devolved in to lines in the sand with picketers on both side, and politicians handing out tracts and gathering email addresses.  The machine is at work, and despite most people’s best efforts, we’ve been sucked in, reconstructed in to boxes and sold to the public as what our profession has become.  It makes me nervous that we are starting to be so polarized that I was not the least bit surprised when I recently heard this statement: “I mean, really, if they can’t agree on what they should be doing, then what the hell is going on?”

When I am tempted to discuss “Common Core” I start with questions: Do you mean the implementation?  Do you mean the testing associated with it?  Do you mean the training (or lack thereof) for teachers? Do you mean the lack of community involvement in the development?  Do you mean that you disagree with for-profit educational institutions (hint: it starts with a “P”)?  Do you mean you don’t like the College and Career Standards? Do you disagree with Federal involvement and prefer State’s rights? Do you mean you don’t think the Speaking and Listening Standards are useful? Do you mean that technology is not readily available for accurate data? Do you mean your principal is not very well informed? Do you

- See more at: http://www.learningfirst.org/common-core-headache-or-brain-tumor#sthash.9cQ7iJ19.dpuf

8-27-14 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):

LA Unified board approves hiring of Aquino replacement

LA Unified board approves hiring of Aquino replacement Ruth Perez Among the non-iPad and MiSiS issues before the LA Unified board yesterday was approving the hiring of Ruth Pérez as the deputy superintendent of instruction. The vote was 6-0, with Monica Ratliff abstaining. Most recently superintendent of  Norwalk-La Mirada school district, Perez has also served as a teacher and administrator in Fl

3 34min 

The Ratliff report: one view of the iPad program gone awry

The Ratliff report: one view of the iPad program gone awry Monica Ratliff, District 6 Board Member It’s long. It’s detailed. And it’s dry. But here it is, LA Unified board member Monica Ratliff’s report to her colleagues on the work of The Common Core Technology Project Ad Hoc Committee. She was chair. By now, most people know the iPad program didn’t go swimmingly, leading Superintendent John Deas

32min hide  //  save

LAUSD charters extending lead in academic performance

LAUSD charters extending lead in academic performance Source: California Charter Schools Association A new report by the California Charter Schools Association shows a growing gap between the overall school performance of traditional schools and charter schools in LA Unified. The report — Portrait of the Movement — says LA Unified charter schools, on average, produce stronger test results than tra

2 by Yana Gracile / 34min 

Morning Read: Calls grow to investigate LAUSD iPad project

Morning Read: Calls grow to investigate LAUSD iPad project Calls grow for wider inquiry into L.A. Unified iPad project A day after Los Angeles Unified abruptly suspended the contract for its controversial iPad project, there were growing calls for a more thorough investigation into whether the bidding process for the $1-billion program was improperly handled. LA Times Can Supt. Deasy survive LAUS

8min 

For LAUSD school board a new year, but old problems

For LAUSD school board a new year, but old problems Alex Caputo-Pearl, President of UTLA It might be the new school year, but it was a series of old problems awaiting the LA Unified school board yesterday as it met long into the night with a full complement of seven members for the first time in eight months. After the swearing in of newly-elected District 1 member George McKenna, a closed session

3 by Vanessa Romo / 7min 

8-26-14 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): Breaking News: Deasy says he’s cancelling iPad programBreaking News: Deasy says he’s cancelling iPad program Via Los Angeles Times | By Howard Blume Los Angeles schools Supt. John Deasy canceled the $1-billion program to provide all students with an iPad after public records showed he and his top deputy h

by mike simpson / 10min