Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 4/8/15

Special Nite Cap - Catch Up on Today's Post 4/8/15

Special Nite Cap 

CORPORATE ED REFORM

Tisch: 'Opt out' movement could lead to national test | Capital New York

Tisch: 'Opt out' movement could lead to national test | Capital New York: Tisch: ‘Opt out’ movement could lead to national test ALBANY—If too many students "opt out" of Common Core-aligned state exams later this month, New York might be forced to administer national tests instead, Board of Regents chancellor Merryl Tisch said during a public radio interview on Tuesday.“New York is in a u

1 by mike simpson / 1h 

Promising Practices and Unfinished Business: Fostering Equity and Excellence for Black and Latino Males | Annenberg Institute for School Reform

Promising Practices and Unfinished Business: Fostering Equity and Excellence for Black and Latino Males | Annenberg Institute for School Reform: Promising Practices and Unfinished Business: Fostering Equity and Excellence for Black and Latino MalesDisparities in educational access, opportunity, and achievement between Black and Latino males and their peers have been the focus of education reform i

1 by mike simpson / 2h 

Approaches to Education Reform: Privatizing Poverty | educarenow

Approaches to Education Reform: Privatizing Poverty | educarenow: Approaches to Education Reform: Privatizing PovertyPart of the sordid side of our American history includes Native American boarding schools.  In the 18th and 19th century, these schools were established as a means of assimilating Native Americans into white culture.  As Wikipedia tells it, “Children were usually immersed in Europea

1 by mike simpson / 2h 

The Every Child Achieves Act of 2015—Concerns

The Every Child Achieves Act of 2015—Concerns: The Every Child Achieves Act of 2015—ConcernsAPRIL 8, 2015 BY NANCY BAILEY LEAVE A COMMENTBloggers are describing their interpretation of The Every Child Achieves Act of 2015. I wanted to add my concerns. Here is the summary of the Act. Here is the long version.First, I am not a fan of what states and even the local school districts have done to publi

1 by mike simpson / 2h 

HEMLOCK ON THE ROCKS: Getting rid of the losers, like teachers who are “old and costly” and kids who are not “champions” | New Politics

HEMLOCK ON THE ROCKS: Getting rid of the losers, like teachers who are “old and costly” and kids who are not “champions” | New Politics: Getting rid of the losers, like teachers who are “old and costly” and kids who are not “champions” | New Politics            A headline in a recent news story about Los Angeles teachers, calling the district's teaching force "old and costly," is a compa

1 by mike simpson / 4h 

Failed DC Chancellor Michelle Rhee sue to join union without paying for political activities - LA Times

Teachers sue to join union without paying for political activities - LA Times: Teachers sue to join union without paying for political activities An advocacy group has filed a lawsuit seeking to stop teachers unions in California from using member dues for political purposes unless individual instructors provide their permission.The effort, if successful, could weaken the influence of these unions

1 by mike simpson / 5h 

No Limits for Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust

Portfolio holdings of Super Investors - DATAROMA - Value investing: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation TrustPeriod: Q4 2014Portfolio date: 31 Dec 2014No. of stocks: 19Portfolio value: $19,996,418,000HoldingsActivityBuysSellsHistoryStock% of portfolioSharesRecent activityReported Price*histBRK.B - Berkshire Hathaway CL B59.0478,625,314Reduce 5.98%$150.15histCNI - Canadian Natl Railway Co.5.9017,12

by mike simpson / 6h 

Disclosure differs for charter schools run by for-profit firms | The Charlotte Observer The Charlotte Observer

Disclosure differs for charter schools run by for-profit firms | The Charlotte Observer The Charlotte Observer: Disclosure differs for charter schools run by for-profit firmsN.C. law doesn’t require schools run by management firms to account for all taxpayer dollarsPublic school districts must account for every dollar they spend. Charter schools operated by for-profit companies often do not have t

by mike simpson / 7h 

Students wetting their pants at Success Academy charter schools - Business Insider

Students wetting their pants at Success Academy charter schools - Business Insider:In NYC's top charter schools, students are reportedly so scared to take a break they wet their pantsStudents at New York City's largest and arguably most powerful charter school system are reportedly facing a serious problem — wetting their pants during tests.A recent New York Times story on Success Academy — a pola

by mike simpson / 8h 

'Highly Qualified' Teacher Provisions Excised From ESEA Draft; 'Equitable Distribution' Stays - Teacher Beat - Education Week

'Highly Qualified' Teacher Provisions Excised From ESEA Draft; 'Equitable Distribution' Stays - Teacher Beat - Education Week: 'Highly Qualified' Teacher Provisions Excised From ESEA Draft; 'Equitable Distribution' StaysBy Stephen Sawchuk on April 8, 2015 12:32 PMAs you probably know, Senate education leaders yesterday released a bipartisan draft rewrite of the No Child Left Behind Act. (Make sure

1 by mike simpson / 8h 

empathyeducates – Plantation Brown

empathyeducates – Plantation Brown: Plantation BrownBy Brianna | Originally Published at Chocolate, Pomp, and Circumstances . February 21, 2015I read way too many internet comments, so I see that many people believe that if we just stop “race baiting” and talking about race, it will disappear.In case you were confused, racist shit keeps happening because people, usually white (but not always), kee

1 by mike simpson / 9h 

Burning the Village to Save It | EduShyster

Burning the Village to Save It | EduShyster: Burning the Village to Save It*Repentant reformer* Jorge Cabrera talks to me about what’s wrong with the education reform movement…EduShyster: You recount hearing a leader of the education reform movement state that sometimes *you have to burn the village to save it.* This strikes me as the kind of remark one might not want to make when there are villag

by mike simpson / 9h 

Rahm the Screwup - James Warren - POLITICO Magazine

Rahm the Screwup - James Warren - POLITICO Magazine: Rahm the Screwup  Rahm Emanuel on Tuesday survived a political near-death experience entirely of his own making.America’s most compelling, and exhausting, big-city mayor defeated a previously little-known Cook County commissioner, Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, in a runoff where Emanuel spent around $4 million in TV ads alone.He claimed to be humbled as h

1 by mike simpson / 9h 

Schools Matter: CorpEd Assails Opt Out In Desperate Attempt to Protect House of Cards

Schools Matter: CorpEd Assails Opt Out In Desperate Attempt to Protect House of Cards: CorpEd Assails Opt Out In Desperate Attempt to Protect House of CardsKen Derstine has this fine piece on the latest exploits of the inimitable Eduwank:Is Corporate Education Reform trying to Coopt the Opt Out movement?by Ken DerstineBellwether - The term is derived from the Middle English bellewether and refers

1 by mike simpson / 9h 

Election 2015: The movement that changed Chicago’s political landscape

Chicago Teachers Union | Election 2015: The movement that changed Chicago’s political landscape: Election 2015: The movement that changed Chicago’s political landscapeBY CTU COMMUNICATIONS  |  04/07/2015CHICAGO—For the first time in 20 years, Chicagoans had the opportunity to engage in an extended political debate regarding the city’s future, which created a massive coalition of labor, community o

by mike simpson / 10h 

Questions of Bias Are Raised About a Teachers’ Exam in New York - NYTimes.com

Questions of Bias Are Raised About a Teachers’ Exam in New York - NYTimes.com: Questions of Bias Are Raised About a Teachers’ Exam in New York A federal judge is questioning whether a new exam for aspiring teachers in New York is discriminatory against minorities, a case that could derail the state’s efforts to create a more rigorous set of tests for entry into the profession.Black and Hispanic ap

1 by mike simpson / 10h 

Reject Common Core, but Don’t Reject Shared Knowledge - Yahoo Finance

Reject Common Core, but Don’t Reject Shared Knowledge - Yahoo Finance: Reject Common Core, but Don’t Reject Shared Knowledge Ted Cruz opposes Common Core, according to his website. He thinks every child deserves a quality education and breezily applauds “school choice.” Rand Paul wants to abolish the Common Core, and wants more variety in education choices.  Neither seems to make education a prior

1 by mike simpson / 10h 

Federal After-School Program Not Restored in Bipartisan ESEA Bill - Time and Learning - Education Week

Federal After-School Program Not Restored in Bipartisan ESEA Bill - Time and Learning - Education Week: Federal After-School Program Not Restored in Bipartisan ESEA Bill The $1.15 billion federal after-school funding program was not restored in the widely anticipated bipartisan agreement to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) released Tuesday afternoon.As written, the com

1 by mike simpson / 10h 

The education model that fell apart | Capital New York

The education model that fell apart | Capital New York: The education model that fell apart ALBANY—A few blocks from the Capitol, a cluster of vacant buildings testifies to the rapid rise and quick retreat of Albany’s charter school sector.Once heralded as a new beginning for children living in grinding poverty and stuck in a long-troubled school district, Albany’s charter system has so far failed

by mike simpson / 11h 

Silent no more: Boston's ‘unwanted’ educators rip school administrators | Boston Herald

Silent no more: Boston's ‘unwanted’ educators rip school administrators | Boston Herald: Silent no more: Boston's ‘unwanted’ educators rip school administratorsKids lose on bottom lineEDUCATION AS BUSINESS’: Aytul Farquharson, left, a 15-year music teacher with degrees from Harvard and Berklee, and Andrea Devine, right, a 14-year ESL teacher, say they’ve been shunted aside in Boston Public Schools

1 by mike simpson / 11h 

Hispanic, Black Parents More Likely to Approve Common Core State Standards: Poll : Latin Life & Culture : Latin Post

Hispanic, Black Parents More Likely to Approve Common Core State Standards: Poll : Latin Life & Culture : Latin Post: Hispanic, Black Parents More Likely to Approve Common Core State Standards: Poll Black and Hispanic parents are more likely to approve of the Common Core, according to a recent poll.Common Core State Standards, a set of high-quality academic standards in mathematics and English

by mike simpson / 11h 

What Will Be the Legacy of Today's School 'Reforms'? | Vicki Cobb

What Will Be the Legacy of Today's School 'Reforms'? | Vicki Cobb: What Will Be the Legacy of Today's School 'Reforms'?The other day I was doing a program for a group of 4th-6th graders at a local public library. I introduced myself to them by telling them how I had LOVED school so much when I was a kid that I basically recreate it for myself everyday as I write my books. The kids' reaction to my

1 by mike simpson / 11h 

Senate Plan to Revise No Child Left Behind Law Would Not Measure Teachers by Test Scores - NYTimes.com

Senate Plan to Revise No Child Left Behind Law Would Not Measure Teachers by Test Scores - NYTimes.com: Senate Plan to Revise No Child Left Behind Law Would Not Measure Teachers by Test Scores A bipartisan Senate bill revising the No Child Left Behind law, and eliminating many of its most punitive elements, was announced on Tuesday.The bill retains the requirement for yearly tests in math and read

1 by mike simpson / 11h 

America is criminalizing Black teachers: Atlanta’s cheating scandal and the racist underbelly of education reform - Salon.com

America is criminalizing Black teachers: Atlanta’s cheating scandal and the racist underbelly of education reform - Salon.com: America is criminalizing Black teachers: Atlanta’s cheating scandal and the racist underbelly of education reformOur educational system stacks the deck against Black children -- now we're throwing their teachers in jailFormer Atlanta Public Schools school research team dir

by mike simpson / 11h 

Why Are Kids Suspended? | Margaret Crotty

Why Are Kids Suspended? | Margaret Crotty: Why Are Kids Suspended?Mayor de Blasio's recent announcement that the New York City Department of Education would seek to reduce the number of student suspensions has sparked a conversation about the effectiveness -- and fairness -- of suspensions as a disciplinary tool. The Department of Education reported that in the 2013-2014 school year there were 53,

1 by mike simpson / 11h 

YESTERDAY

Rahm Emanuel: Symbol of a Sick America - NationofChange

Rahm Emanuel: Symbol of a Sick America - NationofChange: Rahm Emanuel: Symbol of a Sick America  America’s is a sickness of the mind, the unwavering belief by people in power that free-market capitalism will somehow work for everyone.As with a virus that refuses to die, the effects are insidious, because the very rich have convinced themselves that they made it on their own, and that others have o

2 by mike simpson / 20h 

Ohio Politics Now: Amid test concerns, state to allow some schools to create their own | The Columbus Dispatch

Ohio Politics Now: Amid test concerns, state to allow some schools to create their own | The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio Politics Now: Amid test concerns, state to allow some schools to create their ownThe tests linked to Common Core standards have been under fire from educators and parents who are concerned with glitches and the amount of time it takes to prepare for and take the tests. A look at wha

1 by mike simpson / 21h 

Some Details on the Senate-proposed ESEA Reauthorization | deutsch29

Some Details on the Senate-proposed ESEA Reauthorization | deutsch29: Some Details on the Senate-proposed ESEA Reauthorization On April 7, 2015, the Senate education committee announced the following as part of a press release:WASHINGTON, D.C., April 7 – Senate education committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-Wash.) today announced a bipartisan agreement on

1 by mike simpson / 22h 

AFT President Weingarten on Today's Chicago Election | American Federation of Teachers

AFT President Weingarten on Today's Chicago Election | American Federation of Teachers: AFT President Weingarten on Today's Chicago ElectionWASHINGTON—American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten on the results of today's election in Chicago."Runoffs carry a special message for re-elected leaders: Voters are willing to give them a second chance. Tonight Mayor Emanuel was given t

1 by mike simpson / 23h 

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 4/7/15

Special Nite Cap - Catch Up on Today's Post 4/7/15Special Nite Cap CORPORATE ED REFORMClick here to go to Jesus "Chuy" Garcia for  Chicago Website#‎Chuy2015‬ ‪#‎imwithchuy‬BustED Pencils Trending News: "Every Child Achieves Act" Gains Traction. | BustED PencilsBustED Pencils Trending News: "Every Child Achieves Act" Gains Traction. | BustED Pencils:BustED Pencils Tren

5 by mike simpson / 23h

2015 National Conference – Chicago

The Countdown to Chicago Has Begun!

The Network For Public Education | 2015 National Conference – Chicago 

http://bit.ly/1FQFcQM

Tisch: 'Opt out' movement could lead to national test | Capital New York

Tisch: 'Opt out' movement could lead to national test | Capital New York:

Tisch: ‘Opt out’ movement could lead to national test

 ALBANY—If too many students "opt out" of Common Core-aligned state exams later this month, New York might be forced to administer national tests instead, Board of Regents chancellor Merryl Tisch said during a public radio interview on Tuesday.

“New York is in a unique position,” Tisch said on WNYC’s “The Brian Lehrer Show.”“Most other states in this country are being forced into two national tests. New York State took the opportunity over these last several years to build our own state tests, and that is exactly why I am particularly interested in curtailing this ‘opt out’ movement. Because in order for us to be able to have viable state test, we need a viable number of students in every district showing up to be tested. We need to have valid, reliable state assessments.

“In the absence of that critical number we will be forced, unfortunately—and I truly believe unfortunately—to adopt a national test,” she said.

As part of the federal Race To The Top competitive grant program, the U.S. government offered funding to two groups of states to develop exams based on the Common Core. The testing consortia are called the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, or PARCC, and Smarter Balanced. Both will begin giving their tests this year.

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New York has been involved in the development of the PARCC tests but decided to create its own Common Core-aligned state tests initially andbegan administering them years before other states.

State education officials have postponed transitioning to the PARCC tests, and Tisch said she’d like to keep it that way for a while longer.

“Let me remind everyone that New York was a leader at that table in developing those national tests, so we very much had our oar in the water there as those tests were developed,” Tisch said. “However, I truly believe that these tests are just embarking now. … I’d like to give these national tests a year or two to roll out to see what the kinks are in them before I would subject New York students and New York teachers and New York parents to yet another change.”

Tisch said other states that don’t want to transition to the PARCC or Smarter Balanced tests have asked to “borrow” New York’s tests, which were developed under a five-year, $32 million contract with Pearson.

Tisch also addressed the uncertainty over the role of the Board of Regents and state education department in developing new teacher evaluations. The state budget, approved last week, detailed a new evaluation system but charged state education officials with finalizing details.

Capital reported on Tuesday that it’s unclear even to Tisch and the leaders of the department whether they have any power to impact what’s in law, despite lawmakers’ arguments that the board and department would have broad authority to craft a new evaluation system.

During the radio interview, Tisch stressed that the board and department would work to defuse the contentious political situation that has developed around the evaluations, especially as Governor Andrew Cuomo has battled teachers’ unions.

“I listened very carefully to the language of the legislative leaders, particularly Assemblywoman [Catherine] Nolan and chairman [John] Flanagan on the Senate side,” Tisch said. “I think, quite frankly, everyone is all over the map here. They are looking to Tisch: 'Opt out' movement could lead to national test | Capital New York:

Promising Practices and Unfinished Business: Fostering Equity and Excellence for Black and Latino Males | Annenberg Institute for School Reform

Promising Practices and Unfinished Business: Fostering Equity and Excellence for Black and Latino Males | Annenberg Institute for School Reform:

Promising Practices and Unfinished Business: Fostering Equity and Excellence for Black and Latino Males

Disparities in educational access, opportunity, and achievement between Black and Latino males and their peers have been the focus of education reform initiatives for decades. A new report from the Center for Collaborative Education (CCE) and the Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University (AISR),commissioned by Boston Public Schools, offers findings and recommendations that aim to help BPS become the first district in the nation to succeed in eliminating these gaps for all students.

Promising Practices and Unfinished Business: Fostering Equity and Excellence for Black and Latino Males summarizes the findings and recommendations from the second phase of a groundbreaking study examining factors impacting low academic performance for Black and Latino males.  The first phase of the report found that Black and Latino males had inequitable access to more rigorous programs in schools, contributing in part to significant opportunity and achievement gaps for this population.
The new study offers detailed case studies that suggest a more intentional approach to supporting Black and Latino male students could significantly strengthen outcomes.

Both phases of the report, commissioned by Boston Public Schools and conducted by the Center for Collaborative Education (CCE) and the Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University (AISR), with generous support from the Barr Foundation, represent the most comprehensive body of work in the country aimed at closing those gaps for Black and Latino males.

  #path2equityBOS

Media Coverage:

> Report: Boston Lacks 'Cultural Competence' In Teaching Blakc, Latino Males, WBUR Learning Lab (4/7/15)
> Boston teachers urged to discuss race, gender, Boston Globe (4/7/15)
> Boston schools failing black and Latino males, CommonWealth Magazine (4/7/15)
> Boston Public Schools releases second phase of Study of Black and Latino Males
   Finds "Promising Practices" exist whilemore intentional, system-wide support is needed

Report Downloads:

Full report

Executive Summary

Promising Practices and Unfinished Business: Fostering Equity and Excellence for Black and Latino Males | Annenberg Institute for School Reform:

Approaches to Education Reform: Privatizing Poverty | educarenow

Approaches to Education Reform: Privatizing Poverty | educarenow:

Approaches to Education Reform: Privatizing Poverty

Part of the sordid side of our American history includes Native American boarding schools.  In the 18th and 19th century, these schools were established as a means of assimilating Native Americans into white culture.  As Wikipedia tells it, “Children were usually immersed in European-American culture through appearance changes with haircuts, were forbidden to speak their Native languages, and traditional names were replaced by new European-American names (in order to both ‘civilize’ and ‘Christianize’). The experience of the schools was often harsh, especially for the younger children who were separated from their families. In numerous ways, they were encouraged or forced to abandon their Native American identities and cultures.” (Emphasis added)

The assumption was that these children had to be separated from their parents, from their history, from the context of their support system of religion and culture in order to properly assimilate to white standards of “success.” And this needed to happen because all of the Native American cultural characteristics were of a lower standard than the dominant white culture. in 1892, Army officer Richard Pratt said, “A great general has said that the only good Indian is a dead one…In a sense, I agree with the sentiment, but only in this: that all the Indian there is in the race should be dead. Kill the Indian in him, and save the man.”

With the passage of time, it’s a little easier to see the racism, arrogance and violence inherent in this idea. And I know it seems like ancient history, but it isn’t.  The numbers of native Americans in boarding schools peaked in the 1970’s.  Not really that long ago.

The framing assumptions underlying this movement were that of the deficit model.  That is, by standards of the dominant white culture, these Native Americans just weren’t “measuring up.”

Is this beginning to sound familiar?

The problem with  history is that it always replicates itself now, albeit in somewhat differently nuanced and forms.

And that bring us to a brand new, shockingly contemporary version of the above in Phil Powers’ recent editorial in The Bridge, “Could A Boarding School Model Work in Detroit?”

Powers gives an overview:

“I had thought boarding schools for poor and vulnerable children did not exist until I learned of something called the SEED Foundation in Washington, D.C., which does just that. …

Children are chosen for admission by lottery, which means their participation is Approaches to Education Reform: Privatizing Poverty | educarenow:

The Every Child Achieves Act of 2015—Concerns:

The Every Child Achieves Act of 2015—Concerns

APRIL 8, 2015 BY NANCY BAILEY LEAVE A COMMENT

Bloggers are describing their interpretation of The Every Child Achieves Act of 2015. I wanted to add my concerns. Here is the summary of the Act. Here is the long version.

First, I am not a fan of what states and even the local school districts have done to public schools. So I don’t get too excited about eliminating the federal part of the equation. Arne Duncan and Co. are not the only drivers of draconian school reform.

Governors signed off on Common Core State Standards, and most states have backed terrible high-stakes testing regimens. Many states adore charter schools. Children in the early grades are pushed harder than ever before to achieve. And students with disabilities are losing services like nobody’s business. You can argue they are forced to behave this way, but I don’t buy it.

So what does it really matter if you kick Arne out of the house when the whole family is dysfunctional?

Also, the federal government, if it worked right, should be there to fill in gaps and assist states and local education associations. The three, in my opinion, should work together for the betterment of our public schools. Unfortunately, this is but a dream at this point. The Act might look like something for everyone, but I don’t see where it is all that different from NCLB.

I also am not entirely convinced by this Act that the federal government is taking a back seat to education.

I will write about what concerns me the most.

• High-Stakes Testing
• Common Core State Standards
• Literacy
• Special Education
• English Language Learners
• Schools of Education
• Privacy Rights
• Charter Schools

High-Stakes Testing

States get to develop accountability systems, but it seems clear that they will still do a lot of testing. States would have the option of using one big summative test or lots of smaller test essentially combined to reflect a single summative assessment. Will states continue to throw tests at kindergarten and the early grades? And will they still tie teachers to the test scores? They can if they want.

They still talk a lot about data. And consider that states must include graduation rates, which likely means they will continue to make students take the test to prove they are The Every Child Achieves Act of 2015—Concerns:

HEMLOCK ON THE ROCKS: Getting rid of the losers, like teachers who are “old and costly” and kids who are not “champions” | New Politics

HEMLOCK ON THE ROCKS: Getting rid of the losers, like teachers who are “old and costly” and kids who are not “champions” | New Politics:

Getting rid of the losers, like teachers who are “old and costly” and kids who are not “champions” | New Politics

            A headline in a recent news story about Los Angeles teachers, calling the district's teaching force "old and costly," is a companion piece to the New York Times front page article about the Success Academy chain headed by Eva Moskowitz.  Taken together these explain why teachers unions are being attacked so viciously and why the unions need to change gears and direction now.
 Once again, the Chicago Teachers Union leads the way in its new contract demands.
            The Right and many liberals insist that improving teacher quality is the best way to end poverty. This line of reasoning is based on the assumption that governments are powerless - or ought not - interfere with the "right" to make profit in any way possible, including or especially in situations of dire emergency and human disaster, as Naomi Klein explains.
Having succeeded in firing all of New Orlean's teachers, mainly African American, after Katrina, to create the first all-charter school district in the nation, education "reformers" in both parties have gone after career teachers elsewhere. The aim, as this news article shows, is to eliminate experienced teachers who cost more. In so doing teaching is destroyed as a career and profession. To make that happen in a way that is seemingly objective, the project to marketize education, uses scores from standardized tests to evaluate teachers, tweaked to allow for differences in students' characteristics in what is called "value added measures."
            We should have no illusions that these reforms will help all students achieve, the rhetoric that's used to defend marketization and testing.  In fact, the goal is to "blow up" (Chester Finn's term) the system of public education created at the turn of the last century. From neoliberalism's stand point, the system was not sufficiently Darwinian because of increased economic competition. The sorting of those who deserve good jobs and those who don't has to begin in kindergarten. Parents who are desperate to make sure that their children will be among "the haves" with access to the rapidly diminishing number of good jobs the global economy offers submit their children to many practices that advantaged parents may not be willing to permit.
            I want to caution that how kids learn and should be taught is not universal. I think that some white progressives are too quick to dismiss differences in teaching and learning that are related to cultural expectations, and I urge that we acknowledge that good teachers and parents can disagree about what works for kids, as older kids will disagree among themselves. There are, however, certain ground rules we have to insist upon, like behaviors that show we respect one another. As a teacher and teacher educator I think that respect is clearly missing in Success Academy's practice of shaming low achievers by posting their scores to be seen by classmates and making their lives "misery." I would urge parents not to send their children to a school that uses these practices. Respect is also missing in classrooms making poor kids of color obedient to teachers' control of every bodily function, as occurs in prisons - preparation for what awaits students who don't respond positively enough to the tactics of "champion" teachers who follow this prescription for good teaching.

            

Older teachers are often not considered "champions" because they have ideas borne of experience and education about how schools should operate, how they and students should be supported. They want wages sufficient to support a family and working conditions that allow them to spend time with their own children. They are "costly" not only in salary but in their potential, in their unions, collectively to challenge the authoritarianism that pervades schools.
            An essential aspect of persuading parents to see alternatives to the dog-eat-dog competition to which they are told they must submit their children is for unions to do as the Chicago Teachers Union has in its latest contract proposals. The union is HEMLOCK ON THE ROCKS: Getting rid of the losers, like teachers who are “old and costly” and kids who are not “champions” | New Politics:

Failed DC Chancellor Michelle Rhee's StudentsFirst sue to join union without paying for political activities - LA Times

Teachers sue to join union without paying for political activities - LA Times:

Teachers sue to join union without paying for political activities

 An advocacy group has filed a lawsuit seeking to stop teachers unions in California from using member dues for political purposes unless individual instructors provide their permission.

The effort, if successful, could weaken the influence of these unions by limiting their spending.

The lawsuit was filed Friday in federal court by StudentsFirst, a Sacramento-based organization that has opposed candidates and measures backed by teachers unions nationwide, while also working to pass laws that curtail union power.

In the suit, four teachers, including two from the Los Angeles Unified School District, assert that union rules and state laws violate their 1st Amendment rights to free speech because they cannot belong to the union unless they allow a portion of their dues to be spent on political activity. The teachers claim they should be able to join without subsidizing viewpoints they may oppose.

“As part of protecting the right to free speech,” the 1st Amendment does not permit forcing an individual “to subsidize speech by a third party that he or she does not wish to support,” the suit states.

The defendants are the two largest teachers unions in the country as well as the two largest in California. Also being sued are two union locals where three of the teachers work, including United Teachers Los Angeles. The suit also names the superintendents of L.A. Unified, West Contra Costa Unified and Arcadia Unified school districts.

Union leaders characterized the legal action as an attempt to limit what labor can accomplish against well-funded business interests and other opponents by cutting off funding.

“This lawsuit is attempting to use the 1st Amendment to stifle speech, not enhance it,” Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, said in a statement.

In California, although teachers are not compelled to join a union, they must pay a portion of membership dues as “agency fees” to cover their estimated share of costs when the union negotiates contract terms on their behalf.

The remaining portion, which the plaintiffs pegged at 30% to 40%, can be spent on political activities. Union leaders pointed out that contributing this portion is optional.

The California Teaches Assn. “doesn’t require anyone to join the union or spend any dues money to support political candidates,” said the group's president, Dean E. Vogel. “Those who want to opt out of spending dues money on political candidates simply have to check a box on a CTA membership form. Educators can also decline union membership and opt out of paying for any issue not related to union representation.”

The lawsuit, however, asserts that opting out and therefore declining to join the union means giving up advantages of union membership.

“Resigning union membership has significant adverse consequences for a teacher,” the complaint said. Union members, for example, have access to insurance and disability Teachers sue to join union without paying for political activities - LA Times:

 Beware of AstroTurf Ed Reformers 

Just Like Michelle Rhee's Students first only BETTER

Astroturf lobbying refers to political organizations or campaigns that appear to be made up of grassroots activists but are actually organized and run by corporate interests seeking to further their own agendas. Such groups are often typified by innocent-sounding names that have been chosen specifically to disguise the group's true backers

Just Like Michelle Rhee's

 Students first Astroturf lobbying (only Better) 

Other Astroturf lobbying groups

Just Like Michelle Rhee's

 Students first Astroturf lobbying (only Better)