Crimes against the people of Newark and their children | Bob Braun's Ledger

Crimes against the people of Newark and their children | Bob Braun's Ledger:

Crimes against the people of Newark and their children

No, this is not Montclair or Mendham

The woman at the heart of this story doesn’t want me to use her name or her picture–or the names and pictures of her children.  I can’t blame her for that. I don’t know anyone who wants to tell the world about her troubles, especially personal financial troubles.  The story would have more impact if she were willing to provide identifying details and you could see a picture of her and her children, but I understand why she wishes not to do that. The woman, however, is real and I have spoken to her at length. If someone in authority wants to help her, I will tell that person how to reach her.

I will call her Dolores because that means sad. I will call her 8-year-old son David because that is my son’s name. I will call her 4-year-old son Henry because that is my grandson’s name.  All children are our children, after all.

Dolores recently moved to Newark from another town in Essex County.  She is unemployed. She ran out of benefits and she is broke.  Although she and her children moved into the city before the school year began, she was unable to register her children in the school closest to her apartment, Belmont-Runyon.

Newark doesn’t really have neighborhood schools anymore. Rich white people who live in places like Montclair and Glen Ridge and Mendham have decided the residents of Newark must go to the schools they–the rich white people–say they should go to.  So Dolores’s two sons could not go to Belmont Runyon, just a short walk away.

It’s almost funny because those rich white people call this system “choice.”  No one I know can explain why. If Dolores could choose, she says, she would choose the school a block or so away. But strangers who can’t possibly  know how it is to live like Dolores chose to send Dolores’s 8-year-old son, David, to a school more than a mile away. It’s called the Hawthorne School.

To get David to school every morning, Dolores must get up about six when it is still dark and feed and dress her two sons. Then Dolores walks with her two young children to the bus stop and catches the bus that goes partly across town to the Hawthorne Avenue School.

Then Dolores gets back on the bus with Henry to go home. A few hours later, she Crimes against the people of Newark and their children | Bob Braun's Ledger:

Ohio official who manipulated charter-school data helped win federal grant to take over public schools

Ohio official who manipulated charter-school data helped win federal grant to take over public schools - Break News - Ohio:
Ohio official who manipulated charter-school data helped win federal grant to take over public schools

A top Ohio Department of Education official who resigned in July after manipulating data to boost charter schools also participated in a successful effort to obtain $71 million in federal money that could allow the wholesale takeover of urban school districts.

The U.S. Department of Education this week announced that it is providing $249 million to six states and the District of Columbia over the next five years for the expansion of charter schools.

The single-largest grant of $71 million goes to Ohio, which ranks near the bottom nationally for charter-school academic performance and has a history of financial failures.

Records show that David Hansen, a longtime advocate for charter schools hired by State Supt. Richard Ross to run his school-choice office, was involved in the grant application that will facilitate the takeover of Youngstown city schools and other targeted urban districts.

The takeover of so-called “recovery school districts” such as Youngstown was secretly negotiated by Ross, Kasich’s then chief of staff Beth Hansen and Youngstown business officials and approved by the legislature in June in a stunning last-minute maneuver.

David and Beth Hansen are husband and wife, and she left Kasich’s staff in July to run his presidential campaign.

Records released by the Ohio Department of Education Sept. 3 in response to newspaper investigations of Hansen’s role in the data manipulation also show that he assembled the supporting documents for the federal grant.

In those supporting documents, charter schools, charter-school advocates and members of the U.S. Congress painted a positive picture of Ohio.

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, in announcing the $71 million this week, cited a Stanford University report suggesting that charter schools nationwide are showing improvement.

He didn’t mention another Stanford report that says Ohio charter schools areOhio official who manipulated charter-school data helped win federal grant to take over public schools - Break News - Ohio: 

Fresno Unified Superintendent Hanson admits to using Cyber Dust privacy app | Fresno Bee

Fresno Unified Superintendent Hanson admits to using Cyber Dust privacy app | Fresno Bee:

Fresno Unified Superintendent Hanson admits to using Cyber Dust privacy app

Fresno Unified Superintendent Michael Hanson says he used a controversial privacy phone app to conduct school district business, but denies allegations that it was used to cover up his involvement in no-bid contracts that are now the subject of a federal investigation.

Hanson said Tuesday that he and a small group of senior staff used Cyber Dust – an app that automatically erases any record of text messages, leaving no digital footprint – in 2014 for less than a month. It was done as an experiment, he said.

“We used it as a trial run to see if it would help us do our work better and more effectively, and it didn’t,” Hanson said. “Nothing we used it for had anything to do with things that are now the topic of the grand jury investigation, and the use of this app will be fully disclosed when we turn over and disclose all of our documents.”

The U.S. Attorney’s Office served the district with a grand jury subpoena last month, requesting a wide range of documents pertaining to Fresno Unified’s involvement in no-bid construction contracts – including district officials’ personal phone records.

“I think with respect to technology, normal is always changing,” Hanson said. “But let me be very, very clear: When we used it, we were totally within our district policy around electronic records in that we don’t retain instant or text messages of any type. It’s not something we archive.

“But that has all changed from the moment we got notified by the grand jury. We have been active in making sure we’re preserving everything they’ve asked for.”

NOTHING WE USED IT FOR HAD ANYTHING TO DO WITH THINGS THAT ARE NOW THE TOPIC OF THE GRAND JURY INVESTIGATION.

Fresno Unified Superintendent Michael Hanson on Cyber Dust

The use of Cyber Dust was discussed in a closed session school board meeting last week, but trustees were unsure Tuesday who actually had used the app.

Hanson would not name the other staffers who also used the Cyber Dust app, but he said no trustees were involved.

Chief Operations Officer Karin Temple said she did not use the app and was not aware it was being used. Chief Financial Officer Ruthie Quinto could not be reached.

Trustees Brooke Ashjian, Carol Mills, Luis Chavez, Janet Ryan and Christopher De La Cerda also said they have never used Cyber Dust. Trustees Cal Johnson and Valerie Davis did not return phone calls.

Ashjian said trustees were left in the dark about who used the app and why it was used.

“For a district official to have that on their phone and communicate with other districtFresno Unified Superintendent Hanson admits to using Cyber Dust privacy app | Fresno Bee:

Read more here: http://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/education/article36993945.html#storylink=cpy

Employee association plans “class-action” grievance against Dallas ISD evaluation system | | Dallas Morning News

Employee association plans “class-action” grievance against Dallas ISD evaluation system | | Dallas Morning News:

Employee association plans “class-action” grievance against Dallas ISD evaluation system

The National Education Association-Dallas is planning to file a “class-action” grievance with Dallas ISD over its new teacher evaluation system.

The evaluation system, called the Teacher Excellence Initiative (TEI), bases teacher pay on performance, student surveys and test scores. The old system mainly tied teacher pay to tenure.

Under TEI, teachers receive points for each evaluation area that is used to determine their “effectiveness level.” Salaries for the nine different levels can range from $50,000 for new teachers to $90,000 for “master” teachers. The top five levels are for teachers who go through a “Distinguished Teacher Review.”

Angela Davis, president of NEA-Dallas, called the new system “unfair.” She said that some teachers who did well didn’t get raises because they were already at the salary cap for their assigned level.

Davis said that some teachers don’t know exactly how they were measured, and in some cases the principals that evaluated them have left the district. This school year, 1 in 3 campuses have new principals.

“It’s just not right,” Davis said.

Davis said the deadline to join her group’s grievance is 5 p.m. Thursday. She said that teachers who have already filed individual grievances can still have their grievance included. She added that if the matter can’t be settled at the district level, her group will consider other action.

Teachers found out their effectiveness level on Sept. 18 and the complaints have run the gamut. Some teachers have complained that while they did well on their evaluation, they won’t get raises because they are at the salary cap for their assigned level.

Other concerns center on teachers with several years of experience, who made in the $47,000 range last school year. They now earn around the same amount as beginning teachers, who received this year’s new starting salary of $50,000. The district capped raises at $5,000.

The evaluation system was briefly discussed at last week’s board meeting. A couple of trustees raised questions to interim Superintendent Michael Hinojosa about teachers who did well but didn’t get raises.

“Dr. Hinojosa that needs to be cleaned up, because that is not correct,” trustee Joyce Foreman said. “We have employees who will not receive an increase who did not have unsatisfactory performance.”

Trustee Dan Micciche asked Hinojosa if the district was considering making adjustments in the plan for teachers considered “distinguished” who did not get a raise because they are already above their compensation level.

Hinojosa said there were preliminary discussions but there are no specific recommendations at this time. He said that the district has to be careful with its budget Employee association plans “class-action” grievance against Dallas ISD evaluation system | | Dallas Morning News:

College and Career Readiness: An EdSource/CTA survey of teachers | EdSource

College and Career Readiness: An EdSource/CTA survey of teachers | EdSource:

College and Career Readiness: An EdSource/CTA survey of teachers

This survey by EdSource, in partnership with the California Teachers Association (CTA), provides new insights into teacher attitudes toward preparing students for college and careers, a principal goal of all major education reforms being implemented in California, including the Common Core State Standards.

Of the 1,000 teachers surveyed, 95 percent support setting college and career readiness as the goal for the state’s students. The teachers surveyed also said they felt critical thinking skills are a more important indicator of college readiness than standardized test scores.

But while indicating a high level of support for the Common Core standards, teachers also expressed a need for a clearer definition of what constitutes “college and career readiness” and for greater professional development to support these goals. The survey also found that teachers’ confidence in the attainability of the career and college readiness goals varied based on the socioeconomic background of their students.

Even as the major focus is on preparing students for college, teachers ranked career academies, linked learning or other programs that tie the high school curriculum to a specific career pathway as the resource their school or district needed most.

The teachers surveyed generally responded positively when asked about their job satisfaction, with nearly three-fourths saying they are either “very satisfied” or “fairly satisfied.”

The survey was conducted in April 2015 by the public opinion research firm GBA Strategies on behalf of EdSource and the CTA. College and Career Readiness: An EdSource/CTA survey of teachers | EdSource:

SURVEY DOCCollege and Career Readiness: An EdSource/CTA survey of teachers | EdSource:

Gene V Glass: Education in Two Worlds: BASIS Charter Schools make fraudulent use of Special Education designation

Gene V Glass: Education in Two Worlds: BASIS Charter Schools make fraudulent use of Special Education designation:

BASIS Charter Schools make fraudulent use of Special Education designation

Arizonans for Charter School Accountability is an amazing organization that is exposing malfeasance and fraud in one of the worst charter school states in the nation. We have opined here in the past that Arizona has no concept of a conflict of interest and allows the starkest, most absurd entanglements of financial interests one can imagine.

Now, Arizonans for Charter School Accountability has exposed a crass and cynical manipulation of the charter school financing system. Cynical and crass because it exploits money designated for special needs students to increase its already considerable profits. You can read the details at ACSC's website or jump to the story immediately that has been reproduced below:

Special Education Fraud II: BASIS Inc.BASIS Inc. does everything possible to game Arizona’s financial system. They received Federal start up funds, designed for new charter holders, to build their 12th school. They charter each school individually and claim they are “small” schools to receive additional funding, even though they have over 8000 total students. Now we find that in 2013-14 they claimed to have 19 severely handicapped students in eight schools. Hearing Impaired, Visually Impaired, Multiple Disabilities, Autism, Intellectual Disability - all students that require a great deal of support to achieve in school. These students generate four to six times the revenue per pupil of a regular education child to pay for the extensive services they require. These 19 students netted an additional $350,000 in state assistance for BASIS Inc. (Data is on the ADE Finance site: Charter Equalization Report (CHAR55-1) 2014)

The problem? According to their 2014 Annual Financial Report, BASIS expended ZERO dollars on special education in all of its 12 schools, except for $244,800 for “general administration” that went straight to BASIS Inc. Worse yet, every BASIS school claims to have spent an identical amount, exactly $20,400, for special education general administration, whether they had education students or not.

It is hard to image 19 severely handicapped students being able to navigate one of the most rigorous curriculums in the country without assistance. There are three possibilities:

• First is the possibility that BASIS is collecting $350,000 for special education students that don’t exist. That is fraud on both a state and federal level. Or maybe BASIS legitimately has 19 handicapped students and is not providing them appropriate services. That would Gene V Glass: Education in Two Worlds: BASIS Charter Schools make fraudulent use of Special Education designation:

¿COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT BY ROBOCALL? - 4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit:

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: ¿COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT BY ROBOCALL?: L.A. Unified wants to know when parents want school to be in session (Redux):

¿COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT BY ROBOCALL?: L.A. Unified wants to know when parents want school to be in session (Redux)

BY HOWARD BLUME | LA TIMES | HTTP://LAT.MS/1KLZR8R

also see+hear:

• LAUSD SOLICITING FEEDBACK FROM PARENTS ON PROPOSED SCHOOL YEAR CHANGES + smf’s 2¢ |  http://bit.ly/1MVqEVl
• Los Angeles Times : LAUSD Survey Prompt by Ray Cortines | Audio file | http://bit.ly/1FEM9HD
• Los Angeles Times: LAUSD apologizes for phone system error | Audio file | http://bit.ly/1LkiANN

30 Sept 2015  ::  Los Angeles school district officials are considering redoing a telephone survey after technical glitches complicated a weekend attempt to determine parents' and employees' opinions about the academic calendar.

The survey sought feedback on when the school year should start, how long winter break should last and how important it is to have the same days off for elementary and secondary schools. The district also wanted to know how people feel about having the first semester finish before winter break and about the timing of enrichment and intervention programs.

The effort arose out of discontent with the L.A. Unified School District's decision to move up the start of the traditional school year into August, rather than beginning after Labor Day, in September.

Calls went out to 550,000 households, including both parents and employees. The automated phone system made the first attempt Friday night, and then tried again on Saturday if it collected no information.

But the system’s software is designed to pause if there is noise on the receiving end. And background noise, apparently, was enough to derail the effort. In all, the phone system collected 58,000 surveys, but the district also received about 50 complaints.

“Some people said they couldn’t respond to the survey,” said Paul Ishimaru, an administrator in operations who manages the phone system. With background noise over a certain level, the system “may either attempt to start and then stop, and or it may never deliver the message.”

One option for an academic schedule would be a significant departure from past practice: a five-week break in summer and a seven-week vacation in winter.  Although that alternative was one of six presented to a calendar committee, officials have not seriously considered such a schedule in recent times.

The survey presented that approach by asking parents if they would like a “year-round” style calendar that allowed for four-week intercession classes in both the winter and summer. These courses would allow students to catch up or get ahead academically.

In past years, there was no phone survey. Instead, district staff worked out the schedule with input from employee unions. The calendar then went to the Board of Education for approval.

On the recommendation of Supt. Ramon C. Cortines, the district had switched to the earlier, August start in 2011. The goal was to allow high school students to avoid having first-semester finals after winter break.

Before the switch, parents were able to weigh in with their views on the calendar through an online survey, but few participated.

Since then, a contingent of parents has been persistently unhappy over the early start. For one thing, they said school was in session during more of the intense heat of summer, especially a problem in the San Fernando Valley.

Some parents also had greater difficulty scheduling vacations and summer enrichment programs for their children. Parents turned in petitions with thousands of signatures requesting that school begin after Labor Day.

The district bent a little this year, starting later in August.

The discontented parents had an ally in school board member Richard Vladovic, who wanted the issue revisited, and Cortines agreed to4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: ¿COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT BY ROBOCALL?: L.A. Unified wants to know when parents want school to be in session (Redux):

A little background/updated: LAUSD PHONE SURVEY SEEKS INPUT FOR THREE-YEAR SCHOOL CALENDAR

Sep 30, 2015  ::  In an effort to get as much input as possible into the planning process, LAUSD is polling parents, teachers and other school-site staffers about the upcoming school calendar.

More than 58,000 people responded last Friday and Saturday to the survey, which seeks information about what date the school year should start and when the first semester should end, how long winter break should be, whether elementary and secondary schools should be on the same calendar and how enrichment and intervention programs can best be accommodated.

The results will be compiled for a calendar committee convened by Superintendent Ramon C. Cortines. Rather than having to go through the process annually, he instructed the panel to recommend calendars for the next three years – through 2018-19.

“Our students and our employees and their families should be able to plan ahead,” the superintendent said. “This is not a debate that we should be having every year.”

The school calendar has become a contentious issue since 2012, when the school board instituted an “early-start” schedule, beginning classes in mid-August rather than after Labor Day. Critics complained that the early start to the school year cut into family vacations or put kids in classrooms during the sweltering summer days. Others, however, said that finishing first semester before winter break was better for them academically.

This year’s start date was Aug. 18, an effort to broker a compromise between the two sides.

The calendar committee is currently looking at six options; five of them would start school in early to late August, while the sixth would have a post-Labor Day start. The proposal, dubbed Option 5, includes a seven-week winter break and an official summer break of just five weeks, which would give students the opportunity to make-up classes or to take enrichment classes.

The phone poll had been scheduled to end on Tuesday, but some respondents reported that they were unable to complete the survey because of technical difficulties. As a result, Mr. Cortines has extended the deadline.

The District did a survey prior to implementing the early-start calendar, but it was conducted online and generated limited results.

“We opted to do a phone poll this time so that we could reach all parents, teachers and other employees who work at all of our schools,” said Zsuzsanna Vincze, director of School Operations.  “This is an important issue, and we want to make sure we get feedback from as many people as possible.”

School Board member Mónica Ratliff suggested a phone survey during discussions of this year’s calendar.

“I greatly appreciate Superintendent Cortines’ commitment to gathering feedback from the many stakeholders who lack internet access, and I look forward to reviewing this feedback. While internet surveys can appear easier to conduct than telephone surveys, they do not allow us to access the opinions of the many families who lack Internet access.”

“I was, obviously, disappointed by the reports of some technical difficulties that arose with the phone surveys. I commend the Superintendent and staff for their quick and diligent responses to these reports and for their commitment to facilitate input on the instructional calendar.”

• 
  
  
  
  Written by: Barbara Jones on September 30, 2015.
  Last revised by: Daryl Strickland

Parents, teachers and other school-site staffers are expected to opine-in-an-informed-manner  upon the following in a telephone survey – a blind call –without the benefit of actually seeing the following?

A little background/updated: LAUSD PHONE SURVEY SEEKS INPUT FOR THREE-YEAR SCHOOL CALENDAR

New Maple Community Center Breathes New Life — Hmong Innovating Politics

New Maple Community Center Breathes New Life — Hmong Innovating Politics:

New Maple Community Center Breathes New Life 

By Nancy Xiong, HIP Organizer

Early this month, HIP joined La Familia Counseling Center for the 10th Anniversary of the Sacramento Hispanic/Latino Parade. On a street more known for its traffic, seeing families and children lined up along Franklin Boulevard was a welcomed change. This parade celebrated Sacramento’s deep-rooted Latino heritage and the stubborn resiliency of our South Sacramento community. 

Before the Sacramento City Unified School Board voted to close Maple Elementary and 6 other neighborhood schools in a controversial 4-3 decision, the vibrant campus was full of colorful laughter and supported by passionate parents. For those families, Maple was more than just a school. It was a place where they felt they belonged. It was a place they took ownership of because it represented hope for a better future. I thought to myself during the final tour of Maple Elementary, 'is this really it?' I felt frustrated because this community had endured so much and instead of celebrating Maple's tremendous parent involvement, the District shut the door on this incredible community. I wondered, what can we do to transform this space so that it will continue to meet the needs of our South Sacramento community? 

For two years, this campus sat completely vacant until this past July when La Familia signed a lease to officially take over Maple Elementary.  Maple Elementary is now re-opened as the Maple Neighborhood Center where it will serve as La Familia’s headquarters and resource hub for families.

Our community deserves a place to gather, grow and prosper. As a Mexican proverb states, "They tried to bury us. They didn't know we were seeds."New Maple Community Center Breathes New Life — Hmong Innovating Politics:

Lawsuit says California budget violates school funding guarantee | The Sacramento Bee

Lawsuit says California budget violates school funding guarantee | The Sacramento Bee:

Lawsuit says California budget violates school funding guarantee

Students, administrators, teachers and board members participate a "listening circle" at Mesa Verde High School on Wednesday, March 25, 2015, in Citrus Heights, Calif. A recent lawsuit contends that the recent state budget improperly manipulates the state’s school-funding guarantee. Randy Pench rpench@sacbee.com

California school boards want a judge to force changes to the June state budget that would provide more money for schools, among the interests that fared best in this year’s plan.

In a lawsuit last week, the California School Boards Association argues that the budget improperly included additional spending on childcare within the voter-approved constitutional guarantee for spending on K-12 schools and community colleges. The guarantee should have been adjusted, or “rebenched,” to reflect the change, the suit contends.

“This case is not about childcare. It is about the proper interpretation of Proposition 98,” the lawsuit reads, referring to the 1988 ballot measure that established the guarantee.

THE CURRENT BUDGET HAS $68.4 BILLION IN PROPOSITION 98 SPENDING, UP FROM $66.3 BILLION IN THE LAST BUDGET.

Childcare programs had been part of the schools budget before being removed during the recession. At the time, the suit says, lawmakers adjusted the Proposition 98 guarantee to reflect the lower spending. It’s only fair that the guarantee be adjusted upward now that some childcare spending is back within the formula, the lawsuit claims.

The desired adjustment would increase school funding by $150 million to $180 million, the lawsuit said.

A confluence of factors meant that Proposition 98 absorbed almost all new state revenuethrough June 2016. The phenomenon led to grumbling among advocates for some health and welfare programs, which also sustained deep cuts during the recession.

“Funding child care from Proposition 98, as this year’s budget does, is consistent with the California constitution, with state statute, and with the Legislature’s past practice,” Department of Finance spokesman H.D. Palmer said. “We’re confident that the court will concur with this conclusion.”

The suit marks the second recent high-profile effort by the school boards group to change an aspect of state fiscal policy toward schools. In August, the organization championed a bipartisan bill to relax a state cap on school district budget reserves. The measure never advanced before lawmakers left town for the year.Lawsuit says California budget violates school funding guarantee | The Sacramento Bee:

NY Gov Cuomo creates a Common Core Commission that is too big to fail | lacetothetop

NY Gov Cuomo creates a Common Core Commission that is too big to fail | lacetothetop:

NY Gov Cuomo creates a Common Core Commission that is too big to fail

Governor Cuomo has once again tapped former Citigroup chairman Richard Parsons to lead his second Commission on education. The first one ended in a report ironically entitled “A Final Action Plan.”  I wonder if this means a teacher will be tasked with directing Citigroup’s next $45 billion bailout?

This Commission is comprised a lot of fractured reputations that haveprivately agreed to do some mending. Let’s be clear, these reputations have taken a well-deserved hit because the parents of 225,000+ children have been screaming for help and these leaders have ignored their call. For many in this Cuomo Common Core group, it is not an act of altruism, but one of self-preservation.

Yet, I remain hopeful that the predetermined solution arrived at this committee in a few months will present some form of compromise.  There is no way these figureheads would risk what little is left of their reputations.

Take for instance AFT President Randi Weingarten.  Randi has hitched her hopes and future to the Hillary Clinton bus and there is no way she can afford another misstep- especially in her home state of NY.  She robo called for Cuomo, fully supports Common Core testing IN ALL GRADES, stood by UFT President Mulgrew as he threatened to punch anyone in the face that opposed Common Core…  I could go on, but considering her role is the President of the teachers’ union, I think that should suffice.

Then there is our new NY Commissioner of Education Elia.  She wore out her welcome pretty quickly by insisting parents of the opt out moment just needed to be educated on the matter.  She shared some more of her profound thoughts on education when suggesting that the solution for NY’s education NY Gov Cuomo creates a Common Core Commission that is too big to fail | lacetothetop:

Schools Matter: Common Core and the Incredible Shrinking Imagination

Schools Matter: Common Core and the Incredible Shrinking Imagination:

Common Core and the Incredible Shrinking Imagination

One of the many technocratic mandates of the Common Core Standards comes in the form of an insistent rationing of the kinds and amounts of reading materials that schoolchildren should be exposed to at different grade levels.   

Below is the breakdown from the Common Core website.  Notice that as children get older, they are to get less and less reading in the form of imaginative literature.  



Those who argue that there are connections between the kinds of reading material that children are allowed and encouraged to ingest and the direction and scope of their ethical and intellectual growth, and I count myself in this group, have looked askance at the mandated percentages of literature vs "informational text." 

We are extremely skeptical of David Coleman's rationing of literary works as adolescents get just old enough to appreciate the great poetry, drama, and fiction that our civilizations, past and present, have produced. 

Notice just above in the last two lines of the quote from the Common Core web page that Coleman and his tiny cadre of technocrats blame NAEP for this rationing of imaginative literature in the higher grades, as "to measure students' growth toward college and career readiness, assessments aligned with the Standards should adhere to the distribution of texts across grades cited in the NAEP framework."

After all, isn't it all about alignment with NAEP expectations, which, by the way, have been decidedly set at unrealistic levels for a long time, for the sole purpose solely of making public schools look worse they are.

The only problem with this "follow NAEP" rationale is that the NAEP reading framework was changed in 2009 to "adhere" to the demands of Bill Gates and his Common Core assault, which was paying Coleman and his tiny band of non-educators to come up with a national curriculum that would better align with Schools Matter: Common Core and the Incredible Shrinking Imagination:

Co-opting the Movement? Get the inside story on the Education Town Hall BUS | Education Town Hall Forum: Weekly Broadcast Archives, Extended Discussion, plus Monthly BUS Ride

Co-opting the Movement? Get the inside story on the Education Town Hall BUS | Education Town Hall Forum: Weekly Broadcast Archives, Extended Discussion, plus Monthly BUS Ride:

Co-opting the Movement? Get the inside story on the Education Town Hall BUS

This week on the Education Town: Organizing for Education Justice and Attempts to Co-Opt the Movement. The Education Town Hall BUS — BadAss Teachers, United Opt Out, and SOS March — is riding on a different schedule this month. Listen live via TuneIn Thursday, October 1, 11:00 a.m. Eastern, or check back for recording.

Denisha Jones, University professor, justice advocate, and national activist with all three BUS organizations, co-hosts with Thomas Byrd. Guests are long-time teachers and activisits, Bess Altwerger (Towson State) and Michael Flanagan (NYC).

Co-Opting “opting out” and Save Our Schools

Up first: Bess Altwerger, Howard County School board member and professor at Towson University.

Topic: Attempts to co-opt the “opt out” movement and how Save Our Schools March was instrumental in developing the current education activist movement.

Co-Opting “badass educators” and Call for Education Justice

Up next: Michael Flanagan, a teacher in NYC and organizer for the Call to Education Justice NYC conference on Saturday October 17.

Topic: Upcoming conference and how TFA is trying to co-opt the Badass Teachers Association.

The Education Town Hall broadcasts from Historic Anacostia in Washington, DC, Thursdays
at 11:00 a.m. Eastern on We Act Radio.
Listen live via TuneIn.
Shows are archived for convenient listening shortly after broadcast.

The Education Town Hall BUS is a monthly program
organized by BadAss Teachers, United Opt Out, and SOS March.
The program regularly airs on the 4th Thursday of each month, with occasional changes due to Papal visits and other logistical challenges.Co-opting the Movement? Get the inside story on the Education Town Hall BUS | Education Town Hall Forum: Weekly Broadcast Archives, Extended Discussion, plus Monthly BUS Ride:

National Education Association Says ‘Bernie Can’t Win’: We Will Endorse Hillary: Members Furious

National Education Association Says ‘Bernie Can’t Win’: We Will Endorse Hillary: Members Furious:

National Education Association Says ‘Bernie Can’t Win’: We Will Endorse Hillary: Members Furious

As the first Democratic debate approaches, members of the National Education Association – the largest labor organization in the US – is split over which candidate they should support in the upcoming presidential election. They’re not the only ones. In general, union leaders are endorsing Hillary Clinton, while rank-and-file members are more inclined to support Bernie Sanders.

It is unusual for a union to support a candidate so early in the process, but the NEA leadership has stated that it wants to identify the potential winner early on in order to “play a significant role in the next administration’s conversation and decision-making about public education.” What is more telling, however, is why the leadership settled on Clinton:

Clinton is the best positioned candidate to win both the Democratic primary and general election. She has unmatched organizational strength, ground game, and fundraising ability to defeat the candidate of the Koch brothers.

In other words, they are endorsing who they believe is the “safe” choice and – according to common wisdom – most likely to be able win the White House next year. Significantly, both Clinton and Sanders earned “A” marks for their congressional legislative records – but then, Sanders is a (oh, horrors!) Socialist.  It appears that the NEA leadership is settling on what they think they can get, not who is likely to do a better job.

Apparently, the NEA leadership is oblivious to what has been going on, not only in the US, but around the world. The people have had enough with the status quo. Sanders has already demonstrated that he not only can win the nomination, but the general election as well. Furthermore, his support for issues that educators are most concerned with is clear: collective bargaining, tuition-free college, and opposition to charter schools.

Clinton, while expressing support for higher teacher pay and smaller class sizes, has said, “I actually do believe in charter schools.”  And, despite the increasingly vocal outrage over student load debt slavery, she won’t go as far as to advocate for free college.  Furthermore, though Clinton started out as a Progressive, she has – for the sake of political survival – compromised too much in moving toward the center.

Sanders’ positions may seem radical, but they are needed after a generation of corporatist National Education Association Says ‘Bernie Can’t Win’: We Will Endorse Hillary: Members Furious:

Federal grant boosts charters, management organizations too :: SI&A Cabinet Report :: The Essential Resource for Superintendents and the Cabinet

Federal grant boosts charters, management organizations too :: SI&A Cabinet Report :: The Essential Resource for Superintendents and the Cabinet:

Federal grant boosts charters, management organizations too

(District of Columbia) As part of the federal government’s commitment to charter schools, the U.S. Department of Education announced this week an award of more than $157 million to states for distribution in support of charters.

The lion’s share of the money – some $125 million ­– will fund new grants aimed at supporting about 400 new and expanded public charter schools in Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, the District of Columbia, Ohio, Oregon, Nevada and South Carolina.

A major exclusion, however, was California, which was not awarded any new charter grant money. In 2010, California received a five-year, $250 million grant that “supported the launch of dozens of new charter schools” and served as “a major driver of the remarkable growth of California’s charter school sector,” according to a statement from the Charter Schools Development Center.

CSDC noted that the biggest beneficiary of the money was Ohio, “widely-recognized as the state with the nation’s most troubled charter school sector.”

Department officials provided no explanation of how the money was divided, but U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said in a statement that charter schools have proved an important option, especially in low-income urban centers.

“All students have the right to an education that prepares them for college and their careers, and we’re thrilled that a growing number of charter schools create opportunities for students to achieve just that,” Duncan said in a statement. “In particular, we are excited to see so many high-quality charter management organizations focused on replicating successful models in high-needs communities. As we celebrate charter schools that help children from disadvantaged backgrounds, we must continue empowering educators to create great schools while holding ourselves to the highest possible standards of excellence.” 

The money comes through the Charter Schools Program, an allocation set up by Congress specifically for charter schools, charter management organizations and school districts engaged in charter oversight. The funding is distinct from other federal programs that charters are eligible for, including Title I, Title III and Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

Since 2009, the Charter Schools Program has invested more than $1 billion in charter schools.

The remaining $32 million is set to be divided between charter management organizations that have never before received direct federal support and are focused on serving students that otherwise would be attending low-performing schools.

Those recipients are:

• Achievement First, Inc., Connecticut
• Across the Bridge Foundation, California
• Baltimore Curriculum Project, Maryland
• Einstein Group, Inc., Louisiana
• Lawndale Educational and Regional Network, Illinois    
• Mastery Charter High School, Pennsylvania
• Noble Network of Charter School, Illinois
• RePublic Schools, Tennessee
• Success Academy Charter Schools, Inc., New York
• UP Education Network, Inc., Maryland
• Uplift Education, Texas
• West Denver Prep DBA STRIVE Preparatory Schools, Colorado
• 
  

Federal grant boosts charters, management organizations too :: SI&A Cabinet Report :: The Essential Resource for Superintendents and the Cabinet:

Exclusive: Bankruptcy Is a “Huge Opportunity” to Privatize Schools Says EdBuild | PR Watch

Exclusive: Bankruptcy Is a “Huge Opportunity” to Privatize Schools Says EdBuild | PR Watch:

Exclusive: Bankruptcy Is a “Huge Opportunity” to Privatize Schools Says EdBuild

The school privatization movement has long sought to consign public schools and locally elected school boards to the dust heap of history to usher in a brave new world of “free market” schools instead of free and universal public education.

One big reason for this obsession?

There’s at least half a trillion dollars a year up for grabs for corporations that want to line their coffers with taxpayer money. K-12 education, Rupert Murdoch explained in a press release a few years ago, is a “$500 billion sector in the U.S. alone that is waiting to be transformed.”

But the transition to for-profit education has been too slow for some advocates who have some new and rather drastic ideas on how to pick up the pace, according to information obtained by the Center for Media and Democracy/PRWatch.

"Bankruptcy Might Be the Thing that Leads to the Next Education Revolution"

In a year which marks the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, school “reform” advocates gathered in New Orleans under the aegis of billionaire Betsy DeVos’s American Federation for Children (AFC).

Held at the luxurious Hyatt Regency Hotel in the Business District—far from the wards devastated by Katrina—the AFC Policy Summit was a celebration of New Orleans’ school privatization spree in the aftermath of the disaster took the lives of 2,000 Americans and destroyed entire neighborhoods.

But in the absence of a new hurricane that would sweep away public schools, a man-made calamity might do the trick. Such was the argument of Rebecca Sibilia, who is the CEO of a new non-profit education group: Edbuild.

“When you think about bankruptcy … this is like a, this is a huge opportunity for school districts. And this is something that Ed Build is going to focus on. Like bankruptcy is not a problem for kids; bankruptcy is a problem for the people governing the system, right? So, when a school district goes bankrupt all of their legacy debt can be eliminated. And when we are answering questions that Andy [Smarrick] and Mike [McShane] put forward, like how are we going to pay for the buildings, how are we going to bring in new, umm, operators when there is pension debt? Like if we can eliminate that in an entire urban system, then we can throw all the cards up in the air, and redistribute everything with all new models. And so, you’ve heard it first: bankruptcy might be, like, the thing that leads to the next education revolution,” Sibilia explained."

Here's a video of Sibilia's joyful response to the idea that bankruptcy is a "huge opportunity."

"A Naked Power Grab"

“This sounds like an attempt at a naked power grab,” Saqib Bhatti an expert in municipal finance with the Roosevelt Institute told the Center for Media and Democracy. Bhatti explained how bankruptcy could potentially lead to the kind of public-to-private “redistribution” Sibilia has in mind.

“Once you’ve cleared any hurdle the state has set up and file for Chapter 9 bankruptcy, the case goes before a federal judge who reviews the bankruptcy plan the municipality has submitted. The judge can only accept it or reject it, and is

- See more at: http://www.prwatch.org/node/12932#.dpuf