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Wednesday, November 4, 2015

What the drop in NAEP math scores tells us — about Common Core and NAEP - The Washington Post

What the drop in NAEP math scores tells us — about Common Core and NAEP - The Washington Post:

What the drop in NAEP math scores tells us — about Common Core and NAEP





The recently released reading and math scores from the 2015 National Assessment of Educational Progress caused some consternation in the education world because they went down for the first time in the history of the NAEP. The exam is often called the nation’s report card because it is the only measure of student achievement given periodically to a sampling of students around the nation. Here is a piece about what the drop in math scores tell us about the Common Core State Standards, which have been implemented in most states for the past few years, and about the Core’s relationship to the NAEP.
It was written by Sarah Lubienski, a professor of mathematics education at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.  Her research focuses on inequities in students’ mathematics outcomes and the policies and practices that shape those outcomes.  She conducts large-scale studies using national data sets, as well as smaller, classroom-based studies.  Lubienski has chaired the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Special Interest Group of the American Educational Research Association and is a member of its Grants Governing Board.  Her previous NAEP analyses have been funded by the National Center for Education Statistics and the Institute of Education Sciences. She is co-author of The Public School Advantage: Why Public Schools Outperform Private Schools.

By Sarah Lubienski
The one- to two-point point drops in math and reading scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress announced last week have caused quite a commotion, with various critics blaming school testing, accountability, choice and other policies prominent over the past decade. Departing Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and other defenders of recent policies have pointed to early implementation issues and demographic/economic shifts as possible What the drop in NAEP math scores tells us — about Common Core and NAEP - The Washington Post:
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TEACHER BURN OUT HAS BECOME EARLY TEACHER RESIGNATION | DCGEducator: Doing The Right Thing

TEACHER BURN OUT HAS BECOME EARLY TEACHER RESIGNATION | DCGEducator: Doing The Right Thing:

TEACHER BURN OUT HAS BECOME EARLY TEACHER RESIGNATION

1380999265447




Back in the 1970’s there was a far more optimistic climate about teaching, but in my 4 years of teaching at a NYC high school and by contacting many teachers in other schools regardless of level I found, way back then, that although they may choose to stay or have stayed in teaching for decades, many teachers had already “burnt out” approximately by year 5. So for my Masters thesis in 1974 I decided to look at teacher burn out, a very common term to describe a big drop off of energy, involvement, and in some cases competency.
There were a variety of reasons but a sizable percentage just started to go along to get along…. go through the motions. Given the more pro union (although that didnt necessarily equate to pro teacher) sentiments at the time, it is easy to see why so many stayed in the profession, even though they werent as highly motivated as they were when they started. Many stayed TEACHER BURN OUT HAS BECOME EARLY TEACHER RESIGNATION | DCGEducator: Doing The Right Thing:
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CURMUDGUCATION: A Not Quitting Letter

CURMUDGUCATION: A Not Quitting Letter:

A Not Quitting Letter




It has become its own internet genre-- the "why I am quitting" teacher letter. It is apparently on the rise again, because lately lots of folks have been forwarding examples to me. And I don't want to seem unsympathetic-- it has to suck to feel so backed into the corner that quitting looks like your best option. 

But still, I long to read something different. Something feistier. Something more like this:

Dear Board of Education:

Just wanted to know that I am not going any damn where.

Yes, a lot of people have worked hard to turn my job into something I barely recognize, and yes, I am on the butt end of a whole lot of terrible education policy, and yes, I am regular instructed to commit educational malpractice in my classroom.

But here's the thing-- you don't pay me nearly enough for me to do my job badly, on purpose.

I'm not going to make children miserable on purpose. I'm not going to waste valuable education time on purpose. I'm not going to teach them that reading is a miserable activity with no purpose other than to prepare for testing. I'm not going to tell them that these big stupid tests, or any other tests, or grades, even, are an important measure of how "good" they are or how much right they CURMUDGUCATION: A Not Quitting Letter:


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Expert Calls Metro Schools Testing Policy "Gamesmanship" - Story

Expert Calls Metro Schools Testing Policy "Gamesmanship" - Story:

Expert Calls Metro Schools Testing Policy "Gamesmanship"








NASHVILLE, Tenn. - A policy developed by Metro Nashville Public Schools, supposedly to help students, may also help bureaucrats to mask the real problems in those schools, a national testing expert told NewsChannel 5 Investigates.
That plan, which the school system insists does not violate any rules, raises the question: Can the public trust the message when the school system brags about its test scores?
"We would call it gamesmanship, manipulating test scores so that the district's educational policies appear to be a bit better," said Bob Schaeffer, who works with the National Center for Fair and Open Testing, better known as FairTest.
Among the students who disappeared from the Metro Schools' statistics was Brenda Seay's granddaughter, a student at Nashville's Hunter's Lane High School.
Her course load included English I and Algebra I - both courses that she would need to graduate.
"She didn't have an A/B average, but she was passing," Seay recalled.
But Seay said that, when the second semester came around, someone at Hunters Lane pulled her granddaughter from both classes -- without ever telling her why.
"I wasn't even aware that she got moved," Seay said.
MNPS officials said that there were extenuating circumstances with Seay's granddaughter that they cannot discuss because of federal privacy laws.
But former high school guidance counselors Shana West and Kelly Brown -- both still employed by Metro -- told NewsChannel 5 Investigates that wasn't uncommon.
They said that some schools pulled some struggling students from classes that had state-mandated End-of-Course exams -- the same exams that are used to measure how well the schools are performing.
Why would they do that?
"The only reason is because they want their scores to go up," Brown said. "That's the only reason."
Chief Academic Officer Jay Steele -- the architect of the city's high Expert Calls Metro Schools Testing Policy "Gamesmanship" - Story:

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The Forgotten VAM: The A-F School Grading System | VAMboozled!

The Forgotten VAM: The A-F School Grading System | VAMboozled!:

The Forgotten VAM: The A-F School Grading System



Here is another post from our “Concerned New Mexico Parent” (see prior posts from him/her here and here). This one is about New Mexico’s A-F School Grading System and how it is not only contradictory, within and beyond itself, but how it also provides little instrumental value to the public as an invalid indicator of the “quality” of any school.
(S)he writes:
  1. What do you call a high school that has only 38% of its students proficient in reading and 35% of its students proficient in mathematics?
  2. A school that needs help improving their student scores.
  3. What does the New Mexico Public Education Department (NMPED) call this same high school?
  4. A top-rated “A” school, of course.
Readers of this blog are familiar with the VAMs being used to grade teachers. Many states have implemented analogous formulas to grade entire schools. This “forgotten” VAM suffers from all of the familiar problems of the teacher formulas — incomprehensibility, lack of transparency, arbitrariness, and the like.
The first problem with the A-F Grading System is inherent in its very name. The “A-F” The Forgotten VAM: The A-F School Grading System | VAMboozled!:

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Who will lead L.A. Unified? Jose L. Banda Superintendent Top Prospect? - Los Angeles Times

Who will lead L.A. Unified? - Los Angeles Times:

 Superintendent Jose L. Banda  Top Prospect?
Who will lead L.A. Unified? - Los Angeles Times: 
Superintendent Jose Banda Welcome to Sacramento, Don't Mind the Bee Bashing (they were hoping for another Broadie)


Who will lead L.A. Unified?

By HOWARD BLUME AND JON SCHLEUSS
The Board of Education is searching for a new leader to head the nation’s second-largest school system. Interviews with insiders, civic leaders and experts have yielded many names, including some unconventional suggestions. Based on these interviews, The Times has rated potential candidates on how likely they are to be finalists, should they apply. Click on a photograph and you can see more about each one. You can even build your own superintendent.Who will lead L.A. Unified? - Los Angeles Times: 
Submit additional suggestions to howard.blume@latimes.com


Who will lead L.A. Unified? - Los Angeles Times:
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Next phase begins in the search for new leader of L.A. Unified - LA Times

Next phase begins in the search for new leader of L.A. Unified - LA Times:

Search for new L.A. schools chief shifts focus to individual candidates






The search for the next leader of the Los Angeles Unified School District entered a new phase this week as an executive search firm officially closed a two-week public input period, putting more focus on individuals who might want the job.
It will be up to the seven-member Board of Education to decide who will replace current Supt. Ramon C. Cortines, who said he would like to retire by the end of the year.
"We have an intense and incredible job ahead of us in the coming weeks," said school board President Steve Zimmer at a meeting last week.
The hunt is being conducted confidentially in hopes that a better field will be available if candidates can apply without jeopardizing their current jobs. But that approach hasn't stopped those inside and outside the nation's second-largest school system from speculating or suggesting names. 
The Times has compiled a list of potential applicants, including some who have not exhibited interest and would need to be recruited, such as Long Beach Unified Supt. Christopher Steinhauser. The roster also includes other superintendents with experience in urban districts, such as Richard Carranza of San Francisco Unified and Alberto Carvalho of Miami-Dade County Public Schools. L.A. Unified employees with a shot at the top job include Michelle King, the chief deputy superintendent. No one has publicly declared interest in the post.
Cortines, 83, returned from retirement after John Deasy resigned under pressure just over a year ago. The next schools chief will face numerous challenges, including declining enrollment, ongoing budget pressures and a proposal, spearheaded by philanthropist Eli Broad, that would move half of L.A. Unified students to charter schools over the next eight years. 

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Bronin says win due to door-knocking not benefits of $1.3 million or White Privilege - Wait What?

Bronin says win due to door-knocking not benefits of $1.3 million or White Privilege - Wait What?:

Bronin says win due to door-knocking not benefits of $1.3 million or White Privilege






Attributing his political success to his door-knocking efforts rather than the record breaking $1.3 million he raised from city and state contractors, lobbyists and donors from his hometown of Greenwich and out-of-state or the advantages of White Privilege, Luke Bronin’s dream of becoming leader of Hartford has come true.
During the campaign Bronin said he would save Hartford by reducing crime and expanding programs, all while promising not to raise taxes.  The solution, according to the political novice, was more state funding and the wealth that would come with the wave of people moving into the new luxury apartments in the City’s Downtown.
Flanked by Governor Dannel Malloy and Lt. Governor Nancy Wyman, Bronin claimed victory Election Night but warned residents that “there will be no easy answers.”
In his successful effort to unseat one of the nation’s highest ranking Puerto Rican Mayors, Luke Bronin spent the primary attacking Pedro Segarra for not getting enough money from the Malloy administration, raising taxes and supporting the controversial Dunkin Donuts Baseball Stadium that is being constructed as part of Hartford’s DONO Development.
With his primary victory in hand,  Bronin flip-flopped on the Stadium issue taking tens of thousands of dollars from the Stadium’s developers while remaining quiet about the developers failure to fulfill their contractual obligation to begin construction on the project’s promised grocery store and other elements of Phase II (Parcel E).
As Bronin’s campaign finance reports revealed, not only did he break the record for the Bronin says win due to door-knocking not benefits of $1.3 million or White Privilege - Wait What?:
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When Educators Help Call the Shots: Panel Discusses the Future of Teacher Leadership - NEA Today

When Educators Help Call the Shots: Panel Discusses the Future of Teacher Leadership - NEA Today:

When Educators Help Call the Shots: Panel Discusses the Future of Teacher Leadership

teacher_leadership




A long history of top-down bureaucracy in public schools has created a deep-rooted system in which administrators make the decisions and teachers carry them out. But recent shifts in culture and policy are providing more opportunities for teachers to take on leadership roles and make their voices heard in decisions that impact their day-to-day work in the classroom.
Creating environments that encourage teacher leaders was the topic of the Teacher Leadership Policy Panel at “Advancing the Profession: The Outcomes of the Teacher Leadership Initiative,” an event held yesterday at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.
Panelists, including Kerri Dallman, president of the Colorado Education Association (CEA), Fred Frelow, Education and Scholarship senior program officer at the Ford Foundation, and Joshua Starr, Chief Executive Officer of Phi Delta Kappa, discussed ways to allow more teachers to make an impact on teaching and learning conditions without having to leave the clssroom and pursue administrator careers.
The panel was moderated by Caroline Hendrie, executive director of the Education Writers Association, who began by asking Dallman of CEA how conditions would need to change to encourage more teacher leaders.
Dallman said the two most important factors to create those conditions are trust and collaboration – between educator colleagues, between educators and parents, and especially between educators and administrators.
“We need administrators who are comfortable with distributed leadership,” she said. “When there are strong, collaborative teams, teachers will step up to lead.”
Frelow agreed, saying that teachers are too often isolated in their classrooms and that they should use new platforms — like virtual professional learning communities — to collaborate and organize.
But Starr suggested that perhaps the question isn’t how to create more teacher leaders, but “how to bring everyone else along.”
“Teachers must feel highly engaged, they must feel they are part of the larger When Educators Help Call the Shots: Panel Discusses the Future of Teacher Leadership - NEA Today:
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With the election of Democrats Jim Kenney as mayor and Helen Gym to City Council - Notes from the news, Nov. 4 | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

Notes from the news, Nov. 4 | Philadelphia Public School Notebook:





State budget stalemate Day 127:
Notes from the news, Nov. 4 | Philadelphia Public School Notebook:




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The Billionaire Boys Keep On Experimenting, Charterizing, and Limiting Democracy | janresseger

The Billionaire Boys Keep On Experimenting, Charterizing, and Limiting Democracy | janresseger:

The Billionaire Boys Keep On Experimenting, Charterizing, and Limiting Democracy








Until Diane Ravitch published her 2010, The Death and Life of the Great American School System, we didn’t really have name for the major transformation in the size and practice of venture philanthropy.  Ravitch describes “the Billionaire Boys Club” to explain a new trend in gigantic philanthropy in our age of the plutocrats, fortunes being used to transform society, and in particular the public schools, in ways citizens cannot really control.
Ravitch worries about the abrogation of democracy as philanthropies with enormous fortunes manipulate public policy privately, accountable only to their own carefully chosen boards of trustees: “There is something fundamentally antidemocratic about relinquishing control of the public education policy agenda to private foundations run by society’s wealthiest people; when the wealthiest of these foundations are joined in common purpose, they represent an unusually powerful force that is beyond the reach of democratic institutions.  These foundations, no matter how worthy and high-minded, are after all, not public agencies… They have taken it upon themselves to reform public education, perhaps in ways that would never survive the scrutiny of voters in any district or state.  If voters don’t like the foundations’ reform agenda, they can’t vote them out of office… If their plans fail, no sanctions are levied against them.  They are bastions of unaccountable power.” (pp. 200-201)
Joanne Barkan, who has written extensively about mega-philanthropy, points out that because gifts to non-profit foundations are not taxed, foundations are making influential investments for which they can take credit, but they are doing so at public expense: “Although this plutocratic sector is privately governed, it is publicly subsidized.  Private foundations fall into the IRS’s wide-open category of tax-exempt organizations, which includes charitable, educational,  religious, scientific, literary, and other groups.  When the creator of a mega-foundation says, ‘I can do what I want because it’s my money,’ he or she is wrong.  A substantial portion of the wealth—35 percent or more, depending on tax rates—has been diverted from the public treasury, where voters would have determined its use.”  Writing in The Billionaire Boys Keep On Experimenting, Charterizing, and Limiting Democracy | janresseger:

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Rewriting No Child Left Behind: Three Testing Issues to Watch - Politics K-12 - Education Week

Rewriting No Child Left Behind: Three Testing Issues to Watch - Politics K-12 - Education Week:

Rewriting No Child Left Behind: Three Testing Issues to Watch






So, despite all of the political pushback to testing, we all know that annual tests are likely to stick around if Congress reauthorizes the Elementary and Secondary Education Act in coming months. (That wasn't always a slam dunk, but now it basically is.)
But that doesn't mean that testing isn't—or hasn't been—an issue behind the scenes, as congressional aides and the top lawmakers on education issues—Sens. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Reps. John Kline, R-Minn., and Bobby Scott, D-Va, along with the Obama administration—work through key ESEA issues. 
Why? Well, even though both the ESEA rewrite bill that passed the Senate with big, bipartisan backing, and the one that barely squeaked through the House with just GOP support, keep annual tests, they go very different ways on a lot of other assessment issues. 
Here are some of the key distinctions between the bills—and the administration's testing vision: 

1. Opt-outs

Where the House stands: Back in July, in order to win support for the House ESEA bill, House leaders allowed lawmakers to vote on amendment allowing parents to decide to excuse their kids from standardized testing, without any penalties for schools. The amendment passed with bipartisan support.
Where the Senate stands: No federally sanctioned opt-outs. In fact, the Senate voted against them. States and districts, on the other hand, could allow for opt-outs. But the NCLB law's current requirement, that 95 percent of students participate in tests, or the school is considered low-performing, still stands. (Confused? Check out page 8 of this report from the Congressional Research Service, which explains the differences between the bills. And big thanks to FairTest's Monty Neill for alerting me to the language allowing districts and states to let parents opt-out, even though it wouldn't change federal accountability.)
Argument for keeping the House opt-out language in: On the one hand, kids wouldn't have to take standardized tests if their parents didn't want them to, which some folks would see as a big plus for parental choice and small government. Plus, the Senate language kind of sends mixed messages on opt-outs. 
Argument for getting rid of the House opt-out language:  School leaders could encourage the parents of say, a student in special education, to opt-out, thus making the school's test results look better, some say. Plus, opt-outs make it harder to see any real, comparable data on a school. 

2. Local testing

Where the House stands: The House would allow pretty much any district to try out their own testing system, as long as a) the state is cool with it and b) the local tests can be compared to the state assessment.
Where the Senate stands: The Senate bill sets up a pilot project, giving up to five states the chance to try out local tests, with the permission of the U.S. Department of Education. As with the Senate bill, the tests have to be comparable to the state assessment. And importantly, these local tests aren't supposed to be used forever—the point is for districts to try out new forms of assessment (as New Hampshire is doing with performance tasks) that could eventually go statewide and be used by everyone. That way states don't get stuck with the same old assessment for years on end.
Argument for House bill: More freedom for states and districts, more room for experimentation and local decision making. Plus a smaller role for the feds, which is ultimately what Congress is going for here.
Argument for the Senate bill: Better for equity, especially for poor and minority kids. After all, folks say, you wouldn't want students in say, an impoverished city to take a different test from students in a tony suburb forever and ever. Plus, having the department review the systems provides an extra check on the whole comparability thing. And having most students take the same (or similar) tests provides the best data on what's working and what isn't. Local tests make that harder to figure out. 

3. How Much Tests Count for Accountability 

If I had to bet, I'd guess this has generated at least some discussion, even though both the House and Senate bills take similar approaches. Both would basically allow states to decide just how much of a role tests should play in accountability.
But an amendment that Senate Democrats supported (but which ultimately failed) called for states to develop accountability systems that weighed student outcomes (tests, but also graduation rates, English Language Proficiency and other academic factors) more than say, school climate.
Argument for downplaying tests: Many folks think standardized testing has become way too prominent in education. This is a chance to dial it back. Plus, again, this would give control to states. If they want to make tests paramount in accountability, they could, they just wouldn't have to.
Argument for making sure tests, or at least student outcomes, are a big part of the accountability picture: Equity again. If the point of school is for all kids to learn and get ready for college and the workforce, shouldn't most schools be judged on academic factors so we can see how they're progressing?  Daria Hall, the Education Trust's K-12 guru, brought up the weight of tests on a panel at the Center for American Progress. States, she said, shouldn't be able to design accountability systems that give the heaviest weight to say, attendance, while paying a lot less attention to how students are performing. (Watch the event here.)
So where do these things stand? No way to say yet. But if lawmakers are serious about passing an ESEA rewrite bill by the end of the year, we should found out pretty soon where things ended up. 
In the meantime, what do you think of each option? Comments section is open!
What else might folks be talking about backstage? Key differences between the bills here. 
Don't miss another Politics K-12 post. Sign up here to get news alerts in your email inbox.




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Schools Matter: Koch Ca$h Not Enough to Save Privatizers

Schools Matter: Koch Ca$h Not Enough to Save Privatizers:

Koch Ca$h Not Enough to Save Privatizers





If you are a Nashville school board member with ideological or financial ties to the corporate reform school crowd, you should look out.  A wave is building that is not for you to ride.

from Valerie Strauss:

It was a bad night for conservative school reformers in two Colorado elections being watched nationally in the education world — and public education advocates did well in key Philadelphia races as well.

Voters in the Denver suburb of Jefferson County on Tuesday tossed out three conservative members in a recall vote that was marked by some $1 million in spending, including support for the incumbents from a Koch-backed organization. The school board earned national attention when the members in 2014 said the Advanced Placement U.S. History course was not patriotic enough and needed to be changed.

In Douglas County south of Denver, voters who in 2009 and 2013 supported conservative reformers for the school board voted against three of them who had pushed controversial measures, including a voucher program.

According to the Denver Post,  the votes weren’t close, as predicted. It said that in Jefferson County, the recall won 64 percent to 36 percent. In Douglas County, the incumbents lost 58 percent to 42 percent.

In Jefferson County, Julie Williams, Ken Witt and John Newkirk  have been in office for two years. They won seats in 2013 on the five-member board and moved quickly to institute controversial school reforms, including a merit pay system for teachers and an educator evaluation system that used student test scores.

Public school activists charged that the three were part of a reform movement trying to privatize public education and started a recall effort that attracted national attention, including money from outside the state from partisans on both sides. Americans for Prosperity, the national organization founded by Charles and David Koch, contributed to the reformers, while unions supported their opponents. Some $1 million was believed to have been spent in the race, one of a few local elections around the country in which outside money played a role. Schools Matter: Koch Ca$h Not Enough to Save Privatizers:
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Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Mayoral Control Has Been a Bust

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Mayoral Control Has Been a Bust:

Mayoral Control Has Been a Bust





It's hard to fathom why state political leaders thought it was a good idea to turn Chicago Public Schools into a wing of City Hall—surely one of the most disreputable institutions in the country—let alone placing power over the schools in the hands of one man.

Now, after two decades of destabilization, failed reforms and mismanagement, it's time to join with every other school district in the state, and nearly all districts nationally, in electing our school board.

The failed strategy was forced on our city in 1995 when Republicans, who controlled both houses in the state Legislature and the governor's mansion, threatened to withhold funding for CPS unless then-Mayor Richard J. Daleytook over the schools, implemented austerity and weakened the teachers union. Sound familiar?

Their motives were questionable. Springfield's disdain for the heavily black and Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Mayoral Control Has Been a Bust:






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What to do about texting in class -- according to 11 teachers - LA Times

What to do about texting in class -- according to 11 teachers - LA Times:

What to do about texting in class, according to 11 teachers

Cellphones in classrooms




Last week, following the release of a video showing a sheriff’s deputy body-slamming a South Carolina high school student over her use of a cellphone in class, we asked teachers to tell us how they handle mobile technology in the classroom. Teachers from places like Hawaii, Ecuador, Tennessee and across Los Angeles wrote in with their strategies for coping with students who bring their cellphones to class.
Despite schools’ often restrictive media policies, teachers shared that personal mobile devices are impossible to ignore. Each teacher seemed to have his or her own method for handling phones, such as placing them in a shoe rack, using them as a learning tool, or threatening to drop students’ grades. Below is a selection of their strategies:

Putting the phones in a brown paper bag

Stephanie Kuo, Manual Arts High School (Los Angeles, Calif.), RSP and AVID teacher

A fellow teacher shared a great strategy with me that has worked well for our classes. Whenever a student is caught violating the cellphone policy, he or she can choose to either give the phone to the teacher or option two: put the cellphone in a paper bag and staple it shut. Then the student puts the bag on their desk. With this strategy, students are stopped from using their cellphone and there is also an auditory cue (silly, large crinkling noise) that discourages them from usage. Many students choose option two because it makes them feel safer knowing that their device is not confiscated in a teacher's desk, forgotten, or even stolen by another student.
With this strategy, students are stopped from using their cellphone and there is also an auditory cue (silly, large crinkling noise) that discourages them from usage.

Setting the example by not using your phone

Angel Suing, Cardinal Spellman Girls’ School (Quito, Ecuador), English as a foreign language teacher

If the teacher does not use his or her cellphone in class, the students won’t either. It is just a matter of equal rights and obligations.... Lead by example and the students will follow.

Locking the code

Jerry Hancock, Duluth High School (Duluth, Ga.), U.S. history teacher

If I see students actively using their cellphones during class, I simply take the phone and punch passcode numbers until the phone is locked. I immediately give the phone back to the student without resorting to desperate measures such as administrators or paperwork. I know I'll have my students' undivided attention for at least the next hour!

Keeping students focused, and their phones safe

Hala Abdulkarim, Learn Charter Middle School (Chicago, Ill.), English teacher

Students were initially expected at my school to keep cellphones off and in their lockers. However, our school allows them to bring backpacks to class, and students fear their devices being stolen, so the rule What to do about texting in class -- according to 11 teachers - LA Times:
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Police investigate $350,000 missing from Fulton charter schools | www.ajc.com

Police investigate $350,000 missing from Fulton charter schools | www.ajc.com:

Police investigate $350,000 missing from Fulton charter schools


More than $350,000 was taken from two public Fulton County charter schools with ties to the man police named as a suspect when more than $600,000 went missing from an Atlanta charter school.
Money from Fulton County’s Latin Grammar School and Latin College Preparatory School was transferred to a nonprofit foundation created by Chris Clemons, the founder of all three schools. And cash was withdrawn from ATMs, including one with the same address as a strip club, according to bank statements obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution under Georgia’s Open Records Act.
The Fulton County charter schools, which did not authorize payments to Clemons or his nonprofit, are cooperating with a police investigation, Latin Grammar School board chairman Eric Banister said.
Police investigate $350,000 missing from Fulton charter schools photo
Atlanta’s Latin Academy reported more than $600,000 taken from the school. BOB ANDRES / BANDRES@AJC.COM
Clemons, who has not been charged with a crime, had access to bank accounts at the Fulton charter schools, Banister said. Banister declined to answer questions about who else had access.
Clemons has not responded to phone and email messages from the AJC.
Atlanta police began an investigation into the $600,000 missing from Atlanta’s Latin Academy in July when board members at that school reported the money stolen through ATM withdrawals and to pay for dinners, non-work-related travel, bonuses to employees and “personal entertainment at local night clubs,” a police report says.

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