solidaridad: K-12NN Wire: California's charter school law repeal movement update

solidaridad: K-12NN Wire: California's charter school law repeal movement update:

K-12NN Wire: California's charter school law repeal movement update

First published January 13, 2016 on K-12 News Network

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“charter schools comprise a divisive and segregated sector” —Frankenberg, E., Siegel-Hawley, G., Wang, J. (2011)

Voices Against Privatizing Public Education's (VAPPE) grassroots campaign to repeal the 1992 charter school laws imposed on California by corporate reactionaries Donald Fisher and Reed Hastings has been moving forward. In addition to their online petition, they've established a contribution committee, grown their endorsements, setup online fundraising, and have submitted their final ballot proposition language.

Recently VAPPE picked up a major political endorsement in the Green Party of San Diego County. In general the Green Party, unlike the Democratic Party, has been very astute on the grave dangers of charters, vouchers, and all other school privatization schemes proffered by the plutocrat class. Green Party Presidential Candidate,Dr. Jill Stein, is a stalwart defender of public education. The following are quotes from two different interviews, as well as a video of Dr. Stein and Kshama Sawant discussing the scourge of charter schools.

Public education is another example where there has been a complete scam [regarding privatization]—charter schools are not better than public schools—and in many cases they are far worse. They cherry-pick their students so they can show better test scores. The treasure of our public schools system has been assaulted by the process of privatization. (Phone interview on 2016 presidential race by OnTheIssues.org , Jul 6, 2015)

Unfortunately, charter schools draw down on funding for our public schools, and they siphon off the more capable students and their families. At the same time they concentrate the real social problems in the public schools, which is guaranteed to collapse our public system from within. The advantages of charters ought to be features of all public schools: family engagement, additional resources and budget, and so on. (2011 AmericansElect interview questionnaire with Jill Stein, Dec 21, 2011)

VAPPE also picked up support of the brilliant Sharon Higgins of The Perimeter Primate, Charter School Scandals, and The Broad Report. Higgins was one of the first to bring to public consciousness the fact that the largest chain of taxpayer funded charter schools in the United States is run by a shadowy religious cult — the Gülen Network. I've used Higgins research extensively in documenting the ties between Gülen friendly Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) Board members elected with big money from the corporate charter school industry and their billionaire backers. Both political opportunist Monica Garcia, and charter school profiteer Refugio "Ref" Rodriguez have deep ties to the secretive Gülen religious cult.

VAPPE lists their significant endorsements as follows:

• AFT Local 6161 (Palomar Faculty Federation)
• North County Labor Alliance
• Escondido Public School Advocates
• Wellstone Progressive Democrats of Sacramento
• Chicano Latino Caucus of the California Democratic Party
• Labor Council for Latin American Advancement-Sacramento chapter
• Actor and Activist - Danny Glover
• Bill Freeman - NEA Board member California
• Alita Blanc - United Educators of San Francisco President
• Julian Nava - Former U.S. Ambassador to Mexico
• Wayne Johnson - Past President of California Teachers Association (CTA)
• Sharon Higgins - parent activist, public education blogger & researcher, Gulen charter school researcher and public speaker
• Francisco Martinez - KPFK Radio Producer (Los Angeles)
• Susan Rowe - Chair California Democratic Party Madera County
• Green Party of San Diego County
• International Socialist Organization - San Francisco chapter

This email was sent out to those who signed VAPPE online petition:

You have signed the petition in support of repealing the California Charter School Act of 1992. 

We have officially filed the text of the initiative with the CA Attorney General's office and requested a title and summary to allow us to gather the necessary signatures to place this on the ballot for November 2016. The link to the text of the proposed intiative at the Attorney General's office can be found here at this link: https://oag.ca.gov/system/files/initiatives/pdfs/15-0114%20%28Repeal%20Charter%20Schools%29_0.pdf?

We will need to gather approximately 400K signatures. 

There are volunteers working hard throughout the state to make this happen. But we will still need to raise funds to gather all the necessary signatures. Please make a donation to this campaign - every little bit will help.

Make your check out to:

Repeal Charter School Laws

Send your check to:
Repeal Charter School Laws  (FPPC# 1378057)
Attention: Diana Mansker-Treasurer
7753 Laurie Way
Sacramento, CA 95832

This campaign recipient Committee is registered with the CA Secretary of State's Office:  http://cal-access.ss.ca.gov/Campaign/Committees/Detail.aspx?id=1378057

Please help us save our public schools from the greedy profiteers!!

Thank you for your support,

Kathleen Carroll

Voices Against Privatizing Public Education—Repeal Charter School Laws Committee

Support this movement, it represents an important united front against the billionaire's privatization project.

solidaridad: K-12NN Wire: California's charter school law repeal movement update:

Connecticut Recommends Thumbscrews | Daniel Katz, Ph.D.

Connecticut Recommends Thumbscrews | Daniel Katz, Ph.D.:

Connecticut Recommends Thumbscrews

Connecticut’s Democratic Governor Dannel Malloy does not always grab attention in the annals of corporate education reform.  Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker has made battles with public unions more central to his image.  New Jersey Governor Chris Christie plainly relishes getting to act “tough” and yell at teachers questioning his agenda. Democratic Mayor of Chicago Rahm Emanuel shuttered 50 public schools, mostly serving ethnic minority children, in one go, without caring to listen at all to the residents of the impacted neighborhoods.  Neighboring governor and fellow Democrat Andrew Cuomo of New York staked a huge portion of his agenda for 2015 on ramming through controversial education reforms, and his approval rating both overall and especially on education have tanked in a highly visible manner.  Compared to headline grabbers like these, Governor Malloy does not seem to get much attention.

Which is a shame because when it comes to the Holy Trinity of education reform – common standards, standardized testing tied to punitive consequences, and preference for charter schools over district schools, Governor Malloy is the complete package. In 2012, he called for major changes to teacher tenure in Connecticut, earning praise from ConnCAN, an education reform group promoting charter schools.  Facing push back from teachers and parents about the pace and nature of education reforms, Governor Malloy was forced to call for a “slow down” in the pace of reforms, especially tying teacher evaluations to standardized test results.  $91,000 in campaign donations flowed to Connecticut Democrats from a single wealthy businessman and charter school advocate, Connecticut Recommends Thumbscrews | Daniel Katz, Ph.D.:

Friedrichs v. CTA: Suing for the Right to Freeload - LA Progressive

Friedrichs v. CTA: Suing for the Right to Freeload - LA Progressive:
Friedrichs v. CTA: Suing for the Right to Freeload

Iwonder if Harlan Elrich, one of the plaintiffs in Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, was the kind of kid who took his bat and ball and went home if he didn’t get his way on the sandlot.

He evidently doesn’t believe in the democratic process or in majority rule.

Elrich and nine other teachers are suing the CTA to get out of paying the union their fair share to represent them. The Supreme Court heard arguments in the suit Monday.

A victory for Elrich and his co-plaintiffs could end up putting every public sector union in the country under “right to work,” meaning workers would be able to enjoy union-won wages, work hours and benefits without paying a dime to support the union. That’s called freeloading.

Federal labor law requires that in a workplace with a union, the union has to represent everybody who is not a supervisory or management employee. Unions say workers who don’t want to join the union should at least compensate the union for representing them in the collective bargaining process.

In any event, Elrich blasted the CPA in a Wall Street Journal op-ed piece. He disagrees with many things the union bargains for. “That the union would presume to push, allegedly on my behalf, for higher salaries at the expense of smaller class sizes and avoiding teacher layoffs is preposterous,” he wrote.

Most teachers obviously disagree with Elrich. What the CTA seeks at the bargaining table isFriedrichs v. CTA: Suing for the Right to Freeload - LA Progressive:

Obama’s Education Legacy Is More of a Mixed Bag Than He’d Like to Admit

Obama discusses K–12 education priorities in final State of the Union.:

Obama’s Education Legacy Is More of a Mixed Bag Than He’d Like to Admit

In his final State of the Union, President Barack Obama addressed an audience that included Acting Secretary of Education John King, the former New York education commissioner who took over from Arne Duncan at the start of this year. The president touted various accomplishments on the K–12 front—but the reality is a bit murkier. From the speech:

We agree that real opportunity requires every American to get the education and training they need to land a good-paying job. The bipartisan reform of No Child Left Behind was an important start, and together, we’ve increased early childhood education, lifted high school graduation rates to new highs, and boosted graduates in fields like engineering. In the coming years, we should build on that progress, by providing Pre-K for all, offering every student the hands-on computer science and math classes that make them job-ready on day one, and we should recruit and support more great teachers for our kids.

Obama really did change the conversation about early childhood education when he first pushed for an expansion of pre-K in the 2013 State of the Union. But some of his other education goals have proven more elusive. He didn’t mention, for example, that the long-overdue “bipartisan reform” of No Child Left Behind—also known as the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act or, in its latest iteration, the Every Student Succeeds Act—is in many ways a direct rebuke to his administration’s extremely hands-on education policies, with a dialing-back of federal involvement in favor of more local control. States are now no longer required to tie teacher evaluations to student test scores—a signature education-reform practice that Obama has endorsed.

Obama also touted the steady climb in high school graduation rates, which hit a “new record high” of 82 percent in the 2013–14 school year—but he left out the sometimes-slippery methods high schools have employed to achieve this stunning milestone(like, say, misclassifying dropouts as “transfers”) and what, if anything, graduatingObama discusses K–12 education priorities in final State of the Union.:

Bernie Sanders is Right: We Should Federalize Public School Funding | gadflyonthewallblog

Bernie Sanders is Right: We Should Federalize Public School Funding | gadflyonthewallblog:

Bernie Sanders is Right: We Should Federalize Public School Funding

Bernie Sanders just dropped a massive dose of truth on us Monday night.

No politician in my lifetime has ever said anything so dangerous, fraught with problems, unlikely, impractical, and absolutely on the nose right!

The Presidential candidate running for the Democratic nomination wants to make the federal government largely responsible for funding public schools. Right now districts are supported mostly by local and state taxes.

This is what he said:

“One of the things that I have always believed is that, in terms of education, we have to break our dependency on the property tax, because what happens is the wealthiest suburbs can in fact have great schools but poor, inner-city schools cannot. So I think we need equality in terms of how we fund education, and to make sure the federal government plays an active role to make sure that those schools who need it the most get the funds that they 

Bernie Sanders is Right: We Should Federalize Public School Funding | gadflyonthewallblog:

Across the Country, a New Type of Partnership Between Charters and Districts Emerges

Across the Country, a New Type of Partnership Between Charters and Districts Emerges  :

Across the Country, a New Type of Partnership Between Charters and Districts Emerges

Increasingly, I’m hearing a question that drives me crazy: “Are you for or against charter schools?”

There can only be one legitimate answer to that question: It depends.

Are you speaking of the situation in Michigan, in which four out of five charter school operators are for-profit entities? Or the overall tendency for charters to be even more segregated than their public school neighbors? Or the reluctance by some charter leaders to hold themselves to the same standards of transparency and openness as traditional public schools?

If so, thumbs down.

But if you’re talking about places like Baltimore, where all charter school teachers are unionized (and the charters themselves are almost all locally conceived and teacher-led), or if you’re pointing to the growing movement among some charters to intentionally enroll and serve integrated student bodies – by way of the National Coalition of Diverse Charter Schools – the picture takes a very different shape.

And then there’s what’s happening with Summit Basecamp – a new sort of partnership between charters and traditional public schools that may very well offer the best evidence so far of what Al Shanker first called for back in 1988, when he imagined a new kind of school in which teachers could experiment with different ways of reaching students, and then inject that wisdom back throughout the public school system.

That’s what Diane Tavenner has done at Summit Public Schools, a successful network of charter schools in California and Washington that represent the bleeding edge of innovative approaches to personalized learning.

Unlike other models – I’m looking at you, Rocketship – whose efforts to leverage technology seem to be more concerned with creating magic in the balance sheet Across the Country, a New Type of Partnership Between Charters and Districts Emerges  :

Stanford study suggests academic benefits to ethnic studies courses

Stanford study suggests academic benefits to ethnic studies courses:

Stanford study suggests academic benefits to ethnic studies courses

New research shows gains in attendance, GPA of at-risk high school students from incorporating culturally relevant pedagogy.

A high school ethnic studies course examining the roles of race, nationality and culture on identity and experience boosted attendance and academic performance of students at risk of dropping out, a new study by scholars at Stanford Graduate School of Education (GSE) found.

The study looked at ethnic studies classes in a pilot program in San Francisco high schools, and compared academic outcomes for students encouraged to enroll in the courses with similar students who did not take them.

The researchers found that students not only made gains in attendance and grades, they also increased the number of course credits they earned to graduate.

"What's so unique about this program is the degree to which it helped the students who took it," said Emily Penner, co-author of the paper and a postdoctoral researcher at the GSE. "Schools have tried a number of approaches to support struggling students, and few have been this effective. It's a novel approach that suggests that making school relevant and engaging to struggling students can really pay off."

Thomas S. Dee, a professor at Stanford GSE and director at the Stanford Center for Education Policy Analysis, was the other author of the report, which was posted Jan. 11 as a working paper on the website of the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER).

District debate

The findings come as educators and policymakers in Arizona, California, Oregon and other states debate adding or taking away such curriculum from their schools. While ethnic studies proponents contend the courses can help address academic disparities by aligning individual student experiences with curriculum, opponents have argued they are anti-American, teach divisiveness and may displace opportunities for students to take electives of their choice.

Last year, California Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed legislation proposing to require ethnic studies courses statewide, and Stanford study suggests academic benefits to ethnic studies courses:

What is Corporate Opt Out? – Save Maine Schools

What is Corporate Opt Out? – Save Maine Schools:

What is Corporate Opt Out?

Confused about “Corporate Opt Out” and how Gates money can possibly be infiltrating this movement?  Here’s a flowchart that might help.

What is Corporate Opt Out? – Save Maine Schools:

The College Board Still Has Not Delivered Many Oct 2015 PSAT Scores | deutsch29

The College Board Still Has Not Delivered Many Oct 2015 PSAT Scores | deutsch29:

The College Board Still Has Not Delivered Many Oct 2015 PSAT Scores

After failing to deliver October 2015 PSAT scores by its initially-promised, mid-December deadline, the College Board re-promised to have those scores electronically available to school counselors by January 6, 2016, and to students, by January 7, 2016.

Even though The College Board had publicly advertised that it had indeed delivered those October 2015 PSAT scores as promised on January 7, a number of individuals nationwide complained of not being able to access their scores. Below is The College Board’s January 7, 2016, Twitter announcement of PSAT score delivery– and comments dated January 7 to 11 that said scores had not been received (click image to view comments):

October #PSAT/NMSQT scores will be released throughout today! Learn what's in your report: https://t.co/9jVtzg7yrA pic.twitter.com/OaNq7Xh2ca

— The College Board (@CollegeBoard) January 7, 2016

4M students now have access to their #PSAT/NMSQT scores & can sign up for free #SATPractice based on their score https://t.co/YFLhSwwM7S

— The College Board (@CollegeBoard) January 9, 2016

In Twitter comments, The College Board is advising individuals to send direct messages to CB in order to address the issue.

And in the midst of that January 9, 2016, Twitter commentary, CB makes the following admission on January 12– five days after CB declared the scores had indeed been delivered (click image to enlarge):

Note that on January 12, 2016, The College Board did not tweet that all schools have received the October 2015 PSAT scores. The College Board did not even tweet that all schools should have the scores.

College Board tweeted that most schools should have their scores.

Without question, College Board has dropped the PSAT ball.

On January 08, 2016, I wrote a post about CB’s failure to deliver the October 2015 PSAT scores on time. The post was prompted by an email I received from a Pennsylvania parent who had not received his child’s scores on January 7 but, according to the parent’s story, had pestered CB and received the scores on January 8.

What prompted me to write this post is that it is January 13, and the post has had The College Board Still Has Not Delivered Many Oct 2015 PSAT Scores | deutsch29:

Why England Is Pushing for Privately Sponsored, Charter-Like Government Schools - The Atlantic

Why England Is Pushing for Privately Sponsored, Charter-Like Government Schools - The Atlantic:

The Rise of American-Style Charter Schools in England
A push by the prime minister for academies has left local schools struggling to adapt to student population increases.

Without a doubt, the biggest change to the educational landscape in England over the next few years will be the growth of so-called academies and free schools, both modeled at least in part on U.S. charter schools.

Prime Minister David Cameron has said he would like every government-funded school in England to be a free school or academy by 2020. At present, they represent 60 percent of the country’s roughly 2,000 state-supported secondary schools.

The government’s academies program was launched in the 1990s under former Prime Minister Tony Blair. Initially, they were confined to inner-city areas. Now, though, any school can seek academy status. Failing schools, however, are forced to become academies with new private sponsors and—usually—a new principal (or headteacher, as school leaders are called in the U.K.).

A mantra appears to have been adopted by Conservative politicians which—roughly summed up—translates to academies and free schools are “good,” and state-maintained, local-authority schools are “bad.”

So, what exactly are these schools? Both free schools and academies are run by private sponsors—normally faith-based groups, teacher-led cooperatives, or private companies—many of whom will already have a track record in running fee-paying private schools. They have freedom to pay whatever salaries they like (within their budget) and freedom to ignore the national curriculum for state-supported schools. They are not allowed to select students by ability and will normally take in students from a specific geographical area surrounding the schools. The only difference between free schools and academies is that free schools are new schools while academies are existing schools (run by local Why England Is Pushing for Privately Sponsored, Charter-Like Government Schools - The Atlantic:

Education Support Professionals Going Above and Beyond for Student Safety - NEA Today

Education Support Professionals Going Above and Beyond for Student Safety - NEA Today:

Education Support Professionals Going Above and Beyond for Student Safety

Every day, in every public school, education support professionals (ESPs) keep students safe. School bus drivers know the proper evacuation routes and safety procedures on the bus. School security staff keep the school campus free of drugs, crime, and illegal substances. Trades staff keep campuses safe and clean. Student services professionals advocate for greater mental health resources. Secretaries intervene in bullying situations, and work to help the victim and the bully. Custodians serve on school safety committees. Nurses look for signals that a student may be shouldering an eating disorder, drug addiction, or other challenge. The list goes on, but what it comes down to is that ESPs contribute to student safety in ways that are significant and innumerable.

Here are just a few of the countless ESPs who provide students with a much-needed safe haven.

Victor Marquez, School Security Officer, Citrus Valley High School, Redlands, CA.

School security staff are on the frontlines of school safety. From playground scuffles, students who smoke on school grounds, and mechanical accidents, to disasters—whether natural or manmade— and other situations, these highly trained professionals provide schools with leadership and expertise when it’s time to prepare for or react to a crisis.

In a recent NEA video, Victor Marquez, a security officer at Citrus Valley High School in Redlands, Calif., talks about the role he and his colleagues play in schools across the nation.

Karen Barnes, School Bus Coordinator, Austin Independent School District, Austin, TX.

Karen Barnes’ district educates approximately 85,000 students and embraces 129 diverse school communities. Austin Independence School District (AISD) also Education Support Professionals Going Above and Beyond for Student Safety - NEA Today:

Will the safe choice for L.A. Unified chief turn out to be the best? - LA Times

Will the safe choice for L.A. Unified chief turn out to be the best? - LA Times:

Will the safe choice for L.A. Unified chief turn out to be the best?

 No question about it. The selection of Michelle King as superintendent of Los Angeles Unified comes with what PR folks call a nice narrative.

King, 54, attended district schools as a student, got her first job as an LAUSD student aide in 1978, became a teacher and a principal, and worked her way up to second-in-command under the last two superintendents.

We all want to root for someone who came up through the ranks, right?

But does any of that make her the best choice — or even a good choice — to lead the district?

I hope so, and I wish her success, but it's way too soon to know.

What's clear is that LAUSD board members made the safe choice. They decided on someone who has been a good, low-profile soldier rather than a strong,independent voice, and for now at least, I find that disappointing.

 The 7-0 vote by board members suggests that they're comfortable with King. But their comfort isn't necessarily a good thing for anyone but themselves.

LAUSD is the nation's second-largest public school district, and it's hard to imagine anything more important to the city's success than the success of the district's largely impoverished student population.

I'm sure all the candidates who looked at the job found plenty to admire. There are great teachers getting through to deserving students in thousands of LAUSD classrooms every day.

I also know there's more than a morsel of truth in the statement by the outside candidate who declined the job, calling the district "a total mess."

Look at the problems: Declining enrollment, a steady flight by students to charters, lagging student achievement and a massive projected budget deficit, to name just a few.

Such challenges may have justified paying the handsome sum of $250,000 in consulting fees to a search firm and giving it the task of scouring the entire country for months on a mission to land the best possible candidate.

I kind of got my hopes up for a proven leader, from a functional enterprise, who Will the safe choice for L.A. Unified chief turn out to be the best? - LA Times:

Is Teach For America telling the truth? #TFA25 – Cloaking Inequity

Is Teach For America telling the truth? #TFA25 – Cloaking Inequity:

Is Teach For America telling the truth? #TFA25

This is the interview with a recent Houston high school principal that Teach For America doesn’t want you to hear.

Recently Teach For America responded to a post on Diane Ravitch’s blog. Here is a summary of their points:

• We continue to be one of the country’s largest sources of African American and Hispanic teachers.

• It’s important to remember that every experienced educator was once a first-year teacher, whether from TFA, another alternative route, or a traditional program.

• TFA corps members interview for open positions and go through the same hiring process as any other teacher candidate.

• Principals tell us they value having TFA as one additional source of new teachers with diverse backgrounds and experiences.

• Effective teachers, no matter what their background or tenure in the classroom, are an essential part of the solution to educational inequity.

Is Teach For America telling the truth?

Teach For America spends tens of thousands of dollars every year trying convincing the public (with their purchased research, marketing campaigns, and rapids response teams) that sending temporary teachers with just a few weeks of summer training and about 20 hours of summer school classroom time to teach poor children is a GREAT idea.

To give voice to educators, parent, students and others who want to provide alternative perspectives to the public about Teach For America— we have begun a new podcast called Truth For America. Episode 1 of Truth For America is co-hosted with Jameson Brewer, a 2010 Teach Teach For America alum and author of the book Teach For America Counter-Narratives. We also invited a veteran educator and former principal of a Is Teach For America telling the truth? #TFA25 – Cloaking Inequity:

Another disturbing message in Lt. Gov Forest’s charter school bullying | The Progressive Pulse

Another disturbing message in Lt. Gov Forest’s charter school bullying | The Progressive Pulse:

Another disturbing message in Lt. Gov Forest’s charter school bullying

There have been lots of excellent critiques of Lt. Gov. Dan Forest’s recent Soviet-style demands for a rewrite of a report on the not-so-impressive performance of North Carolina’s charter schools. My colleague Chris Fitzsimon authored one of the best last Friday when he rightfully blasted Forest for trying to rewrite history to abet his ideological objective of privatizing and dismantling public education:

“Forest delayed the report, saying it was too negative toward charters and called it the fuel the media uses to criticize what Republicans are doing.

In other words, the facts show that charter schools are less diverse than traditional public schools and Forest is worried about that the public will think when the media reports it.

Maybe the answer is to be more thoughtful about expanding charter schools without enough accountability and Forest wouldn’t have anything to hide.

Ironically, Forest’s refusal to accept the publicly presented report probably gave it more attention than it would have received in the media had he not objected.

And facts are not fuel. They are facts whether Forest likes them or not.

He can disagree with the report if he wants, maybe try to make up his own facts, but the report is the report and charter schools are less diverse than traditional public schools.”

Here, however, is another less publicized, but equally troubling aspect of Forest’s actions: the loud and clear message it sends to honest, hardworking employees in all parts of government that they had better toe the ideological line.

Think about what happened: Some dedicated public employees generated a “just the facts” report on charter schools. Unfortunately for them, the facts weren’t what a prominent and ambitious state politician wanted to hear about. Now, they are being hounded into producing a new report with “additional findings.”

As Charlotte Observer education reporter Ann Doss Helms reported this morning:

“If you want people to notice a data report, try having a public official object to it.

That’s one lesson from last week’s decision by the N.C. Board of Education to send a charter school report back for revisions after Lt. Gov. Dan Forest complained that it wasn’t positive enough….

He and other state officials stood by the numbers. But Levinson said he’ll look for ways to highlight successes by the independently-run charter schools, such as adding a list of awards and accolades they’ve won.”

This is a dreadful example of politically and ideologically motivated interference in the kind of straightforward,

- See more at: http://pulse.ncpolicywatch.org/2016/01/13/another-disturbing-message-in-lt-gov-forests-charter-school-bullying/#sthash.e8r2WBOx.GIDJsijA.dpuf

Hamilton High provides clues on how LAUSD's new superintendent will lead | 89.3 KPCC

Hamilton High provides clues on how LAUSD's new superintendent will lead | 89.3 KPCC:

Hamilton High provides clues on how LAUSD's new superintendent will lead

When the Los Angeles Unified board named longtime employee Michelle King the district’s newest superintendent Monday, board members cited her three decades of service to the school system -- years in which she worked mostly out of the spotlight, but built strong ties through her personal touch.

"She has an ability to build tremendous good will with the people she works with," said teacher Robert Coad, who worked with King at Hamilton High School on the Westside. She held leadership positions there for eight years.

On Tuesday, the day after King's appointment as new superintendent, Hamilton High staff was elated.

"Everybody has this sense that she cares about them," said Fran Rose, Hamilton's humanities magnet coordinator. He said King connected not just with teachers and other staff, but with parents and other stakeholders.

It's no small feat for a former principal to be so fondly remembered.

"It was always like no problem was too small," explained Marlene Zuccaro, director of Hamilton's academy of music and performing arts.

Librarian Rosemarie Bernier remembers like it was yesterday the day in 1997 she got her national board certification. King was her supervisor.

"I went in to tell her and show her my certificate," Bernier said, tearing up at the memory. "You know what she did? She grabbed my hands and we jumped up and down together because she was thrilled for me and she was thrilled for the kids."

During her acceptance speech Monday, King gave little policy detail, speaking mainly in generalities.

She said her goals are to increase parent engagement, improve access and equity for all students to a quality education, and better prepare students for college. She also pledged fiscal restraint, saying she will devise a budget strategy to support her aims.

She did make it clear that she intends to retain her personal touch as she takes on the district's top job.

"It is only by working as a team and a family that we can help our students achieve and thrive," King said.

LAUSD board president Steve Zimmer said in her interviews, King demonstrated a level of connection with the school district's work that went above and beyond what she was normally able to show in her job as an administrator.

Speaking on KPCC's Take Two on Tuesday morning,  Zimmer said she had a passion for two major initiatives that the district has already begun to put in place: a major push to better prepare students for college and career and a slate of reforms to make Hamilton High provides clues on how LAUSD's new superintendent will lead | 89.3 KPCC:

Drama at Supreme Court During ‘Friedrichs’ Oral Arguments Was Blatantly Political | janresseger

Drama at Supreme Court During ‘Friedrichs’ Oral Arguments Was Blatantly Political | janresseger:

Drama at Supreme Court During ‘Friedrichs’ Oral Arguments Was Blatantly Political

Have you noticed the political and ideological operation of the U.S. Supreme Court lately?  In case you need a refresher on this trend, in a fine Washington Post column, Dana Milbank takes us right inside the drama of the courtroom during Monday’s oral arguments on the teachers’ union case, Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association.  Like others who sat in the courtroom during oral arguments, Milbank believes the court will decide against the interests of public employee unions—against the 99 percent and for the One Percent. (This blogexamined the substance of this case and its origins yesterday.)

Milbank explains: “By all appearances at Monday’s argument, the five Republican-appointed justices are ready to upend a 40-year precedent guiding labor relations in favor of a new approach that will deplete public-sector unions’ finances and reduce their political clout.  The case, from California, involves arcane issues of ‘agency fees’ and member opt-outs, but make no mistake: This is about campaign finance, and in particular, propping up the Republican Party.”

Milbank is specific: “(T)he only real counterweight to Republican super PACs in this new era is union money.  And the Supreme Court is about to attack that, too.”  Remember that with 3.2 million members, the National Education Association is the nation’s largest union.  What the Supreme Court decides in this case will also affect other public employees’ unions—police, fire, the American Federation of Teachers,  AFSCME—the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, and SEIU—the Service Employees International Union.

Milbank quotes the lawyer for the plaintiffs, Michael Carvin, who told the Court that a decision against the unions would not necessarily make anything adverse happen to the unions.  But when the attorney went outside after the session to speak with the press, he declared, “It may limit their revenue somewhat, but of course they can compensate for that by Drama at Supreme Court During ‘Friedrichs’ Oral Arguments Was Blatantly Political | janresseger:

Detroit public schools teachers continue sickouts - World Socialist Web Site

Detroit public schools teachers continue sickouts - World Socialist Web Site:

Detroit public schools teachers continue sickouts

Teachers marching in front of the Detroit Public Schools office

Detroit public school teachers continued rolling sickouts yesterday, forcing the closure of 24 schools or over one-fifth of the district. This follows Monday when 64 schools were closed, as hundreds of teachers have taken a united stand against the overcrowding of classrooms, unsafe schools, budget cuts and privatization.

It is an unprecedented feat by teachers who have used social media and local connections to develop the initiative as a grassroots campaign organized independently of the Detroit Federation of Teachers (DFT). The militancy of teachers has taken both government officials and the teachers union by surprise. Both have gone into overdrive to try to suppress the snowballing protests and prevent them from taking a politically independent form.

Republican Governor Rick Snyder, who has presided over millions of dollars worth of cuts to Michigan schools, including the shuttering of entire school districts, issued a statement saying the sickouts came “at the expense of the kids,” and threatened state retaliation if the struggle continues.

Public employee strikes are illegal in Michigan and state legislators have been trying to find a mechanism to categorize sickouts as strikes. In the hopes of carrying out mass firings and/or imposing fines, they also seek to eliminate teachers’ right to a hearing in the event of victimization.

The lead editorial in the Detroit News Tuesday was headlined “Fire DPS strike ringleaders,” and called for state legislators “to make it easier to punish teachers who break the law.”

Meanwhile, the DFT—discredited for its willingness to sign onto any concessions contract, layoff and school closure handed down by a succession of emergency managers—has been unable to stop or control the sickouts and has gone into crisis mode.

For the DFT and its national parent organization, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), it is now ‘all hands on deck’ to try to quell the protests while at the same time trying to prevent further loss of union membership come next June, when members will be able to opt-out under the state’s right-to-work law.

The level of crisis by the union bureaucracy is indicated by the fact that Randi Weingarten, AFT president, is flying into town to address a mass union meeting this Thursday. She will be joined by Michigan AFT President David Hecker and DFT Administrator Ann Mitchell. Weingarten is notorious for her intimate connections with all manner of school privatizers such as the Gates Foundation, as well as her mantra, “School reform with us, not against us.”

Meanwhile, the corporate media, from the local Detroit press to the New York Times and UK-based Guardian, have falsely claimed ousted DFT president Detroit public schools teachers continue sickouts - World Socialist Web Site: