Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 2/11/16

CORPORATE ED REFORM

Educational Malpractice – The Child Manufacturing Process | Creative by Nature

Educational Malpractice – The Child Manufacturing Process | Creative by Nature: Educational Malpractice – The Child Manufacturing Process“Asking kids to meet target on standardized tests is like making them meet a sales quota. Our kids are not commodities.” ~K.L. Nielson In many nations around the world there is a struggle currently going on between two very different paradigms for educating child

by mike simpson / 25min 

AFT’s Weingarten: Malloy budget ‘really horrible’ for education | The CT Mirror

AFT’s Weingarten: Malloy budget ‘really horrible’ for education | The CT Mirror: AFT’s Weingarten: Malloy budget ‘really horrible’ for educationAFT President Randi Weingarten, right, talks with the superintendent of Hartford during a vist to an elementary school in Hartford.Randi Weingarten, the leader of one of the nation's largest labor unions came to an inner-city school in Hartford Thursday to

by mike simpson / 2h 

Obama to nominate John B. King Jr. to officially take the role of education secretary - The Washington Post

Obama to nominate John B. King Jr. to officially take the role of education secretary - The Washington Post: Obama to nominate John B. King Jr. to officially take the role of education secretaryPresident Obama is slated to nominate John B. King Jr. to officially lead the Department of Education, where he has served as acting secretary since the start of the year, according to several people famili

by mike simpson / 2h 

Mad Scientists Take on Education – Save Maine Schools

Mad Scientists Take on Education – Save Maine Schools: Mad Scientists Take on EducationEach year, computer scientists from around the world take part in the International Conference on Machine Learning.Sponsored by groups like Facebook, Microsoft, the National Science Foundation, and Alibaba (the organization responsible for China’s controversial “Sesame Credit” program), ICML showcases the latest

by mike simpson / 4h 

State-run New Orleans School Scores 7.2 on ACT in 2015 (You Read It Right) | deutsch29

State-run New Orleans School Scores 7.2 on ACT in 2015 (You Read It Right) | deutsch29: State-run New Orleans School Scores 7.2 on ACT in 2015 (You Read It Right)In July 2015, Louisiana Superintendent John White had his Louisiana Department of Education (LDOE) release this file of 2014-2015 Louisiana ACT 12th Grade Results by district— which he used to advance the message that the state-run Recove

by mike simpson / 4h 

National teachers’ union leader seeks to smother Detroit protests - World Socialist Web Site

National teachers’ union leader seeks to smother Detroit protests - World Socialist Web Site: National teachers’ union leader seeks to smother Detroit protestsRandi Weingarten speaking at a vigil organized by the DFT to suppress the sick-out of teachers in DetroitThere is a concerted effort by the political establishment to smother the growing movement of teachers, parents and students in defense

by mike simpson / 6h 

Maine Governor Paul LePage's Latest Stunt: Naming Himself Education Commissioner - The Atlantic

Maine Governor Paul LePage's Latest Stunt: Naming Himself Education Commissioner - The Atlantic:Maine Governor Paul LePage Names Himself Commissioner of EducationThe move caps a week in which he insulted lawmakers and then tried to play off his racist comments and support for the guillotine as ploys for attention.Paul LePage wears many hats: governor, anti-press crusader, fount of racist innuendo,

by mike simpson / 6h 

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Middle School Families - You Need to Agitate for McCleary

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Middle School Families - You Need to Agitate for McCleary: Middle School Families - You Need to Agitate for McCleary You need to agitate for McCleary because it was the legislature who mandated the 24-credit graduation requirement...with no funding to back it up. From SPS:Dear SPS middle school family,We are sharing information with you about a change that is likel

by mike simpson / 6h 

Do Poor Kids Deserve Lower-Quality Education Than Rich Kids? Evaluating School Privatization

Do Poor Kids Deserve Lower-Quality Education Than Rich Kids? Evaluating School Privatization Proposals in Milwaukee, Wisconsin | Economic Policy Institute:Do Poor Kids Deserve Lower-Quality Education Than Rich Kids? Evaluating School Privatization Proposals in Milwaukee, Wisconsin During the past year, Wisconsin state legislators debated a series of bills aimed at closing low-performing public sch

by mike simpson / 7h 

CURMUDGUCATION: Risk and Rules

CURMUDGUCATION: Risk and Rules: Risk and RulesIn his excellent look at the value of teacher coaches, Peter DeWitt drops this line with an important embedded assumption:In order for coaching to work properly, the school has to have a climate conducive to learning, which means that there needs to be a balance between risk-taking and rule following. A climate conducive to learning has to have a balan

by mike simpson / 8h 

Laura H. Chapman on Gates’ Efforts to “Transform” Teacher Training | deutsch29

Laura H. Chapman on Gates’ Efforts to “Transform” Teacher Training | deutsch29: Laura H. Chapman on Gates’ Efforts to “Transform” Teacher TrainingLaura H. ChapmanAs a complement to this February 10, 2016, guest post by Southeastern Louisiana University professor James Kirylo concerning the pressure on teacher educators to adopt canned teacher education, retired Ohio arts teacher, Laura H. Chapman,

by mike simpson / 8h 

Louisiana Educator: Possible Massive Fraud in New Orleans RSD Charters

Louisiana Educator: Possible Massive Fraud in New Orleans RSD Charters: Possible Massive Fraud in New Orleans RSD Charters Three recent articles by nola.com education investigative reporter Danielle Dreilinger,  here, here and here, exposes potential massive fraud in the operation of some RSD New Orleans charter schools.First Dreilinger reported on obvious violations of the open meetings law when

by mike simpson / 8h 

Ohio Charter School Regulation: The Flimflam Continues | janresseger

Ohio Charter School Regulation: The Flimflam Continues | janresseger: Ohio Charter School Regulation: The Flimflam Continues The Ohio state government’s long history of deception in the evaluation of charter schools drags on.  We are a super-majority Republican state without normal checks and balances.  The legislature, Governor John Kasich, and the state board of education are all in the pocket o

by mike simpson / 8h 

2/11/2016 – State Leaders Need To Back Away From School Takeover Agencies

2/11/2016 – State Leaders Need To Back Away From School Takeover Agencies: State Leaders Need To Back Away From School Takeover Agencies February 11, 2016, 2016 SubscribeTHIS WEEK: Teacher Shortage Fight … How Many Kids Have Lead Poisoning … Republicans Hat School Boards … UN Experts Horrified By US Schools … Schools Suspensions Hurt AchievementTOP STORYWhy State Leaders Need To Back Away From Sch

by mike simpson / 8h 

Schools vs. Elections as Sites for Controversy - Bridging Differences - Education Week

Schools vs. Elections as Sites for Controversy - Bridging Differences - Education Week: Schools vs. Elections as Sites for Controversy Deborah Meier continues her conversation with Harry Boyte. To read their full exchange, please visit here.Dear Harry and friends,I'm writing this with the New Hampshire primary on TV and my trip to Texas in my foreground. Plus snow. Oh dear, what to pack.The Texas

by mike simpson / 8h 

MA Charter School Fight Heats Up | Schott Foundation for Public Education

MA Charter School Fight Heats Up | Schott Foundation for Public Education: MA Charter School Fight Heats UpMassachusetts is facing a lawsuit that will likely lead to lifting the state’s cap on charter schools, further depriving traditional public schools of funding by allowing a potentially unlimited number of charter schools to develop. To combat this plan, education advocates are trying to demon

by mike simpson / 9h 

Ed Notes Online: The Bernie/Hillary Battle: Commentary from the Left (New Politics) and Mainstream (Politico)

Ed Notes Online: The Bernie/Hillary Battle: Commentary from the Left (New Politics) and Mainstream (Politico): The Bernie/Hillary Battle: Commentary from the Left (New Politics) and Mainstream (Politico)I 'm finally getting revved up to watch the show on both sides of the aisle unfold. I'm starting to balance the still remote possibility Bernie will win the nomination with the electability of a Je

by mike simpson / 9h 

The Ugly “Good Teacher” Discussion Few Are Confronting – the becoming radical

The Ugly “Good Teacher” Discussion Few Are Confronting – the becoming radical: The Ugly “Good Teacher” Discussion Few Are Confronting“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.'”Matthew 25:40The gold standard, I think, for thinking about education reform and more narrow concerns such as teacher quality is the

by mike simpson / 9h 

Where Do Presidential Candidates Send Their Own Children to School? - Politics K-12 - Education Week

Where Do Presidential Candidates Send Their Own Children to School? - Politics K-12 - Education Week: Where Do Presidential Candidates Send Their Own Children to School? The presidential candidates may not be talking much about K-12 education these days—but they've all had experience with it. After all, every single one of the candidates, at one time or another attended some kind of school. And so

by mike simpson / 9h 

Let's Teach Children That Politics Isn't Warfare

Putting the People Back in Politics: Putting the People Back in PoliticsFREDERIC J. BROWN VIA GETTY IMAGES In our recent Bridging Differences conversation in Education Week, Deborah Meier points out that schools are ideal places for people to learn how to engage in debate, especially if they are diverse in race and ethnic history.I'd add partisanship. In much of education, Republicans are the &quo

1 by mike simpson / 9h 

California initiative would shut down charter schools - Watchdog.org

California initiative would shut down charter schools - Watchdog.org: California initiative would shut down charter schoolsAn organization called Voices Against Privatizing Education is working to shut down every charter school in California, calling them discriminatory and unconstitutional. Meanwhile, charters are so popular in the state that they have grown in number from 177 in 1998 to more tha

1 by mike simpson / 9h 

Charter schools and private schools don’t work without public schools - Winston-Salem Journal: Columnists

Heather Delp: Charter schools and private schools don’t work without public schools - Winston-Salem Journal: Columnists: Heather Delp: Charter schools and private schools don’t work without public schoolsThere is a lot of talk these days comparing charter and private schools to the public education system. That’s fair; everyone benefits from a little healthy competition, and sharing successes can

1 by mike simpson / 9h 

‘Steps to College’ draws thousands to Mexican Consulate in Sacramento | Vida en el Valle

‘Steps to College’ draws thousands to Mexican Consulate in Sacramento | Vida en el Valle: ‘Steps to College’ draws thousands to Mexican Consulate in SacramentoConsul General of México in Sacramento, Alejandra García Williams, speaks to welcome the education fair/conference 'Steps To College 2016' at the mexican consulate on February 6. HÉCTOR NAVEJAS hnavejas@vidaenelvalle.comSACRAMENTO Mayra Barb

1 by mike simpson / 9h 

A CPS funding pop quiz | Ben Joravsky on Politics | Chicago Reader

A CPS funding pop quiz | Ben Joravsky on Politics | Chicago Reader: A CPS funding pop quiz Which politician did which of these dastardly things?SUE KWONGWith Mayor Rahm and Governor Rauner both swinging wrecking balls, it's hard to keep track of who's done what damage to Chicago's public schools over the past few days and weeks . . . and months and years. So much damage has already been done.OK, w

1 by mike simpson / 9h 

YESTERDAY

State Takeovers of Low-Performing Schools: A Record of Academic Failure, Financial Mismgmt & Student Harm

State Takeovers of Low-Performing Schools: A Record of Academic Failure, Financial Mismanagement & Student Harm | The Center for Popular Democracy: State Takeovers of Low-Performing Schools: A Record of Academic Failure, Financial Mismanagement & Student HarmLow-performing public schools have become a critical battleground between corporate-backed initiatives that remove local control of s

5 by mike simpson / 20h 

As the the LAUSD charter schools conflict escalates, here’s what you need to know | 89.3 KPCC

As the the LAUSD charter schools conflict escalates, here’s what you need to know | 89.3 KPCC: As the the LAUSD charter schools conflict escalates, here’s what you need to knowTuesday’s L.A. Unified school board meeting was unusual. What made it out of the ordinary, charter school supporters said, is that school district staff is recommending the denial of charter school petitions much more often

1 by mike simpson / 21h 

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 2/10/16

CORPORATE ED REFORMTeach for America: Lies, Damned Lies, and Special ContractsTeach for America: Lies, Damned Lies, and Special Contracts: Teach for America: Lies, Damned Lies, and Special ContractsCelebrating its 25th anniversary this past weekend, Teach For America (TFA) marked a milestone. Over the past 25 years, the organization has not only expanded, but also shifted their mission and approac

3 by mike simpson / 23h  

Educational Malpractice – The Child Manufacturing Process | Creative by Nature

Educational Malpractice – The Child Manufacturing Process | Creative by Nature:

Educational Malpractice – The Child Manufacturing Process

“Asking kids to meet target on standardized tests is like making them meet a sales quota. Our kids are not commodities.” ~K.L. Nielson 

In many nations around the world there is a struggle currently going on between two very different paradigms for educating children. The dominant system has been in place for over a hundred years. It is sometimes called the “factory model.” This is where schools are set up to administer “essential knowledge” to large batches of same-age children simultaneously. After instruction has been completed the children are tested, to see how much of the knowledge they were able to understand and remember.

This system is based on the way factories and scientific experiments were designed at the beginning of the last century. While on the surface this approach seems to be about transmitting “knowledge” to children there is also an unspoken “hidden curriculum” being taught. As John Taylor Gatto has written, such schooling teaches youth to obey authority, to comply with instructions, to be willing to engage in difficult activities that often seem meaningless, and to accept that society is comprised of people with different levels of talent and social status.

Over the last decades, research in education and child development indicates that the factory model is based on several faulty assumptions. It assumes that learning can be measured by standardized tests, and that all children will learn at the same rate and in the same manner. This is just not true. The fact that children learn best when something is meaningful, enjoyable and interesting for them is ignored. The importance of learning in groups and from slightly older children is also not considered relevant.

As Ken Robinson has described in his TED talk “Changing Education Paradigms“ (with Educational Malpractice – The Child Manufacturing Process | Creative by Nature:

AFT’s Weingarten: Malloy budget ‘really horrible’ for education | The CT Mirror

AFT’s Weingarten: Malloy budget ‘really horrible’ for education | The CT Mirror:

AFT’s Weingarten: Malloy budget ‘really horrible’ for education

AFT President Randi Weingarten, right, talks with the superintendent of Hartford during a vist to an elementary school in Hartford.

Randi Weingarten, the leader of one of the nation's largest labor unions came to an inner-city school in Hartford Thursday to lambaste the budget cuts proposed by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, a Democrat she helped re-elect in 2014.

Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, which also represents other public-sector employees, says the Democratic governor should expect a call from her.

"The proposed state budget is really horrible. When you see cuts of that magnitude – that are ultimately going to seep its way into schools throughout the state – that basically says that the fight from last year of corportations bullying the governor worked," Weingarten told reporters as she toured Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School, a public school where eight out of 10 students are not proficient in reading.

Weingarten was referring to a group of three major companies last spring that said proposed tax hikes, if implemented, would make them reconsider staying in Connecticut.

"One of the reasons I wanted to be in Hartford today was to actually talk to people about the effects. I have been briefed in the last couple of days on what he’s doing. I am just shocked. I am really shocked," she said. "When the state takes this kind of cut, its basically saying its reversing course on its values. I will be speaking to the governor about this, you can count on that. He will be hearing from me."

At a separate public event, Malloy smiled and said, “She’s a friend. She’s welcome to call me any time."

Facing a $570 million deficit for the fiscal year that begins in July, Malloy is proposing closing all of that shortfall with spending cuts.

Weingarten worked hard to mobilize teachers for Malloy in 2014, urging them to look past any lingering anger over his commentsabout the ease with which teachers obtain tenure. She said then his budgets were good for education.

"Yeah, I don't like some of the things he's said, either," Weingarten told the AFL-CIO convention in 2014. "But what he's done, he’s increased funding for K-12, increased funding by seven percent for K-12, making Connecticut the second-highest education spender in the country since the recession."

Malloy said Thursday he thought his budget still was good for education, noting he has maintained funding levels for Education Cost Sharing, or ECS, the state's major funding program for local education. He does, however,propose rescinding an $11.5 million funding increase that was included in the previously adopted two-year budget.

"In point of fact, ECS was not impacted with a reduction over current levels," Malloy said. He suspected that Weingarten, whose union also represents state employees outside of education, was more concerned with other aspects AFT’s Weingarten: Malloy budget ‘really horrible’ for education | The CT Mirror:

Obama to nominate John B. King Jr. to officially take the role of education secretary - The Washington Post

Obama to nominate John B. King Jr. to officially take the role of education secretary - The Washington Post:

Obama to nominate John B. King Jr. to officially take the role of education secretary

President Obama is slated to nominate John B. King Jr. to officially lead the Department of Education, where he has served as acting secretary since the start of the year, according to several people familiar with the decision.

The administration wants to have King firmly in place as Congress embarks on the reauthorization of higher education legislation, said officials who asked not to be named because they were not authorized to speak publicly. King, who took office when Arne Duncan stepped down in December, was originally going to remain the acting head of the department for the rest of Obama’s time in office. Officials from the department and White House declined to comment.

[Can Alexander and Murray recapture bipartisan magic to pass higher education legislation?]

Republican congressional leaders in the Senate and the House have said they want King, 41, to undergo the vetting process. In December, Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), chairman of the Senate education panel and an education secretary under President George H.W. Bush, personally urged Obama to nominate John B. King Jr. to officially take the role of education secretary - The Washington Post:

Mad Scientists Take on Education – Save Maine Schools

Mad Scientists Take on Education – Save Maine Schools:

Mad Scientists Take on Education

Each year, computer scientists from around the world take part in the International Conference on Machine Learning.

Sponsored by groups like Facebook, Microsoft, the National Science Foundation, and Alibaba (the organization responsible for China’s controversial “Sesame Credit” program), ICML showcases the latest research on artificial intelligence and its uses in fields like education.

“Education remains an outdated process that requires extensive human effort from course instructors and students,” the hosts of last summer’s “Machine Learning for Education” workshop wrote in a call for paper submissions.

In a series of sessions with titles like “Grand challenges in Educational Data Mining,” “Machine Learning for Spaced Repetition and Variable Rewards,” and “Deep Knowledge Tracing,” scientists and mathematicians presented their latest algorithms to get Mad Scientists Take on Education – Save Maine Schools:

State-run New Orleans School Scores 7.2 on ACT in 2015 (You Read It Right) | deutsch29

State-run New Orleans School Scores 7.2 on ACT in 2015 (You Read It Right) | deutsch29:

State-run New Orleans School Scores 7.2 on ACT in 2015 (You Read It Right)

In July 2015, Louisiana Superintendent John White had his Louisiana Department of Education (LDOE) release this file of 2014-2015 Louisiana ACT 12th Grade Results by district— which he used to advance the message that the state-run Recovery School District (RSD) in New Orleans had a Class of 2015 ACT composite score of 16.6.

RSD New Orleans’ average ACT composite saw its heyday in 2012, at which point it maxed at a state-advertised 16.8. In 2013, no fanfare for the state-acknowledged drop to 16.3. Then, in 2014, White tried not to release Class of 2014 average ACT scores, but he did so in February 2015– and he listed the RSD New Orleans Class of 2014 average ACT composite as 16.4.

So, while not fabulous, that July 2015 LDOE release of info leading the public to believe that RSD New Orleans’ Class of 2015 had at least recouped another two-tenths of a point from 2014 at least showed the average was headed in the right direction.

In that July 2015 release, White also listed the Class of 2015 average state ACT composite as 19.4– allegedly up two-tenths of a point from 2014.

However.

According to 2014-15 school and district report cards, which were released in October 2015, the RSD New Orleans average ACT composite was not the July-advertised 16.6 but instead, 15.6.

And the two-tenths of state “improvement”?

According to the 2014-15 school and district report cards, it didn’t happen. State State-run New Orleans School Scores 7.2 on ACT in 2015 (You Read It Right) | deutsch29:

National teachers’ union leader seeks to smother Detroit protests - World Socialist Web Site

National teachers’ union leader seeks to smother Detroit protests - World Socialist Web Site:

National teachers’ union leader seeks to smother Detroit protests

Randi Weingarten speaking at a vigil organized by the DFT to suppress the sick-out of teachers in Detroit

There is a concerted effort by the political establishment to smother the growing movement of teachers, parents and students in defense of public education in Detroit, with the most sinister role being played by the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and its local affiliate.

The courageous sickouts called by teachers last month, in opposition to and independent of their union, and the subsequent protests by students and parents, have tripped alarm bells—from the mayor’s office in the Manoogian Mansion, to the paneled hearing rooms in the state capitol of Lansing, to the White House.

The incipient movement has also rattled the Washington, DC headquarters of the AFT, rousing its highly paid president, Randi Weingarten ($540,000 a year) to jet into the Motor City to try to squelch the protests. Having spent the last seven years suppressing every sign of opposition to President Obama’s corporate-driven “school reform” agenda, the AFT is losing control in Detroit and Chicago where rank-and-file teachers are rebelling against austerity measures imposed by the AFT’s Democratic Party allies.

 The protests in Detroit threaten to undermine a deal that the AFT and the Detroit Federation of Teachers (DFT) are crafting with Michigan legislators over the reorganization of the Detroit Public Schools (DPS). This includes plans by Michigan’s Republican governor, Rick Snyder, and state Democrats to dissolve DPS and establish a new “Detroit Community Schools” entity, within which various for-profit education businesses will play an ever more dominant role.

Both parties are using the possible bankruptcy of DPS by April—driven by decades of federal and state budget cuts, the loss of tax revenue in the devastated industrial city, and growing indebtedness to big bondholders—to implement the restructuring plan. In this reorganization, both the Michigan AFT and the DFT have worked as partners with the Skillman Foundation, National teachers’ union leader seeks to smother Detroit protests - World Socialist Web Site:

Maine Governor Paul LePage's Latest Stunt: Naming Himself Education Commissioner - The Atlantic

Maine Governor Paul LePage's Latest Stunt: Naming Himself Education Commissioner - The Atlantic:
Maine Governor Paul LePage Names Himself Commissioner of Education
The move caps a week in which he insulted lawmakers and then tried to play off his racist comments and support for the guillotine as ploys for attention.

Paul LePage wears many hats: governor, anti-press crusader, fount of racist innuendo, advocate for vigilante justice. Now he plans to add Maine education commissioner, too.

On Thursday, he said he would withdraw the nomination of acting Education Commissioner William Beardsley for a permanent role, citing insurmountable Democratic opposition in the state legislature to Beardsley’s elevation.

“I will be the commissioner,” LePage said. Or as the governor might say in his native French, “l’etat, c’est moi.”

Senator Rebecca Millett, the top Democrat on the education committee, accused LePage of “making a mockery of the role of commissioner and the important responsibilities that fall beneath the commissioner and seriousness of educating our children.” Asked what might have motivated LePage, she told the Portland Press Herald, “I can’t explain why the governor does anything.”

Beardsley is currently serving as acting commissioner, and when that appointments runs out, he will return to being deputy commissioner, while LePage will lead the office. His answer was prompted by a question from the superintendent of Lewiston schools, who asked when the education department might get permanent leadership, the Sun Journal reported. It’s perhaps not quite what the superintendent had in mind.

Education has been a hotly contested issue during LePage’s term. The Republican is a major proponent of charter schools, and signed legislation authorizing them in Maine. He also, by his own admission, used state funds to pressure a charitable organization into rescinding a job offer to the Democratic state house speaker, a vocal opponent of charter schools.

It’s already been a banner week for LePage, who’s prone to outrageous and offensive comments. He followed through on a threat not to deliver a state of the state address, instead sending a letter to the legislature, which the Bangor Daily News characterized as “terse” and “insulting.” For example, LePage wrote, “For the past year, socialist politicians in Augusta have been dragging my Administration's employees before a kangaroo court and plotting meaningless Maine Governor Paul LePage's Latest Stunt: Naming Himself Education Commissioner - The Atlantic:

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Middle School Families - You Need to Agitate for McCleary

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Middle School Families - You Need to Agitate for McCleary:

Middle School Families - You Need to Agitate for McCleary

 You need to agitate for McCleary because it was the legislature who mandated the 24-credit graduation requirement...with no funding to back it up. 


From SPS:

Dear SPS middle school family,

We are sharing information with you about a change that is likely to affect your middle school student when he or she is in high school – and we are encouraging your input.

The state has increased the number of credits students need to graduate from 20 to 24. In Seattle Public Schools, students currently are required to earn 21.In Seattle, the new 24-credit requirement will take effect with the graduating class of 2021, this year’s seventh-graders. 

The requirement creates challenges for Seattle Public Schools because most of our high schools offer a six-period school day. That means students with typical schedules may earn a maximum of 24 credits over four years. While many of our students do earn 24 credits, the new requirement leaves no room to recover credit for students who may fail a course or want to access additional courses.

We are working now to examine our high school schedules and other systems to determine how best to serve our students. Potential changes could impact all current middle schoolers during their high school years.

How you may participate:

1. Request to join the 24-Credit Task Force. Direct participation on the task force allows you to help determine and shape the best approaches for students. You may remember that we invited parents/guardians to join this task force last year, but we are seeking more parent/guardian volunteers in the final stages. To request to join,please click here to complete our form.
   The task force has two meetings currently scheduled (3-8 p.m. Feb. 23 and March 1), and will likely meet a couple times more in March.  
2. Provide feedback on options. When the task force has narrowed the
3. preliminary recommendations, likely in March, we will provide an online tool for family feedback, and we anticipate holding regional community meetings. We will follow up with specifics in a later email.

Thank you for your interest.

Shauna Heath
Executive Director for Curriculum, Assessment & Instruction
Seattle Public Schools

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Middle School Families - You Need to Agitate for McCleary:

Do Poor Kids Deserve Lower-Quality Education Than Rich Kids? Evaluating School Privatization

Do Poor Kids Deserve Lower-Quality Education Than Rich Kids? Evaluating School Privatization Proposals in Milwaukee, Wisconsin | Economic Policy Institute:
Do Poor Kids Deserve Lower-Quality Education Than Rich Kids? Evaluating School Privatization Proposals in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

 During the past year, Wisconsin state legislators debated a series of bills aimed at closing low-performing public schools and replacing them with privately run charter schools. These proposals were particularly targeted at Milwaukee, the state’s largest and poorest school district.

Ultimately, the only legislation enacted was a bill that modestly increases school reporting requirements, without stipulating consequences for low performance. Nevertheless, the more ambitious proposals will likely remain at the core of Wisconsin’s debates over education policy, and legislative leaders have made clear their desire to revisit them in next year’s session. To help inform these deliberations, this report addresses the most comprehensive set of reforms put forward in the 2013–2014 legislative session.

Backers of these reforms are particularly enamored of a new type of charter school represented by the Rocketship chain of schools—a low-budget operation that relies on young and inexperienced teachers rather than more veteran and expensive faculty, that reduces the curriculum to a near-exclusive focus on reading and math, and that replaces teachers with online learning and digital applications for a significant portion of the day. Rocketship proposes that its model—dubbed “blended learning” for its combination of in-person and computerized instruction—can cut costs while raising low-income students’ test scores (Rocketship Education 2011).

The call for public schools to be replaced by such tech-heavy, teacher-light operations comes from some of the most powerful actors in local and national politics: the major corporate lobbies, including Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, Americans for Prosperity, and the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce (MMAC). It is these groups, rather than parents or community organizations, that provided the impetus for legislators to consider proposals for mass school closure and privatization in Milwaukee.

In advocating school privatization, MMAC, allied corporate lobbies, and corporate-funded think tanks claim to be acting out of social altruism, motivated by the tragedy of poor children whose needs are unmet in the public school system. Yet—as is detailed later in this report—these same organizations have traditionally opposed what are typically considered two of the fundamental building blocks for improving education, particularly for poor children: adequate school funding and effective anti-poverty policies.

This report evaluates the “blended learning” model of education exemplified by Rocketship and seeks to understand how the “school accountability” legislation debated during the most recent legislative session would likely affect Milwaukee schools. This briefing paper also explains how such proposals might fit within the broader economic agenda of both local and national corporate lobbies. Above all, the report questions why an educational model deemed substandard for more privileged suburban children is being so vigorously promoted—perhaps even forced—on poor children in Milwaukee.

Upon examination, it appears that charter privatization proposals are driven more by financial and ideological grounds than by sound pedagogy:

• National research shows that charter schools, on average, perform no better than public schools. There is thus no basis for believing that replacing traditional public schools in Milwaukee with privately run charters will result in improved education.

• The “blended learning” model of education exemplified by the Rocketship chain of charter schools—often promoted by charter boosters—is predicated on paying minimal attention to anything but math and literacy, and even those subjects are taught by inexperienced teachers carrying out data-driven lesson plans relentlessly focused on test preparation. But evidence from Wisconsin, the country, and the world shows that students receive a better education from experienced teachers offering a broad curriculum that emphasizes curiosity, creativity, and critical thinking, as well as getting the right answers on standardized tests.

• Blended-learning schools such as Rocketship are supported by investment banks, hedge funds, and venture capital firms that, in turn, aim to profit from both the construction and, especially, the digital software assigned to students. To fund the growth of such operations, money earmarked for Milwaukee students is diverted to national headquarters and other cities where the company seeks to expand. Furthermore, the very curricular model that Rocketship employs is shaped not simply by what is good for kids but also, in part, by what will generate profits for investors and fuel the company’s ambitious growth plans.

• The proposed “school accountability” bill that Wisconsin State Senate Education Committee Chair Luther Olsen drafted in January 2014—which embodies the most ambitious version of corporate-backed school reform—measures school achievement in ways that are skewed against poor cities and that exempt charter schools from equal accountability. Such a bill would likely result in shutting a growing number of public schools and concentrating the city’s neediest students in a shrinking public system that is denied the resources to serve them. Eventually, this would bankrupt the public school district.

• Some of the best options for school improvement are outlawed in Sen. Olsen’s draft bill. For instance, Milwaukee’s award-winning ALBA (Academia de Lenguajes y Bellas Artes) school is a publicly run charter school that outperformed every privately run charter in the city. Yet under the proposed legislation, this school would be banned from opening more campuses, while privately run schools with much worse performance would be encouraged to expand.

• To truly improve education in Milwaukee, we must start with the assumption that poor children are no less deserving of a quality education than rich children. As such, the schools that privileged suburban parents demand for their children should be the yardstick we use to measure the adequacy of education in the city. This means subjecting all schools—whether public, charter, or voucher—to the same standards of accountability, including measurements that account for the economic and disability challenges their students face, and that recognize the value of a broad curriculum and experienced teachers who are qualified to develop the full range of each child’s capacities.

Are charter schools better than public schools?

Over the past three years there has been an unprecedented wave of legislation in states across the country aimed at transforming public education. Debates on education policy draw an extraordinarily wide number of participants, including parents, students, and a broad assortment of nonprofit advocacy groups. Yet when examining which of the hundreds of education-related bills introduced actually become law, it is generally those backed by major corporate lobbies, such as the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), that advance furthest.

Until the past decade, these lobbies paid scant attention to education policy. But as will be Do Poor Kids Deserve Lower-Quality Education Than Rich Kids? Evaluating School Privatization Proposals in Milwaukee, Wisconsin | Economic Policy Institute:

CURMUDGUCATION: Risk and Rules

CURMUDGUCATION: Risk and Rules:

Risk and Rules

In his excellent look at the value of teacher coaches, Peter DeWitt drops this line with an important embedded assumption:

In order for coaching to work properly, the school has to have a climate conducive to learning, which means that there needs to be a balance between risk-taking and rule following. 

A climate conducive to learning has to have a balance between risk-taking and rule-following. That notion really resonates with me, because I see teaching as an ongoing balancing act. And some of that balance is between risk and rules.

I spend a lot of time railing against rules and restrictions and oppressive demands for one-size-fits-all conformity, but my first published education rant was a letter to the NCTE (National Council of Teachers of English) journal complaining about the loose foolishness of whole language approaches. I'm a lot less tightly wound than when I was younger, but I really don't have much trouble understanding the point of view of conservative commenters on education.

Larry Cuban captures the age-old tension in a recent post. 

Two traditions of teaching have competed with one another for millennia.  Each has had a grab-bag of names over the centuries: conservative vs. liberal, hard vs. soft pedagogy, subject-centered vs. child-centered, traditional vs. progressive, teacher-centered vs. student-centered, mimetic vs. transformational.

Each tradition has its own goals (transmit knowledge to next generation vs. helping children grow CURMUDGUCATION: Risk and Rules:

Laura H. Chapman on Gates’ Efforts to “Transform” Teacher Training | deutsch29

Laura H. Chapman on Gates’ Efforts to “Transform” Teacher Training | deutsch29:

Laura H. Chapman on Gates’ Efforts to “Transform” Teacher Training

Laura H. Chapman

As a complement to this February 10, 2016, guest post by Southeastern Louisiana University professor James Kirylo concerning the pressure on teacher educators to adopt canned teacher education, retired Ohio arts teacher, Laura H. Chapman, weighs in on the Gates push to shape teacher training programs in his image:

I have been looking at all five of the Gates “Teacher Transformation Grants,” each for 33 months and just shy of $4 million for each grantee. All of the press releases are filled with jargon about “elevating” the teaching profession. The interlocking networks and complementary funding by other foundations of these new Gates investments is amazing.

In October 2015 the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education received a 33 month grant for $3,928,656 from the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation to support the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (ESE) “teacher transformation” effort: The Elevate Preparation: Impact Children (EPIC) center. This is an addition to a separate Gates grant in October 2015, $ 300,000, “to launch, execute, and utilize implementation data collection at the state-level.”

On other blogs, I have commented on this takeover of 71 “providers” of teacher education in Massachusetts, where a large administrative unit in the state department of education is functioning as one of Gates Foundation’s Teacher Preparation Transformation Centers.

Why Massachusetts? Massachusetts has already imposed industrial strength 

Laura H. Chapman on Gates’ Efforts to “Transform” Teacher Training | deutsch29:

Louisiana Educator: Possible Massive Fraud in New Orleans RSD Charters

Louisiana Educator: Possible Massive Fraud in New Orleans RSD Charters:

Possible Massive Fraud in New Orleans RSD Charters

 Three recent articles by nola.com education investigative reporter Danielle Dreilinger,  here, here and here, exposes potential massive fraud in the operation of some RSD New Orleans charter schools.


First Dreilinger reported on obvious violations of the open meetings law when the Algiers Charter Association met without notice of impending action to fire the top executive of the Algiers group from his extremely high paid executive job.

Being a good reporter, Dreilinger smelled something fishy about the secretive actions of the Algiers group and did some excellent investigative work digging up possible massive fraud in the testing programs for Landry-Walker High School. But she also found that John White was notified almost two years ago by a charter school researcher that something was obviously wrong with the dramatic improvements in test scores at Landry-Walker high school. Her investigation found that the Algiers Board had been investigating the possible fraud at the school for over a year following the heads up they probably received from John White after he received an email from a CREDO charter school researcher. That investigation, did not find any wrongdoing worthy of prosecution, but it resulted in a a dramatic drop of end-of-course testing results for the 2014-15 school year. The year long investigation found numerous violations of testing policy and critical security measures that you could drive a truck through in cheating on state tests. The closer scrutiny of the investigation  resulted in the school grade dropping from a B to a D-.

The charter group has made it clear that they are not interested in finding wrongdoing that may result in educators going to jail as they did in the Atlanta cheating scandal. They just want to insure that the school operates properly in the future. My question is: If wrongdoing occurred with the knowledge of the administrators, why should these highly paid executives be immune to prosecution? What is John White doing about this?

In addition, Dreilinger uncovered possible fraud at Sci-Tech Academy, the crown jewel of the RSD charter systems. It seems that massive cheating occurred on internal tests that were being used to attract possible grants from foundations that support successful charters. But the administration of this charter network said they found no evidence of cheating on state tests. All very suspicious!

Danielle Dreilinger deserves a major news reporting award for her excellent work. This begs the question: Is cheating Louisiana Educator: Possible Massive Fraud in New Orleans RSD Charters:

Ohio Charter School Regulation: The Flimflam Continues | janresseger

Ohio Charter School Regulation: The Flimflam Continues | janresseger:

Ohio Charter School Regulation: The Flimflam Continues

 The Ohio state government’s long history of deception in the evaluation of charter schools drags on.  We are a super-majority Republican state without normal checks and balances.  The legislature, Governor John Kasich, and the state board of education are all in the pocket of the charter lobbies.  There isn’t accountability.  There isn’t even any transparency about which numbers are being used to evaluate charter schools or the ways those numbers are applied and misapplied when some kind of report is demanded.

In response to a request from the U.S. Department of Education, at the end of January, the Ohio Department of Education sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Education to explain how Ohio regulates its charter schools.  You may remember that in the fall, the U.S. Department of Education delayed giving Ohio the huge $71 million grant that the U.S. Department of Education had already awarded to Ohio in the summer for the purpose of expanding charter schools and taking over and charterizing the school district of Youngstown.

The U.S. Department of Education was shamed into demanding more documentation from Ohio when all of the state’s major newspapers covered and editorialized again and again about David Hansen’s charter rating system that “accidentally” left out the notorious on-line charter sector that includes the politically powerful Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow, the Ohio Virtual Academy (a K12, Inc. operation), and some of David Brennan’s White Hat Management dropout recovery schools.  The press had exposed that David Hansen (husband of Beth Hansen—then Governor Kasich’s chief of staff and now chair of Kasich’s presidential campaign) was the person who had written the federal grant proposal that won the award of $71 million. He submitted the grant proposal only days before he was, under great pressure from the press, fired for his “flawed” charter rating system.  After all this, the U.S. Department of Education capitulated to pressure from the press in Ohio and demanded that, before Ohio Ohio Charter School Regulation: The Flimflam Continues | janresseger: