Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 2/28/16

CORPORATE ED REFORM

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Opting Out Heats Up

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Opting Out Heats Up:Opting Out Heats UpIt's getting to be testing time and BOY, are there a slew of states and groups and people worried that the opt-out movement will continue to grow.First, for great information on opting out, United Opt Out is a national group.There are two interesting developments on this front.One is that the National PTA has warned the state

by mike simpson / 1h 

As a KIPP supporter, this new book about charter schools is hard to believe - The Washington Post

As a KIPP supporter, this new book about charter schools is hard to believe - The Washington Post: As a KIPP supporter, this new book about charter schools is hard to believeJim Horn is the most vocal critic of our nation’s (and the District’s) largest nonprofit charter school network, KIPP. Among journalists, I am KIPP’s most enthusiastic supporter.That makes me an odd judge of Horn’s new book on

by mike simpson / 1h 

Ten Years Post-Katrina, the New Orleans Community Forms BENOLA | deutsch29

Ten Years Post-Katrina, the New Orleans Community Forms BENOLA | deutsch29: Ten Years Post-Katrina, the New Orleans Community Forms BENOLAOn February 26, 2016, Jennifer Berkshire released this 20-minute audio interview with long-time school choice advocate, Howard Fuller. I have written about Fuller in my ed reform who’s-who, A Chronicle of Echoes, for his involvement in founding the corporate ref

by mike simpson / 3h 

Because I love my daughter…Because all of our children are simply that important! - Wait What?

Because I love my daughter…Because all of our children are simply that important! - Wait What?: Because I love my daughter…Because all of our children are simply that important!We are opting out children out of the unfair, inappropriate and discriminatory Common Core testing craze because our children deserve public schools that are focused on providing all children with a comprehensive, quality a

by mike simpson / 3h 

United Opt Out Conference: Sunday, Feb 28, 2016 - YouTube #UOO16Philly

United Opt Out Conference: Sunday, Feb 28, 2016 - YouTube: 1:34:13United Opt Out Conference: Sat. Session 1 - Meet UOO Leaders - Keynote, Chris HedgesRobert Lamothe1 day ago82 viewsIt is time for revolution. It is time for non-negotiable demands. It is time to reclaim our public schools and demand all for all children ...NEW1:39:35United Opt Out Conference: FRIDAY Welcoming Reception with Stephen

by mike simpson / 4h 

Hypocrisy of My Teachers Union: If It Looks Like A Duck & Quacks Like A Duck, It’s Duck, Baby – The Testing Games

Hypocrisy of My Teachers Union: If It Looks Like A Duck & Quacks Like A Duck, It’s Duck, Baby – The Testing Games: Hypocrisy of My Teachers Union: If It Looks Like A Duck & Quacks Like A Duck, It’s Duck, BabyCan I take a quick break from the Testing Games to point out a quick example of hypocrisy?Specifically, I’d like to note the hypocrisy of our Florida FEA union suing our state for the

by mike simpson / 5h 

Oregon Save Our Schools: Issuing Retroactive Diplomas is Not Charity

Oregon Save Our Schools: Issuing Retroactive Diplomas is Not Charity: Issuing Retroactive Diplomas is Not CharityToday we are reposting a blog by OSOS member and co-founder Joanne Yatvin.  Joanne's career as an educator includes the following: high school English teacher and English Department Chair,  former Wisconsin Principal of the Year,  superintendent/principal of a rural Oregon district, mem

by mike simpson / 5h 

LAUSD's Coming District 4 Battle Royale - LA Progressive

LAUSD's Coming District 4 Battle Royale - LA Progressive: LAUSD’s Coming District 4 Battle RoyaleGet ready America.Set the date in Spring, 2017.Los Angeles will be hosting the biggest, most expensive school board election our country has ever seen.Buy your tickets now.Nick Melvoin is running for LAUSD’ President Steve Zimmer’s seat on the largest democratically elected school board in the country.

by mike simpson / 5h 

Commentaries from #UOO16Philly | DCGEducator: Doing The Right Thing

Commentaries from #UOO16Philly | DCGEducator: Doing The Right Thing: Commentaries from #UOO16PhillyThis weekend I was honored to be asked by the organizers of United Opt Out National to moderate and participate on two panels at their Annual Conference in Philadelphia. It also gave me the chance to get a legit Philly Cheesesteak.I will simply post my remarks below.Panel #1: Global Privatization and

by mike simpson / 5h 

John Thompson: Coming to Your Neighborhood Soon: Privatization | Diane Ravitch's blog

John Thompson: Coming to Your Neighborhood Soon: Privatization | Diane Ravitch's blog:John Thompson: Coming to Your Neighborhood Soon: Privatization John Thompson is a historian and teacher in Oklahoma.He writes:“Something’s happening here; What it is ain’t exactly clear …”But, what is it?A secret plan was presented to the Oklahoma City Public School Board of Education to turn neighborhood schools

by mike simpson / 6h 

MSNBC Continues To Try To Destroy What's Left Of Their Liberal Audience, Runs Melissa Harris-Perry Off The Air | Crooks and Liars

MSNBC Continues To Try To Destroy What's Left Of Their Liberal Audience, Runs Melissa Harris-Perry Off The Air | Crooks and Liars: MSNBC Continues To Try To Destroy What's Left Of Their Liberal Audience, Runs Melissa Harris-Perry Off The AirRick Tyler joins @MSNBC & @MHarrisPerry is not put on-air anymore.Let's end the notion that they are in any way progressive network anymore.— Cenk Uygur (@

by mike simpson / 6h 

How Radical Must We Be To Get the Schools Our Children Deserve? United Opt Out Musings | gadflyonthewallblog

How Radical Must We Be To Get the Schools Our Children Deserve? United Opt Out Musings | gadflyonthewallblog: How Radical Must We Be To Get the Schools Our Children Deserve? United Opt Out Musings There was a point during Chris Hedges keynote address today when I could barely catch my breath.My chest was heaving, tears were leaking from my eyes and I wasn’t sure I would be able to stop.The Pulitze

by mike simpson / 7h 

CURMUDGUCATION: $100,000 Garbage Workers + ICYMI: A Stack for the End of February

CURMUDGUCATION: $100,000 Garbage Workers:$100,000 Garbage WorkersHa-- you thought that was some sort of snarky figurative expression in the title, but no-- courtesy of CNN Money, here's an article about the garbage workers in New York City that make over $100K annually.While we keep insisting that every child must graduate from high school and immediately hit the college trail, garbage workers, in

by mike simpson / 7h 

The Loss of Special Education Teachers

The Loss of Special Education Teachers: The Loss of Special Education TeachersWhere did all the special education teachers go? Special education teachers who study and address the unique differences in students are really a part of the whole learning puzzle—necessary to a student’s future success. But alas, special education teachers are falling by the wayside.In Hawaii they have special education

by mike simpson / 7h 

Unions And Coops: How Workers Can Survive And Thrive | PopularResistance.Org

Unions And Coops: How Workers Can Survive And Thrive | PopularResistance.Org: Unions And Cooperatives: How Workers Can Survive And ThriveUnion Cab of Madison, a worker-owned cooperative, takes part in the 2011 pro-worker Wisconsin protests. (Photo: CindyH Photography / Flickr)United States – The year 2008 was when the big banks were bailed out, but it was also the year that catalyzed one group of

by mike simpson / 8h 

Who’s regulating for-profit schools? Execs from for-profit colleges

Who’s regulating for-profit schools? Execs from for-profit colleges: Who’s regulating for-profit schools? Execs from for-profit colleges is story was co-published with The Chronicle of Higher Education.College accreditors have come under scrutiny recently for allowing for-profit schools to collect billions in federal aid despite low graduation and high default rates.Accreditors are supposed to be

by mike simpson / 8h 

Hoboken, New Jersey: ACLU And Education Law Center Sue to Block Charter Expansion | Diane Ravitch's blog

Hoboken, New Jersey: ACLU And Education Law Center Sue to Block Charter Expansion | Diane Ravitch's blog: Hoboken, New Jersey: ACLU And Education Law Center Sue to Block Charter ExpansionHoboken is a town in New Jersey that is one-mile square. The charter industry is opening schools there, draining away white and middle-class students.The American Civil Liberties Union and the Education Law Center

by mike simpson / 8h 

The Myth of the Hero Teacher - The New York Times

The Myth of the Hero Teacher - The New York Times: The Myth of the Hero TeacherEd Boland outside the Henry Street School for International Studies, where he taught ninth-grade history. Credit Hilary Swift for The New York TimesMaybe you have had the fantasy: Chuck your day job to teach in a public school in a blighted neighborhood. The money is lousy, of course, but that’s part of the fantasy — no

by mike simpson / 8h 

Charter schools and corruption | Seattle Education

Charter schools and corruption | Seattle Education:Charter schools and corruptionWhen there is privatization there is corruption.We have seen it with charter schools around the country, with prisons, detention facilities, utilities and the war machine.Here is yet another story.Former Mountain Empire Unified School District Superintendent Steve Van ZantCharter school king pleads guilty to felonySte

by mike simpson / 8h 

NEPC slams Common Core-NAEP Report as “feeble” attempt to claim success – Missouri Education Watchdog

NEPC slams Common Core-NAEP Report as “feeble” attempt to claim success – Missouri Education Watchdog: NEPC slams Common Core-NAEP Report as “feeble” attempt to claim successIn a title that is too good not to share, National Education Policy Center (NEPC)  slams a recent report by Center for American Progress (CAP) that attempted to say Common Core has been a huge success for low-income students,

by mike simpson / 8h 

Joe the Plumber takes on public education — PS connect

Joe the Plumber takes on public education — PS connect: Joe the Plumber takes on public educationAt Tuesday night’s CNN Town Hall in South Carolina, public education got a moment on the Democratic primary campaign stage. But what did it really tell us?Audience member John Loveday was introduced as the principal of a charter school. He asked Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton whether

by mike simpson / 8h 

John Kuhn: Corporate Reformers Try to Take Back Social Media from Supporters of Public Schools | Diane Ravitch's blog

John Kuhn: Corporate Reformers Try to Take Back Social Media from Supporters of Public Schools | Diane Ravitch's blog:John Kuhn: Corporate Reformers Try to Take Back Social Media from Supporters of Public SchoolsJohn Kuhn is superintendent of the Perrin-Whitt school district in Texas. He first emerged as a national figure in the fight for better education for all children when he spoke at the nati

by mike simpson / 8h 

The Wrong Way to Teach Math - The New York Times

The Wrong Way to Teach Math - The New York Times: The Wrong Way to Teach Math HERE’S an apparent paradox: Most Americans have taken high school mathematics, including geometry and algebra, yet a national survey found that 82 percent of adults could not compute the cost of a carpet when told its dimensions and square-yard price. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development recently tes

by mike simpson / 9h 

Special education groups allege California alarmed parents about data transfer | The Sacramento Bee

Special education groups allege California alarmed parents about data transfer | The Sacramento Bee: Special education groups allege California alarmed parents about data transferSacramento City Unified School District made automated calls to families informing them of the legal case regarding the disclosure of student information and advising how parents could file an objection. The Sacramento Be

by mike simpson / 9h 

Forces opposed to school reform efforts are attempting to turn back the clock - Opinion - The Buffalo News

Forces opposed to school reform efforts are attempting to turn back the clock - Opinion - The Buffalo News: Forces opposed to school reform efforts are attempting to turn back the clockIn just over two months, Buffalo voters will be making a potentially historic decision. Will they continue to insist on reforms in the Buffalo School District, or will they turn away, and give power to candidates wh

by mike simpson / 9h 

RIP, N.Y. school reform - NY Daily News

RIP, N.Y. school reform - NY Daily News:RIP, N.Y. school reformThe era of fighting to improve education in New York, including for low-income kids, is over.Welcome to the age of inertia. The only question: How much will the state Board of Regents water down standards and retreat from holding adults accountable for student performance?Panel members, including a chancellor, set education policy. The

by mike simpson / 9h 

Earnest: K-12 foreign language requirements — is coding a viable substitute? – Rocky Mountain Collegian

Earnest: K-12 foreign language requirements — is coding a viable substitute? – Rocky Mountain Collegian: Earnest: K-12 foreign language requirements — is coding a viable substitute? Almost everyone that went through the K-12 school system took at least a couple of years of some type of foreign language. Be it Chinese, Spanish or French, public high schools and colleges want students to have an int

by mike simpson / 10h 

MSNBC will cut ties with Melissa Harris-Perry. Whatever happened here, it’s too bad. - The Washington Post

MSNBC will cut ties with Melissa Harris-Perry. Whatever happened here, it’s too bad. - The Washington Post: MSNBC will cut ties with Melissa Harris-Perry. Whatever happened here, it’s too bad."She had it," MSNBC president Phil Griffin once said about MSNBC host Melissa Harris-Perry.(Heidi Gutman/MSNBC via Episodic) Update 9:55 p.m. Saturday: The Post's Paul Farhi reports that MSNBC will

by mike simpson / 10h hide  //  save

YESTERDAY

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 2/27/16

CORPORATE ED REFORMCURMUDGUCATION: Can Conservatives and Unions Play Nice?CURMUDGUCATION: Can Conservatives and Unions Play Nice?: Can Conservatives and Unions Play Nice?Andy Smarick is a partner at Bellwether Partners and a senior fellow at Fordham Institute, two reliably reformy right-leaning thinky tanks, so it's safe to say that he favors the reformster view of the education debates. But I als

by mike simpson / 23h 

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Opting Out Heats Up

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Opting Out Heats Up:
Opting Out Heats Up

It's getting to be testing time and BOY, are there a slew of states and groups and people worried that the opt-out movement will continue to grow.

First, for great information on opting out, United Opt Out is a national group.

There are two interesting developments on this front.

One is that the National PTA has warned the state Deleware PTA not to dare to step out of their party line on testing. (There is some kind of state law in play.)  Here's their position statement on assessments. (partial) They have a lot of blah, blah about parents and their concerns, but, in the end, side with the feds.

National PTA does not support state and district policies that allow students to opt-out of state assessments that are designed to improve teaching and learning. While we recognize that parents are a child’s first teacher and respect the rights of parents to make decisions on behalf of their children, the association believes the consequences of nonparticipation in state assessments can have detrimental impacts on students and schools.Seattle Schools Community Forum: Opting Out Heats Up:

As a KIPP supporter, this new book about charter schools is hard to believe - The Washington Post

As a KIPP supporter, this new book about charter schools is hard to believe - The Washington Post:

As a KIPP supporter, this new book about charter schools is hard to believe

Jim Horn is the most vocal critic of our nation’s (and the District’s) largest nonprofit charter school network, KIPP. Among journalists, I am KIPP’s most enthusiastic supporter.

That makes me an odd judge of Horn’s new book on KIPP and schools like it, “Work Hard, Be Hard: Journeys Through ‘No Excuses’ Teaching.” But I think he deserves attention as a hard-working scholar and talented writer who brings together, from several sources, concerns about the rapid growth of charter schools similar to KIPP.

I wish the book were not so one-sided. In the great tradition of American polemics, Horn is entitled to his strongly anti-KIPP view. But he never satisfactorily explains how a charter network, if it is as harmful to teachers and children as he says, could attract nearly 70,000 students to 183 campuses in 20 states and the District.

Support for KIPP’s exceptional principal training, teacher creativity and additional learning time is so strong among parents, researchers, politicians, funders, the media and young educators that arguments on the other side often go unheard. Horn examines the thorniest issues, such as the dependence of KIPP-like charters on wealthy foundations and government grants, whose money they use in addition to their per-pupil allotment of tax dollars.

The independently run public charters are usually outside the reach of elected school boards and teacher unions. Some critics say they are out of sync with democratic values and push children too hard. Horn, a professor of As a KIPP supporter, this new book about charter schools is hard to believe - The Washington Post:

Ten Years Post-Katrina, the New Orleans Community Forms BENOLA | deutsch29

Ten Years Post-Katrina, the New Orleans Community Forms BENOLA | deutsch29:

Ten Years Post-Katrina, the New Orleans Community Forms BENOLA

On February 26, 2016, Jennifer Berkshire released this 20-minute audio interview with long-time school choice advocate, Howard Fuller. I have written about Fuller in my ed reform who’s-who, A Chronicle of Echoes, for his involvement in founding the corporate reform vehicle, the Black Alliance for Educational Options (BAEO).

  

Howard Fuller

One of the prevailing questions about Fuller is the degree to which he is simply carrying out the wishes of funders such as the Walton Foundation as opposed to trying to use those funds to truly empower parents and communities. (I even hesitate to use the word, “empower,” because it has long been co-opted by corporate reformers and pasted over their obvious top-down efforts to kill community schools in favor of under-regulated “choice” strategically placed just out of true control of those whom “choice” supposedly empowers.)

That noted, after hearing Fuller’s interview with Berkshire regarding his assistance in helping native New Orleaneans form an actual grassroots organization, BENOLA– and after both an extensive formal interview with BENOLA founding member, Ashana Bigard, as well as another discussion with her over the phone in preparation for this post– it seems that Fuller is earnestly trying to help establish what has been grossly absent in the post-Katrina New Orleans state takeover: Involvement and investment by the New Orleans community itself.

  

Ashana Bigard

Given Fuller’s long-time Walton involvements, what makes Fuller’s efforts to actually empower New Orleans community members particularly interesting is this October 2015 report announcing that the Walton Foundation 2016-20 strategic plan involves trying to drum up community support for its charter school reforms– and one city of particular focus is New Orleans. The Waltons have put the reforms in place and want to purchase a campaign to bring communities into line with supporting the Walton charter efforts. However, what Fuller appears to be trying to do is bring the Waltons (and other corporate reform investors) around to seeing that they should fund community groups and give those groups the freedom to make their own decisions– not to just toe the Walton-decided line.

On February 27, 2016, I transcribed Berkshire’s interview with Fuller (that transcription can be found here: Berkshire-Fuller interview). In the remainder of this Ten Years Post-Katrina, the New Orleans Community Forms BENOLA | deutsch29:

Because I love my daughter…Because all of our children are simply that important! - Wait What?

Because I love my daughter…Because all of our children are simply that important! - Wait What?:

Because I love my daughter…Because all of our children are simply that important!

We are opting out children out of the unfair, inappropriate and discriminatory Common Core testing craze because our children deserve public schools that are focused on providing all children with a comprehensive, quality and empowering public education.

We are fighting back against the so-called “education reformers” because public education is the foundation upon which fulfilling lives. Its purpose is not to make the corporate elite richer.

We are taking back our public schools because education is more than a standardized test score and our public school teachers should be evaluated on the quality of their work and not on test scores driven by factors beyond their control.

This weekend, the 2016 Opt Out Conference in Philadelphia is bringing together parents, teachers, academics and public education advocates from across the country to discuss developments and share strategies in our on-going battle to protect our children, teachers and public schools from the corporate education reform industry and the standardized testing companies that are turning our children into guinea pigs and our public schools into little more than testing factories and profit centers.

Steve Singer is a public school teacher, parent and fellow education blogger and advocate was among those who have been participating in the sessions.

His willingness to be a powerful voice for children, parents, teachers and public schoolBecause I love my daughter…Because all of our children are simply that important! - Wait What?:s