Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 12/13/16

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 12/13/16

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Arthur Camins Warns: Don’t Let the Government Take Away Your Public School! | janresseger

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Why I Have Little Respect for Bill Gates on Education

by mike simpson / 8min

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Why I Have Little Respect for Bill Gates on Education : Why I Have Little Respect for Bill Gates on Education If this statement doesn't convince you, then I give up. From The Hill : Bill Gates said Tuesday that President-elect Donald Trump ’s potential to bring innovation to the U.S. resembles that of President John F. Kennedy’s. Gates, the billionaire Microsoft f

Nashville needs a moratorium on new charter schools

by mike simpson / 6h

Nashville needs a moratorium on new charter schools : Nashville needs a moratorium on new charter schools School Board Member Will Pinkston: "The charter sector’s steroid-like growth is troubling." On Tuesday the Nashville School Board will discuss whether to call for a moratorium on new charter schools. It’s a conversation that’s long overdue. Nashville has, or soon will have, a total of 32 taxp

How Trump’s Education Nominee Bent Detroit to Her Will on Charter Schools - The New York Times

by mike simpson / 6h

How Trump’s Education Nominee Bent Detroit to Her Will on Charter Schools - The New York Times : How Trump’s Education Nominee Bent Detroit to Her Will on Charter Schools Few disagreed that schools in Detroit were a mess: a chaotic mix of charters and traditional public schools, the worst-performing in the nation. So city leaders across the political spectrum agreed on a fix, with legislation to

SKrashen: Don't trust Ed Trust when they talk about overoming povery

by mike simpson / 6h

SKrashen: Don't trust Ed Trust when they talk about overoming povery : Don't trust Ed Trust when they talk about overoming povery Don't trust Ed Trust. Substance 27 (6): 3. 2002. Stephen Krashen The powerful impact of poverty on literacy development has been well documented. Children of poverty, in addition to the obvious problems they face, have very little access to reading material ; they have

The Bill of Rights. Now more than ever - Lily's Blackboard

by mike simpson / 6h

The Bill of Rights. Now more than ever - Lily's Blackboard : The Bill of Rights. Now more than ever We teach our students that America is a land of opportunity, where we do our best to treat each other fairly and ensure that the laws on the books apply equally to all. (Those ideals are sometimes tested, but that’s the goal.) On December 15, one of the bedrock documents that protects those values

Protecting Or policing? - The Hechinger Report

by mike simpson / 7h

Protecting Or policing? - The Hechinger Report : Protecting Or policing? School-based police officers are paid to protect our kids. But sometimes they do more harm than good Protecting Or Policing?” is the third in a series of stories about police in schools. ANAHEIM, Calif. – In the sweltering days of July, tensions between police and civilians were running high. A cop fatally shot Alton Sterlin

Betsy DeVos and God’s Plan for Schools - The New York Times

by mike simpson / 7h

Betsy DeVos and God’s Plan for Schools - The New York Times : Betsy DeVos and God’s Plan for Schools BOSTON — At the rightmost edge of the Christian conservative movement, there are those who dream of turning the United States into a Christian republic subject to “biblical laws.” In the unlikely figure of Donald J. Trump , they hope to have found their greatest champion yet. He wasn’t “our prefer

Fresno Unified Superintendent Mike Hanson resigns | EdSource

by mike simpson / 7h

Fresno Unified Superintendent Mike Hanson resigns | EdSource : Fresno Unified Superintendent Mike Hanson resigns Fresno Unified Superintendent Michael Hanson, the second-longest-serving superintendent of the state’s 30 largest districts, resigned Monday, effective in August. Hanson, 51, has led Fresno, the state’s fourth-largest district – and one of its poorest – for nearly 12 years. Hanson brou

Reuters: David Coleman’s Redesign of the SAT to Align with Common Core=Chaos | Diane Ravitch's blog

by mike simpson / 8h

Reuters: David Coleman’s Redesign of the SAT to Align with Common Core=Chaos | Diane Ravitch's blog : Reuters: David Coleman’s Redesign of the SAT to Align with Common Core=Chaos Renee Dudley of Reuters has dug deep into a story that seldom reaches public view: the internal battle inside the College Board–sponsor of the SAT–that followed the arrival of David Coleman . Or, how the architect of the

Records: Too many votes in 37% of Detroit’s precincts

by mike simpson / 8h

Records: Too many votes in 37% of Detroit’s precincts : Records: Too many votes in 37% of Detroit’s precincts Voting machines in more than one-third of all Detroit precincts registered more votes than they should have during last month’s presidential election, according to Wayne County records prepared at the request of The Detroit News. Detailed reports from the office of Wayne County Clerk Cath

Arthur Camins Warns: Don’t Let the Government Take Away Your Public School! | janresseger

by mike simpson / 9h

Arthur Camins Warns: Don’t Let the Government Take Away Your Public School! | janresseger : Arthur Camins Warns: Don’t Let the Government Take Away Your Public School! It seemed to me that Emma Brown’s huge article in yesterday’s Washington Post on Betsy DeVos and the kind of marketplace she says she’ll promote as Secretary of Education was a lavishly wrapped holiday gift for promoters of school

The Key to Blocking the New Administration's Education Policies Moving Forward - Education Law Prof Blog

by mike simpson / 9h

Education Law Prof Blog : The Key to Blocking the New Administration's Education Policies Moving Forward Two big challenges will face advocates in dealing with the Department of Education in the coming years: 1) insisting that it enforces civil rights law and 2) stopping it from excesses of power. Advocates will have relatively few tools in their bag to force the Department to do its civil rights

Becoming a National Board Certified Teacher is Now More Affordable

by mike simpson / 9h

Becoming a National Board Certified Teacher is Now More Affordable : Becoming a National Board Certified Teacher is Now More Affordable When Anna Baldwin, an English teacher at Arlee High School in Arlee, Montana, and the 2014 Montana Teacher of the Year, wanted to up her teaching game she looked no further than National Board Certification . For the past 25 years, the National Board has advanced

DeVos at Trump’s “Tour” Stop in Grand Rapids: She Forgot She Ever Doubted Him. No, Really. | deutsch29

by mike simpson / 9h

DeVos at Trump’s “Tour” Stop in Grand Rapids: She Forgot She Ever Doubted Him. No, Really. | deutsch29 : DeVos at Trump’s “Tour” Stop in Grand Rapids: She Forgot She Ever Doubted Him. No, Really. On December 09, 2016, Michigan school choice advocate and Trump’s nominee for US secretary of education, Betsy DeVos, spoke in Grand Rapids, Michigan, as part of Trump’s “Thank You Tour.” The video of th

Audio: Anaheim school districts ask judge to shut down online charter school | 89.3 KPCC

by mike simpson / 9h

Audio: Anaheim school districts ask judge to shut down online charter school | 89.3 KPCC : Anaheim school districts ask judge to shut down online charter school In a lawsuit filed on Friday, two Anaheim school districts asked an Orange County Superior Court judge to shut down Epic Charter School, an online school that opened in September and is educating 82 students, with plans to add more. “It d

Brain-Based Learning: Pushing Children to Learn Faster—Why?

by mike simpson / 10h

Brain-Based Learning: Pushing Children to Learn Faster—Why? : Brain-Based Learning: Pushing Children to Learn Faster—Why? There’s nothing sadder in this world than to awake Christmas morning and not be a child. ~ Erma Bombeck (1927-1996), American author and humorist. Brain-based learning promotes the idea that children learn faster if they are taught differently. But why push children to learn f

Of Race And Inequity « Dad Gone Wild

by mike simpson / 10h

Of Race And Inequity « Dad Gone Wild : OF RACE AND INEQUITY I must admit that I have struggled lately with what to write. Between a local school board here in Nashville that continues to be unresponsive to legitimate questions about the practices of the new administration , the state of Tennessee continuing to refuse to address real school financing issues, and the recent nomination of Betsy DeVo

Will The Past Be Repeated (Part 2) | The Merrow Report

by mike simpson / 10h

Will The Past Be Repeated (Part 2) | The Merrow Report : Will The Past Be Repeated (Part 2) Our bus of 40+ “pilgrims” left Mississippi and headed for Selma, Alabama, the site of three historic Civil Rights marches in March, 1965. As the bus sped along, we watched “Selma,” Ava DuVernay’s wonderful film that brings to life the struggle southern Black citizens faced when they attempted to register t

YESTERDAY

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 12/12/16

by mike simpson / 23h

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 12/12/16 Featured Post Trump choice for secretary of education calls for ‘local control’ of schools | EdSource CURMUDGUCATION: An A-Plus Method of Liberating Money by mike simpson / 

Top Posts This Week

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  See Betsy DeVos' Donations to Senators Who Will Oversee Her Confirmation - Politics K-12 - Education Week
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  Once Again, Bruce Springsteen Inspires Hope And Courage | The Huffington Post
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  Mark Zuckerberg: We will not be able to Stop Fake Education News on Facebook
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  How much do Charter School Executives make? – School Data Nerd
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  Obscure law would allow Trump’s billionaire pals to skip out on millions in taxes if they join his cabinet
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  Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 12/1/16
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  Did a California Charter School Group Fund an Effort to Overthrow the Turkish Government? | L.A. Weekly
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  School privatization is a pyramid scheme and Other Scary Tales from Trumplandia
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  A sobering look at what Betsy DeVos did to education in Michigan — and what she might do as secretary of education - The Washington Post
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  Culture Warrior Princess – EduShyster

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Why I Have Little Respect for Bill Gates on Education

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Why I Have Little Respect for Bill Gates on Education:

Why I Have Little Respect for Bill Gates on Education

If this statement doesn't convince you, then I give up.  From The Hill:

Bill Gates said Tuesday that President-elect Donald Trump’s potential to bring innovation to the U.S. resembles that of President John F. Kennedy’s. 

Gates, the billionaire Microsoft founder and philanthropist, told CNBC that Trump can lead the U.S. “through innovation” and compared Trump’s ideas to Kennedy’s expansion of the U.S. space program in the early 1960s. 

“But in the same way President Kennedy talked about the space mission and got the country behind that, I think whether it’s education or stopping epidemics … [or] in this energy space, there can be a very upbeat message that [Trump’s] administration [is] going to organizing things, get rid of regulatory barriers, and have American leadership through innovation,” Gates said.

There are no words for the words of Gates except that, well, it's business on parade.Seattle Schools Community Forum: Why I Have Little Respect for Bill Gates on Education:

Nashville needs a moratorium on new charter schools

Nashville needs a moratorium on new charter schools:

Nashville needs a moratorium on new charter schools
School Board Member Will Pinkston: "The charter sector’s steroid-like growth is troubling."

On Tuesday the Nashville School Board will discuss whether to call for a moratorium on new charter schools. It’s a conversation that’s long overdue.

Nashville has, or soon will have, a total of 32 taxpayer-funded, privately-run charter schools – including 28 charters approved by the local school board, two charters overseen by the State of Tennessee’s failing Achievement School District, and two charters overseen by the appointed State Board of Education, which is wading into polluted policy waters by stripping elected school boards of local control.

All of these charter schools — even those overseen by the two state agencies — are majority-funded by local taxpayers under Tennessee’s unconstitutional charter law, which funnels public money to private organizations with little accountability.

Put differently: Governor Bill Haslam, House Speaker Beth Harwell, and the rural-controlled legislature are forcing new charter schools into existence in Nashville, at the behest of national charter special interests and on the backs of local taxpayers.

The reality is: Even if the local school board approves no new charter applications, the size of the charter sector in Nashville could increase by 74 percent by the 2021-22 school year, growing from 10,529 seats today to potentially 18,365 seats as a result of growth in existing charter schools and creation of new charter schools.

Reasonable people believe that’s enough.

Even if the charter sector somehow manages to fill all of those previously approved seats over the next five years, which is doubtful, then the charter sector will educate approximately one-fifth of students in Nashville. Again, that’s enough.

The charter sector’s steroid-like growth is troubling considering that demand for charters is minimal when compared with high-demand options in Metro Nashville Public Schools.

Waiting lists for Metro Nashville Public Schools pre-kindergarten programs, magnet schools, and other options are more than seven times longer than waiting lists for charter schools. Despite what charter advocates claim, student and family interest in charters is anemic.

Meanwhile, the growth of charter schools is hurting MNPS, financially, at a time when our school system is universally considered to be underfunded by the State of Tennessee.Nashville needs a moratorium on new charter schools:

How Trump’s Education Nominee Bent Detroit to Her Will on Charter Schools - The New York Times

How Trump’s Education Nominee Bent Detroit to Her Will on Charter Schools - The New York Times:

How Trump’s Education Nominee Bent Detroit to Her Will on Charter Schools

Few disagreed that schools in Detroit were a mess: a chaotic mix of charters and traditional public schools, the worst-performing in the nation.

So city leaders across the political spectrum agreed on a fix, with legislation to provide oversight and set standards on how to open schools and close bad ones.

But the bill died without even getting a final vote. And the person most influential in killing it is now President-elect Donald J. Trump’s nominee to oversee the nation’s public schools, Betsy DeVos.

Her resistance to the legislation last spring is a window into Ms. DeVos’s philosophy and what she might bring to the fierce and often partisan debate about public education across the country, and in particular, the roles of choice and charter schools.

The bill’s proposals are common in many states and accepted by many supporters of school choice, like a provision to stop failing charter operators from creating new schools. But Ms. DeVos argued that this kind of oversight would create too much bureaucracy and limit choice. A believer in a freer market than even some free market economists would endorse, Ms. DeVos pushed back on any regulation as too much regulation. Charter schools should be allowed to operate as they wish; parents would judge with their feet.

Detroit Public Schools, she argued, should simply be shut down and the system turned over to charters, or the tax dollars given to parents in the form of vouchers to attend private schools.

“She is committed to an ideological stance that is solely about the free market, at the expense of practicality and the basic needs of students in the most destabilized environment in the country,” said Tonya Allen, the president of the Skillman Foundation, a nonprofit that works with Detroit children, and a co-chairwoman of the coalition that produced the report that became the basis for the legislation last spring.

“If she was showing herself present in places and learning from the practitioners, that’s a fine combination,” Ms. Allen said. “But Betsy never showed up in Detroit. She was very eager to impose experimentation on students that she has not spent time with and children that she does not have consequence for.”

Ms. DeVos has a long career as an education philanthropist and lobbyist, but not as an educator. She and her husband, Dick, an heir to the Amway fortune, are considered the most powerful Republicans in Michigan. In the How Trump’s Education Nominee Bent Detroit to Her Will on Charter Schools - The New York Times: