Saturday, February 18, 2017

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 2/18/17

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 2/18/17

Featured Post

DeVos criticized teachers at D.C. school she visited — and they are not having it - The Washington Post

by mike simpson / 6min

CURMUDGUCATION: Evidence : Evidence This work is Romantic because the author used lots of Romantic ideas, and the characters behave in a Romantic way that captures just how very extremely Romantic the work really is. The author has really infused Romanticism into the whole writing in a way that makes in undeniably Romantic. Welcome to my world. While this is not a direct quote of an actual studen

Seattle Schools Community Forum: DeVoss - Not Off to a Good Start

by mike simpson / 7min

Seattle Schools Community Forum: DeVoss - Not Off to a Good Start : Not Off to a Good Start As you may recall, Secretary of Ed Betsy DeVoss, went to a traditional D.C. middle school. There were a few protestors that apparently so intimidated her that she and her handlers left and then went in a different door. She visited one classroom and then made a comment about the teachers there being "in a

U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos' Very Busy First Week - Illustrated

by mike simpson / 20min

U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos' Very Busy First Week - Illustrated

How I Got Schooled at the NAACP Hearing - LA Progressive

by mike simpson / 3h

How I Got Schooled at the NAACP Hearing - LA Progressive : How I Got Schooled at the NAACP Hearing Alice Huffman A fter calling for a national moratorium on charter schools until certain concerns were addressed (see below), the NAACP received blowback from charter school advocates. But Jitu Brown, of the Journey for Justice, defended the moratorium in the Washington Post’s education blog, the Ans

Black History Month Part 3 - The Origin of Racist Ideology

by mike simpson / 3h

Black History Month Part 3 - The Origin of Racist Ideology : Black History Month Part 3 - The Origin of Racist Ideology Please join Internet radio host Dr. James Avington Miller Jr. for the third of a four part series for Black History Month. The series is exploring the 400 year struggle for freedom, justice, and equality affecting African Americans, and how these struggles have contributed to th

Former D.C. schools chief takes on DeVos: ‘Sorry lady…. this is so amateur and unprofessional’ - The Washington Post

by mike simpson / 4h

Former D.C. schools chief takes on DeVos: ‘Sorry lady…. this is so amateur and unprofessional’ - The Washington Post : Former D.C. schools chief takes on DeVos: ‘Sorry lady…. this is so amateur and unprofessional’ Kaya Henderson, the former chancellor of the D.C. public schools, is none too happy with Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’s comments about teachers at a D.C. public school she recently v

Why Teachers Are So Tired ~ Teacher Habits

by mike simpson / 4h

Why Teachers Are So Tired ~ Teacher Habits : Why Teachers Are So Tired Better question: When was the last time you weren’t tired after teaching? If you’re like most teachers I know, including me and my wife, being tired at the end of the day is a way of life. We’ve become so used to it that it’s hard to imagine how it could be any different. Our non-teacher friends have a hard time understanding

Teachers union president backs Ellison for DNC chair | TheHill

by mike simpson / 4h

Teachers union president backs Ellison for DNC chair | TheHill : Teachers union president backs Ellison for DNC chair Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) on Friday picked up the backing of the head of the nation’s largest teachers union in his bid to lead the Democratic National Committee. In a statement announcing her personal endorsement, National Education Association president Lily Eskelsen García s

The Sunday Dispatch | Local school district payments to charter schools shot up 70 percent in 6 years.

by mike simpson / 5h

The Sunday Dispatch | Local school district payments to charter schools shot up 70 percent in 6 years. : Local school district payments to charter schools shot up 70 percent in 6 years. Charter schools, particularly online “cyber charters” have increasingly been blamed for school district financial woes, with administrators contending charters siphon much-needed money from district coffers. An ad

DeVos’ marketplace turns kids into commodities

by mike simpson / 5h

DeVos’ marketplace turns kids into commodities : DeVos’ marketplace turns kids into commodities The secretary of education has vowed in speeches, in writings and in millions of dollars of campaign contributions to destroy America’s public schools. This is not an accusation; it is her source of pride. Betsy DeVos wants to create a “market” of “choice” in which schools are no longer public goods, d

Catch up with CURMUDGUCATION: PA Senate Ed Chair Wants To Trash Education

by mike simpson / 6h

CURMUDGUCATION : Catch up with CURMUDGUCATION PA Senate Ed Chair Wants To Trash Education 49 by Peter Greene / 14h John Eichelberger has been a Pennsylvania state senator for over a decade, and during those years, he has been no friend to public schools or the teachers who work in them. Seriously-- this is District 30. Eichelberger is a Republican upstart who was swept into office on the wave of

Successful Hunger Strike Is Leading To National Movement For Better Education | PopularResistance.Org

by mike simpson / 6h

Successful Hunger Strike Is Leading To National Movement For Better Education | PopularResistance.Org : Successful Hunger Strike Is Leading To National Movement For Better Education Above Photo: Dimitry B. Jitu Brown, champion of public schools and racial justice, pushes hard against privatizers and big-city Democrats who neglect impoverished schools. Jitu Brown helped lead one of the most striki

Impact Investing and Venture Philanthropy’s Role in Sowing the Seeds of Financial Opportunity | Dissident Voice

by mike simpson / 6h

Impact Investing and Venture Philanthropy’s Role in Sowing the Seeds of Financial Opportunity | Dissident Voice : Impact Investing and Venture Philanthropy’s Role in Sowing the Seeds of Financial Opportunity Gates and other venture philanthropist’s have ‘pioneered’ and ‘seeded’ new education markets through direct funding and by shaping ‘education reform’ policies. Charter schools are an essentia

DeVos criticized teachers at D.C. school she visited — and they are not having it - The Washington Post

by mike simpson / 7h

DeVos criticized teachers at D.C. school she visited — and they are not having it - The Washington Post : DeVos criticized teachers at D.C. school she visited — and they are not having it Newly minted Education Secretary Betsy DeVos had a hard time getting inside the District’s Jefferson Middle School Academy last week when protesters briefly blocked her from entering. But at the end of her visit

Hitting Left Episode #3 with the Klonsky brothers and in-studio guest Bill Ayers. | Fred Klonsky

by mike simpson / 7h

Hitting Left Episode #3 with the Klonsky brothers and in-studio guest Bill Ayers. | Fred Klonsky : Hitting Left Episode #3 with the Klonsky brothers and in-studio guest Bill Ayers. Audio Player 00:00 00:00 Use Up/Down Arrow keys to increase or decrease volume. Share this: Hitting Left Episode #3 with the Klonsky brothers and in-studio guest Bill Ayers. | Fred Klonsky :

RESIST! Public Is Learning How to Fight for Democracy | Diane Ravitch's blog

by mike simpson / 7h

RESIST! Public Is Learning How to Fight for Democracy | Diane Ravitch's blog : RESIST! Public Is Learning How to Fight for Democracy When Republican leaders like Jason Chaffetz encounter a crowd of 1,000 angry constituents in his home district in Utah, that’s a sign that the American people say NO to Trump’s authoritarian rule. http://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/02/10/town-halls-become-indivis

Bill Gates says job-stealing robots should get taxed like humans

by mike simpson / 7h

Bill Gates says job-stealing robots should get taxed like humans : Bill Gates says job-stealing robots should get taxed like humans Bill Gates thinks robots should get taxed just like humans, he said in a recent interview with Quartz . “Right now if a human worker does you know, $50,000 worth of work in a factory, that income is taxed,” the billionaire said. “If a robot comes in to do the same th

Keeping retirement weird. Betsy DeVos and racial education gaslighting. | Fred Klonsky

by mike simpson / 8h

Keeping retirement weird. Betsy DeVos and racial education gaslighting. | Fred Klonsky : Keeping retirement weird. Betsy DeVos and racial education gaslighting. I entered first grade in 1954. It was a historic year for education in the United States. That year the U.S. Supreme court ruled that school segregation was illegal. The court found that apartheid schools could never provide equal educati

Schools Matter: States Use ESSA to Accelerate Online and Blended Classrooms

by mike simpson / 8h

Schools Matter: States Use ESSA to Accelerate Online and Blended Classrooms : States Use ESSA to Accelerate Online and Blended Classrooms When the ESEA was boiled down into a racist states rights version, labeled ESSA, and quickly passed, it was Diane Ravitch and her loyal ghostwriters who hailed the new law as a huge success. She even gave Lamar Alexander's office nine (9) separate opportunities

Stop HR 610 | Real Learning CT

by mike simpson / 8h

Stop HR 610 | Real Learning CT : Stop HR 610 The new administration’s attack on public education has begun, and we need to take action to stop it. In late January, HR 610 was introduced by Steve King of Iowa, with representatives from Maryland, Texas, and Arizona signing on. HR 610, the School Choice Act, will eliminate the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, which was passed as a par

Teacher to DeVos: No, I’m not ‘hostile’ to change. We just don’t agree on the changes schools need. - The Washington Post

by mike simpson / 9h

Teacher to DeVos: No, I’m not ‘hostile’ to change. We just don’t agree on the changes schools need. - The Washington Post : Teacher to DeVos: No, I’m not ‘hostile’ to change. We just don’t agree on the changes schools need. Pennsylvania teacher Peter Greene has a message for Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. DeVos, a Michigan billionaire whose nomination by President Trump sparked unprecedented op

solidaridad: Schools Matter: The Monica Garcia - Betsy DeVos connection

by mike simpson / 9h

solidaridad: Schools Matter: The Monica Garcia - Betsy DeVos connection : Schools Matter: The Monica Garcia - Betsy DeVos connection “Monica Garcia believes in… choice… She expanded charter schools” — Michael R. Bloomberg and A. Jerrold Perenchio’s Coalition for School Reform Extremist Betsy DeVos was a long time favorite of neoliberal corporate education reform oriented Liberals and reactionary

Author; Research Professor Diane Ravitch - Watch Tavis Smiley on PBS |

by mike simpson / 9h

Watch Full Episodes Online of Tavis Smiley on PBS | Author; Research Professor Diane Ravitch : Author; Research Professor Diane Ravitch Former Assistant Secretary of Education and current president of The Network For Public Education joins us to discuss the uncertain future of America's education system. Watch Full Episodes Online of Tavis Smiley on PBS | Author; Research Professor Diane Ravitch

YESTERDAY

Republicans Suggest Federal Role in Education Be Limited to Bribery | gadflyonthewallblog

by mike simpson / 21h

Republicans Suggest Federal Role in Education Be Limited to Bribery | gadflyonthewallblog : Republicans Suggest Federal Role in Education Be Limited to Bribery Hey! Let’s repeal the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965! Let’s hobble the Department of Education! Let’s make the federal role just handing out bundles of cash to private and parochial schools! That’s apparently how you improv

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Washington State Charter Law Upheld

by mike simpson / 22h

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Washington State Charter Law Upheld : Washington State Charter Law Upheld Judge John Chun of King County Superior Court today ruled in favor of the defendants in upholding the current charter law. I will say in reading the ruling, I see many places where the judge further validates other rulings and leaves the door wide open for other lawsuits (which I predict wil

Want to decide who to vote for in the LA School Board election? Read their answers to KPCC's survey | 89.3 KPCC

by mike simpson / 22h

Want to decide who to vote for in the LA School Board election? Read their answers to KPCC's survey | 89.3 KPCC : Want to decide who to vote for in the LA School Board election? Read their answers to KPCC's survey KPCC's LA school board candidate survey: Carl Petersen, District 2 by Carl Petersen / 4min Carl Petersen is running for the Los Angeles Unified School Board in the March 7 primary elect

Betsy DeVos Broke the Ed. Reform Coalition – For Now | Daniel Katz, Ph.D.

by mike simpson / 23h

Betsy DeVos Broke the Ed. Reform Coalition – For Now | Daniel Katz, Ph.D. : Betsy DeVos Broke the Ed. Reform Coalition – For Now When Betsy DeVos was confirmed as United States Secretary of Education, she required an unprecedented tie-breaker vote by Vice President Mike Pence. This was because all 48 Senate Democrats voted against her along with 2 Republicans. A barrage of phone calls from consti

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 2/17/17

by mike simpson / 23h

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 2/17/17 Featured Post DeVos: Critics want to ‘make my life a living hell’ - The Washington Post Betsy DeVos called me. I sent her this letter - Lily's Blackboard by mike simpson / 27min Betsy

Top Posts This Week

CURMUDGUCATION: Evidence

CURMUDGUCATION: Evidence:

Evidence

This work is Romantic because the author used lots of Romantic ideas, and the characters behave in a Romantic way that captures just how very extremely Romantic the work really is. The author has really infused Romanticism into the whole writing in a way that makes in undeniably Romantic.

Welcome to my world. While this is not a direct quote of an actual student essay, it's of a type that English teachers often see. Call it support via assertion, or argument by modifiers (the more adjectives and adverbs you throw in, the more absolutely very clearly definitively true your argument is).

It is one of the few things that the Common Core actually gets right-- if you are going to make a case for a point, you need to provide evidence.

Evidence can take many forms, but it needs to be specific. It needs to be true.

Repetition is not evidence. Here's another archetypical essay paragraph.

Good parents need to be patient, because you need patience to be a good parent. A good parent is able to be patient. If you can't be patient, then you will not be a good parent. Every day, good parents must display patience, because if you are not patient, you cannot be a good parent.

It's hard to say exactly where students pick up the technique of un-supported ideas. Certainly we can reinforce it in school without meaning to. Tests where the student just has to mention a key idea or fact without backing it up help 0push the notion that we just want you to say the right thing. And of course our young humans come with plenty of pre-packaged ideas from home-- it must be true because it's what I learned from my folks, what do you mean I have to back it up with something.

And of course, it is tried and true in our culture that evidence is not really necessary. Yes, I can CURMUDGUCATION: Evidence:

Seattle Schools Community Forum: DeVoss - Not Off to a Good Start

Seattle Schools Community Forum: DeVoss - Not Off to a Good Start:

Not Off to a Good Start

As you may recall, Secretary of Ed Betsy DeVoss, went to a traditional D.C. middle school. There were a few protestors that apparently so intimidated her that she and her handlers left and then went in a different door.

She visited one classroom and then made a comment about the teachers there being "in a receive mode." She went on:

“They’re waiting to be told what they have to do, and that’s not going to bring success to an individual child,” DeVos said. “You have to have teachers who are empowered to facilitate great teaching.”

As you can imagine, that "waiting to be told" remark didn't go over well with teachers who are doing tremendous things.
The tweets from Jefferson Academy:

This is what Sec. DeVos said about our teachers after her visit. Needless to say, we're about to take her to school...

First, the secretary visited the classroom of Ashley Shepherd and Britany Locher, a dynamic co-teaching team that differentiates for the...

needs of students ranging from a first grade level to an eighth Seattle Schools Community Forum: DeVoss - Not Off to a Good Start:

U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos' Very Busy First Week - Illustrated

U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos' Very Busy First Week - Illustrated

How I Got Schooled at the NAACP Hearing - LA Progressive

How I Got Schooled at the NAACP Hearing - LA Progressive:

How I Got Schooled at the NAACP Hearing

Alice Huffman

After calling for a national moratorium on charter schools until certain concerns were addressed (see below), the NAACP received blowback from charter school advocates. But Jitu Brown, of the Journey for Justice, defended the moratorium in the Washington Post’s education blog, the Answer Sheet, saying, “corporate reform has failed to bring equitable educational opportunities to all children.”

This hearing was one in a series, a listening tour, making its way across the country.

The distinguished members of the Task Force, all pre-eminent civil rights leaders in cities from Boston to Sacramento, states from Mississippi to Minnesota, gathered testimony from people with direct experience of the issues the moratorium seeks to provide the breathing room to address.

There was massive organized presence by charter advocates. One charter supporter stacked the speaker sign-up sheet with people who would speak against the moratorium, by copying a typed-up charter school roster she had brought.

The unions showed up, too. UTLA brought a contingent from Dorsey High School and CSEA came. The Santa Ana Teachers Association’s charter school task force came. Former Education Chair of the California Assembly, Jackie Goldberg, gave public comment.

I was part of a group of the California Badass Teachers Association (BATs), a grassroots group of about 2000 teachers and education activists. I testified as a recovering charter school parent, but what I heard was more important than anything I said.

I go anywhere that people are willing to talk about what charter schools are doing to public education because of their lack of oversight. Few official bodies in California, and perhaps none in Los Angeles, will openly discuss the need for charter school oversight for fear of the powerful California Charter Schools Association lobby (Gubernatorial candidate and California State Treasurer John Chiang is a rare exception).

So the NAACP, the oldest civil rights organization in our country, provided us with a rare opportunity. I was grateful for my two minutes at the mic.

When the charter advocates in the back of the room shouted me down, Alice Huffman, the chair, promptly regained order.

I’m sure for some in the audience it wasn’t my anti-charter message that got them riled up. Some were rightly suspicious of a white Westsider telling them anything about educating urban, black How I Got Schooled at the NAACP Hearing - LA Progressive:

Black History Month Part 3 - The Origin of Racist Ideology

Black History Month Part 3 - The Origin of Racist Ideology:

Black History Month Part 3 - The Origin of Racist Ideology

Please join Internet radio host Dr. James Avington Miller Jr. for the third of a four part series for Black History Month. The series is exploring the 400 year struggle for freedom, justice, and equality affecting African Americans, and how these struggles have contributed to their current social, cultural, social-economic status in the context of a political economy within America.

In this show, Dr. Miller will explain the "Rightness of Whiteness Value Syndrome" – a phase, theory and concept he created in 1972-73. Dr. Miller will explore the origins of this syndrome, and its manifestations, and historical, past, present, and future impact on black and white America.

The show will illuminate the origins of racist ideology, racist political theology, white supremacy, and white rage. Where did this rage come from and when did it manifest?

The final show on February 26 willl focus on the rise and fall of the black middle class elite. Dr. Miller will share his own introduction and induction into this group (their children of high school and college age). when he was a senior in high school.

Listen to Part 1 - The Origin Story - This show will open your eyes and you will see that we owe our nation's existence to the first Black Americans. They are our pride and the way they were treated is our shame.
http://bbsradio.com/podcast/war-report-public-education-february-5-2017

Listen to Part 2 - The Origin Story of Black Studies - the story of the student movement that changed the face and nature of higher education institutions, and gave birth to AFRICAN AND AFRICAN- AMERICAN STUDIES.
http://bbsradio.com/podcast/war-report-public-education-february-12-2017

Do not miss Dr. Miller's critical examination of the African and African American experience.

Knowledge is power!

RESISTANCE MATTERS

RESISTANCE IS NOT FUTILE

RESISTANCE IS THE HIGHEST FORM OF EXPRESSION OF DEMOCRACY

RESISTANCE IS SURVIVAL

Please click on the website below to listen live:

http://bbsradio.com/thewarreport

2:00 PM PDT

4:00 PM CDT

5:00 PM EDT

A direct listen-in line only

Station 1 - 716-748-0150

To call-in and interact live

Station 1 888-627-6008 toll free

On Sunday, please click on the website below to listen to the rebroadcast.

http://bbsradio.com/thewarreport

The War Report on Public Education with Dr James Avington Miller Jr

http://bbsradio.com/thewarreport

Black History Month Part 3 - The Origin of Racist Ideology:

Former D.C. schools chief takes on DeVos: ‘Sorry lady…. this is so amateur and unprofessional’ - The Washington Post

Former D.C. schools chief takes on DeVos: ‘Sorry lady…. this is so amateur and unprofessional’ - The Washington Post:

Former D.C. schools chief takes on DeVos: ‘Sorry lady…. this is so amateur and unprofessional’

Kaya Henderson, the former chancellor of the D.C. public schools, is none too happy with Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’s comments about teachers at a D.C. public school she recently visited.

DeVos, confirmed by the Senate on Feb. 7 only after Vice President Pence broke the first-ever tie vote for a Cabinet nominee, visited Jefferson Academy last week. Her initial effort to get into the school by a side door was blocked by protesters and she entered another way. She later criticized the protesters, saying they were “hostile” to change in education.

[DeVos: Critics want to ‘make my life a living hell’]

DeVos is seen by her supporters as a true champion of school choice who has used part of her fortune to support choice advocacy and with philanthropic efforts in Christian communities. Critics of DeVos, who has said public education is a “dead end” and that “government sucks,” say she wants to privatize America’s public education system. They also say she has no real experience with public schools, having attended private schools, sent her children to private schools, and spent decades advocating for alternatives to traditional public schools.

As my Post colleague Emma Brown wrote in this story, DeVos also criticized some of the teachers she saw at Jefferson, telling columnist Cal Thomas for the conservative online publication Townhall, that they seemed dedicated and sincere but were in “receive mode.”

“I visited a school on Friday and met with some wonderful, genuine, sincere teachers who pour their heart and soul into their classrooms and their students and our conversation was not long enough to draw out of them what is limiting them from being even more success from what they are currently. But I can tell the attitude is more of a ‘receive mode.’ They’re waiting to be told what they have to do, and that’s not going to bring success to an individual child. You have to have teachers who are empowered to facilitate great teaching.”

It is certainly true that in corporate school reform of the past 15 years has taken away autonomy from teachers as many of them have been forced to use scripted curriculum and spend a lot of time preparing students for high-stakes standardized tests. That’s not the same thing as saying Former D.C. schools chief takes on DeVos: ‘Sorry lady…. this is so amateur and unprofessional’ - The Washington Post:

Why Teachers Are So Tired ~ Teacher Habits

Why Teachers Are So Tired ~ Teacher Habits:

Why Teachers Are So Tired

Big Education Ape: Why Teachers Are So Tired – Teacher Habits (Site Is Working Again) - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2017/02/why-teachers-are-so-tired-teacher.html

Editor's Note: I heard from the author of this piece: Thanks. I wondered how so many people found it. I've rebuilt the site and upgraded my hosting. Barring further unforeseen problems, it should all be back up and running tonight or tomorrow. Go ahead and reblog it when you can. Thanks again.

Teacher Habits on Twitter: teacherhabits (@teacherhabits) | Twitter - https://twitter.com/teacherhabits

Teacher Habits on Facebook: Teacher Habits - https://www.facebook.com/teacherhabits/#

The Site Teacher Habits Seems to Have Crashed - Too Many Teachers Are Trying to Find Out Why Teachers Are So Damned Tired Try Again Later If You Are Not Too Tired!

Better question: When was the last time you weren’t tired after teaching?

If you’re like most teachers I know, including me and my wife, being tired at the end of the day is a way of life. We’ve become so used to it that it’s hard to imagine how it could be any different.

Our non-teacher friends have a hard time understanding how we could be so exhausted. After all, we’re not building houses or working under tight deadlines or competing with co-workers to sell the most widgets or working in some ultra-competitive office with an unreasonable boss breathing down our necks. We work with kids! We work seven-hour days! We have a lot of control over our own schedules.We have summer vacation! Some teachers have these thoughts themselves and wonder what’s wrong with them. How in the world can we be so tired?

There are three reasons.

Decision Fatigue and Willpower

Psychologist Roy Baumeister coined the term “ego depletion” after he found that humans have a limited supply of willpower. He compares willpower to a muscle, which can strengthen but also wear out with use. Ego depletion has a general effect, meaning that using self-control in one area of your life erodes your ability to self-regulate in other parts of your life. Baumeister has found that exerting self-control results in a significant drop in blood-sugar levels. Low blood-sugar leads to physical fatigue, which is why you’re so tired, even though the heaviest thing you lifted was a textbook.

As a teacher, think of how often you use willpower. We censor ourselves all day. We hold back a sarcastic remark, walk away from a lazy student when we what we really want to do is lecture her, keep our honest thoughts about the principal’s latest idea to ourselves, respond professionally to a disrespectful email from a parent, work with a Why Teachers Are So Tired ~ Teacher Habits:

Teachers union president backs Ellison for DNC chair | TheHill

Teachers union president backs Ellison for DNC chair | TheHill:

Teachers union president backs Ellison for DNC chair

Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) on Friday picked up the backing of the head of the nation’s largest teachers union in his bid to lead the Democratic National Committee.

In a statement announcing her personal endorsement, National Education Association president Lily Eskelsen García said she knows Ellison will be a unifying force for Democrats.

“Keith’s emphasis and well-documented commitment to party building and grassroots organizing in every community is exactly what we need as the nation finds itself at a crossroad under the divisive Trump administration,” she said.

Eskelsen García’s endorsement comes just hours after the Service Employees International Union called on its members who can vote for DNC chair to cast their votes for Ellison.

Ellison has been jockeying for the support of leading labor organizations in the race against his chief rival for the post, former Labor Secretary Tom Perez. So far his supporters include the AFL-CIO, Teamsters, United Steelworkers, American Federation of Government Employees, Communications Workers of America, UNITE HERE and National Nurses United.

But at least five AFL-CIO affiliated groups have broken with the labor giant to back Perez over Ellison, including the International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers.

In a statement, Ellison said he is honored to receive Eskelsen García’s support and reiterated his plan to return Democrats to elected offices across the country at all levels of government.

“As Chair of the Democratic Party, I will make sure every Democrat and every educator has the tools and resources they need to fight attacks on public education, and to ensure every student has the opportunity to a quality education, regardless of their ZIP code,” he said.

“That means the DNC must institute more than a 50 state strategy. It needs a 3,143 county strategy, like the NEA.”Teachers union president backs Ellison for DNC chair | TheHill:

Local school district payments to charter schools shot up 70 percent in 6 years.

The Sunday Dispatch | Local school district payments to charter schools shot up 70 percent in 6 years.:

Local school district payments to charter schools shot up 70 percent in 6 years.

Charter schools, particularly online “cyber charters” have increasingly been blamed for school district financial woes, with administrators contending charters siphon much-needed money from district coffers.

An advocacy group recently compiled state data for all 500 districts in the state showing just how much money is involved, providing payments to charters during a six-year span.

The local hit is steep: Luzerne County’s 11 school districts paid $16.1 million for charter school tuition in 2014-15. It’s also escalating rapidly. The data shows the payments by all 11 districts increased 70 percent since 2009-10.

Charter schools are public schools free of many state regulations. The initial idea was to let a school board grant a charter to a new school that could try different ideas in the classroom, with districts and charters collaborating to improve education for all students.

Charters are financed by a per-student tuition paid from the district where the student ordinarily would attend school. The theory is simple: The money the district would have spent on a student goes with the student to the charter school.

But the relationship became adversarial quickly. Districts often rejected requests for charters, forcing those who hoped to establish one to appeal to the state. That is how Luzerne County’s lone brick-and-mortar charter school — Bear Creek Community Charter — came to be after repeated rejections by the Wilkes-Barre Area School Board.

But charters expanded without physical buildings, thanks to cyber charters, where students do the bulk of school work online. As cyber charter enrollment increased, so did complaints from local school boards. It has become an almost annual lament: budgets are tight because the district loses money by forking it over to charters.

Northwest Area School District officials cited money lost to charters as a major drain when the school board started working in January on the 2017-18 budget. School districts point out that losing students to charter schools rarely translates into savings equal to the per-pupil payment to those charters.

Pennsylvania Auditor General Eugene DePasquale has repeatedly questioned charter payments, contending charter schools get far more than they spend per student. Charter proponents deny accusations by critics.

So how much have local districts been paying to charter schools? A group called Education Voters of PA compiled state data into an online spreadsheet, letting anyone with Internet access look up the district of their choice.

The data shows that, in 2009-10, Luzerne County districts collectively shelled out $9.5 million in charter tuition, $7.63 million for regular education students and $1.85 million for special education students. The amount rose The Sunday Dispatch | Local school district payments to charter schools shot up 70 percent in 6 years.:

DeVos’ marketplace turns kids into commodities

DeVos’ marketplace turns kids into commodities:

DeVos’ marketplace turns kids into commodities

The secretary of education has vowed in speeches, in writings and in millions of dollars of campaign contributions to destroy America’s public schools.

This is not an accusation; it is her source of pride. Betsy DeVos wants to create a “market” of “choice” in which schools are no longer public goods, democratically governed of, by and for the people and their children, but instead, private organizations funded by our tax dollars but not governed by us, the public. Her stated “long game” is to use tax dollars to fund religious schools, specifically Christian schools. As a stepping stone to that goal, she advocates that tax dollars in the form of “vouchers” be shifted from the public’s schools to private schools and charter companies.

She calls this “choice,” putting children and their education out for bid.

Her years of pushing privatization in Ohio and in her home state of Michigan are fraught with harsh language about the public’s schools (“dead ends”), and at the same time a record of low achievement, questionable finances and instability in the charter schools she claims to be their superior.

Many people have commented on DeVos’ ignorance of federal policies that her agency is charged to enforce, notably, the IDEA law guaranteeing appropriate educational services to children with disabilities, a law re-authorized under President George W. Bush and bipartisan votes in Congress. DeVos had no answers for questions about how to best assess children’s learning, and her position on guns in schools brought tears to the eyes of anyone who understood the source of the question: a Connecticut senator, the Sandy Hook parents’ senator.

What struck me was less her lack of preparedness, but that broad, fixed smile as she stumbled through or avoided responding. I came to think of it as a power smile: A smile that said “I don’t need to know these things because I made large contributions to many of you on this committee, and besides, I have a completely different agenda for this department and America’s schools. I will create a marketplace of private DeVos’ marketplace turns kids into commodities:

Latest News and Comment from Education

Saturday, February 18, 2017

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 2/18/17

DeVos criticized teachers at D.C. school she visited — and they are not having it - The Washington Post

YESTERDAY

Top Posts This Week

CURMUDGUCATION: Evidence

Seattle Schools Community Forum: DeVoss - Not Off to a Good Start

U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos' Very Busy First Week - Illustrated

How I Got Schooled at the NAACP Hearing - LA Progressive

Black History Month Part 3 - The Origin of Racist Ideology

The War Report on Public Education with Dr James Avington Miller Jr

Former D.C. schools chief takes on DeVos: ‘Sorry lady…. this is so amateur and unprofessional’ - The Washington Post

Why Teachers Are So Tired ~ Teacher Habits

Decision Fatigue and Willpower

Teachers union president backs Ellison for DNC chair | TheHill

Local school district payments to charter schools shot up 70 percent in 6 years.

DeVos’ marketplace turns kids into commodities

meta yahoo

About Me