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Saturday, April 8, 2017

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 4/8/17


Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 4/8/17
Featured Post

Why Keith Olbermann is thinking about a ‘President Betsy DeVos’ - MarketWatch





Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Byrd-Bennett asks judge for less jail time. Says she wants to be a schools consultant.
by mike simpson / 29min
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Byrd-Bennett asks judge for less jail time. Says she wants to be a schools consultant. : Byrd-Bennett asks judge for less jail time. Says she wants to be a schools consultant. Don't You Love It When The Corp. Ed Reform Circus Comes to Town If you need ** ANYTHING** let me know. A cocktail, some laughing, a quick run to the casino, we’re here for you!!!” -- Vranas to
CURMUDGUCATION: Field Guide To Choice Advocates
by mike simpson / 19min
CURMUDGUCATION: Field Guide To Choice Advocates : Field Guide To Choice Advocates The world of choice/charter/voucher advocacy has always been a barely-tacked-together quilt of varying interests and goals. The elevation of Betsy DeVos to Secretary of Education under His Royal Trumpness has stretched-- and in some cases snapped-- those bonds. When choicers appear in your neighborhood, you could fi
Mitchell Robinson: A tale of two schools… | Eclectablog
by mike simpson / 6h
A tale of two schools… | Eclectablog : A tale of two schools… https://markarmstrongillustration.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/forkroadschools.jpg Recently, I spent the day observing two student teachers. Both were teaching instrumental music in middle and high schools, and each was assigned to an experienced, master teacher. But that’s where the similarities end… One of the student teachers was pla
Catch up with CURMUDGUCATION
by mike simpson / 6h
CURMUDGUCATION : Catch up with CURMUDGUCATION HYH: Tax Credits for Dummies 26 by Peter Greene / 5h I get hugely behind in my podcast listening-- I'm far better at absorbing information through my eyes than my ears, and listening to a full podcast requires a level of attentiveness that I can't always muster. That's unfortunate for me, because every time I finally get around to listening to casts,
Which Religious Schools Are Allowed to Participate in the Arizona Voucher Program? Not All | Diane Ravitch's blog
by mike simpson / 7h
Which Religious Schools Are Allowed to Participate in the Arizona Voucher Program? Not All | Diane Ravitch's blog : Which Religious Schools Are Allowed to Participate in the Arizona Voucher Program? Not All A reader posted a comment yesterday asking why I had a problem with religious schools receiving public funding. Aren’t there good religious schools. I pointed out that most of the religious sc
How Students Are Hurt By Replacing School Librarians and Libraries with Computers
by mike simpson / 7h
How Students Are Hurt By Replacing School Librarians and Libraries with Computers : How Students Are Hurt By Replacing School Librarians and Libraries with Computers There are many ways to enlarge your child’s world. Love of books is the best of all. ~Jacqueline Kennedy Happy School Library Month to school librarians across the country! We have always known librarians and libraries provide vital
Reporters, It’s Time To Investigate DeVos’ Department Of Education
by mike simpson / 7h
Reporters, It’s Time To Investigate DeVos’ Department Of Education : Reporters, It’s Time To Investigate DeVos’ Department Of Education In the lead-up to billionaire Republican megadonor and Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos’ confirmation, numerous media outlets published deep-dive investigations into DeVos’ background, significant political contributions, potential conflicts of interest, far-ri
The NAACP Will Learn the Pain Associated With Charter Schools
by mike simpson / 7h
The NAACP Will Learn the Pain Associated With Charter Schools : The NAACP Will Learn the Pain Associated With Charter Schools “Before the NAACP came to New Orleans, we never had the opportunity to share,” Kim Ford, communications chair for the New Orleans branch of the NAACP, said exclusively to The Root. Ford helped organize the national organization’s sixth hearing on quality education, which t
Letters: Distortions plague ESSA plan | Letters | theadvocate.com
by mike simpson / 8h
Letters: Distortions plague ESSA plan | Letters | theadvocate.com : Letters: Distortions plague ESSA plan In regards to the recent Board of Elementary and Secondary Education meeting whereby Louisiana’s federal education plan (Every Student Succeeds Act) was considered, and, in response to the assertions by some that the request to delay and substantively revise the ESSA Plan was made by failing
Why Keith Olbermann is thinking about a ‘President Betsy DeVos’ - MarketWatch
by mike simpson / 8h
Why Keith Olbermann is thinking about a ‘President Betsy DeVos’ - MarketWatch : Why Keith Olbermann is thinking about a ‘President Betsy DeVos’ Keith Olbermann, in a video segment for GQ that was as much a spoken-word performance (built around varied intonations of the interrogative phrase “new election”) as a political commentary before it veered into constitutional-law-lecturer territory, made
Schools Matter: State Money Without State Tests for Memphis Private Schools?
by mike simpson / 8h
Schools Matter: State Money Without State Tests for Memphis Private Schools? : State Money Without State Tests for Memphis Private Schools? The plan to culturally sterilize all of Memphis's poor black kids in lockdown, segregated corporate charter schools has run into stiff opposition from parents and some Memphis school board members in recent years. Most of the federal Race to the Top money for
Michael Brown shooting: New video in 'Stranger Fruit' complicates case - NonDoc
by mike simpson / 9h
Michael Brown shooting: New video in 'Stranger Fruit' complicates case - NonDoc : Michael Brown shooting: New video in ‘Stranger Fruit’ complicates case ( Editor’s note : This is the fourth in a series of film reviews and cultural observations from 2017’s South by Southwest festival. ) AUSTIN — S tranger Fruit is an imperfect documentary that still managed to exhibit the most explosive footage du
CURMUDGUCATION: HYH: Tax Credits for Dummies
by mike simpson / 9h
CURMUDGUCATION: HYH: Tax Credits for Dummies : HYH: Tax Credits for Dummies I get hugely behind in my podcast listening-- I'm far better at absorbing information through my eyes than my ears, and listening to a full podcast requires a level of attentiveness that I can't always muster. That's unfortunate for me, because every time I finally get around to listening to casts, I end up wishing I'd li
Keeping retirement weird. My work is not my family. My boss is not my dad. | Fred Klonsky
by mike simpson / 10h
Keeping retirement weird. My work is not my family. My boss is not my dad. | Fred Klonsky : Keeping retirement weird. My work is not my family. My boss is not my dad Noble Charter Network CEO Michael Milkie. “We’re disappointed that ChiACTS would resort to such tactics in an attempt to disrupt our Noble family,” said Noble Charter Network Superintendent Michael Milkie. ChiACTS is Chicago Alliance
Standardized Testing Creates Captive Markets | gadflyonthewallblog
by mike simpson / 10h
Standardized Testing Creates Captive Markets | gadflyonthewallblog : Standardized Testing Creates Captive Markets It’s easy to do business when the customer is forced to buy. But is it fair, is it just, or does it create a situation where people are coerced into purchases they wouldn’t make if they had a say in the matter? For example, school children as young as 8-years-old are forced to take a
Turtle Learning: APRIL IS SCHOOL LIBRARY MONTH/NATIONALPOETRY MONTH
by mike simpson / 10h
Turtle Learning: APRIL IS SCHOOL LIBRARY MONTH/NATIONALPOETRY MONTH : APRIL IS SCHOOL LIBRARY MONTH/NATIONALPOETRY MONTH ANDY WEIR AUTHOR OF THE MARTIAN GIVES A SHORT AD FOR SCHOOL LIBRARIES Poppies in East Los Angeles Paul Thomas, blogger par excellence, quotes from John Dewey: What avail is it to win prescribed amounts of information about geography and history, to win ability to read and write

YESTERDAY

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 4/7/17
by mike simpson / 1d
Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 4/7/17 Featured Post TGIF Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all Seattle Schools Community Forum: Opt Out Form by mike simpson / 10min Seattle Schools Community Forum: Opt Out Form : Opt Out Form From Seattle Opt Out: 

Top Posts This Week



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Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Byrd-Bennett asks judge for less jail time. Says she wants to be a schools consultant.

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Byrd-Bennett asks judge for less jail time. Says she wants to be a schools consultant.:

Byrd-Bennett asks judge for less jail time. Says she wants to be a schools consultant.

Don't You Love It When The Corp. Ed Reform Circus Comes to Town
If you need ** ANYTHING** let me know. A cocktail, some laughing, a quick run to the casino, we’re here for you!!!” -- Vranas to Byrd-Bennett in 2012. 
“You guys are my family away from home,” she responded. “CASINO….hmmmmm (:”
While prosecutors are calling for at least a seven-year sentence for convicted felon and former Chicago schools CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett, she is asking the court for half that. She also told the judge, she'd rather do  "community service" as a schools consultant.

According to the Sun-Times:

 “Barbara wants to help others learn from her mistakes,” defense attorney Michael Scudder wrote in a 27-page sentencing memo published Friday. “She believes that superintendents and school districts across the nation need to redouble their efforts to avoid conflicts of interest with consultants and providers.”
In other words, BBB would like to spend the next few years on the outside, warning school districts against hiring or consulting with people like herself. Brilliant!

I'm in the process of checking out rumors that she also asked the judge if she can have her own pillow, in case she has to do some time.

I can relate to that. I can't sleep a wink with hotel pillows.

She also wants her partners in crime, Gary Solomon and Tom Vranas who profited the most from the $20M rip-off of CPS, to pay the restitution costs. It's only fair, since she Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Byrd-Bennett asks judge for less jail time. Says she wants to be a schools consultant.:



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CURMUDGUCATION: Field Guide To Choice Advocates

CURMUDGUCATION: Field Guide To Choice Advocates:

Field Guide To Choice Advocates


The world of choice/charter/voucher advocacy has always been a barely-tacked-together quilt of varying interests and goals. The elevation of Betsy DeVos to Secretary of Education under His Royal Trumpness has stretched-- and in some cases snapped-- those bonds. When choicers appear in your neighborhood, you could find yourself dealing with select sub-species of the breed; you can use this handy field guide to determine what, exactly, you're dealing with.



Concerned Parents

In the charter-choice world you will form time to time encounter parents whose frustration and bad experience with their local school district has driven them to seek alternatives. They want charter schools because they want to put their child in one. Many of these choicers spend only a short time in the movement, lasting only about as long as it takes them to discover that their charter presents all the same problems they encountered in public schools, except for communication and responsiveness, which is worse.

A key identifying feature is that these choicers actually have actual children in the local system. This is the only choice variety that cannot be faked. It is always appropriate to open a dialogue with Concerned Parents-- they have real issues, real concerns, and the highest sincerity index of anyone we'll encounter on this list. They have something to say about your local public school, and you should listen to them.

Social Justice Advocates

Similar to the concerned parents, but without the actual local children. They have noticed on the federal, state or local level that systemic racism and neglect can cause, in particular, major urban school districts to fail the non-wealthy and the non-white, and they have concluded that an CURMUDGUCATION: Field Guide To Choice Advocates:

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Mitchell Robinson: A tale of two schools… | Eclectablog

A tale of two schools… | Eclectablog:

A tale of two schools…



 Recently, I spent the day observing two student teachers. Both were teaching instrumental music in middle and high schools, and each was assigned to an experienced, master teacher. But that’s where the similarities end…

One of the student teachers was placed in an urban school and the other in a rural school. The differences between these two schools were stark, and illustrative of the disparities in how our society treats children based on their socioeconomic status.
Upon entering the urban school, I was immediately struck by how quiet it was. The hallways were eerily empty, with none of the typical hallway chatter and vibrancy of excited students making their way from class to class. The corridors were dark and gloomy, with the walls and lockers looking badly beat up and in need of a fresh coat or two of paint. A quick trip to the men’s restroom revealed a dirty, broken mirror, no soap, and a single roll of paper towels propped up on the edge of a cracked porcelain sink with a leaky faucet. The restroom, like the halls and classrooms, hadn’t been cleaned in a long time.
Less than an hour later I found myself 20 miles away in a bustling school with busy hallways flooded with natural light, brightly painted walls and lockers, and large classrooms with freshly vacuumed, plush carpeting. The restroom was spotlessly clean, and fully stocked with soap dispensers, paper towels and hot air hand dryers.
While the contrasts between these schools could not have been more clear, the students in each A tale of two schools… | Eclectablog:
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