CATCH UP WITH CURMUDGUCATION

CURMUDGUCATION

CATCH UP WITH CURMUDGUCATION

AND DON'T FORGET PETER GREENE ON FORBES CLICK HERE 

ALEC Issues A Report Card, But Still Fails

41by Peter Greene / 1d

The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is the corporate Match.com for wealthy mover-shakers and legislators looking for someone to do their homework together. Among their many favorite issues is education, and to that end, ALEC trots out a report card every year rating the states. It is not unlike a sort of businessperson's prospect overview, and it contains a mountain of thinly sliced b

Why Directing Community Theater Is Like Teaching

56by Peter Greene / 2d

Readers of this blog generally get a dose of whatever is on my mind, and what's on my mind at the moment is theater. I'm coming down to the wire on one more community theater production; The Music Man opens one week from tomorrow (by all means, feel free to stop by ). I've been doing this and school theater for thirty-some years, and yes, it's an awful lot like teaching. Once we get the obvious ou

SEP 18

PA: Zombie Board Says Charter Free To Do Whatever The Heck It Wants

56by Peter Greene / 3d

In education, as in most things, Philadelphia is its own little state-within-the-state. The public system has a long and messy history , including a state takeover. The district is often used as Exhibit A for pro-choice legislators ("But we must give the poor children of Philadelphia a way to escape their terrible school system even as we refuse to adequately fund that system!") and is consequentl

SEP 17

OH: Meaningless School Grades And Money

100+by Peter Greene / 4d

Over at Cleveland.com , Rich Exner has done yeoman's work taking Ohio's school ratings and connecting them with census information from the US Census Bureaus 2017 American Communities Survey. Ohio is another one of those states that believes it can reduce the entire issue of a school's quality to a single letter grade. This is a dumb idea, and there is no state that has ever implemented it in whi

Yes, Teachers Are Spending Money On Their Own Classrooms

33by Peter Greene / 4d

Like the cost of a romantic date at Valentine's Day or the price of the Twelve Days of Christmas, the amount of money that teachers spend on their own classroom has become a reliable seasonal story. This year the word is that o n average teachers spend, depending on your source, somewhere between $400 and $500. But that's not the whole story. The Economic Policy Institute has crunched the numbers

SEP 16

Chiefs For Change Would Like You To Shut Up

100+by Peter Greene / 5d

Chiefs For Change caused a brief flurry of attention by whinging a demand that people talk nicer about their pet projects . It's just one more sad episode for a group that was supposed to be Jeb Bush's Educational Justice League of America. It's been over three years since the last time I noticed they were headed downhill: That's how you glower! Pity the Chiefs for Change. They were destined to be

SEP 15

ICYMI: My Wife's Birthday Edition (9/15)

39by Peter Greene / 7d

Happy birthday to one of the best people ever to walk on the face of the earth! But you can have cake and read some worthwhile education pieces as well. So here you go-- AI in Education Hype John Warner takes a look at one more technological product in search of a problem to "solve." Effects of the Flipped Classroom An Annenberg working paper suggests that there are no big benefits to flipping, a

SEP 13

DeVos Saying The Quiet Parts Out Loud

500+by Peter Greene / 8d

Betsy DeVos will be kicking off her "Back To School" tour next week. And it will start by announcing loudly and clearly what her preferred goal for education is. No reading between the lines will be necessary. The announcement notes that she will head to Milwaukee, "home of the first-ever education freedom program that allowed parents, no matter their income, to select the school that was the best

Dammit, Chan-Zuckerberg! Not Elmo, Too! (And Not Philanthropy, Either.)

100+by Peter Greene / 9d

If you haven't been paying particularly close attention, you may have missed the Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative slowly inserting its hyper-wealthy proboscis into a hundred different corners of modern life, using its not-quite-philanthropy LLC 

CURMUDGUCATION

Pennsylvania: Speaker of the House Berates Public Schools and Their Teachers, Praises Charters | Diane Ravitch's blog

Pennsylvania: Speaker of the House Berates Public Schools and Their Teachers, Praises Charters | Diane Ravitch's blog

Pennsylvania: Speaker of the House Berates Public Schools and Their Teachers, Praises Charters

Once again, we are reminded that charter schools are a Republican cause, and their champion is Betsy DeVos.

Mike Turzai, Republican Speaker of the House in Pennsylvania, was on his way to a meeting with Betsy DeVos when he encountered some public school teachers, who were picketing with signs saying they loved their public schools.

Turzai found this deeply offensive, and he proceeded to lambaste the teachers as a “special interest group” defending a “monopoly.”

In the video, Turzai praised charter schools, which receive government funding but operate independently of the public school system, saying that in charter schools. “you have to care about each child, not about the CONTINUE READING: Pennsylvania: Speaker of the House Berates Public Schools and Their Teachers, Praises Charters | Diane Ravitch's blog

Louisiana Educator: Help Break the Grip of Special Interest Lobbyists Over BESE!

Louisiana Educator: Help Break the Grip of Special Interest Lobbyists Over BESE!

Help Break the Grip of Special Interest Lobbyists Over BESE!

Should we continue to allow special interest lobbyists to rule over K-12 education, when the evidence proves they have failed?

How is it that we, the citizens of Louisiana, have allowed a non-educator, big business lobbying group to almost totally control our public education system? The answer is big $. For the past two terms, the Louisiana Association of business and Industry and their donors from both Republican and Democratic PACs  have dominated the elections for our board of Elementary and Secondary with huge campaign contributions supplemented by out-of-state mega-donors. As a result, LABI has dictated the operation of our K-12 public schools and diverted our tax dollars to charter and private schools.

Both Republican and Democratic legislators and most BESE members have supported the LABI reforms
 LABI, which usually clashes with the Democratic party, has found a major ally in the group called Democrats for Education Reform (DFER). DFER uses a PAC called Education Reform Now Advocacy Inc. to make contributions to BESE candidates. I just received an expensive brochure in the mail for the LABI endorsed candidate in the 8th BESE district paid for by Education Reform Now Advocacy Inc. Voters all over the state will soon be receiving similar advertisements for candidates who claim to be for teacher pay CONTINUE READING: Louisiana Educator: Help Break the Grip of Special Interest Lobbyists Over BESE!

Betsy Devos is using anti-Muslim, anti-Black bigotry to threaten diversity in higher ed programs | Eclectablog

Betsy Devos is using anti-Muslim, anti-Black bigotry to threaten diversity in higher ed programs | Eclectablog

Betsy Devos is using anti-Muslim, anti-Black bigotry to threaten diversity in higher ed programs

Betsy Devos has done it again. On August 29th, the Department of Education sent a letter to the Consortium for Middle East Studies departments at the University of North Carolina and Duke University, claiming that the program “disproportionately portrays ‘the positive aspects of Islam'”. They threatened that if the schools do not make amendments to the program by September 22nd, they could lose their federal grant.

What this shows us first and foremost is that the Trump administration has never held a positive view of Islam to begin with, nor of the millions of people who follow the faith. It’s very rare that we hear positive portrayals of Islam in academic settings or in the media. And where higher education institutions have started to take it upon themselves to revise their curricula to be more inclusive and diverse, Betsy Devos is doing everything in her power to continue to proliferate discrimination both in schools and beyond.

Betsy Devos is no fool. She understands the importance of education and the role it plays in shaping students. She knows that in ensuring that schools perpetuate a negative view of Islam, students (especially white students) have little opportunity to open their eyes to the vision of society that many people of color fight for continuously. It’s a society that would allow them to feel as though their worth is the worth of those who have traditionally held power at all levels. It’s a society that would free them from the judgmental stares, microaggressions, and overt racism and discrimination they face everyday.

And don’t forget about the Muslim students who have enrolled in these programs – the federal government is telling them that no matter what they do, they are going to be viewed as a threat CONTINUE READING: Betsy Devos is using anti-Muslim, anti-Black bigotry to threaten diversity in higher ed programs | Eclectablog

First desegregation order in 50 years hits Marin schools - Los Angeles Times

First desegregation order in 50 years hits Marin schools - Los Angeles Times

A tiny Marin County district got California’s first school desegregation order in 50 years 

MARIN CITY, Calif. — 

The hillside school with the dreamy view of San Francisco Bay seems to practically shout e pluribus unum. A racially diverse group of children play an afternoon game of capture the flag. Teachers and parents proclaim their inclusivity with lapel buttons: “All cultures. All faiths. All races. All abilities. All gender identities ... The future is welcome at Willow Creek Academy.”

The kindergarten-through-eighth-grade campus in Sausalito, which opened in 2001, has won fierce commitment from parents and staff. It has been recognized as one of California’s top charter schools.

But now Willow Creek is at the center of an emotional battle that has brought fresh attention to long-festering racial inequities in liberal Marin County. Last month, the tiny Sausalito Marin City School District was hit with the state’s first school desegregation order in half a century.

The district has just two schools: Willow Creek, with an enrollment of 361, and Bayside Martin Luther King Jr. Academy, a traditional K-8 campus located a little more than a mile away in Marin City, across U.S. 101. Its 104 students are predominantly African American and Latino.

A state review found that Bayside MLK students have suffered under years of rapid staff turnover, inadequate class offerings, excessive discipline and substandard academic performance. As a result of the desegregation complaint by California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra, the district is under a court order to end the unequal treatment of students who attend Bayside MLK.

A new school board agreed to reforms to address past inequities and hired a new CONTINUE READING:  First desegregation order in 50 years hits Marin schools - Los Angeles Times

Education Insider for September 22, 2019 - Education Votes

Education Insider for September 22, 2019 - Education Votes

Education Insider for September 22, 2019

Democratic House takes action on gun violence; Republican Senate resists

The House is a hotbed of activity on gun-related issues while the Senate literally does nothing despite broad public support for comprehensive background checks, “red flag” laws, according to a Monmouth University Poll released this month. More than 200 days ago, the House voted 240-190 to expand background checks and 228-198 to close the “Charleston loophole” that allowed a white supremacist to buy a gun and kill nine African Americans in a church. This month, House committees passed five more bills. They  would ban high-capacity magazines, take guns away from potentially dangerous people before tragedy strikes, and enhance data on school shootings—deaths, injuries, and demographics. Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) refuses to bring the Background Check Expansion Act (S. 42) to the Senate floor—or any other legislation to help prevent gun violence. “Well, we’re in discussions about what to do on the gun issue in the wake of these horrendous shootings,” he said after a shooting on Labor Day weekend in Odessa, Tex., killed seven and injured 25 more—the fourth massacre in less than two months. Tell your senators to support S. 42 and encourage McConnell to bring it to the floor. TAKE ACTION

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DeVos ally would be a disaster as appellate judge

Steven Menashi, an architect of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ disastrous policies, could do even more harm if the Senate confirms his nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Menashi failed to protect students from predatory online institutions, failed to ensure student loans are forgiven for public service, weakened protections against sexual assault and harassment, and more. He is openly hostile to education and civil rights—to give just two examples, he lamented that our education system promotes “egalitarianism” and opposed student financial aid because it “punishes” affluent families. Moreover, Menashi worked with presidential adviser Stephen Miller on immigration policies that have terrified and traumatized our students, their families, and entire communities. Tell your senators to VOTE NO on Menashi because he cannot be trusted to be fair-minded and dispense equal justice to all who come before him. TAKE ACTION

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Tell the Senate to reject Scalia for Labor Secretary

Eugene Scalia, President Trump’s nominee for Labor Secretary, has devoted his career to undercutting workers’ rights, protecting corporations, and threatening retirement security. He defended Boeing after it retaliated against employees who had gone on strike. He opposed protecting workers from repetitive stress injuries and “intrusive safety regulations.” He defended employers who violated federal law by requiring retirement plan participants to pay excessive administrative fees. He even represented the e-cigarette industry in its efforts to sell vaping products to teenagers. America deserves a Labor Secretary who puts the health and well-being of workers and consumers first—not one who is anti-worker, anti-union, and anti-public sector. Tell your senators to VOTE NO on Eugene Scalia for Labor Secretary. TAKE ACTION

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Cheers and Jeers

Led by Sens. Chris Murphy (D-CT) and Patty Murray (D-WA), 20 senators delivered back-to-back floor speeches calling for Republican leadership to take action on gun violence: Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Sens.  Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Chris Coons (D-DE), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Tom Udall (D-NM), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Ed Markey (D-MA), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Bob Casey (D-PA), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Brian Schatz (D-HI), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI).

Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) said he’s not inclined to support judicial nominee Steven Menashi. “My thought is, look, if he’ll treat a United States senator the way he treated us, I wonder how he would treat the people.”

30 Democratic senators signed a letter urging Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai not to set an overall cap for Universal Service Fund programs. “Such a proposal would harm broadband development, rural health care opportunities, classroom learning, and life-long learning through public libraries by forcing them to compete in order to receive necessary funds,” they wrote.

Sen. Doug Jones (D-AL) offered legislation to extend $255 million in annual mandatory funding for historically black colleges and other minority-serving institutions for a two-year period.

Rep. Abby Finkenauer (D-IA) introduced the RETAIN Teachers Act (H.R. 4342) to help attract teachers and keep them in the classroom by streamlining burdensome paperwork for programs designed to help teachers finance their education and repay student loans.

Rep. Jahana Hayes (D-CT) introduced the Pell Grant Restoration Act (H.R. 4298) to give students who are victims of predatory for-profit colleges a second chance at higher education with a full slate of Pell benefits.

Sens. Chris Murphy (D-CT), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Patty Murray (D-WA), and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) questioned Labor Secretary nominee Eugene Scalia sharply about his record on workplace protections, LGBTQ protections, disability discrimination, and more.

Education Insider for September 22, 2019 - Education Votes

Rev/Dr. Anika Whitfield Writes a Letter to the Governor of Arkansas: Return Our Public Schools to Us! | Diane Ravitch's blog

Rev/Dr. Anika Whitfield Writes a Letter to the Governor of Arkansas: Return Our Public Schools to Us! | Diane Ravitch's blog

Rev/Dr. Anika Whitfield Writes a Letter to the Governor of Arkansas: Return Our Public Schools to Us!

Rev/Dr. Anika Whitfield wrote the following letter to newly re-elected Governor Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas about the failed state takeover of the Little Rock School District, whose only purpose was to take away any democratic control of the district’s public schools by its residents. Dr. Whitfield is both a podiatrist and a minister, so she is Rev/Dr.

Rev/Dr. Whitfield is included in my new book “Slaying Goliath” as a hero of the Resistance to Privatization. She stands up to the Governor and the Waltons, who think they own the state as their private plantation. She shows time and again that one person can make a difference; one person can organize Resistance; one person can speak out for justice and demand it and eventually they will be heard.

Governor Hutchinson,

Two days prior to being sworn in for your second and final term as Governor of Arkansas, KATV-7 interviewed you and captured you sharing this quoted statement:

“He said, ‘Well, I have to look forward to the swearing in, just to have that mark where you have another 4 years to serve the people of this state. But also, it’s just affirming to know that they said you’ve had 4 years, we think you’ve done a good job, we want you again.'”

Sadly, we, the LRSD community, do not have the same assessment of your leadership.  Good is not the adjective we would use. We have experienced four years of you serving as a the leader of an evil, politically and economically driven abduction and seizure of the LRSD our local, political, and economic power.  Rather than serving The People of Little Rock, you have reverted to enslaving us, keeping tax paying residents from our local ability to provide our children, our schools, our neighborhoods and community with the type of compassion, protection and oversight needed to protect our beloved community from the violence we have been forced to endure at the control of your political, economic, and racial whips and lynching.

And, Little Rock is not the only city suffering from your style of leadership. Pine Bluff, and several other AR Delta cities can testify to the same or similar abuses at the control of your hands.

We have had enough!  

The insurrection of your violent and abusive leadership is coming. Your violent actions CONTINUE READING: Rev/Dr. Anika Whitfield Writes a Letter to the Governor of Arkansas: Return Our Public Schools to Us! | Diane Ravitch's blog

Choosing Democracy: California Ethnic Studies Curriculum Conflict

Choosing Democracy: California Ethnic Studies Curriculum Conflict

California Ethnic Studies Curriculum Conflict

Dozens of teachers, activists, former officials and community members from all over California packed the California Department of Education on Friday to give their input on how the state should move forward with the ethnic studies curriculum. 

The curriculum, which was shelved because of its controversy, was put back on the table this week after State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond announced Monday he supported a plan to revise the curriculum. The State Board of Education will vote on it in 2020.

The curriculum, which is being created through a bill signed in 2016, is currently meant to serve as a guideline for schools, and an ethnic studies course would be a requirement for high school graduation. Currently, one out of five California high schools offer a course in ethnic studies.

On Friday, the education department’s Instructional Quality Commission, which advises the state board on curriculum issues, met and listened to hours of public comment both for and against the curriculum. 

Many of the original 18-member committee who created the curriculum spoke in support of keeping the draft, and revising it. More than 8,000 people signed a petition to save the curriculum.

The proposed 550-page curriculum was designed by ethnic studies leaders from various school districts and universities, appointed by the State Board of Education. It received support from 22 California State University Ethnic Studies departments, educational leaders throughout the state, and both the San Francisco Unified and San Diego Unified School Districts.

But the curriculum was also met with criticism from various groups, namely the Jewish Caucus and Jewish and pro-Israel community organizations. The Jewish legislative caucus criticized the draft curriculum, stating in a letter written to the Instructional Quality Commission that the curriculum omits discussions of anti-Semitism and delves into the Israeli-Palestinian conflict “with strong bias and little nuance.” The caucus also stated that the curriculum is too critical of Israel.

The letter prompted a quick response from Thurmond, who said the new draft should discuss anti-Semitism and the contributions of Jewish people.

Both those in support and against the draft said on Friday that anti-Semitism should be included in a new draft. Supporters of the draft said including anti-Semitism should not mean that Arab-American studies and Palestinian history be removed.

A state bill to mandate ethnic studies was delayed amid the controversy. A bill now on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk would give the Instructional Quality Commission an additional year to recommend a curriculum. It would also provide more time for the State Board of Education to adopt a model curriculum. 

“This extended timeline will be a tremendous asset in the revision process, allowing the CDE greater flexibility to engage with teachers, students, and other ethnic studies experts CONTINUE READING: Choosing Democracy: California Ethnic Studies Curriculum Conflict