News Corp. Buys Wireless Generation - NYTimes.com

News Corp. Buys Wireless Generation - NYTimes.com

News Corp., After Hiring Klein, Buys Technology Partner in a City Schools Project

By FERNANDA SANTOS

Published: November 23, 2010

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Greg Gunn and Larry Berger met as Rhodes scholars at Oxford University and, after stints teaching computer skills and mathematics to children in Harlem and Stamford, Conn., they came upon an idea: create a business that would put technology in the hands of teachers and into classrooms.

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Marilynn K. Yee/The New York Times

Chancellor Joel I. Klein is also going to News Corporation.

Related

• Education Chief Raises Doubts on Pick by Bloomberg (November 24, 2010)

• City Room: Black Was Principal, for a Day (November 23, 2010)

Mr. Gunn, 40, and Mr. Berger, 42, founded Wireless Generation 10 years ago, and the company has since grown from a start-up with a bare-bones budget and staff to a national leader in a new wave of education reform, where data is a crucial tool to transform failing schools.

On Monday, News Corporation announced that it had signed an agreement to buy 90 percent of Wireless Generation for $360 million in cash, its first foray into the for-profit world of education since its book publishing arm, Harper Collins, got out of the textbook business in the mid-1990s. The deal thrusts one of the world’s largest media

Seattle Public Schools community blog: Education Reform Survey

Seattle Public Schools community blog: Education Reform Survey

Education Reform Survey

by Charlie Mas

Thanks to an alert reader, we bring you this story from the Seattle P-I which will lead you to a survey from the OSPI on Education Reform.

Here is your chance to answer: Great idea or Greatest idea?

Seattle Met: The Education Issue

by Melissa Westbrook

So in advance of the upcoming tours and open houses at both public and private high schools, Seattle Metropolitan Magazine latest issue has several articles about high school education with 78 public and 50 private schools graded. Among the articles:

• The New School Plan - about the NSAP
• One Size Fits Some - about the LA alignment
• Talk Supe - about who else? (We'll have to discuss this one because she flatly denies saying something I heard her say out loud at a meeting.)
• Geek Boot Camp - about STEM at Cleveland (I'll have to take them to task for this title; no, no, and no.)

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Panel rejects waiver for Black

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Panel rejects waiver for Black

Panel rejects waiver for Black

by Mike Klonsky

Big defeat for Bloomberg and mayoral control

An eight-member panel of education experts, including several with close ties to Mayor Bloomberg, has voted to deny publishing executiveCathleen Black a waiver to become the next schools chancellor. The mayor has argued that under the 2002 law that gave him control of the city schools, he should be able to appoint whomever he pleased.

The Washington Teacher: Parker's Last Acts Of Desperation - Happy Thanksgiving!

The Washington Teacher: Parker's Last Acts Of Desperation - Happy Thanksgiving!

Parker's Last Acts Of Desperation - Happy Thanksgiving!

by The Wash. Teacher

6 Days To WTU Run-off Election- Didn't get a ballot call 1-800-273-0726 to get a duplicate.

Featuring Candi Peterson, blogger in residence and WTU Candidate for General Vice President/Saunders slate

In the first Washington Teachers Union (WTU) election, two out of three teachers voted against WTU "holdover" President George Parker whose constitutional term ended June 30, 2010. Since those results were tallied, the Liz Davis/Emily Washington slate and Chris and Ben

The Answer Sheet - Schools chief returns Race to the Top money -- for his teachers

The Answer Sheet - Schools chief returns Race to the Top money -- for his teachers

Schools chief returns Race to the Top money -- for his teachers

A number of school districts in states that won money in the Education Department's $4 billion Race to the Top competition have decided they don’t actually want the money because, in most cases, officials think it is more trouble to accept it. In Ohio, which won $400 million in the Race sweepstakes, more than two dozen districts and public charter schools say they think it will cost them more than they will get from the federal government to implement the required reforms, according to Sean Cavanagh at www.edweek.com. And then there is the Jones County School District near Macon, Ga., headed by Superintendent Bill Mathews.

NYC Public School Parents: Our battle is not over! Sign our new petition to Steiner

NYC Public School Parents: Our battle is not over! Sign our new petition to Steiner

Our battle is not over! Sign our new petition to Steiner

by Leonie Haimson

Send a new message to Commissioner Steiner to reject Cathie Black's nomination --even if there's an educator as number two.

In what has been called a stinging rebuke to the mayor, the members of an advisory panel appointed by Commissioner Steiner voted today against granting a waiver to magazine executive Cathie Black to become NYC Schools Chancellor. They listened to the voices of parents, educators, and the majority of New Yorkers, who believe that she has none of the qualifications needed to lead the nation's largest school

Schools Matter: Bloomberg's Toadies Vote No, Sort of

Schools Matter: Bloomberg's Toadies Vote No, Sort of

Bloomberg's Toadies Vote No, Sort of

by Jim Horn

The limos were idling for hours yesterday at an undisclosed Manhattan location as Bloomberg's toadies huddled in an attempt to not look like whores while giving Bloomberg's unqualified appointee for Chancellor a qualified pass. In the end, they agreed on a plan that would hopefully save face for the educationists on the panel, while giving Bloomberg time to come up with a plan that will in the end make him look like a reasonable negotiator who knows how to cut a deal and get his way in the end. At least that's my take. A somewhat different take below.

From New York Magazine:

A big, rare loss for Michael Bloomberg this afternoon: The state education commissioner has

Eduwonk » Blog Archive » Growing Blacklash!

Eduwonk » Blog Archive » Growing Blacklash!

Growing Blacklash!

by arotherham

The advisory panel appointed to consider a waiver for Cathie Black to become Chancellor of the New York City schools voted against granting it. I assume all the people last seen decrying the appointees to the panel as shills for the mayor will now demand another vote to ensure integrity in the process…

Anyway, despite their media backgrounds you have to wonder if Mayor Bloomberg or Cathie Black could have handled this rollout any worse? My take on the larger issues the whole waiver process raises here.

Four-day Thanksgiving! - Sabrina's Joy

Four-day Thanksgiving! - Sabrina's Joy

Four-day Thanksgiving! - Sabrina's Joy

by Sabrina

Day One: Main course prep with my dad. Everything I know and love about food, I learned from him :) It's good to be home!

Turkey-brining time...

Inside:

My Balls and My Word, and I Have Both Still — The Jose Vilson

My Balls and My Word, and I Have Both Still — The Jose Vilson

My Balls and My Word, and I Have Both Still

by Jose

Mr. Peanut Goes To War

I don’t know about you, but unless it’s my significant other, I don’t want to get felt up and out, irrespective of whether or not the person’s another woman or has on the thickest gloves possible. The pat downs I used to get in the club are intrusive enough; I can only imagine the thorough job our federal government does to ensure that I don’t have a plastic knife, hand-sanitizing gel, or the ingredients for a Molotov cocktail. And other than my clothing, my iPod, my books, my magazines, my cell phone, some gifts, and some toiletries that’ll make it on

Raindance

t r u t h o u t | Lessons to Be Learned From Paulo Freire as Education Is Being Taken Over by the Mega Rich

t r u t h o u t | Lessons to Be Learned From Paulo Freire as Education Is Being Taken Over by the Mega Rich

Lessons to Be Learned From Paulo Freire as Education Is Being Taken Over by the Mega Rich

Tuesday 23 November 2010

by: Henry A. Giroux, t r u t h o u t | Op-Ed

Paulo Freire. (Photo: Slobodan Dimitrov)

(This is a much expanded version of "Lessons From Paulo Freire," which appeared in a recent issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education.)

At a time when memory is being erased and the political relevance of education is dismissed in the language of measurement and quantification, it is all the more important to remember the legacy and work of Paulo Freire. Freire is one of the most important educators of the 20th century and is considered one of the most important theorists of "critical pedagogy" - the educational movement guided by both passion and principle to help students develop a consciousness of freedom, recognize authoritarian tendencies, empower the imagination, connect knowledge and truth to power and learn to read both the word and the world as part of a broader

Screwing retirees. « Fred Klonsky's blog

Screwing retirees. « Fred Klonsky's blog

Screwing retirees.

by Fred Klonsky

Remainders: Panel’s vote puts mayor in a tight spot | GothamSchools

Remainders: Panel’s vote puts mayor in a tight spot | GothamSchools

Remainders: Panel’s vote puts mayor in a tight spot

by Philissa Cramer

• The next move in the Black saga is Mayor Bloomberg’s, and he’s unlikely to back down. (Daily Intel)
• One change in the chancellor’s job description since 2002: Public trust no longer required. (City Room)
• Cathie Black was principal of IS 125 in the South Bronx — for one day in 2000. (City Room)
• Twenty-eight prominent women said this morning that they support Black’s candidacy. (DOE)
• Black sold her Connecticut weekend home for $2 million just this week. (City Room)
• On the man who might have been chancellor, Don Domenech circa 1995. (Russo)
• Former New Yorker Marcia Lyles has been spotted in Atlanta, which needs a new supe. (AJC)
• How to be smart when filling out your high school application, due next week. (Insideschools)
• A retired teacher extols the virtues of picture books. (Edwize)
• Overbooked and exhausted, a mom calls for virtual school tours. (Insideschools)

Damn Good Education Daily

Damn Good Education Daily

Education Reform Tragedy, and Catharsis « InterACT

accomplishedcaliforniateachers.wordpress.com - From Cooperation Catalyst: “November 22, 2010 has been declared the National Day of Blogging for Real Education Reform, promoted by AASA and ASCD. ASCD has gathered 10 articles, in advance of Monda...

CohenD

Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp to Buy Wireless Generation

edreformer.com - by Douglas CretsNovember 22, 2010New York, New York, November 22, 2010 – News Corporation today announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire 90 percent of Wireless Generation, a privat...

leoniehaimson

It’s Time to Take Action!

inthetrencheswithschoolreform.com - Congress doesn’t seem interested in reauthorizing NCLB during the lame duck session, but the January session with the new Congress is not far away. It’s time for those of us who know the unintended...

DianeRavitch

Panel denies Mayor Bloomberg’s choice for schools chancellor

gothamschools.org - An eight-member panel of education experts has voted to deny publishing executive Cathleen Black a waiver to become the next schools chancellor. State education officials said that four panel membe...

CohenD

The corporate takeover of American schools | Paul Thomas | Comment is free

guardian.co.uk - Joel Klein, the outgoing chancellor of New York schools. He is joining News Corp as a vice-president and adviser to Rupert Murdoch; his successor, Cathie Black, is chair of Hearst Magazines. Photog...