United Teachers Los Angeles -- working for reform - latimes.com

United Teachers Los Angeles -- working for reform - latimes.com

Education reform the union way

In attacking United Teachers Los Angeles, Mayor Villaraigosa chose to ignore the myriad positive reforms teachers are making in L.A. schools.

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By Kirti Baranwal and Gillian Russom

January 7, 2011

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Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, in an inflammatory speech last month, referred to United Teachers Los Angeles as the "loudest opponent and the largest obstacle to creating quality schools." In his enthusiasm to join the national chorus blaming teachers unions, he chose to ignore the myriad positive reforms teachers are making in L.A. schools with the support of our union leadership.

We are UTLA representatives at schools in the Partnership for Los Angeles Schools, or PLAS, which is affiliated with the mayor's office, and which the mayor has repeatedly identified as "my partnership schools." His speech reflects a lack of knowledge of the progressive reforms UTLA is part of creating at "his" schools.

As chapter chairs, we are part of the "UTLA leadership" the mayor disparages. Like the vast majority of that leadership, we are classroom teachers who work every day with the children of Los Angeles

What’s Our Stake in High Stakes Testing? « My Island View

What’s Our Stake in High Stakes Testing? « My Island View

What’s Our Stake in High Stakes Testing?

January 7, 2011 by tomwhitby

If you are not familiar with #Edchat, it is a Twitter discussion on specific topics held every Tuesday at Noon and 7 PM EST. A full explanation may be found at this Link: http://tomwhitby.wordpress.com/2010/06/23/edchat-revisited/. I am revealing in this post that I am the one who makes up a bulk of the #Edchat Topic choices. We do get some outside contributions, but each week I try to lift relevant topics from the Twitterstream and current Educational Blogs to explore further in an #Edchat discussion. It has been a successful formula thus far. My dilemma however, is always when is it a good time to revisit a topic. I recently received a comment from an educator that stated he always found the topic choices very interesting, but eventually we would need to discuss Standardized Testing or High Stakes Testing as a topic. Actually, #Edchat has discussed this topic in the past. The problem I have however is that in trying to keep the pulse of education concerns, Standardized Testing is the one topic that has an overwhelming majority of educators mentioning their opposition on a daily

National Urban League: Don’t Restrict Poor & Minority Students’ Rights to Crushing Debt and Worthless Degrees

National Urban League: Don’t Restrict Poor & Minority Students’ Rights to Crushing Debt and Worthless Degrees

National Urban League: Don’t Restrict Poor & Minority Students’ Rights to Crushing Debt and Worthless Degrees

by Bill Tucker

Dig deeper into this morning’s Washington Post op-ed by Marc H. Morial, president and chief executive of the National Urban League, and you’ll find shockingly low expectations for how post-secondary institutions, funded almost entirely by federal student loans and grants, should serve poor and minority students. Morial writes:

The so-called gainful-employment rule…would establish fixed targets for student-debt-to-income ratios and new loan repayment rates that many traditional public and nonprofit institutions could not meet…. However, we are concerned that students who rely on federal loans might no longer have access to financial aid to attend the schools of their choice because the government will deny federal funds to students who attend for-profit institutions that can’t comply with the proposed rule.

Rather than advocate for programs that cost less, lead to better employment outcomes, or offer improved learning, Morial is defending the very worst institutions. The small percentage of programs that can’t comply

The “N-Word” and White Anti-Racist Pedagogy (Part Two) « Student Activism

The “N-Word” and White Anti-Racist Pedagogy (Part Two) « Student Activism

The “N-Word” and White Anti-Racist Pedagogy (Part Two)

by Angus Johnston

Yesterday I put up a post about the challenges of teaching the history of race as a white professor in classrooms that are mostly populated by students of color. In it, I noted that white people — particularly white progressives — are given far more guidance and encouragement about listening when other people speak about race than about speaking up themselves. When a white professor is put in the position of teaching people of color about race, it can be uncomfortable, even scary.

I closed yesterday’s post with a promise that I’d talk more today about my own classroom experience, and I’d like to start by telling a story out of history.

George Wallace is best remembered today as a fierce segregationist. A four-time governor of Alabama and two-time presidential candidate, Wallace defined white opposition to racial integration for many Americans in the sixties. It was Wallace who, in his first gubernatorial inaugural address in 1963, coined the phrase “segregation

The Plan to Blame Unions For Everything

The Plan to Blame Unions For Everything

Why is our economy in the predicament that it's in today? High unemployment, sluggish growth...who's to blame? The unions, of course. The unions are the enemies of the working man. The working class must destroy unions for their own good.

Unions are the perfect scapegoat: an organization that benefits a relatively small number of actual members, which a mass of disgruntled outsiders can be easily convinced to blame for their own problems. (Immigrants are another good scapegoat!) Like the push to convince the public that our national debt is the fault of a few politicians' pet earmarks—expenditures that grab attention easily, but that make up a laughably small portion of the spending we actually need to cut—blaming unions for unemployment is a brilliant stroke of political jujitsu, because

West Wing Week: 1/07/11 or "Resolutions"

Welcome to the West Wing Week, your guide to everything that's happening at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. This week, the first family returns to Washington, the President signs over 30 bills into law, and West Wing staff share their New Year's resolutions.

New Posts on Parents 4 democratic Schools 1-7-11 Get Involved- Read Education News

New Posts on Parents 4 democratic Schools
Get Involved- Read Education News

Parents 4 democratic Schools

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School Beat: 2011 — Time for a New Agenda for Public Education | California Progress Report

School Beat: 2011 — Time for a New Agenda for Public Education | California Progress Report

School Beat: 2011 — Time for a New Agenda for Public Education

by megan

By Lisa Schiff
Parents for Public Schools

2010 was a tumultuous year for public education, in keeping with the last several years and setting the stage for 2011 and beyond. From high profile but woefully inaccurate critiques in movie theaters (e.g. the film “Waiting for Superman”) to unexpected new heroes (e.g. former high-stakes testing champion Diane Ravitch) extremes seem to be the new condition of education.

read more

New Leadership and a New Outlook in 2011

by megan

By Rebecca Greenberg
California Labor Federation

On Monday at precisely 11:19 a.m., Governor Schwarzenegger’s seemingly endless term finally came to a close as Jerry Brown was officially sworn in as our once and current Governor. And right away, it became clear that Governor Brown is about to usher in into a whole new era of California politics.

Unlike Schwarzenegger -- who spent his inaugurals hobnobbing with corporate lobbyists and courting wealthy donors -- Governor Brown instead chose to head straight to the People’s Inauguration Party on the Capitol lawn, sponsored by the Orange County Employees Association, where he munched on a free hot dog alongside thousands of working Californians who came out to celebrate the occasion.

read more

Rep. Darrell Issa Puts Himself (and Oversight Committee) Up For Bid

by megan

By Lucas O'Connor

Note: “Issa Exposed” is a project of the Courage Campaign that tracks Darrell Issa's public record as well as the ongoing investigations and hearings he's involved with as the new chairman of the House Oversight Committee. The California Progress Report will occasionallycross-post particularly relevant campaign posts.

One of the hallmarks of the tea party gains in the GOP has been virulent opposition to earmarks. Their newfound influence within the Republican Party has led to a strong push to eliminate the practice of earmarks altogether, and Darrell Issa hasn't missed a beat jumping on board that train.

Issa was among the first Republicans to suspend his earmark requests, and even went so far as to declare "Mr. Speaker, I make a point of order that an earmark is tantamount to a bribe." Yet that never prevented Issa from requesting earmarks before Fiscal year 2010. And not just a few here and there- hundreds of millions of dollars worth.

read more

Stretching Truth, Not Dollars? « School Finance 101

Stretching Truth, Not Dollars? « School Finance 101

Stretching Truth, Not Dollars?

by schoolfinance101

This week, Mike Petrilli (TB Fordham Institute) and Marguerite Roza (Gates Foundation) released a “policy brief” identifying 15 ways to “stretch” the school dollar. Presumably, what Petrilli and Roza mean by stretching the school dollar is to find ways to cut spending while either not harming educational outcomes or actually improving them. That goal in mind, it’s pretty darn hard to see how any of the 15 proposals would lead to progress toward that goal.

The new policy brief reads like School Finance Reform in a Can. I’ve written previously about what I called Off-the-Shelf school finance reforms, which are quick and easy – generally ineffective and meaningless, or potentially damaging – revenue-neutral school finance fixes. In this new brief, Petrilli and Roza have pulled out all the stops. They’ve generated a list, which could easily have been generated by a random search engine scouring

HISD magnet audit unveiled today | School Zone | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle

HISD magnet audit unveiled today | School Zone | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle

HISD magnet audit unveiled today

The long-awaited audit of Houston ISD's magnet program — expected to recommend which schools should lose the label and which should get makeovers — will be released today. Please check back for our story.

Trying to get in tune

There are 113 magnet schools in Houston, but no uniform formula guides their funding

By ERICKA MELLON
HOUSTON CHRONICLE

Oct. 25, 2010, 5:50AM

123

Eric Kayne Chronicle

From left, Kamryn Johnson, 5, Ivanna Lopez, 6, Emmy Hunter, 5, and Tori Head, 5, learn how to hold their "violins" as part of Parker Elementary's fine arts program.

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MAGNET MONEY

HISD has no consistent funding formula for its magnet schools. Here's a sampling of the per-pupil funding at some of the fine arts programs.

• Gregory-Lincoln Middle School: $1,960.88

• Burrus Elementary: $1,234.64

• Parker Elementary: $671.19

• Roberts Elementary: $528.35

• Cook Elementary: $29.34

Source: Houston ISD

In southwest Houston, students in Parker Elementary's special magnet program learn to play instruments from professionals. They get group lessons daily and private lessons weekly. Pop star Beyoncé Knowles got her start there.

The Houston school district gives Parker about $670 per student to run the music program, which is so popular it draws a waiting list of children from around the city.

Cook Elementary, on the north side, also has a fine arts program. It gets $29 per student — not enough to cover a full-time dance teacher or to hire a theater instructor.

Both campuses have the desired "magnet" label, but the Houston Independent School District funds them at wildly different rates.

John Deasy: L.A. school board expected to appoint John Deasy as next superintendent on Tuesday - latimes.com

John Deasy: L.A. school board expected to appoint John Deasy as next superintendent on Tuesday - latimes.com

L.A. school board expected to appoint John Deasy as next superintendent on Tuesday

John Deasy, 50, would replace Ramon C. Cortes, 78, who has headed the nation's second-largest school system since 2008. Deasy joined the district in August as Cortines' top deputy.

By Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times

The Los Angeles Board of Education is expected to vote Tuesday to appoint John Deasy as the next superintendent of the nation's second-largest school district, sources said Thursday.

Deasy would replace Ramon C. Cortines, 78, who announced last year that he would retire this spring from the system he has headed since 2008.

No Los Angeles Unified School District officials or administrators were willing to publicly discuss Deasy's presumed hiring. Employees said they had no authorization to do so, and elected officials said it would be improper to discuss the board's private deliberations. Deasy also said he could not discuss the matter. Several insiders, however, confirmed the pending hire.


Deasy joined the district in August as the top deputy to Cortines, who promptly vacated his office for his heir apparent, moving into smaller quarters next door. Deasy, 50, came from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, where he oversaw efforts to revamp how teachers are evaluated, but he also has 20

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Gates clears the bench

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Gates clears the bench

Gates clears the bench

by Mike Klonsky

He sends in super-sub John Deasy to get things under control in L.A. But who's left on the bench? He's LAUSD's 4th superintendent in 5 years. This is what passes for school reform--corporate style. It gives new meaning to the term "City of the Angels." Angels, Gates and Broad, now run the city's schools.

A look at my 2008 post on Deasy's jumping ship in Prince Georges County, Md., will show you what to expect from him in the way of leadership. He was touted as a “superstar” and the great white hope of the power

TLN Teacher Voices: Top 5 Reasons Teachers Don't Get Involved in Education Policy

TLN Teacher Voices: Top 5 Reasons Teachers Don't Get Involved in Education Policy

Top 5 Reasons Teachers Don't Get Involved in Education Policy

Teacher Ariel Sacks blogs at the TLN website under the banner "On the Shoulders of Giants." In a recent post she identifies the top five reasons teachers avoid contact with education policy -- and refutes each one. Here's the first:

* * * * *

Recently on the Teacher Leaders Network, I landed in a discussion about the many great teachers we know who, for a variety of reasons, stay far away from education policy. In this post, I'm trying to respond to what I see as the top five reasons teachers tend not to get involved.

One: It's not my job to be involved in education