Big Education Ape

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

The FBI’s Attempt to Blackmail Martin Luther King Into Suicide « Student Activism

The FBI’s Attempt to Blackmail Martin Luther King Into Suicide

by Angus Johnston

I mentioned this on Twitter yesterday, and promised to post about it today. The day’s kind of gotten away from me, so this’ll be as quick as I can make it.

In November 1964, weeks before Martin Luther King was to travel to Oslo to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, an anonymous correspondent sent him a package in the mail. The package contained an audiotape, and a letter.

The tape was a compilation of material recorded via Bureau wiretaps over the previous year. It consisted of off-color jokes and remarks King had made in private, among friends, interspersed with the sounds of him having sex with someone other than his wife. The letter included the following challenge:

King, look into your heart. You know you are a complete fraud and a great liability … you are no clergyman,

The Answer Sheet - Ravitch: The pitfalls of putting economists in charge of education

Ravitch: The pitfalls of putting economists in charge of education

This was written by education historian Diane Ravitch on her Bridging Differences blog, which she co-authors with Deborah Meier on the Education Week website. Ravitch and Meier exchange letters about what matters most in education. Ravitch, a research professor at New York University, is the author of the bestselling “The Death and Life of the Great American School System,” an important critique of the flaws in the modern school reform movement. Dear Deborah, A few weeks ago, Mike Rose [a professor at UCLA] posted a list of his New Year's resolutions. One of them was that we should "make do with fewer economists in education. These practitioners of the dismal science have flocked to education reform, though most know little about teaching and learning." Mike suggested that so few economists were able to give useful advice about the financial and housing markets that we should now be skeptical about expecting

School Tech Connect: In Which The Candidates Speak For Themselves

In Which The Candidates Speak For Themselves

by effacethefacade@yahoo.com (Tim)

I missed the city's mayoral forum yesterday, but kudos to WBEZ, Catalyst, and the Chicago News Cooperativefor assembling this questionnaire, which sort of encapsulates all the big issues in the current "reform" discussion. Have a looky-loo for yourself.

Here are some of the big takeaways from the survey for me:

Gerry Chico doesn't have an original idea in his head. He's a cliche artist, and I even wonder if he's a real candidate or if he's playing a role here for someone.

Miguel del Valle is still my guy. I think he can win, and I think he can govern. This is not a guy who's going to rollover and play dead for the teachers' union, but he does seem to understand that these schools are for all of the people of the city and that there are outside factors that affect achievement. I wish he were more about

Compton parents claim retaliation in school reform

By CHRISTINA HOAG, Associated Press

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

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(01-18) 10:56 PST Compton, Calif. (AP) --

Two parent activists have filed complaints with the U.S. Department of Education's civil rights office alleging they and their children have been victims of retaliation because they support a campaign to turn over a local school to a charter operator.

Marlene Romero and Hebert Hidalgo said in documents filed late Friday that teachers at McKinley Elementary School are using lies and intimidation to turn their children against them.

A spokesman at Compton Unified School District did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment Tuesday.

Romero and Hidalgo are two organizers behind a petition filed last month under California's "parent trigger" law, which allows a majority of parents at a failing school to force a district to make drastic changes to turn around the school, including charter

Chicago suburban school district positions itself to go after teacher salaries next year. « Fred Klonsky's blog

Chicago suburban school district positions itself to go after teacher salaries next year.

by Fred Klonsky

Maine Township District 207, with three high schools including Maine South where my students go, is already preparing to wage an assault on teacher salaries next year.

The district has $100 million in reserves.

Last year the had an operating deficit and they laid off 13% of the staff.

While the board continues to talk about the difficulties with the economy, they rarely mention their own mismanagement of funds.

No matter.

Now they gloat about having a leaner workforce, as if it was something other than classroom teachers they were

As state testing nears, city directs $10 million to tutoring | GothamSchools

As state testing nears, city directs $10 million to tutoring

by Anna Phillips

Nearly six months after the city saw students’ failure rate spike thanks to new, tougher state tests, Mayor Bloomberg is directing extra funding to ready those students for another round of exams.

The mayor announced today that the Department of Education will distribute $10 million to 532 schools where more than two-thirds of students failed the state’s math and English tests last year. The funding will target nearly half of the more than 100,000 students who did not meet the state’s newly heightened proficiency bar. Bloomberg said he expected 48,000 students to receive extra tutoring and in-school help as a result of the new funding.

DOE officials said schools should receive the money by February 8. Principals will be able to spend it on weekend classes, lessons after school, tutoring during the school day, and online programs that will help students cram for the upcoming exams. They will have to race to spend it in time for it to have an effect, as the

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Message from Lake Michigan

Message from Lake Michigan

by Mike Klonsky

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Indiana charter schools fail to succeed | Dailycensored.com

Indiana charter schools fail to succeed

Written by Danny WeilEducationJan 18, 2011

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The charter school hype never ceases to bear bitter fruit. Take the state of Indiana. Nearly 23,000 students attend 62 tuition-free, public charter schools in Indiana. Under Indiana law, the mayor of Indianapolis can authorize charter schools and he has sponsored about 20. Another three are authorized by traditional public schools in Lafayette and Evansville, Indiana. Ball State University is another authorizer. Of the nearly 40 public charter schools authorized by Ball State University (BSU), the university has placed 23 percent on probation and required 10 percent to take corrective action. Another 10 percent either withdrew their charter or had it revoked by the university. The grand total of delinquent or questionable charters is thus 43%. Many of these schools include an emphasis on military-like discipline, tough love, character development and zero-

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Broader and Bolder...

Broader and Bolder...

by Mike Klonsky

The Broader, Bolder Approach to Education campaign (BBA), has announced it is preparing for new debates around re-authorization of "No Child Left Behind" (the Elementary and Secondary Education Act). NCLB has continued to be in force despite the clear lack of improved student outcomes and the law's expiration four years ago. Whether Congress engages this year in the long-overdue reauthorization process or again defers action, BBA says it will be a vocal participant in the debate.

BBA also announced the appointment of

This Sounds Familiar: Tea Party Pushes "Separate But Equal" NC Schools | Education | Change.org

This Sounds Familiar: Tea Party Pushes "Separate But Equal" NC Schools

by Megan Cottrell

Activists around North Carolina honored Martin Luther King Jr. day yesterday by shouting, "Forward together - not one step back," trying to stop the re-segregation of Wake County's schools.

Wake County's made headlines in recent months for undoing its heralded student assignment policy, which ensures each school is socio-economically diverse, making sure low-income students aren't concentrated in a few schools. Tea Party leaders have been behind the push to stop busing and move to a neighborhood model of school assignment, effectively segregating the county's schools.

The NAACP has been behind much of the push to get Wake County's school board to keep the district's integrated schools alive. In September of last year, they filed a federal civil right complaint against Wake County

ASCD Inservice: Framing Finland Visit Through Key Questions

Framing Finland Visit Through Key Questions

by ASCD Bloggers

From January 15–22, a diverse group of professionals from fields in education advocacy, communications, leadership, and research travels to Finland to study the education system firsthand. Study group participants will occasionally post reflections on this blog. Teachers know, simply copying...

Raise Your Voice
by ASCD Bloggers
I'm not one for musts when it comes to using social media. No one will die if they don't use a Ning. Great teachers will continue to be great, even if they never Tweet. An educator can be a passionate...

I'm not one for musts when it comes to using social media. No one will die if they don't use a Ning. Great teachers will continue to be great, even if they never Tweet. An educator can be a passionate and competent leader without a blog or Facebook presence.

There are plenty of pundits out there who will tell you that you must use online tools, and they will set down rules about how to use them. I'm sure that these well-meaning experts believe they're providing a service for those new to participation in an online space, but in doing so, they've forgotten the most important piece: the user. They have neglected to ask, "What do you want to do with the opportunities to create and share on the Internet?"

My alter ego is a doyenne of edublogging. For a little over six years, we have occupied a small branch of the Web. We cling as tenaciously as we can to a variety of other educators who blog. But six years is a very long time in the age of Internet. Fifteen edubloggers were interviewed by USA Today in 2006. Today, less than half of us are still standing. Surely

Assemblyman Kellner Needs to Check His Facts! « EdVox

Assemblyman Kellner Needs to Check His Facts!

by edvoxny

Recently Assemblymember Kellner wrote an editorial column in the NY Post, calling to Let the Millionaires Tax Die, which would essentially leave our children wide open to education cuts. Billy Easton, the Executive Director of the Alliance for Quality Education responds below. TO TAKE ACTION PLEASE VISIT www.aqeny.org !!

Dear Assemblymember Kellner,

In your recent opinion editorial column in the New York Post entitled Let the Millionaires Tax Die you assert that the millionaire’s tax “hasn’t even raised the revenue it was supposed to — falling well short of the projected $4 billion a year.”

However, the New York State Division of Budget’s Enacted Budget Report of August 2010 reported that high-income tax provisions actually generated $3.83 billion in 2009–just shy of the initial $3.9 billion projection. The

Quik Update: Top Reads on Parents 4 democratic Schools

Analysis criticizes Boston teacher pay system - The Boston Globe

This Week In Education: AM News: Cutting Costs Without Cutting Quality

Oprah Interview on CNN & Toni Morrison/Market Driven Kids – Not Waiting for Superman « Continuing Change

Bloomberg sticks up for Cathie Black after foot-in-morth 'birth control' joke; says she'll learn

Success! One Step Closer to the First Fast Food Union | Poverty in America | Change.org

Study: Many college students not learning to think critically | McClatchy

Quote of the Day « Student Activism

Internet Archive: About IA

David Brooks Says Superior Chinese Mom is "Coddling" her Children - THE DAILY RIFF - Be Smarter. About Education.

Sacramentan peels off Colorado tuition in one-dollar bills - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee

Henry Bienen: In Defense of For-Profit Colleges - WSJ.com

As complaints mount, anemic state agency overwhelmed by job of policing for-profit schools

US Schools Are Still Ahead - Way Ahead

Tim knocks on north side doors for MDV. « Fred Klonsky's blog

Tim knocks on north side doors for MDV.

by Fred Klonsky

Walking the precinct for MDV.

Why does Chicago have its elections in February?

Because it’s so frickin’ cold and that tends to keep the voters home. That helps the Machine stay in power.

So all praise is due to my blogging pal Tim.

Tim hit a north side precinct this bitter cold weekend with Miguel del Valle window signs and a canvass sheet to

Shanker Blog » Treating Teachers Like Professionals

Treating Teachers Like Professionals

by Matthew Di Carlo

I was very interested to see, in a post by my colleague last month, that elementary school teachers were again voted among the top five most “honest and ethical” occupations in America, by respondents to a November 2010 Gallup Poll.

According to Gallup, 67 percent of respondents rated the honesty/ethics of teachers as “high/very high,” 24 percent rated it “average,” and 6 percent rated it as “low/very low” (the error margin is +/- 4 percentage points). Only nurses, military officers, and pharmacists ranked higher (with doctors, who ranked 5th, in a statistical tie with teachers).

I found this interesting because it contradicts a key underlying feature of much of our public education debate. I’ve heard many thousands of teachers speaking out against the market-based reforms that are currently in vogue among opinion leaders, and seen them effectively ignored. I’ve heard everyone from Oprah to big-city

NYC Public School Parents: CNN debate on class size on MLK's birthday

CNN debate on class size on MLK's birthday

My debate with Matthew Chingos on CNN yesterday.

Marking Martin Luther King's Birthday

Parent-Led Campaign Wins $10 Million for Struggling Students « EdVox

Parent-Led Campaign Wins $10 Million for Struggling Students

by edvoxny

Last July, parents and education advocates were alarmed when recalibration of state test scores revealed that 239,000 NYC students are not meeting state standards and are not on track for success in college – an increase of more than 100,000 students. The NYC Coalition for Educational Justice (CEJ) spearheaded a four-month long “Save Our Schools” campaign with elected officials and leading advocacy organizations to secure immediate intervention services for these students. That effort saw a major victory today in Mayor Bloomberg’s announcement of a $10 million initiative to support 532 schools in providing additional tutoring services to the most struggling students, including small group and individual instruction during the school day, afterschool and on weekends, and supplemental instructional materials.

CEJ parent leader Zakiyah Ansari spoke as part of the announcement today at the Department of Education headquarters in Manhattan. Her remarks are below.

CEJ’s remarks at Press Conference Announcing AIS Initiative for Struggling Students

Zakiyah Ansari, Parent Leader, CEJ

1/18/11

It’s fitting that we stand here

NCTQ, U.S. News Announce Joint Teacher Education Review - Teacher Beat - Education Week

NCTQ, & U.S. News; Announce Joint Teacher Education Review - Teacher Beat - Education Week

NCTQ, U.S. News Announce Joint Teacher Education Review

by Stephen Sawchuk

The Washington-based National Council on Teacher Quality and U.S. News and World Report, the publisher of the famous and much-debated college ratings, announced today that they are embarking on an ambitious project to review—and rate—teacher education offerings in all the nation's 1,400 schools of education.

Each school will be reviewed against 19 standards and graded on 17 of them. These standards have been revised and reduced in number since NCTQ did its review of Illinois and Texas education schools, essentially a "field test" for this larger project.

Alternative routes housed at institutions of higher education will be included in the review, but it won't include Teach For America or district-created programs that operate independently of ed. schools.

The groups are sending out letters to deans at all the schools seeking their participation in the review process.

Latest News and Comment from Education

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Compton parents claim retaliation in school reform

MORE NEWS

Indiana charter schools fail to succeed

Raise Your Voiceby ASCD BloggersI'm not one for musts when it comes to using social media. No one will die if they don't use a Ning. Great teachers will continue to be great, even if they never Tweet. An educator can be a passionate...

CNN debate on class size on MLK's birthday

Raise Your Voice
by ASCD Bloggers
I'm not one for musts when it comes to using social media. No one will die if they don't use a Ning. Great teachers will continue to be great, even if they never Tweet. An educator can be a passionate...