Today’s (okay…yesterday… I got caught up in a few other things) New Jersey headlines once again touted the supposed successes of New Jersey Charter Schools:
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/01/gov_christie_releases_study_sh.html
The Star Ledger reporters, among others, were essentially reiterating the information provided them by the New Jersey Department of Education. Here’s their story.
http://www.state.nj.us/education/news/2011/0118chart.htm
And here’s a choice quote from the press release:
“These charter schools are living proof that a firm dedication to students and a commitment to best education practices will result in high student achievement in some of New Jersey’s lowest-income areas,” said Carlos Perez, chief executive officer of the New Jersey Charter School Association. He pointed to NJASK data for third grade Language Arts, where more than half the charters
You can’t argue with the general notion of a new report by the nonprofitCenter for American Progress that some school districts waste money and shouldn’t. Any teachers who spends their own money to buy erasers and notebooks for their students know that.
Beyond that, I’m trying to figure out what else of great value is in the report released Wednesday, which is, perhaps ironically called “Return on Educational Investment,” and which was a year in the making.
The details district-by-district how much school systems spend and what they get in terms of student achievement for their money. Student achievement, in this case, is measured by standardized test scores, which, any reader of this blog knows, is not a valid indicator for any
Today’s Education News in Florida:
Should Florida school teachers grade parents?
“State Rep. Kelli Stargel, the Polk County Republican who first brought Florida its teacher quality legislation, says yes.
She’s filed a bill that ties student learning to parent actions as well as teacher instruction, proposing that teachers grade parent involvement with their children’s education.
“I think there’s a certain segment of parents who would just step it up a notch
At tonight’s Seattle School Board meeting, the board directors and the superintendent are scheduled to make their annual disclosure of affiliations with other organizations.
Superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson lists her board positions on the Alliance for Education, the Council of Great City Schools and United Way. We probably have local parent activist and blogger Charlie Mas to thank for her disclosure of those first two – apparently she hasn’t disclosed them in the past.
Last year, Superintendent Goodloe-Johnson was criticized for failing to acknowledge her association with a vendor which won a no-bid contract with the Seattle School District. (Goodloe-Johnson failed to disclose that she
There is not a whole lot of intelligence over at Mike Antonucci’s Education Intelligence Agency. The guy fancies himself a spy in the house of education unionism. Having met the guy while he was sitting at a lap top in the press section at an NEA convention a few years ago, if being slightly nerdy and self-important qualifies you as an intelligence operative, I guess he qualifies.
The hot news on his site (which you will have to google because I won’t link to it) is that the NEA gave $13 million dollars to “advocacy groups.”
Whoa! Get outta here!
Is that all!
While the American Chamber of Commerce and Karl Rove’s political action group were raising hundreds of
Over the weekend USPS delivered an expensive looking, glossy, four color marketing brochure from Camino Nuevo Charter Academy (CNCA) chock full of misstatements, spurious data, and outright lies. CNCA is trying to pilfer a new school from my neighborhood1 under the cover of notorious Gates Foundation employee, and outgoing LAUSD board member, Yolie Flores’ corporate charter industry handout resolution — PSC.
Before looking at the details of the school in question, and why Camino Nuevo shouldn’t get its corporate claws on more public property, let’s take a quick look at what type of operation Camino Nuevo runs.
One of Camino Nuevo’s slick marketing phrases is “We are College Ready, College Bound!” The latter may be correct, due to nefarious arrangements
In the “dog bites man” department, Human Rights Watch (HRW) recently released a devastating report, which found that the Chinese had “failed to deliver” the human rights gains promised in its much-ballyhooed, first-ever “National Human Rights Action Plan” for 2009-10.
The report is timely, since Chinese President Hu Jintao is in Washington this week to discuss a wide variety of issues with President Obama and other U.S. leaders, including human rights. In terms of “promises made and promises broken,” the U.S. will surely have China’s human rights record of the last two years in mind.
HRW reports that the years 2009-2010 witnessed a “rollback of key civil and political rights” in China, as the
At least fifty protesters — Twitter reports say as many as eighty — were arrested this morning at the University of Puerto Rico as new student fees went into effect. (article | translation)
Student activists shut down UPR for two months last spring in protest against fee hikes and other initiatives, and won reversals of many proposals. But officials brought back the fee hikes in the fall, and both the government
Mayor Bloomberg renewed his push today for the end of seniority-based layoffs for public school teachers, who are facing greater odds of losing their jobs this year than they have in decades.
During his State of the City address this afternoon, Bloomberg said that his first priority for legislators in Albany is pension reform. But a close second is ending last-in first-out — the seniority rules embedded in state law that could force the Department of Education to lay off teachers based on when they were hired.
New York City has not had to lay off teachers since the 1970s and, though it came close to layoffs last year, the
Teacher bashing is all the rage these days, unfortunately. Teachers are leaving the profession, and I am hearing from teachers I trust that the exodus would be greater if the economy were better. While I think that aspects of the profession ought to be criticized, particularly the ‘trade union’ mentality of some—but not all—union leaders, the bashing is way out of line.
I write about this in my forthcoming book, The Influence of Teachers, but here today I am simply presenting the words from one veteran teacher, a woman I know to be dedicated to her students and the
WASHINGTON (AP) — Educating students with disabilities — a federally mandated responsibility — is seen as one of the costliest services school districts must provide, and one of the last that can be cut.
The federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act provides a set of protections for 6.6 million students — about 13 percent of total student enrollment — who have dyslexia, autism, intellectual disabilities, blindness, or other impairments that affect educational performance. Those students are entitled to a "free, appropriate public education" in the least-restrictive environment that meets their needs. Fail to provide such services, and parents can sue in federal court.
Those guidelines have led to the perception that special education is an untouchable expense, even in lean economic times. While states and school districts are encouraged to squeeze out every dime in other areas of spending, trying to save money in special education services is thought to be a third rail: Touch it, and you'll get shocked.
"A lot of school districts want to avoid even the threat of litigation," says Michael Griffith, a school finance expert with the Denver-based Education Commission of the States. "The minute you start talking about efficiencies for special education, there is a huge uproar from parents. People look at that as cutting back on things."
But like everything else in the world of special education, the reality is complicated.
States and districts are able to adjust what they spend on special education, though
So, why did the Los Angeles public school system hire John Deasy as their next superintendent? And hire him by a unanimous vote?
The decision is a surprising one because education unions have been strong in L.A. They frustrated the likes of Roy Romer, the former Democratic governor of Colorado who served as L.A.'s superintendent from 2000 through 2006.
But the board apparently has enough members who are willing to back a superintendent that wants to make students his first constituency. Yes, that sounds pretty cloying, but it's true. Among other things, Deasy wants to link a teacher's evaluation to the performance of his or her students in the classroom.
This Wall Street Journal profile highlights how Deasy is well known for his beliefs about linking the two. He had
