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Friday, October 21, 2011

Big Education Ape: 10-21-11 PM Millionaires income gains support 99ers’ gripes EDition #ows

Big Education Ape: Ed News Now:

Published by Coopmike48 – 6 news spotters today

Data on income gains support 99ers’ gripes

epi.org - Economic snapshot | Jobs Wages and Living StandardsShare this page:The Occupy Wall Street protesters claiming to represent the “99 percent” of Americans left behind economically can back up their c...

DianeRavitch

Are top students being shortchanged? - The Answer Sheet

washingtonpost.com - This was written by Paul Thomas, an associate professor of education at Furman University in South Carolina. A version of this was published on Daily Kos.By Paul Thomas One aspect of the education ...

DianeRavitch

Proving Why Parents Need a Revolution

huffingtonpost.com - Last week, Dr. Diane Ravitch launched a broadside against Parent Trigger and the parent empowerment movement, calling it a "stealth assault" and a "deceptive scheme" to undermine public education. ...

leoniehaimson

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coopmike48 Ramon Resa, MD: No Child Left Behind; Parents Need to Take Responsibility - http://t.co/4FQOiDzL3 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite

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coopmike48 Rhee Virus continues to spread in Ohio - http://t.co/AhJDS6fRabout 1 minute ago · reply · retweet · favorite

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coopmike48 Remainders: Schools could lose out from no deal on evals | GothamSchools - http://t.co/AlbQOkWX· reply · retweet · favorite

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coopmike48 Charter schools / Time to reassess - http://t.co/YurUwwnn: Editorialshttp://t.co/RcHTgEFD #Edu4 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite

EducationSee all

W. enters my wife's schoolboard race - Campaign Finance

salon.com - Emily knew it would be a tough race against her opponent, a deep-pocketed investment banker, but she felt confident she could run a solid campaign. She thought her experience as a social worker and...

leoniehaimson

Video

nypost.com - The city teachers union threatened to derail a new evaluation system, claiming school principals have used it to punish teachers before it even started.But Department of Education officials counter...

leoniehaimson

SocietySee all

Progressive Alliance Meeting Reminder

sacramentopa.blogspot.com - Russell Rawlings, 99%er, being arrested Tuesday night at Cesar Chavez Park. Thank God Mayor 1%, the 1% City Council, and the Sacramento PD had him arrested, as Russel obviously represents clear and...

coopmike48

PoliticsSee all

The One Percent And Us

edwize.org - Over the last few weeks, a small team of New York City building inspectors descended upon UFT headquarters, responding to a mysterious 311 call. Our building has been placed under police surveillan...

fklonsky

StoriesSee all

He Told Obama, 'You're Headed For One-Term Presidency'

huffingtonpost.com - In one of the most hotly-anticipated biographies of the year, "Steve Jobs," author Walter Isaacson reveals that the Apple CEO offered to design political ads for President Obama's 2012 campaign des...

mikeklonsky

Rupert and Me | California Father

californiafather.com - As my seven-year-old son prepares for his first protest (against a proposed new Walmart in Burbank; he is very vehement about his position; “What if they put Target out of business?”) I think about...

coopmike48

BusinessSee all

What Occupy Wall Street is All About...

democurmudgeon.blogspot.com - Citigroup just agreed to pay $285 million to settle a civil fraud complaint that it misled investors in a $1 billion derivatives deal tied to the United States housing market, then bet against the ...

coopmike48

Where the wealthy Americans are | SFGate Blog

blog.sfgate.com - Reports show that the 1 percent are among us, and, to be exact, there are 4,230 of them. San Francisco was rated as number three in a list of U.S. cities with the most residents worth more than $30...

coopmike48

Pushback: North Dakota - Forbes

forbes.com - In response to my post on the hiring spree going on in North Dakota, commenter Barry took issue with the numbers: According to your chart, there are ~16,000 job openings in N. Dakota. The number o...

coopmike48

EnvironmentSee all

Movie Trailer: A documentary on New Orleans schools

learningmatters.tv - October 20th, 2011Produced by: Jane Renaud, Jessica Windt, David Wald and John Merrow / Duration: 9:00We spent years covering Paul Vallas in New Orleans, and now we’re dedicating an entire document...

mikeklonsky

Blog posts on this issue

whitehouse.gov - The White House Office of the Press Secretary For Immediate Release October 21, 2011 WASHINGTON, DC -- Today, at a ceremony at the White House, President Obama honored the recipients of the Nationa...

coopmike48

Blog posts on this issue

whitehouse.gov - The White House Office of the Press Secretary For Immediate Release October 20, 2011 NOMINATIONS SENT TO THE SENATE:Bonnie L. Bassler, of New Jersey, to be a Member of the National Science Board, N...

coopmike48

#owsSee all

'Occupy America'

salem-news.com - Oct-14-2011 23:03 Salem-News.com “……government of the people, by the people…..” (NEW YORK CITY) - It seems fair to say that millions of Americans are wondering exactly what the Occupy Wall Street...

leoniehaimson

Occupy Columbus Circle | OccupyWallSt.org

occupywallst.org - bobby 1 points 18 minutes ago VOTE COUNTING MINISTRY, DIRECT DEMOCRACY EBALLOT: http://www.usparliament.org/v-h-dd.php Results to be announced on November 6th, 2012. See the sole eballot cast, on t...

coopmike48

Introducing the #OccupySupply Fund | The Dissenter

dissenter.firedoglake.com - I’m really excited to announce the Occupy Supply Fund, a new effort at FDL to truly support the thousands of Occupiers protesting economic injustice and inequality across the country. 100% of donat...

coopmike48

#nclbRead this paperSee all

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      Charter schools / Time to reassess - pressofAtlanticCity.com: Editorials

      Charter schools / Time to reassess - pressofAtlanticCity.com: Editorials:

      Charter schools / Time to reassess

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      Posted: Friday, October 21, 2011 12:01 am

      New Jersey has 80 charter schools. Next year, 25 more are scheduled to open, and another 42 applications are being considered by the Department of Education.

      But 15 years into the state's experiment with charter schools, it is clear that some of the magic has worn off the magic bullet.

      Legislators, educators and taxpayers are taking another look at the program that was supposed to help solve our public education problems. The question is: What do we intend our charter schools to be?

      While charters have provided alternatives for students in struggling urban districts, their performance is mixed. A January report said the state's urban charter schools outperformed other schools in their districts on

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      Big Money, Bad Media, Secret Agendas: Welcome to America's Wildest School Board Race | The Nation

      Big Money, Bad Media, Secret Agendas: Welcome to America's Wildest School Board Race | The Nation:

      Big Money, Bad Media, Secret Agendas: Welcome to America's Wildest School Board Race

      John Nichols on October 21, 2011 - 5:54pm ET

      School board elections are supposed to be quintessential America contests. Moms and Main Street small business owners and retired teachers campaign by knocking on doors, writing letters to the editor and debating at elementary schools. Then friends and neighbors troop to the polls and make their choices.

      But what happens when all the pathologies of national politics -- over-the-top spending by wealthy elites and corporate interests, partisan consultants jetting in to shape big-lie messaging, media outlets that cover spin rather than substance -- are visited on a local school board contest?

      Emily Sirota is finding out.

      The mom of 10-month-old Isaac, Sirota's a social worker and community organizer with a degree from the University of Denver and a history of working in the community. She's running for a seat representing

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      My flight is delayed but there is just something in the air besides Fall. « Fred Klonsky's blog

      My flight is delayed but there is just something in the air besides Fall. « Fred Klonsky's blog:

      My flight is delayed but there is just something in the air besides Fall.

      by Fred Klonsky

      Anne and I are flying off to New York for the weekend. It’s our 35th wedding anniversary. We’ll celebrate with our kids and grandkids and others in our Brooklyn family.

      Our flight is delayed for maintenance. I never really like hearing that.

      I’m watching CNN report breaking news that Obama is bringing all US troops home from Iraq by Christmas. Good. But I heard this two weeks ago. And they’re not coming home. They’re being redeployed to Kuwait.

      Not good.

      I’m hearing Romney attacking the end of the war. Brilliant campaign platform: More Iraq war.

      This morning I met with teachers at Washington School. I gave my talk on SB 512. That’s the pension killing bill

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      W. enters my wife’s schoolboard race - Salon.com

      W. enters my wife’s schoolboard race - Salon.com:

      W. enters my wife’s schoolboard race

      Our family gets a close-up look of how big money has taken over politics -- even at the local level

      BY DAVID SIROTA
      Left: George W. Bush. Right: The author's wife holds their son as she mails her ballot for the election.

      Left: George W. Bush. Right: The author's wife holds their son as she mails her ballot for the election. (Credit: AP/Courtesy of the author)

      TOPICS:,

      Before it happens, it’s hard to know how you’ll feel when you see a slickly produced, oil-CEO-financed flier implicitly attacking your 11-month-old baby for not being old enough to attend school and explicitly criticizing your family for not being able to afford a home.

      It sounds like a takeoff of “SNL’s” hilarious “bat problem” campaign ads — something so over-the-top it couldn’t possibly be real. But, in our case, it wasn’t a parody — such a mailer now fills up thousands of mailboxes throughout my town. And unfortunately, I now know how badly I feel in the face of such a barrage. I’m not overwhelmed by anger or vengefulness. Instead, I’m experiencing a far more numbing set of emotions: a mix of sadness and helplessness.

      Six months ago, when my wife, Emily, decided to run for a school board

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      In mayoral chatter, a name surfaces from the education world | GothamSchools

      In mayoral chatter, a name surfaces from the education world | GothamSchools:

      In mayoral chatter, a name surfaces from the education world

      by Geoff Decker

      Tisch speaking at a GothamSchools panel earlier in August.

      Talk is swirling that an unexpected contender from the education world is being drafted to run for mayor of New York City: Merryl Tisch, chancellor of the New York State Board of Regents.

      Education, political, government insiders, and Tisch herself say Tisch have been courted by political consultants as a potential candidate to succeed Mayor Bloomberg. The election is still two years out, but so far no clear favorite has emerged from the crowded field of Democratic hopefuls. Even more room is open in the thin slate of independent and Republican candidates. And so far no candidate fits the mold that Bloomberg has established: nonpartisan, well-connected, and wealthy enough to fund a campaign without making many promises.

      Some believe the charismatic Tisch, a registered Democrat from the billionaire Tisch family, could emerge as someone to fill that void. More than a half dozen government and education officials, most of whom only spoke

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      “Mitchell 20″ Honors the Challenge to Give Ourselves to Teaching « InterACT

      “Mitchell 20″ Honors the Challenge to Give Ourselves to Teaching « InterACT:

      “Mitchell 20″ Honors the Challenge to Give Ourselves to Teaching

      by David B. Cohen
      Robles

      Daniela Robles (image from "Mitchell 20")

      In 2007, Daniela Robles was feeling the frustration shared by many teachers in the United States. Having followed in the steps of her parents who were also educators, and more than a decade into her career, Daniela was lost, confused, bewildered: “I didn’t know who I was anymore.” The deleterious effects of No Child Left Behind were then, as they still are now, setting up public school for failure by expecting continual growth for every student sub-group in both tested skill sets, every year, until every single student’s test scores show proficiency, every year. Trying to stay a step ahead of the avalanche that will, unaltered, bury us all, schools have adopted all sorts of misguided policies, narrowed or scripted curriculum, hoping somehow to stave off “program improvement” status for one more year.

      Daniela decided to find herself again as a teacher by pursuing National Board Certification, which is a voluntary

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      Education Dept. issues ‘urgent’ warning about aid fraud in distance learning programs - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

      Education Dept. issues ‘urgent’ warning about aid fraud in distance learning programs - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post:

      Education Dept. issues ‘urgent’ warning about aid fraud in distance learning programs

      by Valerie Strauss

      The Education Department has issued an “urgent call to action” warning colleges and universities to protect against fraud in federal student aid programs at schools that offer distance education programs.

      The department sent out a letter late Thursday to institutions of higher education that provides specific details about “fraud rings” that conspire to defraud Title IV, or student aid, programs by signing up for distance learning.

      Read full article >>
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      Test Prep a Great Way to Lower Test Scores « PWC Education Reform Blog

      Test Prep a Great Way to Lower Test Scores « PWC Education Reform Blog:

      Test Prep a Great Way to Lower Test Scores

      October 21, 2011 — pwceducationreform

      If you want to practically guarantee lower test scores on state mandated tests or college entrance exams, the single best thing you can do is spend weeks ignoring content and studying old test questions. There are legions of studies dating back more than a decade which demonstrate how ineffective studying old test questions is at improving student performance on standardized tests, so it’s not like our schools aren’t aware that what they’re doing is ineffective. Which is rather odd as the primary test prep strategy employed in PWCS is studying old exam questions and test taking strategies rather than reviewing content.

      We’ve all gotten the letters sometimes as much as 6 weeks before the test date, “We will begin preparing for the SOL exams next week. Please have your son / daughter bring a 2 in three ring binder to class for keep his / her study materials”. The first year my children took state exams I rushed out to buy a binder with images my child enjoyed so that he won’t be intimidated by preparing for these high stakes tests. One of my children had a Poke-Mon binder while

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      NYC Public School Parents: The Kick-off of "Parents as Partners Week": Who is David Coleman and why should we care?

      NYC Public School Parents: The Kick-off of "Parents as Partners Week": Who is David Coleman and why should we care?:

      The Kick-off of "Parents as Partners Week": Who is David Coleman and why should we care?

      by Leonie Haimson

      DOE officials are working hard, trying to persuade us that they now have a different attitude towards parents. Next week is called “Parents as Partners” week, starting off with a meeting on Tuesday at Seward Park High School. Though today’s DOE press release calls this “a conversation” with the Chancellor, the prescribed topic is the new Common Core standards, though parents will be “allowed” to submit their questions on index cards. Clearly, this will be no “conversation”.
      In reality, the Common Core standards are being imposed from above, pushed by the Gates Foundation and others, with no proof of efficacy and no input from parents.
      David Coleman, who is going to give a presentation on the CC, gave one last April to “educational leaders” hosted by SED; here are videos and transcripts . As reported in EdWeek:
      Working under a contract with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, an avid backer of the standards, David Coleman and Susan Pimentel wrote a pair of documents highlighting the key ideas of the standards and describing the qualities of instructional materials they consider a faithful reflection of them.
      As of August 2011, 44 states and the District of Columbus adopted the Common Core, in exchange for the
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