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Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Big Education Ape: 4-17-12 AM Stand ON Students First New AstroTurf EDition #CORPREFORM #ALEC

Big Education Ape: PARENTS CAN!:
Big Education Ape: PARENTS CAN!

Published by Coopmike48 – 7 news spotters today

- Wait, What?

jonathanpelto.com - Apr 16 jonpeltoAchievement First/ConnCAN, Education, Malloy, Michelle Rhee, Stefan Pryor, StudentsFirst Achievement First, Malloy, Michelle Rhee, Stefan Pryor, StudentsFirst Earlier today, Students...
DianeRavitch

Move Along! Nothing to See here!

slekar.blogspot.com - I am close to the edge! And from here the picture is perfectly clear. The American public system of education is being systematically, and purposely destroyed. This is not a statement from someo...
DianeRavitch

Americas Meeting Ends With Discord Over Cuba

nytimes.com - CARTAGENA, Colombia — A summit meeting of Western Hemisphere nations ended without a final statement of consensus on Sunday, after the United States and some Latin American nations remained sharply...
fklonsky

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coopmike48 Latinos Most Often Target National Origin Housing Discrimination - Hispanically Speaking News bit.ly/I2LGy417 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite
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coopmike48 solidaridad: Activists Announce the Recall Campaign of LAUSD President Mónica García: solidaridad: Activist... bit.ly/J6RROZ #edu36 seconds ago · reply · retweet · favorite

EducationSee all

NCLB Outrages (Susan Ohanian Speaks Out)

susanohanian.org - Testing: How to Stop the Reign NOTE: NCLB testing begins tomorrow in New York, when 1.2 million kids begin to take the ELA and math tests in grades 3 - 8. This year the tests contain embedded multi...
DianeRavitch

The Incoherent Reform of Michelle Rhee

jerseyjazzman.blogspot.com - Last Friday, Michelle Rhee was on Brian Lehrer's radio show. The segment, unsurprisingly, is a textbook example of the incoherence of the corporate reform movement. I'll have more to say about the ...
mikeklonsky

SocietySee all

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School Tech Connect: Totally Not A Rant

schooltechconnect.com - So... here's a cautionary tale, not a rant. It's going to sound like a rant. I'm not ranting, swear to God. Anyway I get an email from my state representative, and it turns out she's having office ...
tbfurman

Share a Connected Experience. - The Educator's PLN

edupln.com - It's a great question Tom. The first time I clearly realized the power of being connected was learning about and winning the Discovery/CDWG $50,000 sweepstakes for my school. A Twitter colleague wo...
coopmike48

PoliticsSee all

Our no-bid, win-win, Rahmadier

michaelklonsky.blogspot.com - Marc Boucher, from left, Bombardier vice president of operations; CTA President Forrest Claypool; and Mayor Rahm Emanuel check out a new rail car in November. The cars were later taken out of servi...
mikeklonsky

Art & EntertainmentSee all

Why Congress is Putting Mark Twain on a Coin

democraticunderground.com - Here's a Twain story which most Congressmen have never read. Unpublished in his lifetime; it concerns the First Battle of Bud Dajo, sometimes referred to as the Moro Crater Massacre. Not coincident...
coopmike48

Jersey politicians & burning buildings

bluejersey.com - Some of us rush into a burning building when we know a neighbor is in need. And some of us don't. Two images in New Jersey politics piqued the interest of our friend cartoonist Rob Tornoe this week...
coopmike48

LeisureSee all

Protests and Street Theatre Planned for April 17th in NYC

firedoglake.com - Join The Donald and celebrate tax day and Ann's birthday (photo: Gage Skidmore/flickr) So want to have some fun on April 17th when you drop off your tax return at the Post Office? It seems there ar...
coopmike48

Party for the Planet™

aza.org - Earth Day is April 22nd, and what better way to celebrate than with the planet’s amazing and diverse wildlife? More than 100 of the top zoos and aquariums across North America are throwing the 6th ...
coopmike48

#corpreformSee all

Michelle Rhee's Education Reform

wnyc.org - Michelle Rhee, former chancellor of the Washington DC school system and now the head of Students First NY, talks about the new New York State advocacy group she's founded that's being described as ...
leoniehaimson

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Cui Bono? The Question Rarely Asked, Let Alone Investigated - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher

Cui Bono? The Question Rarely Asked, Let Alone Investigated - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher:


Cui Bono? The Question Rarely Asked, Let Alone Investigated

by Anthony Cody
Follow me on Twitter at @AnthonyCody
As our public schools are systematically re-engineered for dubious reasons, with questionable results, by people of uncertain motives, there is a disturbing lack of skepticism on the part of our watchdogs for the public good, journalists. One of the basic principles of reporting is to ask "cui bono" - who benefits? In the Watergate scandal, the key informant whispered to reporters Woodward and Bernstein, "Follow the money." But very few reporters today seem to be "following the money" in the field of education.
Veteran education reporter John Merrow recently delved into cheating scandals on his blog, Taking Note:
In other words, we're cheating kids on their tests and stealing essential courses like art and music from them! Add to that, we are lying -- because when kids get phony scores telling them they are proficient when they need help, that's an out-and-out lie.
At what point does this trifecta -- lying, cheating and stealing -- become a felony? Seriously!
In the face of this disheartening news, one has to ask, "who benefits?" I'm stumped. Certainly no
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Some teachers feel frustrated, devalued by LA Unified | 89.3 KPCC

Some teachers feel frustrated, devalued by LA Unified | 89.3 KPCC:
RIF hearings LAUSD

Teacher: Cuts to arts education are a 'great tragedy'

Pass / Fail - 8 hours ago
At Peary Middle School in Gardena, visual arts teacher Valerie Davidson teaches drawing and painting to about 175 students. She is the only arts teacher in a school of nearly 2,000 students. "Less than 30 percent of the kids in school have access to the arts," Davidson said Monday at the RIF notice hearings at California Market Center in downtown Los Angeles. She said such scenarios have become more common as the district has cut arts over the last five years. "The tragedy is I’m the only art teacher for these kids, these 2,000 kids," Davidson said. And if cuts continue, "I may be... more »

Some teachers feel frustrated, devalued by LA Unified

Pass / Fail - 8 hours ago
On Monday morning, Octavio Garcia, a sixth grade math and science teacher at Los Angeles Academy Middle School in South Los Angeles sat with his fellow teacher Gregory Meili, a sixth grade English and ancient civilizations teacher, listening to district and union officials talk. They weren't in the classroom. Both teachers were taking personal days to be downtown on the 13th floor of the California Market Center for the first day of L.A. Unified's teacher layoff hearings. About 300 teachers dotted the 2,000 white folding chairs set out in the cavernous top floor of the center, kno... more »

Cal State faculty starts voting on strike plans; Faculty president: There's 'overwhelming support'

Pass / Fail - 8 hours ago
The governing board for Cal State’s faculty association is preparing for the worst. That’s why it started a two-week vote on Monday to determine whether or not faculty will strike at all 23 campuses. At Cal State Dominguez Hills, instructors formed a steady stream as they made their way in and out of the voting booths. David Bradfield, president of the faculty association’s chapter at the campus, said there’s "overwhelming support to authorize the two-day rolling strikes. That’s the buzz. That’s what I’m hearing." The system's 23,000 employees have two weeks to vote on the strike,... more »

Union prez: LA Unified is 'asking the recession to last a year longer in LA'

Pass / Fail - 8 hours ago
L.A. Unified has overreacted to its budget problems and has been "excessive" in issuing 9,500 preliminary pink slips to teachers, librarians, nurses, and school counselors, said UTLA President Warren Fletcher today. Fletcher, who made an appearance at the California Market Center downtown today for the start of the first day of "RIF hearings," criticized the district for its cuts to arts, adult and early education. He said many of the teachers at the hearing were ones who taught those subjects. He called the process "stressful and sometimes humiliating" and unfair to teachers, wh... more »

LA Unified teacher layoff hearings begin today

Pass / Fail - 8 hours ago
Open hearings began today for 9,500 teachers, librarians, counselors and nurses, who were sent preliminary pink slips by L.A. Unified and may lose their jobs at the end of this school year. In what has become a dark ritual, the district and teachers now engage in the RIF dance, as some call it: Notices are sent, hearings are held at the cost of millions to the district, some notices are rescinded before the school year ends, and other teachers are hired back as budgets become more clear. By law the district must inform educators of their possible termination by March 15, forcing t... more »

Cal State faculty starts strike plan vote

Pass / Fail - 22 hours ago
After 22 months of discussions and mediation between California State University and its faculty association, negotiations have stopped. That could lead to the largest university strike in state history. Starting Monday, faculty at all 23 Cal State campuses will start a two-week vote to decide whether their union should launch a statewide strike. If the yes votes win, instructors would launch a series of two-day “rolling strikes,” with faculty at each CSU campus walking out on different days. Bargaining committee chair Andy Merrifield, who teaches political science at Sonoma State... more »

LA Unified's parcel tax math

Pass / Fail - 4 days ago
L.A. Unified is hoping voters will pass a $298 parcel tax in November to help raise about $255 million annually for schools from property owners within district boundaries and improve future budget forecasts. The district currently faces a $390 million budget shortfall. The school board approved putting the annual tax before voters for the November ballotlast month. "Sacramento cannot take this money away," said Superintendent John Deasy in his presentation to the board. "They cannot cut this fund; this fund goes directly to our schools." Here's how the parcel tax math would work ... more »

National Endowment for the Arts wants LA arts official to lead education initiatives

Pass / Fail - 4 days ago
The National Endowment for the Arts has hired a Los Angeles County arts official to lead its education initiatives. For more than a decade, Ayanna Hudson has led the L.A. County Arts Commission’s "Arts For All" campaign. When she started, she said, only one school district in the county had a policy and plan to improve arts education. "We now have 50 districts in the county that are committed to implementing arts education," said Hudson. "We've worked with them to develop a policy. [...] That's about 62 percent of school districts across the county." Hudson’s been selected to le... more »
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What the U.S. can’t learn from Finland about ed reform - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

What the U.S. can’t learn from Finland about ed reform - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post:


What the U.S. can’t learn from Finland about ed reform

By 
Finland’s high-achieving public school system is now part of the conversation about U.S. education reform these days. What, it is often asked, can we learn from Finland? (Plenty, actually, though U.S. reformers consistently ignore the lessons .) The query has been asked and answered so often that it seems like a good time to ask what the United States can’t learn from Finland. So I asked Pasi Sahlberg,author of “ Finnish Lessons: What Can the World Learn About Educational Change in Finland? ” to tackle the subject, which he does, below.
Sahlberg is director general of Finland’s Centre for International Mobility and Cooperation. He has served the Finnish government in various positions, worked for the World Bank in Washington D.C. and for the European Training Foundation in Italy as senior education specialist. 
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Asking Questions | Taking Note

Asking Questions | Taking Note:


Asking Questions

by John Merrow
How does one run a panel? John has some ideas.


Question: You moderate a lot of panel discussions at education meetings, and you have a reputation for doing a pretty good job at it. In fact, some of those appearances are embedded above in this post. Can you pass along some tips to the rest of us?
John: Sure, but why are you asking me now?
Question: Well, you’re not getting any younger, are you?
John: Fair enough. There’s really just one unbreakable commandment for running a worthwhile panel discussion: No opening remarks!
Question: Why not?
John: Because if I ask panelist so-and-so to make a few remarks, I have given up control of the microphone. That means when he or she goes off on a tangent or goes on too long, I cannot interrupt without being rude. But if it’s all Q&A, it’s always my microphone, and I can interrupt without being 
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http://www.southbronxschool.com

http://www.southbronxschool.com:


Right Now In New York State

by noreply@blogger.com (Bronx Teacher)
Right now as I am typing this it is Monday, April 16, 2012 at approximately 9:24 PM. My 5th grade son is watching the Yankees and the Twins as his normal 10 PM bedtime approaches. He had a long day today. School, then a baseball game tonight. We are treating things as normal this evening, as well as the upcoming evenings, even though this coming week will not be normal for thousands of students across New York State as they prepare for the "new and improved" New York State ELA exams.

Right now there is a child in New York State in bed not being able to sleep because she is terrified of the upcoming 270 minutes of testing this week.

Right now somewhere in the United States executives from a testing company are popping the corks 
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solidaridad: Activists Announce the Recall Campaign of LAUSD President Mónica García

solidaridad: Activists Announce the Recall Campaign of LAUSD President Mónica García:


Activists Announce the Recall Campaign of LAUSD President Mónica García

by Robert D. Skeels * rdsathene
She has failed to listen to our voices, the students, and she refuses to see any of us to hear our stories. — Mary Ann Reyes
Wednesday, April 11, 2012 saw nearly three dozen parents, students, and activists hold a press conference in front of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) Board Room announcing the start of an official recall campaign for LAUSD Board of Education President Mónica García.
PopoutSpeakers announced Ms. García had been served with a Notice of Intent to Recall on April 7, 2012, and the City 
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Seattle Schools Community Forum: The Charter Flood is Still Coming

Seattle Schools Community Forum: The Charter Flood is Still Coming:


The Charter Flood is Still Coming

by Melissa Westbrook
A recent round of public disclosure documents tells me that I'm not wrong about the tsunami effect of ed reform that is likely headed our way.

Frankly, I think that the state-supported Center for Reinventing Education is really nothing but a think-tank for ed reform.  They likely get at least half their grant money from the Gates Foundation.  I see almost no research on anything else but charters, CMOs, TFA starting a principal TFA (a number of you saw that coming), etc.  I don't mind it so much when it's a privately-funded right-wing think tank but it is depressing to see your tax dollars at work for a one-sided effort.

The current push on ed reform:
  • something called a "fiscal analytics center" that Paul Hill at CRPE was pushing before he left there recently.  It appears to be a souped-up benefit-cost ratio idea.
  • using CRPE as a "lead" for any state-driven research so that the research looks more nationally-based.  
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Some people. « Fred Klonsky

Some people. « Fred Klonsky:


Some people.

by Fred Klonsky
It was just after I posted support for the stand that IEA President Cinda Klickna had taken last week.
“We will not support any pension reform that is not constitutional,” she said in so many words.
And what does that mean?
Membership’s benefits in a pension system “shall not be diminished or impaired.”
Then a union colleague wrote to tell me that “some people think that there has never been an IEA president you liked.”
I thought to myself, is that true?
Was I just a cranky guy who is never satisfied.
It is true that I have found myself at odds with the
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IS LAUSD HELPING TO BANKRUPT WORKERS' COMPENSATION? - Perdaily.com

IS LAUSD HELPING TO BANKRUPT WORKERS' COMPENSATION? - Perdaily.com:


IS LAUSD HELPING TO BANKRUPT WORKERS' COMPENSATION?

by Leonard Isenberg
Workers' Comp.jpg
(Mensaje se repite en Español)

(For a national view of public education reform see the end of this blog post)

I attended a Workers' Compensation forum today in the auditorium of the Junipero Serra State Office Building at 320 West 4th Street in Los Angeles. This is the same building where on the 6th floor the Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH) decides the fate of Los Angeles Unifed School District (LAUSD) teachers that have had the tenacity to survived LAUSD's dilatory tactics that usually makes teachers hit with fabricated charges wait for years without salary or benefits before having their fate sealed by the OAH. So much for innocent until proven guilty.

As KNBC reported recently, of the 853 teachers that LAUSD forced out on charges last year, only two actually made it through the OAH and both had their dismissal rubber stamped by this kangaroo court that knowingly allows clearly fabricated LAUSD "evidence" admitted or where the administrative law judge arbitrarily excludes all 
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One Teacher's Perspective: Thank You, Taxpayers, and You're Welcome

One Teacher's Perspective: Thank You, Taxpayers, and You're Welcome:


Thank You, Taxpayers, and You're Welcome

by Imagine Wisconsin
Professional educatorKevin Diece, from nearby Fort Atkinson, WI, steps in as guest blogger thisweek. The following posting is an adaptation of Diece’s Letter to the Editor published in April of 2011 in the DailyJefferson County Union.

As a Tax Day tribute, thank you taxpayers for funding public education. Likewise, you’re welcome for theimportant and professional service provided our communities by professionaleducators across Wisconsin.
    
Sadly, the taxpayer-teacher symbiosis is muddied by conservativethink tanks continually misleading many taxpayers tobelieve that professional teachers make too much.

The propaganda promoting this falsehood compares teacher salariesto those who do not have the same level of education attainment (degrees) thatteachers do. My salary is approximately $55,000. To earn that salary, I havetaught 13 years, obtained a bachelor’s degree, a master’s 
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