Parents United for Responsible Education » Blog Archive » The 3 Big Lies in the Won’t Back Down movie

Parents United for Responsible Education » Blog Archive » The 3 Big Lies in the Won’t Back Down movie:

The 3 Big Lies in the Won’t Back Down movie

by admin

I saw the “Won’t Back Down” movie last night. The crowd loved it, and I would have liked it, too, if I hadn’t known why it was produced or been aware of the three big lies at the heart of the movie.
After all, it’s just a movie, right? And a successful feel-good movie at that. Not being at all connected to reality (despite the big announcement at the very beginning that it was “inspired by actual events”) shouldn’t matter, right? I mean, did “Coma” accurately depict the way medicine really works? Could scientists reproduce all the effects in the “Star Wars” movies? Would a celebrity impersonator like “Dave” really get away with switching 

Back to School Night: Part I | Mr. Teachbad

Back to School Night: Part I | Mr. Teachbad:

Back to School Night: Part I

by teachbad

It was Back to School night at my son’s new mid­dle school on Wednes­day.  As res­i­dents of Wash­ing­ton, DC and peo­ple who can afford nei­ther the city’s high-rent zip codes nor pri­vate school, the move of our son to mid­dle school has been a source of great anx­i­ety for the bet­ter part of two years. When I first started teach­ing, I taught at our neigh­bor­hood DCPS K-8 school.

It’s three blocks from my house, but there is no way my son was going there. This is the place where an 11-year-old sec­ond grader once called me a white-ass bitch and I helped carry a par­ent out of the build­ing after she assaulted one of the office staff. This sort of thing didn’t hap­pen every day, but it hap­pened enough.

No way is my kid com­ing here. We would move to the suburbs.

For­tu­nately, it didn’t come to that. We got into three pub­lic char­ter school lot­ter­ies and picked the one we thought best and that he seemed to like the most after visiting.

At Back to School night par­ents gath­ered in the cafe­te­ria for some announce­ments and a wel­come from the prin­ci­pal. 

California leads effort to boost English learner success | EdSource Today

California leads effort to boost English learner success | EdSource Today:

California leads effort to boost English learner success

September 21st, 2012 | Add a Comment | 
By Kathryn Baron

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Anyone who studied French all through high school and still ended up hiring an avocado (avocat) instead of an attorney (avocat) understands that learning a foreign language is complicated, and isn’t a strong suit for U.S. schools. So it shouldn’t be a surprise that the same is true when it comes to bilingual education. About 59 percent of California’s 1.4 million English learners are considered long-term English learners, meaning they’ve been in school here for more than six years, yet are not academically fluent.

Alarmed by those statistics, dozens of California school districts have been developing courses to end this educational stagnation.  These efforts are showing promise and progress according to a new report, and have propelled California to the forefront a new movement.

Secondary School Courses Designed to Address the Language Needs and Academic Gaps of Long Term English Learners, released Thursday by the advocacy group

Tutors for kindergarteners (and younger kids too) - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

Tutors for kindergarteners (and younger kids too) - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post:

Tutors for kindergarteners (and younger kids too)

By Valerie Strauss

How obsessed have schools become in preparing young kids to take tests and achieve in academics? This much: Tutors for kindergarteners — and preschoolers — have become commonplace.

(Mark Bugnaski/AP)You might think this is something that would be popular in New York City or Washington D.C. But go to Clay County, Missouri, and you can find plenty of folks willing to help bring kindergarteners who may already be behind in their studies up to speed — for a price.

At the top of this webpage, which lists names and credentials of tutors, it says:

Here are 136 Clay County Kindergarten tutors ranked by student rating and relevance

Some tutors charge the families of kindergarteners $35 per hour, others $45, and at least one, a special education teacher, charges $60 per 

A primer on gap years

by Valerie Strauss

It’s the season when high school seniors are frantically filling out college applications and trying to figure out where they will be and what they will be doing next fall.
There is some evidence that a growing number of U.S. high school graduates are taking a year off before going to college. But there are questions about how gap years work, and who they benefit and what colleges think about them.
Read full article >>

Why the ‘rithmetic of school reform doesn’t add up

by Valerie Strauss

Sometimes things about school reform just don’t add up. Here, Larry Lee, the former director of the Center for Rural Alabama who coordinated the study, Lessons Learned from Rural Schools, tries to do the math. He can be reached at larrylee33@knology.net
Read full article >>

New research casts doubt on key theory of vocabulary learning

by Valerie Strauss

There are times when we learn that something we thought was true is actually incorrect. Cognitive scientistDaniel Willingham tells us about a new such episode here. Willingham is professor and director of graduate studies in psychology at the University of Virginia and author of “Why Don’t Students Like School?” His latest book is “When Can You Trust The Experts? How to tell good science from bad in education.” This appeared on his Science and Education blog.
Read full article >>

I Pledge Allegiance - Teacher in a Strange Land - Education Week Teacher

I Pledge Allegiance - Teacher in a Strange Land - Education Week Teacher:

I Pledge Allegiance

by Nancy Flanagan

Back in the 1980s, when my public school district was still considered rural, a conservative, anti-tax school board was elected and set about re-fashioning the core work of the system, stripping away "frills" and returning to their own nostalgic, just-the-basics vision of education. First order of business: a mandate that an American flag be displayed in every room, and all buildings collectively recite the Pledge of Allegiance at the beginning of every day. Effective immediately.

Since you can't say the Pledge of Allegiance to the wall, principals scrambled to buy flags and the whine of drills punching holes in concrete block drowned out lessons over the next few days. Teachers did what teachers do: figured out how to incorporate a daily PA-led pledge into their own start-up routine while quietly dissecting the 

Schooling in the Ownership Society: Hedge-funders underwrite Rahm's post-strike ad campaign

Schooling in the Ownership Society: Hedge-funders underwrite Rahm's post-strike ad campaign:

Hedge-funders underwrite Rahm's post-strike ad campaign

by Mike Klonsky

DFER Board member Whitney Tilson is chief of T2 Partners and Tilson Funds . DFER is underwriting Rahm's anti-union ad campaign.

After a devastating political defeat at the hands of Karen Lewis and the CTU in last week's teachers strike and with public opinion moving strongly to the teachers's side. the mayor of Chicago has unleashed a mult-million-dollar damage-control ad campaign. 
From the Chicago Tribune

In a political-style TV and radio ad blitz launched Wednesday, Emanuel says "change is never easy" but declares the outcome "the right deal for our kids." The ads are being paid for by a nonprofit arm of a political action committee started by Wall Street hedge fund managers who 

NYC Educator: This Is Why I'm a Teacher

NYC Educator: This Is Why I'm a Teacher:

This Is Why I'm a Teacher

by NYC Educator

I was giving placement tests to incoming ESL students, and a young woman came in with her sister, who'd just gotten here. She said she had graduated from our school recently, and asked about one of my young colleagues. I told her I was sorry, she wasn't here, but why not leave a note? I gave her a piece of paper and she began writing, all excited.

When my colleague got back, I told here there was a note for her. She pulled it out of her mailbox and looked that the smiley faces on its folded cover, and began to resemble them. The note said thank you for all you did for me, thank you for helping me with English, I'm in college now, and concluded asking my colleague to pray for her. I hoped that was out of some religious conviction rather than some sense of hopelessness, but we'll never know.

Nonetheless, my colleague was thrilled, as happy as I've ever seen her. She said, simply, "This is why I'm a 

Jersey Jazzman: "Won't Back Down" Panels Snub Teachers

Jersey Jazzman: "Won't Back Down" Panels Snub Teachers:

"Won't Back Down" Panels Snub Teachers

by Duke

Around the country, there have been a slew of "special screenings" of Won't Back Down, the corporate reformers' latest piece of propaganda. As a special treat, StudentsFirst and other reformy organizations have been organizing panels of "experts" to discuss the film. Guess which experts have been excluded?

Newark (from the great education student and blogger Stephanie Rivera):

In addition to the movie screening, B4K provided a panel at the event. It was definitely an intense one. A lot of hostility, frustration, and anger:

Moderator: Tom Moran, The Star-Ledger

Panelists:

• Junius Williams, Esq., Director, The Abbott Leadership Institute

Big Education Ape Nite Cap UPDATE 9-20-12 #SOSCHAT #CTUSTRIKE

Nite Cap UPDATE

UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE

TSJ's Stephanie Hicks on the CTU Strike: Interview by Kevin Powell

by sarah-ji

TSJ's own Stephanie Hicks was interviewed on writer and public speaker Kevin Powell's blog regarding the CTU strike. Here is an excerpt:

How do you respond to those who say teachers are asking for too much?

To those who say that teachers are asking for too much, I’d say that the conditions under which teachers teach, and students learn, make a world of difference in the educational process. If teachers aren’t compensated fairly, if they don’t have adequate affordable healthcare, and time to attend to their families, or the resources they need in the classroom to teach effectively, their students are going to suffer. Just as students should be able to go to school in healthy, safe, supportive environments, teachers should be able to work in them.

How do you respond to those who say teachers’ strike is affecting the children?

I’d say that the strike is affecting them in the best way possible: they’re learning the most 

New poll: California tax measures are touch-and-go

San Gabriel Valley Tribune -

A labor-backed advertising blitz in recent weeks appears to be turning voters against Proposition 32, the ballot measure that would bar unions, corporations and government contractors from using payroll deductions for political purposes, according to a new poll.

The Public Policy Institute of California survey, conducted Sept. 9 through 16, also found that slightly more than half of California's likely voters support Gov. Jerry Brown's ballot measure to raise income taxes on the rich and sales taxes for all, while fewer support a competing measure that would raise income taxes across the board. But with less than seven weeks to go before Election Day, those numbers mean it's touch-and-go, even for the governor's Proposition 30.

Read more

Skeptical unions pose challenge to districts' Race to the Top

EdSource -

Nearly 900 districts nationwide, including 76 districts and charter schools in California, have told the federal government that they plan to compete for the final $400 million Race to the Top district competition. But with local unions having in effect a veto over their districts’ application, that number could dwindle.

It’s already starting. The executive board of Sacramento City Teachers Association voted last week to decline to participate, putting the kibosh on the district’s hope to join with Oakland Unified, San Francisco Unified, and two other districts on a plan to improve middle school math. The U.S. Department of Education is requiring that an application include the signature of the local union president as a sign that all parties will meet their commitments.

Read more

Eli Broad’s inverted vision

By Felix Salmon

SEPTEMBER 20, 2012

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ART

Many years ago, Eli Broad was the very model of the modern enlightened art collector. InDecember 1988, he opened a 22,600-square-foot “lending library for art”, complete with soaring rhetoric:

Broad believes that the new facility is part of the solution to museums’ financial woes and a pointed example of how a collector can demonstrate social responsibility…

In the first place, he said, this center is not a museum. It’s a lending library. “We never wanted to have a building with our name on it that would compete with museums,” he said. “We loan works to museums and make them available to scholars.”

Broad explained that his foundation had already loaned art to more than 100 different museums, and that at any given point in time a good third of his collection was on loan somewhere. You don’t need to have your own museum for the public to see your art; in fact, if you do it the other way, by lending out your art to other museums, everybody wins. More of your collection can be shown at once; more of the global public can see your collection; and you get to support hundreds of great cultural institutions, rather than just your own.

The point here is that although museums lend out works too, it’s rarely a priority for them, and they never consider themselves a failure if they don’t lend out works. A foundation devoted to lending 

What Romney Said That The Media Is Not Talking About

by millerlf

View from the Heartland

By Barbara MinerSept. 20, 2012 ( Barbara Miner’s blog is part of our Purple Wisconsin project. Miner is an award-winning journalist and photographer.)

The rush of commentaries on Mitt Romney’s 47% speech have emphasized his dismissal of just about everyone who isn’t rich, and his fantasy that if he were Latino he’d “have a better shot” at winning the election.
Strikingly absent from mainstream commentaries is Romney’s attitude toward the African American vote.
In an aside during remarks about Hispanics, Romney said: “If the Hispanic voting bloc becomes as committed to 

What's With That: Women's work, standardized tests, & a supersized ban

by Allison Joy

What’s with the news: Last week, “Good Morning America” picked up a piece on Treds Tire and Wheel, an all-female tire shop located in San Antonio, Texas.

The shop is run by Margaret Rodriguez and her 19-year-old daughter Andrea. It was Andrea’s idea to make the shop all-female, a business strategy resulting from the fact that several tire businesses had already failed at the same location.

Despite the occasional naysayer, the shop now employs six workers and one intern, and business is thriving. Given their work ethic, mix of male and female patrons, and a lack of low-cut tops, I think it’s safe to assume their success is about something more than their boobs.

What’s with us: Kelly Rivas is the president of Fem Dems of the Sacramento Region, an organization that 

“Writing Rules! Advice From The Times on Writing Well”

by Larry Ferlazzo

Writing Rules! Advice From The Times on Writing Well is from The New York Times Learning Network.

It’s a great list!

It isn’t an exact fit with The Best Writing Advice From Famous Authors, but it’s close enough that I’m adding it there.

I Can Think Of So Many People Who Should See “Nice White Lady” Parody

by Larry Ferlazzo

I am SO tired of seeing movies about white teachers “rescuing” inner-city youth, and have posted links to some excellent commentaries on the topic at The Best Places To Learn About (And View Video Clips Of) Teachers In The Movies.
Thanks to Roxanna Elden, who has got to be one of, if not THE, most insightful teacher writer around, I’ve learned about this “Nice White Lady” parody on the genre:

“@smithdl: Teachers: “Nice White Lady” spoof from MAD TV: ://t.co/EGHEqgdc #wjeajday2012” funniest take on teacher hero movies – ever.
— Roxanna Elden (@RoxannaElden) September 20, 2012

Embedding is disabled, so I can’t post it here, but you can check out the short clip on YouTube.

Part of NEW CALIFORNIA TEACHER EVALUATION 

Voices: Social justice in teacher evals crosses line | EdNewsColorado

Voices: Social justice in teacher evals crosses line | EdNewsColorado:

Voices: Social justice in teacher evals crosses line

by John Peterson

John Peterson, an economics and U.S. history teacher at Denver’s East High School, says “social justice” is too subjective to be used as part of a teacher’s evaluation.
Many public school parents would be upset to see their child’s liberal teacher rewarding students for participating in an Occupy Denver encampment. Others would be incensed to see a conservative teacher push student involvement in a Tea Party rally.

Denver Public Schools students participate in a rally in this 2011 EdNews photo.

Neither type of activism would be appropriate. Yet Denver Public Schools has added vague and political language 

School Tech Connect: Democracy Lurches Forward in Chicago

School Tech Connect: Democracy Lurches Forward in Chicago:

Democracy Lurches Forward in Chicago

by noreply@blogger.com (Tim Furman)

The indefatigable Wendy Katten from Illinois Raise Your Hand is reporting via email that the ballot advisory referendum concerning the elected, representative school board will be on the ballots in 194 precincts, which is almost all of the precincts covered by the CODE coalition.

There are something like 2,000 precincts in the city, last time I checked, so we have our work cut out, but this is a terrific result for the first time around. These things are achieved with  coalitions, momentum, and determination, and these things are coming together in Chicago.

If you're one of the lucky people who gets to chime in on the question in November, please remember to thank the many petition-gatherers from the CODE groups. The odds are that your precinct was handled by one or two people, walking around at dinner time with a clipboard.

If you don't get to vote on whether or not Chicago should have an elected, representative school board, well, then 

NYC Public School Parents: Don't be fooled by "Won't Back Down"!

NYC Public School Parents: Don't be fooled by "Won't Back Down"!:

Don't be fooled by "Won't Back Down"!

by Leonie Haimson

Credit: Center for Media and Democracy

Over the next few weeks, we will be running pieces describing real-life “Won’t Back Down” stories from parents and teachers.  If you’d like to share yours, please email us atinfo@classsizematters.org

Last night I attended a screening of the controversial new film, “Won’t Back Down” about a parent and a teacher who take over their “failing” public school.  I have written a FAQ about the movie which is posted here.  The film was produced by Walden Media, owned by right-wing billionaire Phillip Anschutz, who also co-produced “Waiting for ‘Superman.’” 

Advance screenings have been held around the country, organized by Michelle Rhee’s Students First and other pro-charter lobbying organizations, to promote the “Parent Trigger,”