Geoffrey Canada joins chiefs of high finance to do what, exactly? #sequester? – @ the chalk face

Geoffrey Canada joins chiefs of high finance to do what, exactly? #sequester? – @ the chalk face:

Geoffrey Canada joins chiefs of high finance to do what, exactly? #sequester?

by Chalk Face, PhD

This isn’t getting much coverage, I don’t think. But Geoffrey Canada, vaunted head of Harlem Children’s Zone, joined a couple of members of high finance to write an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal on the looming sequester. What on earth would this man have to say about it? Well, some interesting stuff, actually. Let’s see.

One of us is a Democrat; one, an independent; another, a Republican. Yet, together, we recognize several hard truths:
Government spending levels are unsustainable.

Soft, sentimental opener. But is there really an ideological difference, by and large, between these three individuals? Not much. All right, moving on.

Most consequentially, the growth in spending on entitlement programs—Social Security, Medicaid 

The Educated Reporter: Clock Ticks Down to Sequestration Deadline

The Educated Reporter: Clock Ticks Down to Sequestration Deadline:

Clock Ticks Down to Sequestration Deadline

by Emily Richmond

If you’re thinking that sequestration -- across-the-board budget cuts set to take effect today at every federal agency -- doesn’t seem like the most thoughtful course of action for Congress to try and balance its books, you have plenty of company.

“I’ve been at this for 35 years, and this is the most insane thing ever,” said Joel Packer, executive director of theCommittee for Education Funding, a nonpartisan lobbying group representing a diverse range of organizations, including K-12 school districts, higher education, research firms, and coalitions of public employees.

The Atlantic’s Molly Ball has a pithy overview of who’s really to blame for sequestration, and the New York Times has also put out an explainer of how the cuts might be carried out. As I've mentioned previously, there are more questions than answers as to how school districts might choose to make up their budget shortfalls. With personnel costs accounting for at least two-thirds of most district's budgets, it's going to be tough to fill the hole without shedding jobs. And those cuts are likely to hurt the poorest schools, which already depend more on 

MORNING UPDATE: LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 3-1-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all:

Oregon: Legislator and Teachers Speak Out Against High-Stakes Testing

by dianerav

When I was in Portland, Oregon, last year, I met a very impressive and thoughtful state legislator, Lew Frederick.
Please watch this video, which begins with Representative Frederick’s passionate plea for a new vision of the outcomes that matter most for students–not test scores on a single day–but the kind of person they are, the kind of lives they might live, the kind of contribution they will eventually make to society.
This is the text of the bill under consideration.
Representative Frederick is followed by teachers, who explain the time lost to test prep and how their students 

Indiana: Here Comes Carpe Diem, Like It or Not

by dianerav

Karen Francisco,  one of our nation’s best education writers, cares about the future of public education. Writing for the Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette, she has closely watched the games that privatizers play.
In this article, she describes a startling decision by a state board to authorize Carpe Diem, an unproven charter school, in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
As it happens, Fort Wayne has excellent community public schools. I visited some of them when I was there a year ago.
But Indiana is a red, red state and the legislature and governor are determined to introduce charters and 

PTA Mom Explains Why She Marched to Save Public Schools

by dianerav

Kim Burkett went to Austin with her children to speak out for public schools and her community.
She noticed there were two different rallies. On one side of the building was a school choice rally, advocating for vouchers, attended by 30 people, including lobbyists.
On the other side were thousands of parents, students, grandparents, and educators.
Read her account. It gives a good portrait of the battle not only in Texas, but in many states.

Pearson: 2012 Was a Terrific Year

by dianerav

Coach Bob Sikes has been reading Pearson’s report to investors. 2012 was a really good year.
No mention of Pineapplegate:
” The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC), a consortium of 23 states, awarded Pearson and Educational Testing Service (ETS) the contract to develop test items that will be part of the new English and mathematics assessments to be administered from the 2014-2015 school year. The assessments will be based on what students need to be ready for college and careers, and will measure and track their progress along the way.
” We continued to produce strong growth in secure online testing, an important market for the future. We 

Turning Water into Wine: The Florida Faux Miracle

by dianerav

Julian Vasquez Heilig of the University of Texas is one of our greatest debunkers of educational miracles. And what good timing, because Jeb Bush was in town to tout the Florida miracle, where (he say) test scores go up as costs go down. It’s all a matter of more testing, more accountability, vouchers, charters, and lots of new technology (to replace teachers).
Seems kind of strange to come to Texas to sell the virtues of testing, at a time when Texans have grown sick of testing.
Yes, Florida’s fourth grade students got higher test scores, but the longer they stay in school in Florida, the 

Welfare for the Rich?

by dianerav

Yesterday, the GOP legislature rushed through legislation for tax credits. This is what you need to know about ta credits and who really benefits. StudentsFirst rushed to applaud this program to benefit the few at the expense of the many, proving that Michelle Rhee deserved her title as a (rightwing) Radical.
Valerie Strauss reviews the various tuition tax credit programs, which are spreading as a form of school choice.
Unfortunately, in some of these states, the tax credits go to wealthy corporations and individuals and in some cases, subsidize private school tuition for families that can afford to pay for it without public help.
And more:
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, there were 14 tuition tax credit programs in 11 

A Great Voice for Public Education in Arizona

by dianerav

If you live in Arizona and you care about your community’s public schools, then you must know Robin Hiller.
Arizona is often known as “the Wild West of charter schools,” where charters are allowed to get public money with nearly no supervision and are allowed to ignore laws about nepotism and conflicts. Remember the Arizona 

Will Republicans Kill Vouchers in Texas and Wisconsin?

by dianerav

When I was in Texas last week, several people–including state legislators–told me that they believe that rural Republicans will join Democrats in voting down vouchers. The rural Republicans know that vouchers would kill their local public schools, and they don’t believe that would be right.
Something similar may be happening in Wisconsin. Governor Scott Walker is eager to expand vouchers to new parts of the state, and Republican Senators are less than enthusiastic. Some say they want any voucher 

Diane in the Evening 2-28-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 3 hours ago

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: A Teacher Writes New Book about the Corporate Reform Movement by dianerav One of the readers of this blog, experienced teacher Brian Ford, has written a new book. It seems to encapsulate the major themes of today’s privatization movement. Respect for Teachers and the Rhetoric Gap: How Research on Teaching and Schools is Laying the Ground for New Business Models in Education (A New Economy Story about the State of the Union) Author: Brian Ford Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Summary of Book For the last 30 years we ... more »

Kelli Stargel’s Top-Shelf Hypocricy in Labeling Opponents to Her Parent Trigger Bill | Scathing Purple Musings

Kelli Stargel’s Top-Shelf Hypocricy in Labeling Opponents to Her Parent Trigger Bill | Scathing Purple Musings:

Kelli Stargel’s Top-Shelf Hypocricy in Labeling Opponents to Her Parent Trigger Bill

by Bob Sikes

Sen. Kelli Stargel (R-Lakeland) took exception to he hometown newspaper’s thumbs down on the parent trigger bill she’s sponsoring. As most observers say that passage of this year’s bill in the senate is a slam dunk, it’s puzzling why Stargel would want to draw attention to herself and her controversial bill. She wrote this in a letter to the editor of the Lakeland Ledger:

Unfortunately, this paper has chosen the defeatist idea that parents do not know or care to have a say in what is best for their children. This is a dangerous mantra believing only the bureaucrats know what is best. I wholeheartedly disagree.

Wow.
For any Florida legislator to accuse opposition to their education agenda as engaging in mantras is rich. Calling 

School Employee Accidentally Shot During District-Sponsored Gun Class | toteachornototeach

School Employee Accidentally Shot During District-Sponsored Gun Class | toteachornototeach:

School Employee Accidentally Shot During District-Sponsored Gun Class

by aristotlethewise

Glenn Geddie, Texas School Employee, 
Accidentally Shot During District-Sponsored Gun Training

By Alana Horowitz
An employee at a Texas public school was accidentally shot on Wednesday during a district-sponsored handgun safety class, KLTV reports.
According to KLTV, Glenn Geddie was a maintenance worker for the Van Independent School District. The school district voted last month to arm some teachers and other employees in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Conn.
District Superintendent Don Dunn confirmed that the incident occurred. Here’s his full statement, courtesy of KLTV:
At the conclusion of the CHL training on February 27, 2013, one certified person stayed for private instruction 

Jersey Jazzman: Why Is NJ BOE Targeting Special Ed Case Workers?

Jersey Jazzman: Why Is NJ BOE Targeting Special Ed Case Workers?:

Why Is NJ BOE Targeting Special Ed Case Workers?

by Duke

Coming soon to your school...

As I reported earlier, the NJ State Board of Education, acting on recommendations from the Education Transformation Task Force, is proposing a change in state code that would allow teachers and other staff to become case managers for students with special needs.

I've received a white paper dated February 22, 2013, from a coalition of stakeholders opposed to this change (I don't yet have a link to get my readers a copy, but I'm working on it). Members include:

• Disability Rights New Jersey (DRNJ)
• Education Law Center (ELC)
• NJ Association of Learning Consultants (NJALC)
• NJ Association of School Psychologists (NJASP)
• NJ Association of School Social Workers (NJASSW)
• NJ Association of Speech Language Specialists (NJASLS)
• NJ Parent Advocates
• New Jersey Education Association (NJEA)
• NJ Special Education Practitioners
• Special Education Clinic at Rutgers University School of Law - Newark
• Special Education Leadership Council of NJ
• Statewide Parent Advocacy Network (SPAN)
• The Arc of New Jersey

So this isn't just the teachers union complaining; these groups represent the core of special education advocacy in the state. Why are they so concerned with this change?

To answer, let's look at the Task Force's report, and their reasons for suggesting the amendment. Here's the 

Pursuit of college financial aid varies widely among high schools | EdSource Today

Pursuit of college financial aid varies widely among high schools | EdSource Today:

Pursuit of college financial aid varies widely among high schools - by John Fensterwald

by John Fensterwald

California high school seniors are losing out on potentially hundreds of millions of dollars each year in financial aid – and forgoing the opportunity to attend college they assume they cannot afford – because only half of them fill out the forms for financial aid, according to a new report from Education Trust-West.

But some high schools and some districts do a far better job in

The website with the rates of FAFSA and Cal Grant application completion for high schools in the state is http://financialaid.edtrustwest.org/

encouraging and assisting students and parents to provide the information, according to Ed Trust-West, which also released a database of all high schools’ and districts’ rates of seniors completing forms for FAFSA  (the Free Application for Federal Student Aid) and Cal Grants, both of which are required for California students to receive state financial aid. Ed Trust-West also published the 100 high schools with the highest completion rates in its report The Cost of Opportunity: Access to Financial Aid in Califorina.

Those schools were large and small, charter and district schools, with high and low percentages of 

Closing Schools 4 Choice (and Excellence) | EduShyster

Closing Schools 4 Choice (and Excellence) | EduShyster:

Closing Schools 4 Choice (and Excellence)

by edushyster2012

The best way to enhance the excellence of our public schools is by closing them.

It is a well-known true fact that the fastest way to improve schools in order to launch students on a path to 21st century prosperity is to close them. In fact, nine out of ten advocates of closing schools in order to promote enhanced choice and excellence have found that choice and excellence are enhanced when schools are closed. Unfortunately, closing a school while the students are still inside can prove difficult, especially in this era of putting students first.
Dear leader: know that you are not alone in your worthy cause of shuttering schools in order to offer the students who used to attend them more choice (and excellence). The outstanding experts at the Broad Foundation, which transforms urban schools by closing them, have helpfully assembled an 83 page guide to shutting ‘er down. The 

Update: Connecticut Coalition for Achievement Now Inc. fails to amend Ethics Reports - Wait, What?

Update: Connecticut Coalition for Achievement Now Inc. fails to amend Ethics Reports - Wait, What?:

Update: Connecticut Coalition for Achievement Now Inc. fails to amend Ethics Reports

by jonpelto

Maybe when you are ConnCAN – The Connecticut Coalition for Achievement Now Inc. – you don’t need to abide by Connecticut’s ethics laws.

Maybe the law only applies to the little people.

Wait, What? readers know the story of how ConnCAN, the Connecticut Coalition for Achievement Now Inc., paid Global Strategies Group, a political consulting and public strategies company,  tens of thousands of dollars to conduct a public opinion poll last month.  Global Strategies Group is the company that Roy Occhiogrosso returned to after serving for two years as Malloy’s chief advisor and spokesman.

The poll was designed to persuade legislators, the media and the public that Governor Malloy and Malloy’s education reform proposals were popular.  The effort, part of a broader lobbying strategy, should have been reported by ConnCAN on their January ethics report to the State Office of State Ethics because the expenditure  was in furtherance of 

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: 'We test for what we desire..."

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: 'We test for what we desire...":

'We test for what we desire..."

by Mike Klonsky

Howard Gardner

Harvard Prof. Howard Gardner makes a great point in his letter to the NYT in response to the D.O.E.'s announcement that Pearson was changing its admissions exam for the gifted and talented programs.

What we test for signals what we ultimately desire. The use of tests for which 4-year-olds can be prepped signals that we want to find those youngsters who can do well on future tests. In that way, the process works perfectly — whether in China or in New York City.

If we desired people who were likely to make creative advances, we would look for youngsters — be they 4 or 14 — who have a passionate interest that they pursue without a lot of prodding. If we desired people who would help build a more civil and more generous society, we would look for 10- or 12-year-olds who have found a need in their school or community and have taken steps to help 

Hooked on Reading | LFA: Join The Conversation - Public School Insights

Hooked on Reading | LFA: Join The Conversation - Public School Insights:

Hooked on Reading

by NEA's Read Across America

By Dennis Van Roekel, President of the National Education Association
It starts early. When we are maybe age three or four or five. When we are young and impressionable. Someone close to us opens a book and reads to us about animals that talk, ghosts that live in haunted castles or pirates in search of buried treasure.
And we are hooked. We can't wait for someone to read us another story that causes our imaginations to run wild. If you've ever shared a book with a child, you know the joy and excitement this small act can bring. It's almost comical how some children want to hear the same story over and over and over — they are so spellbound by it.
Research shows that children who are read to at home have a higher success rate in school and frequently develop stronger reading skills. Reading is the foundation of education.
Unfortunately, too many children have no one to read to them. The National Center for Education Statistics tells us that almost 50 percent of children ages three to five do not get read to on a daily basis. This is staggering.
We at the National Education Association (NEA) are working to change this. We offer a number of resources to help educators improve reading instruction and to help parents develop reading skills in their children. And each year we host Read Across America, an initiative that celebrates reading and literacy and encourages more adults to
read more

New Accrediting Body for Educator Preparation Seeks Public Comment on Next Generation of Accreditation Standards and Evidence

by James Cibulka

Public Comment Period February 15–March 29
By James G. Cibulka, president, Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation
Education reform over the past decades has ushered in changes in standards, assessment, curriculum, and teacher evaluation.  Most recently, the focus has turned to teachers and their professional preparation; research has shown that teachers are the most significant in-school influence on student achievement. While education reform is often politicized, the opposing sides share considerable common ground. In the end, those vested in the topic of education reform agree that every student deserves the best teachers and education possible.
The Council for the Accreditation of Education Preparation (CAEP)[i] takes up its responsibilities as the new national accreditor of educator preparation providers at a time of high interest in P-12 student performance and in the capabilities of the education workforce. In this context, accreditation must be a strong lever in shaping educator preparation, assuring the public of the rigor of educator preparation programs.
read more

Is Lucy Calkins Legally Insane? southbronxschool.com

http://www.southbronxschool.com:

Is Lucy Calkins Legally Insane?

by noreply@blogger.com (Bronx Teacher)

We have called for the arrest and prosecution of Lucy Calkins. We have sampled the child abuse of Lucy Calkins methods. We have called for all administrators that buy into Lucy Calkins to be terminated post haste. And we have pulled back the sheath of the Cult of Lucy Calkins.

The sign of insanity is doing what results in failure over and over again and hoping for a different outcome. Apparently if any administrator that relies on anything from Lucy Calkins to improve the reading and writing skills of the students in the charge must be legally insane.

Therefore we hear at SBSB feel it is incumbent on ourselves to advocate, nay, call for, any administrator that believe that after years of failure of the Calkins 

Ed groups still want Brown funding formula debated outside budget SI&A Cabinet Report – News & Resources

SI&A Cabinet Report – News & Resources:

Ed groups still want Brown funding formula debated outside budget 
By Kimberly Beltran
Friday, March 01, 2013

While broad consensus from the K-12 community for Gov. Jerry Brown’s new school financing proposal emerged Thursday during a Senate panel hearing, district administrators and lawmakers said they still want to see it developed through legislative education policy debate – not carried as part of the governor’s budget bill.

Brown’s refusal to budge on that point last year led to the plan going nowhere but, as promised then, the governor reintroduced his Local Control Funding Formula as part of his 2013-14 budget proposal, unveiled in January.

“I agree with you, this bill doesn’t belong in a trailer bill,” said Sen. Roderick Wright, D-Los Angeles, echoing the concerns of several district superintendents asked to address the panel. “This has to be something that’s much more greatly expanded so that all of the issues come into account.”

Thursday’s review of the plan by the Senate’s budget committee – the first public vetting of Brown’s latest attempt to simplify and balance the state’s antiquated school funding system – revealed widespread support among education leaders and advocates for the basic tenet of the plan: to create equity across schools by providing a per-pupil base grant to be used at local administrators’ discretion, and supplementing that general allocation with extra money for 

A. Phillip Randolph and Who Really Controls Teacher Voice | The Jose Vilson

A. Phillip Randolph and Who Really Controls Teacher Voice | The Jose Vilson:

A. Phillip Randolph and Who Really Controls Teacher Voice

by Jose Vilson

A Phillip Randolph

This week, I had the distinct please of listening to Norman Hill speak as part of a panel of activists and organizers that worked on and around the Civil Rights Movement, specifically with Bayard Rustin. In one of my favorite moments, Hill quoted A. Phillip Randolph:

“At the banquet table of nature, there are no reserved seats. You get what you can take, and you keep what you can hold. If you can’t take anything, you won’t get anything, and if you can’t hold anything, you won’t keep anything. And you can’t take anything without organization.”
? A. Philip Randolph

I’m reminded of this every time we talk about teacher voice, and getting an invitation to this imaginary table.

TNValleyNow - Alabama school flex bill with tax credits passes

TNValleyNow - Latest News for Huntsville, Decatur, Florence, Tuscumbia, Muscle Shoals and the TNValley:


By PHILLIP RAWLS, Associated Press  

REALLY?

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Republican legislators on Thursday expanded a routine education bill to include tax credits for parents who move their children from failing public schools to private schools, prompting the state school superintendent to withdraw his support and a teachers' group to assail it as "totally anti-public education."

The revised version cleared the House and Senate, with Republicans voting for it and Democrats opposing it in unusually heated debate. Republican Gov. Robert Bentley said he would sign it into law, but state Superintendent of Education Tommy Bice dropped his support.

Initially, the bill was to allow city and county school systems to get approval from the state's school superintendent and school board 

Modern School: Fox Guarding Hen House: Mexican Govt Busts Teachers’ Union for Corruption

Modern School: Fox Guarding Hen House: Mexican Govt Busts Teachers’ Union for Corruption:

Fox Guarding Hen House: Mexican Govt Busts Teachers’ Union for Corruption

by Michael Dunn

Malos maestros - escuelas deficientes estilo mexicano?

The head of the Mexican teachers' union (SNTE), Elba Esther Gordillo, has been arrested for embezzling over $156 million from union funds, according to a recent BBC report. Gordillo allegedly used the funds to purchase private property, private planes and plastic surgery.

If the allegations are true (and there is considerable evidence that they are), this would be an enormous amount of money stolen from the teachers, who earn less than $20,000 per year, on average. However, the prosecution of Gordillo probably has little to do with concern for the plight of the average Mexican teacher, for whom the ruling elite have little compassion (except possibly a few crocodile tears during election time). Rather, it is a strategic move meant to neutralize an individual and an organization that have stood in the way of private financial gain.

Gordillo has been an outspoken critic of the government’s free market reform agenda, thus slowing (ever so slightly) the juggernaut of privatization occurring in Mexico, as in public education systems throughout the world. While Gordillo, like her colleagues in the U.S. and 

Voting and Learning Denied. Education and Entitlement

Voting and Learning Denied. Education and Entitlement:

Voting and Learning Denied. Education and Entitlement

by Server

©copyright 2013. Betsy L. Angert 

Is it fear of the darkness that dims our mind or is it the dim of our mind that is dark and damning? No one can be sure; however we can see what occurs and ask why. Why might Americans systematically deny rights to people of color? Why might the young, the most vulnerable among us, be victims of prey? Indeed, why do we prejudge people at all and why is it that even the elderly cannot escape our diabolical doings? The theories abound; answers escape us. Nevertheless, the veracity is our truth. The right to learn and the right to vote are denied.
We close their schools, deny them an equal and equitable education, and in 2013 we may ultimately rescind the voting rights of the few. In January of this year, the Journey For Justice 2 Alliance met with officials in Washington, District of Columbia, to discuss the topic, education policies that discriminate. Today, on February 27, 2013, just down the lane from the Department of Education hearing, another inquiry was held. The Supreme Court heard the case, Shelby County, Alabama v. Holder. On the face of it, the argument may seem separate