Latest News and Comment from Education

Sunday, April 7, 2013

MORNING UPDATE LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 4-7-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

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


Click on picture to Listen to Diane Ravitch






Who Cares About the Children in Atlanta?

The Daily Howler notes that most of the mainstream media completely ignored the Atlanta events or barely mentioned them.
Only Chris Hayes had a panel on the subject, and two of the three panelists were a waste of air time.
One was a clueless parent, and the other was a paid mouthpiece for the hedge fund billionaires of New Jersey.


Jersey Jazzman: Why Leonie Haimson Is a True American Hero

As readers know, the corporate reform smear machine went after activist Leonie Haimson last week.
She has been an outspoken champion for class size reduction. She has been NYC’s leading critic of the Bloomberg administration’s policy, most especially, its love of testing and closing schools. She has also been relentless in challenging charter school co-locations in public space.
Last week, Gotham Schools ran an article questioning whether she can continue to be an advocate because her son is entering a private school. The next day, a story about the flap appeared in the Wall Street Journal.
Jersey Jazzman puts an end to the speculation. He say Leonie is an American hero. Her hundreds of followers have said the same.
Game over. Reformer smear machine failed.


Parents Defeat Parent Trigger in 3 States

Parents mobilized to defeat the so-called “parent trigger” in three states.
They referred to it as the “corporate empowerment” bill.
It could also be called the Corporate Enrichment bill.


Is inBloom Engaged in Identity Theft?

The Gates Foundation spent $100 million along with the Carnegie Corporation to create a massive database consisting of confidential information about students. The database will be created by Rupert Murdoch’s subsidiary Wireless Generation. It will go onto a “cloud” managed by amazon.com.
Several states and districts have agreed to turn over their student data. Last year, the U.S. Department of Education quietly changed the FERPA regulations so that the data could be released. According to this article, the data will be available to entrepreneurs to market stuff to children’s.
Here is one New York parent’s view:
“I have emailed and called [State Commissioner] John King’s office over 40 times the past month refusing to 

How to Close Public Schools: A Guide

Just in case you have been wondering what is the best way to shut down your local public schools, the Broad Foundation has thoughtfully provided a guide to help you.
It has assembled all sorts of useful information about how to deal with community opposition, how to engage stakeholders, how to make your case, how to get the right leadership, and how to pack up and move out.
Some well-known school districts–perhaps yours?–contributed to the writing of the guide.
Presumably some of the many superintendents who were trained in the unaccredited Broad Superintendents Academy have this guide in their desk.
Read it and be forewarned. Your own public school may be next.

Alabama: Hold Football Coaches Accountable for Failure!

Larry Lee, an Alabama native and a member of the board of the Network for Public Education, has a great idea.
He decided that the best way to demonstrate the foolishness of the Alabama Accountability Act was to translate it into terms every Alabama reader would understand. He wrote a satire in which he urged accountability for high school football coaches. He said that the failure of high school football teams was a major scandal.
He strongly recommended that coaches be held accountable. Some 13% of teams won one game or less last 

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 4-6-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 8 hours ago
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: [image: Click on picture to Listen to Diane Ravitch] The Myth of Charter Waiting Lists by dianerav One of the arguments advanced to expand charter schools is that they have long waiting lists. Or so they say. But no one knows how many are on those lists. This reporter in Chicago started digging and discovered that the list is not real. The Chicago charters say there Best Comment of the Day (So Far) by dianerav The comment below draws attention to a debate that followed Dr. Mercedes Schneider’s methodological di... more »

Missouri Education Watchdog: Bill Allows Parental Access to Data Mined Student Records

Missouri Education Watchdog: Bill Allows Parental Access to Data Mined Student Records:


Bill Allows Parental Access to Data Mined Student Records

Here are details of a New Hampshire bill (HB1139) allowing parental access on the data mining and records of their children.  From gencourt.state.nh.us:


This bill allows a parent, legal guardian, or person who is 18 years of age or older to have access to the unique pupil identifier and related information in the data warehouse.

224:1 Unique Pupil Identification; Availability. Amend RSA 193-E:5, I(b) to read as follows:
 (b) The random number generator shall make available to each early childhood program, district, or postsecondary institution a unique pupil identifier for each pupil pursuing an education in a New Hampshire early childhood program, district, or postsecondary institution. The unique pupil identifier itself shall not permit pupil identification within a 

Daily Kos: This is nothing but thinking aloud a bit

Daily Kos: This is nothing but thinking aloud a bit:


This is nothing but thinking aloud a bit

at this point in my life I think I would enjoy being able to make enough from writing to fill in the difference what I used to make teaching and what I make now in Social Security and Pension.  I am lucky in having medical insurance through my wife's job.
Looking back, I think from all sources for all the writing I have done - on line, for print, reviewing book proposals - over the past 20 some-odd years, I have grossed a grand total of less than 3,500, and most of that this past year.
There are people who would hire me to write for them, but it would not be my voice, and I would lose the ability to write here in my own name.
It's a nice fantasy to think that one could make 15-20K a year from writing - most of the professional writers I know have trouble making that much from their writing, and I am not sure I would qualify as a professional.
It has been a long day, part of it working on taxes, but still finding time to put up three posts here, and to monitor the comments.  Lots of work, some pleasure, but . . . .
I suppose that to be able to pay the bills I may have to consider jobs that would mean my absence from here, except perhaps on topics like music and history.
Still, should that happen, it has been a great ride now for over 9 years.  I am user 4334.  There are so many now I am not sure I would be missed.

What If? A Thought Experiment for Your Sunday – @ the chalk face

What If? A Thought Experiment for Your Sunday – @ the chalk face:


What If? A Thought Experiment for Your Sunday

Oh, boy! What a week!  I’m tired, and I’ve been daydreaming a lot.  I do that sometimes.
Have you ever done a thought experiment?  It’s when you stop what you’re doing, clear your mind, and then make your mind take you on a journey through some question or idea that you wonder about.  For instance, have you ever tried–I mean really tried–to imagine “nothing?”  Not just blackness or a vacuum, but the total absence of anything.  It’s hard to do, if not impossible, but it can be kind of thrilling.
I also try that with social events.  What if everyone in the world sneezed at the same time?  Would it cause a slight fog to circle the Earth?  What if a large body passed just close enough to Earth to disrupt its gravity ever so slightly?  What would that look and feel like?
You know who else likes to do this kind of thing?  Kids!  Kids love to imagine new scenarios and then think them through to some conclusion (or until their brains start to hurt).  That is the birth of innovation: the creativity that 

Lisa Nielsen: The Innovative Educator: Tell educators they matter. Place your #BammyAwards Vote!

Lisa Nielsen: The Innovative Educator: Tell educators they matter. Place your #BammyAwards Vote!:


Tell educators they matter. Place your #BammyAwards Vote!

Educator's make their way to the red carpet.
I'm in the purple dress with my boyfriend, back right.

Envision a world that values education like it values entertainment. That is the goal of The Bammy Awards. It’s time for The Bammy nominations, a cross-discipline honor that identifies and acknowledges the extraordinary work being done across the education field every day-- from teachers, principals and superintendents, to advocates, researchers, education journalists and parents.  The Bammy Awards were created to help reverse the negative national narrative that dominates the education field.

Now, you, the online community, have a chance to bring recognition to those we know, admire, and respect by placing a vote for the Educator's Voice Award to recognize the nominees that you believe are making a significant difference in the field.  Below are my first round of five nominations. Please take a look and if you like what you read, click that little “vote” link to find out more and vote for this person if you believe they should be honored.  

School Board - Lisa Cooley
Lisa Cooley brings real education change to the school board table. Her position on progressive education and opposition to high-stakes testing and standardization bring the wider world of school transformation to a rural New England school district. She brings her ideas on meaningful student learning to every aspect of school board activity, from the budget, to curriculum decisions, to student expulsion hearings.


Her goals are to bring students’ interests, passions, enjoyments and curiosities to their everyday work at school are why she should receive this recognition.


Vote for Lisa here.
Kris Nielsen - Teacher of the Year
There are innovative educators in thousands of classrooms all across America. Having served as a middle grades educator and instructional leader for six years in New Mexico, Oregon, and North Carolina, Kris L. Nielsen is one of them.  Nielsen became frustrated as he watched political policies put in place that are strangling the drive and desire for educators to be the innovative class leaders they grew to be. As a result Nielsen was compelled to write Children of the Core www.childrenofthecore.com written with parents in mind, and with students as the inspiration. Nielsen says, “We--parents, students, and teachers--were promised a revolutionary new system that would narrow the achievement gaps in reading and math, create environments for deeper and critical thinking, and prepare our students for life, career, and college.  What we’re finding is that none of this is true.  It’s all totally opposite.”


Vote for Kris here.
Secondary School Principal - Chris Lehmann
Chris Lehmann not only talks the talk. He gets right in their and walks the walk...and in some cases, like when he does races with students, he'll run the run to keep up with his kids.


The best way to explain why Chris should be recognized is to share some of the talking that Chris walks in his own words:
  • "If you dare kids to do real stuff that matters, you better be prepared to get out of the way."
  • “Technology should be like oxygen: ubiquitous, necessary, and invisible.”
  • "I want kids to be "thoughtful, wise, passionate and kind."
  • "Schools can be places of great passion where students learn what it means to be scholar-activists, fully invested in authentic work that matters to them today, not someday."


When Chris is not talking the talk and walking the walk, he is writing about it. His blog (http://practicaltheory.org/blog) is a continual source of inspiration to educators, parents, and students around the globe.


Vote for Chris here.
Education School Professor - Mark Naison
Ever since the community history projects he was doing in Bronx Schools were pushed out to make room for high stakes testing, Mark Naison has been taking a stand to end the demonetization of teachers and restore what is best for students, staff, and parents who are a part of our schools. Naison is the funky fresh Fordham University professor known as Notorious PhD. He spreads his message via his blog “With a Brooklyn Accent” (http://withabrooklynaccent.blogspot.com); through his “Teachers Talk Back” listserve; and through the speeches and educational raps he gives at rallies and demonstrations in defense of public education. Check out his “Achievement Rap” which he performed here (http://youtu.be/IZfj5XMKVyc)at a “Save Our Schools” March.


His most recent initiative is a Teachers Oral History project (http://withabrooklynaccent.blogspot.com/2013/03/teacher-oral-history-project-to.html) that will document the damage that has been done to public education and  teachers professionalism in the age of high stakes tests.


Vote for Mark here!
Jessica Smock - Education Policy Research
Jessica served as a teacher and curriculum coordinator for more than a decade before turning to research and writing. She recently defended her doctoral dissertation about the educational experiences of African American female graduates of a nonprofit. Currently, her focus is related to the role of innovative programs and individuals to transform education. Specifically she has been looking at what can be learned from models such as home education that empower young people to learn outside school settings which you can read here http://gettingsmart.com/cms/edreformer/what-an-educator-learned-from-home-schooling-parents/


You can read more of her work on her blog, School of Smock (http://www.schoolofsmock.com)


Vote for Jessica here!

Preschool as Panacea? | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Preschool as Panacea? | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice:


Preschool as Panacea?

In the political gridlock that has marked cutting federal budgets, gun control, and immigration legislation, oneissue brings together both CEOs and educational progressives, political conservatives and liberals: investing in tax-supported preschool for three and four year-olds. President Obama’s recent State of the Union speech calledfor increasing children’s access to prekindergarten and assembled legislators applauded across the aisle separating political parties.
Study after study shows that the sooner a child begins learning, the better he or she does down the road.  But today, fewer than 3 in 10 four year-olds are enrolled in a high-quality preschool program.  Most middle-class parents can’t afford a few hundred bucks a week for a private preschool.  And for poor kids who need help the most, this lack of access to preschool education can shadow them for the rest of their lives.  So tonight, I propose working with states to make high-quality preschool available to every single child in America.  (Applause.)
Reasons for expanding access to prekindergarten run from the Alabama leader who said: “We’re trying to invest 

Discrimination lawsuit filed against Turkish-run charter school

Discrimination lawsuit filed against Turkish-run charter school:



Discrimination lawsuit filed against Turkish-run charter school



Truebright Science Academy supporters hold their posters high at the SRC hearing. It is one of more than 130 charters nationwide run by followers of a Turkish imam that are drawing scrutiny. (Steven M. Falk / Staff Photographer)

A former English teacher at Truebright Science Academy Charter School has filed a civil rights suit alleging the Turkish-run charter discriminated against employees based on gender and national origin.
Regenna A. Jalon, who worked at the North Philadelphia school for four years, said in a complaint filed in U.S. District Court in late February the school engaged in a pattern of hiring, promoting, and paying less-qualified Turkish nationals more than American-born educators who were certified and had more experience.
A Truebright lawyer said the school denied any wrongdoing when the suit surfaced during a hearing Thursday on the charter school's renewal.
Jalon was one of at least nine Truebright staffers who filed initial discrimination complaints with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 2011. She filed her suit in federal court after the EEOC issued a letter in January that said she could 

This coming week Illinois legislators are back in session. Get ready. | Fred Klonsky

This coming week Illinois legislators are back in session. Get ready. | Fred Klonsky:


This coming week Illinois legislators are back in session. Get ready.

From Rich Miller:

As it turns out, the Illinois House Democrats didn’t need the Republicans to put 30 votes on a significant pension reform bill.There’s been worry for at least two years that the Democrats would have to rely heavily on the Republicans to get anything out of the chamber and that may be even 30 Republican votes – half the required 60-vote majority – wouldn’t be enough to pass a pension reform bill.
But 41 House Democrats voted for a bill in March that severely whacked retirees’ annual cost of living increases. Just 25 Republicans voted for the bill – 

LAUSD issues offers to charters at local traditional school campuses No charter petitions offered at Venice High, Mark Twain and Westminster | Argonaut Newspaper

LAUSD issues offers to charters at local traditional school campuses No charter petitions offered at Venice High, Mark Twain and Westminster | Argonaut Newspaper:


LAUSD issues offers to charters at local traditional school campuses No charter petitions offered at Venice High, Mark Twain and Westminster

BACK AGAIN – Marina Del Rey Middle School teacher Naomi Roth (center in back row) lost her journalism room to Goethe International School two years ago. Now Goethe, after initially planning to leave the school, has accepted LAUSD’s offer to colocate for another year at the middle school.
BACK AGAIN – Marina Del Rey Middle School teacher Naomi Roth (center in back row) lost her journalism room to Goethe International School two years ago. Now Goethe, after initially planning to leave the school, has accepted LAUSD’s offer to colocate for another year at the middle school.
By Gary Walker
Charter operators seeking new homes for the 2013-14 school year recently received the names of locations that they will consider as part of a state law that allows these schools to share facilities and use classrooms on campuses where the Los Angeles Unified School District deems them available.
The Westside, in particular District 4, has become a highly desirable place for charter supporters in recent years.
While at least six local schools could have a charter sharing their campus in August, three are not on the final summary list, which contains the names of the schools where LAUSD is offering space.
Venice High School and Mark Twain Middle School in Mar Vista joined Westminster Avenue Elementary School in Venice as schools that did not make the list, which was released April 2.
Prop. 39, a 2000 voter approved ballot measure, provides charter operators with the opportunity to have space on traditional school campuses where classrooms are considered underutilized or vacant. School districts tender offers to charters at schools where these classrooms exist and charters then determine to accept or deny them.
While it is state law, not all campus-sharing, or colocation, arrangements have gone smoothly

Saturday, April 6, 2013

What I wanted to say at Occupy DOE 2.0 #UOODC13 – @ the chalk face

What I wanted to say at Occupy DOE 2.0 #UOODC13 – @ the chalk face:


What I wanted to say at Occupy DOE 2.0 #UOODC13

I was planning to attend Occupy DOE 2.0 this week, plane tickets purchased-check, hotel reservations-check, viral based illness with bronchitis-uncheck. I have been knocked out by this bug for a couple of weeks with little progress, very frustrating, spending most of my spring break napping and laying around.
Needless to say I am bummed. I have watched some of the video footage and caught the social media pictures. The photos of the march to White House hurt, I wanted to be a part of that event more than anything. I will miss connecting with old friends and meeting new ones, especially those who I have met through online advocacy.
I was scheduled to speak Sunday. My topic according to the official schedule was to discuss not giving into the carrot and stick policies of current education reform. Based on recent opt-out organizing in my region of New York State, I wanted to discuss how we need educate more parents as to the madness that is occurring in our 

Newark Students Plan to WALK OUT on Tuesday 9 April 2013! Coalition for Public Education/Coalición por la Educación Pública

Coalition for Public Education/Coalición por la Educación Pública:


Newark Students Plan to WALK OUT on Tuesday  9 April 2013!

Popout
On Tuesday, April 9th, 2013 @ 12PM All Newark Public High School Students Will Walk out of their Classrooms to March to the Rutgers Law School (located at 123 Washington Street, Newark) for the State Assembly Budget Hearings on Education. Students, Families, Education Advocacy Groups, and Community will Join in Solidarity to Demand that the State Assembly "FOLLOW THE LAW, AND STOP THE CUTS'. 

Please JOIN us!

For Information Please contact the Newark Student Union at: NewarkStudentsUnion@gmail or NJ Communities United: Robert Cabanas, Lead Organizer: robert@unitednj.org

Student Loan Fairness Act Education - U.S. Congress - OpenCongress

Education - U.S. Congress - OpenCongress:



Bill Introduced: S.654 Collegiate Housing and Infrastructure Act of 2013

A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide for collegiate housing and infrastructure grants.

Bill Introduced: S.641 Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act

A bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to increase the number of permanent faculty in palliative care at accredited allopathic and osteopathic medical schools, nursing schools, and other programs, to promote education in palliative care and hospice, and to support the development of faculty careers in academic palliative medicine.

Bill Introduced: H.R.1334 Equal Access to Quality Education Act of 2013

To establish a grant program to ensure that students in high-need schools have equal access to a quality education delivered by an effective, diverse workforce.

Bill Introduced: H.R.1343 Project Ready STEM Act

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to direct the Secretary of Education to award grants for science, technology, engineering, and math education programs.

Bill Introduced: S.649 Center to Advance, Monitor, and Preserve University Security Safety Act of 2013

A bill to ensure that all individuals who should be prohibited from buying a firearm are listed in the national instant criminal background check system and require a background check for every firearm sale, and for other purposes.

Bill Introduced: H.R.1330 Student Loan Fairness Act

To increase purchasing power, strengthen economic recovery, and restore fairness in financing higher education in the United States through student loan forgiveness, caps on interest rates on Federal student loans, and refinancing opportunities for private borrowers, and for other purposes.

Bill Introduced: S.648 Helping Educators Support All Students Act

A bill to amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to support teacher and school professional training on awareness of student mental health conditions.

Bill Introduced: H.R.1339 Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act

To amend the Public Health Service Act to increase the number of permanent faculty in palliative care at accredited allopathic and osteopathic medical schools, nursing schools, and other programs, to promote education in palliative care and hospice, and to support the development of faculty careers in academic palliative medicine.

Bill Introduced: S.602 Physical Therapist Workforce and Patient Access Act of 2013

A bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for the participation of physical therapists in the National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program, and for other purposes.

Bill Introduced: H.R.1252 Physical Therapist Workforce and Patient Access Act of 2013

To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for the participation of physical therapists in the National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program, and for other purposes.

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Kids and the Ability to Create Films

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Kids and the Ability to Create Films:


Kids and the Ability to Create Films

@strangerslog

As you may have noticed, I'm a big fan of The Stranger's Slog.  It's where I get the latest dinosaur news (no kidding, they keep up), politics, religion, good deeds/misdeeds and everything in-between.  (They also have some of the funniest comments ever.)

They also, thanks to Dan Savage, talk about sex.  The latest letter to his sex column was one I found interesting and worthy of your attention (especially the middle/high school parents).    Please note, it uses sexual language but is not graphic.  But, be warned.

The dilemma posted by the reader was that when he was in high school, he had a girlfriend from age 14-16.  They had sex and they filmed it themselves.  They each walked away from the relationship with videotapes of their escapades.  They are now in their late '20s and she contacted him to ask if he would burn DVDs from his