NPE News Briefs ← from The Network for Public Education

NPE News Briefs ← from The Network for Public Education:

TODAY

Who Abandoned the Children of Philadelphia? | Diane Ravitch’s blog

A new survey shows that Philadelphia has the highest poverty rate of any of the nation’s 10 largest cities. 28% of the city’s people are poor, as are 39% of its children. The national child poverty rate is 23%. Now we know from reformers that poverty is no “excuse” for low test scores, but we ...read moreThe post Who Abandoned the Children of Philadelphia? | Diane Ravitch’s blog appeared first on

10min 

Hugh Bailey: Fighting democracy a losing battle – Connecticut Post

by Hugh Bailey – What has democracy ever done for Bridgeport, anyway? The state’s largest city is an afterthought at the Capitol. The rest of Fairfield County, unimaginably rich by comparison, is just fine leaving Bridgeport to deal with the prisons, the power plants and anything else the wealthier among us would rather not have ...read moreThe post Hugh Bailey: Fighting democracy a losing battle

10min 

Kids Count on Public Education, Not Grit or “No Excuses” | the becoming radical

by Paul Thomas – Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has often stated that “education [is] the one true path out of poverty—the great equalizer that overcomes differences in background, culture and privilege. It’s the only way to secure our common future in a competitive global economy.” While this claim appears obvious, when Matt Bruenig asked ...read moreThe post Kids Count on Public Education, N

10min 

Corporate Education’s Friend, Randi Weingarten | Schools Matter at The Chalk Face

AFT under Weingarten has embraced corporate charter schools, teacher evaluation based on value-added test scores, the Common Core, and merit pay for raising school test scores.  There is a reason she is the golden girl at Fordham I., the Education Sector, and the corporate foundations. Now, personally, I do not know what Randi Weingarten believes, and ...read moreThe post Corporate Education’s Fri

10min 

Solutions for Closing the Opportunity Gap | Schools Matter at The Chalk Face

by John Thompson – Paul Tough, who was predisposed to support the contemporary school reform movement, nailed the reason why it failed.  Accountability-driven “reform” was a result of “liberal posttraumatic shock” from abandoning the War on Poverty. In fact, we did not lose the war against poverty, but its inconclusive result undermined the confidence of ...read moreThe post Solutions for Closing

10min 

The doctor-teacher analogy rides again! | Schools Matter at The Chalk Face

Just imagine for a moment. Given this country’s obesity epidemic and the rising rates of diabetes, certain cancers, and heart disease, our physicians have failed. In order to hold them accountable, we should judge them effective or ineffective based on such values as, for example, BMI, cholesterol values, blood pressure, and resting heart rate. I’m ...read moreThe post The doctor-teacher analogy r

10min 

Microsoft Gives Spy Agencies Encryption Codes for Email, Chat, Skype, and Cloud Storage | Schools Matter at The Chalk Face

These are the people who are at the forefront of developing data surveillance systems for every aspect of your child’s education. James Risen has the story for the NYTimes, which appeared first in The Guardian.  A clip: WASHINGTON — Microsoft has collaborated with the National Security Agency more extensively than it previously acknowledged, providing the ...read moreThe post Microsoft Gives Spy A

10min 

Paul Horton’s Open Letter to President Obama: Listen to Committed Teachers | Living in Dialogue – Education Week Teacher

by Paul Horton; posted by Anthony Cody – Dear Mr. President, Like thousands of experienced classroom teachers throughout our great country, I am very concerned about how you decided to go the way that you did with your Education policies. I was recently told by a close friend of the yours that “Arne’s Team looked ...read moreThe post Paul Horton’s Open Letter to President Obama: Listen to Committe

10min 

And massive foreclosure lawsuit against Kenneth Moales Jr. and his Prayer Tabernacle Church of Love, Inc. officially filed | Wait, What?

by Jonathan Pelto – While controversy swirls around Paul Vallas and the illegal attempt to keep him as head of Bridgeport Schools, the case of FOUNDATION CAPITAL RESOURCES, INC. v. PRAYER TABERNACLE CHURCH OF LOVE, INC. Et Al, was officially filed on July 11, 2013. Kenneth Moales Jr. is now one step closer to losing ...read moreThe post And massive foreclosure lawsuit against Kenneth Moales Jr. an

10min 

Let’s try this: A simple analogy for Vallas, Pryor and Malloy | Wait, What?

by Jonathan Pelto The education reform industry claims to be driven by a “real-world” business model or mindset. So here is a very simple, “real-world” business analogy that Paul Vallas, Stefan Pryor and Dan Malloy might understand. The ACME Delivery Company needs a new experienced driver so it places an advertisement in the newspaper that ...read moreThe post Let’s try this: A simple analogy for

10min 

Vallas Fiasco Continues – CT taxpayers inappropriately paying Vallas’ legal bill | Wait, What?

by Jonathan Pelto – Connecticut’s superior court has ruled that Paul Vallas lacks the legal credentials to serve as Bridgeport’s superintendent of schools. Governor Malloy’s Commissioner of Education violated Connecticut law when he waived Vallas’ certification requirements because Vallas had not completed a school leadership program as required. The Connecticut court further ruled that because ..

10min mark as read  //  save

Start planning for post-Vallas school system | Connecticut Post

by the Editorial Board – There are now two strikes against Bridgeport Schools Superintendent Paul Vallas. First, a judge ruled that he lacked proper certification to hold his position. Then, this week, that same judge ruled that he cannot serve in his position while an appeal is considered. “The residents of the city of Bridgeport ...read moreThe post Start planning for post-Vallas school system |

10min 

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

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

The NY Times Tires of Testing

For the past dozen years, there has been no louder cheerleader for No Child Left Behind, Race to the Top, and their demand for test-based accountability than the Néw York Times’ editorial board. Despite the fact that greater test score gains were recorded before the implementation of NCLB than since; despite the finding of the National Research Council that test-based accountability was ineffectua

by dianerav / 9min 

The Selling of the Common Core

This post by Peter Smagorinsky is spot on. He is a professor at the University of Georgia, and he is amazed at the shrewd marketing of the Common Core. Think of it. Schools and teachers are overwhelmed by budget cuts, still reeling from the economic crisis of 2008, and are now trying to absorb new and flawed systems of teacher evaluation. In many states, teachers have lost all job security. At the

by dianerav / 11min 

The Problems That Federal Legislation Studiously Avoids

The commenter who calls himself or herself “Democracy” says the following about the Reauthorization of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act (currently known as NCLB): “Bill Mathis correctly points out that education legislation pending in the Congress “would still ‘disaggregate’ test results by ethnic affiliation and income levels so as ‘to shine a light’ on the disparities and inequ

by dianerav / 43min 

TFA Dissenters Organize Conference for Reform of TFA

It was bound to happen. Teach for America recruits thousands of very smart young men and women and trains them to think like members of TFA, believing that high expectations and high energy will suffice to close the achievement gap. With so many well-educated TFA corps members, there was bound to be a movement to think differently about TFA’s methods, its claims, and its ambitions. On July 14, dis

by dianerav / 6min mark as read  //  save

Jeff Bryant: “No Excuses” for Abandoning Kids and Public Schools

Jeff Bryant of the Education Opportunity Network congratulates Arne Duncan for saying that there was “no excuse” for states that fail to fund their schools. Jeff was quick to point out that the “no excuse” mantra is customarily used by Duncan and other corporate reformers to blame teachers for low test scores. It is refreshing to hear the same rhetoric directed at governors and legislatures that

by dianerav / 27min

David Sirota: IPads Cannot Replace Teachers

The holy grail for corporate reformers is cost-cutting that produces profits. Their hope is that if schools replace teachers with technology, the districts save money, and the tech companies strike it rich. As David Sirota writes, districts (especially those with Broad-trained superintendents) are pouring millions into iPads, tablets, etc., in hope that students will learn online and be tested onl

by dianerav / 1h mark as read  //  save

NYC Parent: Let the Hunger Games Begin

New York City parent activist Natalie Green Giles saw an uncanny resemblance between the Hunger Games and the city’s education policies. She writes: The Hunger Games in the NYC Public Schools June 2013 By Natalie Green Giles We have just finished the annual rite of our Hunger Games here in our New York City public schools. Our games go on for six days, not counting the weeks (in some cases months

by dianerav / 1h 

Reform as Crony Capitalism

Responding to another reader, Robert Shepherd challenges the claim that reformers want a free market in schooling: “We are NOT seeing the emergence of free market alternatives to public schools. We are seeing is crony capitalist alternatives dependent upon federal and state regulation and the public dole that could not possibly survive in truly free markets. It doesn’t matter whether it originate

by dianerav / 10min mark as read  //  save

Does John White Care About Voucher Fraud?

Robert Mann, a professor of communications at Louisiana State University, tries to imagine how Bobby Jindal and John White would react if they heard that Headstart centers kept sloppy records and couldn’t pass an audit. He writes: “Imagine if almost every one of those schools could not produce any records to prove that their expenditures did not constitute “gross irresponsibility or gross indivi

by dianerav / 1h 

Mercedes Schneider Grades John White’s Letter to the Editor: F

John White wrote a letter to the editor to defend his record and praise the sweeping, bold, innovative reforms that he has led. Mercedes Schneider subjected White’s letter to a severe fact check and found it deficient, especially in relation to basic accuracy. She cuffs him about the head and says: “Reformers like White thrive on promoting the false dichotomy that “disagreeing with me” equals “a

by dianerav / 2h 

Diane in the Evening 7-12-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: An Eloquent and Incredibly Brave Child Speaks at the UNMalala Yousafzai, the teenager who was shot in the head by Taliban thugs who don’t want girls to be educated, spoke at the United Nations and was amazingly eloquent in calling for free, compulsory education for every child. What an incredible and heroic young woman. Some heard

by mike simpson / 17h 

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH ALL WEEK LONG Diane Ravitch's blog 7-13-13 #thankateacher #EDCHAT #P2

Diane Ravitch's blogLISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH ALL WEEK LONG DIANE RAVITCH'S BLOGTODAYDoes John White Care About Voucher Fraud?Robert Mann, a professor of communications at Louisiana State University, tries to imagine how Bobby Jindal and John White would react if they heard that Headstart centers kept sloppy records and couldn’t pass an audit. He writes: “Imagine if almost every one of those schools

by mike simpson / 42min 

Saturday coffee. | Fred Klonsky

Saturday coffee. | Fred Klonsky:

Shame.

by Fred Klonsky / 1h 

Another unsatisfied customer.

Mr. Klonsky. Are you kidding me? Have you watched ANY of this trial??? Obviously not. You do a great disservice by posting a picture of a 12-year-old. Martin was nearly 6 feet tall, hardly the little boy being portrayed. Please remove me from your blog. Judging from this post you do not consider all angles before stating your opinion. Sad. -Anonymous   Dear Anonymous, Sorry. I don’t bother

by Fred Klonsky / 5min 

Thirty minutes with Ken Davis, Sarah Karp and Ben Joravsky on CPS, pensions and TIFs. Don’t miss.

by Fred Klonsky / 1h 

Saturday coffee.

JULY 13, 2013

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We’re going to catch Taj Mahal when he is in town on Tuesday night.

Taj is doing two shows at The City Winery. We’re catching the early one and then heading out Wednesday for a two-week road trip.

Going to see Taj perform is like visiting with an old pal.

When I was a student at Fairfax High School in LA back in ’65, Taj and joined up with a singer, Jesse Lee Kinkaid as a folk-blues duo in Boston.

Jesse Lee Kinkaid was as much of a stage name as Taj Mahal.

But Kinkaid was the older brother of one of my friends and classmates, Quentin Gerlach, who also happened to be student body president.

Quentin arranged for Taj and Jesse Lee to perform at an assembly.

Quentin also somehow managed to get The Byrds

7-13-13 Fred Klonsky | Still a retired public school teacher, looking at the data ALL WEEK LONG .

Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher who is just looking at the data.:TODAYThe Madman takes care of his friends.How do we know that Illinois public employees are not friends of Democratic Party Chairman and Speaker Michael Madigan. Because The Madman takes care of his friends. And while he has been leading the charge on Senate Bill 1, a bill that would for all intents an

by mike simpson / 11min

Daily Kos: The Tinker Bell Coalition

Daily Kos: The Tinker Bell Coalition:

The Tinker Bell Coalition

byteacherkenFollow

 
 
• 3 Comments / 3 New

is a line from Kathleen Parker's Washington Post op ed this morning, The GOP's principled suicide.  Not sure I agree with her that the GOP is principled, and I can sure do without her both sides do it approach.  But that phrase is delightful.  Let me put it in the context in which it appears in her column, adding bolding to the most relevant portions:

Republican intransigence is further compounded by the echo chamber of the Tinker Bell Coalition — the Weekly Standard’s Bill Kristol and National Review’s Rich Lowry, who recently co-authored an editorial urging Republicans to drive a stake through the heart of immigration reform.

These are the same two who thought Sarah Palin would be the perfect running mate for John McCain. Kristol was the first to advance her name, and Lowry famously reported seeing starbursts ricocheting around the living room as he watched Palin wink during her vice presidential debate — and imagined that she was winking at him.

One lapse in judgment doesn’t condemn a man to a lifetime of errancy — and a winking Alaskan beauty is perhaps a test too far — but fairy dust has a way of contaminating the Republican Way of Thinking. Before you can govern, you have to win. And before you can win, you have to offer something people want to buy.

I can imagine establishing some kind of twitter meme, perhaps like this? -

Peace.

UPDATE: Ed Notes Online: Fiorillo: Better Randi than no union at all

Ed Notes Online: Fiorillo: Better Randi than no union at all:

Lois Weiner on the Survival of Unions and Why Chicago TU is Different

What we see in Chicago has been more  like the kind of organizing done by the CIO, fusing a progressive social program to union demands. CORE, the insurgent caucus that leads the CTU and was re-elected last month in a landslide (with over 60% of the members voting) has shifted the political terrain of education politics by embedding union demands in a vision for public education. ... Lois WeinerHe

by ed notes online / 1h 

Fiorillo: Better Randi than no union at all

The fundamental nature of the lack of democracy internally is a bigger threat to the life of the union than the external - in the long run.

I hope you've been following the over 200 comments on Diane Ravitch's blog from people all over the nation, many of whom have learned a lot from us here in NYC on how the AFT and UFT operates. Diane began with a post about her relationship with Randi Weingarten My Friend, Randi Weingarten which opened up a firestorm of criticism of Randi and in some cases unfairly to Diane for posting this. But Diane doesn't censor comments and I'm sure our union officials are not happy over the overwhelming thumbs down on Randi -- we don't even see the usual Unity hacks showing up to defend her.

But as we've been discussing in MORE, the failure of the union on so many levels creates a dangerous internal anti-union - rather than anti-union leadership which leads people to call for ending dues check-off, mandatory dues and other right wing wet dreams. I understand the frustration, especially in the UFT where even if we organized a CORE like caucus with wide outreach, we still would be far from being able to win more than a few meaningless positions. The fundamental