Thursday, August 15, 2013

Feds cite faults with CCSF accreditation panel - SFGate

Feds cite faults with CCSF accreditation panel - SFGate:

Feds cite faults with CCSF accreditation panel

Will Kane

Updated 11:09 pm, Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Alisa Messer, president of the CCSF faculty union, says the accreditation commission's decision should be overturned. Photo: Carlos Avila Gonzalez, The Chronicle
The commission that decided to revoke City College of San Francisco's accreditation next year did not adhere to several federal regulations when it investigated the school system, the U.S. Department of Education said in a letter to the body on Tuesday.
It is not immediately clear what impact the federal letter will have, if any, on the 85,000-student college, which is set to lose its accreditation - and probably close - a year from now unless administrators make substantial progress in reforming the school.
"Right now, we don't know what is happening other than that the letter was issued,"Jennifer Aries, a spokeswoman for the college, said Tuesday. "We're staying focused on meeting the standards and the eligibility requirements. We have to keep our focus."
Krista Johns, the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges' vice president for policy research, stressed that the letter would have no impact on the ruling against City College.
"It is not affected by this letter," she said. "This letter really examines the policies and procedures of the accrediting commission."
Union complaint
But a leader of the American Federation of Teachers Local 2121, which represents faculty at the school, said she thinks the accrediting commission's ruling should be overturned.
"I believe it means they need to reverse the entire decision," said Alisa Messer, an English teacher at the school and president of the teachers federation, which filed the complaint with the Department of Education in May that prompted the investigation of the accrediting commission. "When you get a letter from the Department of Education that

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

CCSF trustee turns fiery in retorts to accreditors - SFGate

CCSF trustee turns fiery in retorts to accreditors - SFGate:

CCSF trustee turns fiery in retorts to accreditors

Nanette Asimov

City College Trustee Rafael Mandelman started out espousing
cooperation with the accreditors. Then they made him mad. Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle

Don't argue with the umpire.

That's been the mantra of City College of San Francisco trustees for a year as they have struggled to satisfy the requirements of a stern accrediting commission without back talk or complaint.

But now that the commission has said it will revoke the college's operating license next year and state officials have stripped the elected trustees of their decision-making powers, one trustee has broken ranks and decided it's time to get in the umpire's face.

"The failure here is not City College's but the accreditor's," Trustee Rafael Mandelmanwrote Monday in an opinion piece in The Chronicle, in which he argued that the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges is causing "real harm" to City College with its requirement that the school come into full compliance with all accrediting standards or lose its right to operate.

He argues that City College has made substantial progress on its many deficiencies and therefore should not be threatened with the loss of its accreditation. To the commission, however, a college is either in compliance with accrediting standards or not. There is little in between.

Other college trustees may share Mandelman's views, even showing up at Save City College rallies. But only Mandelman has joined faculty and student activists in freely criticizing the accrediting commission, to the consternation of

#RealEdTalk The Weekly Update: ALEC push back, Jeb Bush shows us how to cash in on ed reform, Common Core Standards big oop’s, Teach for America alums speak out and more | Seattle Education

The Weekly Update: ALEC push back, Jeb Bush shows us how to cash in on ed reform, Common Core Standards big oop’s, Teach for America alums speak out and more | Seattle Education:

The Weekly Update: ALEC push back, Jeb Bush shows us how to cash in on ed reform, Common Core Standards big oop’s, Teach for America alums speak out and more

After a short summer hiatus, I’m back with the weekly news. As my mother used to say, “There’s no rest for the weary” and from what I’ve been observing, there’s no rest for the wicked as well.

So let’s get started.

ALEC had its 40th anniversary celebration in Chicago last week but not without notice from the populace.

Jasal Noor, a great journalist who focuses on public education, interviewed Brendan Fisher, general counsel with the Center for Media and Democracy, publishers ofALECExposed and PRWatch and Julie Mead, a professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis at the University of Wisconsin.

Protesters Condemn ALEC’s Push to Privatize Public Education

So if you look at ALEC, K12 Inc. is one of the top sponsors of this year’s meeting. K12 Inc. is the nation’s largest provider of online for-profit schools. And as one of the top sponsors of the ALEC meeting, it’s allying itself with the tobacco industry and with the oil industry and with the pharmaceutical industry, all of which are not something you would normally associate with good educational outcomes, not the sort of thing that you would typically expect of a school that is looking out primarily for kids.

One of the speakers at the ALEC gathering was none other than Jeb Bush, the “expert” on public education who has done much damage to the public school system in Florida and now wants to share his know-how with the rest of us .

From Purple Scathings:

Jeb Bush Bangs His Own Drum at ALEC Conference

Bush sure doesn’t pick unfriendly audiences, does he? And he sure

What is behind the high stakes testing failure rate? | Reclaim Reform

What is behind the high stakes testing failure rate? | Reclaim Reform:

What is behind the high stakes testing failure rate?

Posted on August 14, 2013by Ken Previti

The Education-Industrial Complex is not a future threat to our children. It is here and now.

In full cooperation with state and federal legislators of both political parties, our tax money pays for testing corporations to create “secret” tests guaranteed to have a 2/3 failure rate for our children. This profitable system is then used as proof positive that public schools are failing, public school teachers are failing, and your child is a failure. A nine year old loser – labeled for the world to see. A teenage loser who cannot hope for success. Failures before they even have a chance to face life.

What’s behind this? Follow the money.

The Education-Industrial Complex knows the solution. Give them more money for more testing and more scripted instruction and more charters for profit and more evaluation materials for teachers and more, more, MORE. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Norman R. Augustine, former Military-Industrial Complex leader when he was CEO and chairman of Lockheed Martin Corporation, is now appointed chairman of the National Academies’ congressionally mandated review of U.S. competitiveness. (I am not making

White House chief of black education is ‘passionate’ about his work - Education - The Sacramento Bee

White House chief of black education is ‘passionate’ about his work - Education - The Sacramento Bee:

White House chief of black education is ‘passionate’ about his work

By Renee Schoof
McClatchy Washington Bureau

Published: Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2013 - 5:10 pm

Olivier Douliery / Abaca Press/MCT

David Johns l, is President Barack Obama's choice as the first executive director of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2013/08/14/5650733/white-house-chief-of-black-education.html#mi_rss=Education#storylink=cpy

WASHINGTON -- All through his years of schooling, David Johns was one of the few African-Americans in his classroom, from the high school in Los Angeles that was nearly an hourlong bus ride away – but that his mother insisted he attend – to Columbia University in New York.

Even when he taught elementary school in Manhattan, not a single black student sat behind one of the desks before him.

Now Johns sits behind a desk – at the U.S. Department of Education, no less – where it’s his job to lead a presidential effort to improve education for African-American students everywhere. Read More at:

White House chief of black education is ‘passionate’ about his work - Education - The Sacramento Bee:

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2013/08/14/5650733/white-house-chief-of-black-education.html#mi_rss=Education#storylink=cpy

The Architect of School Reform Who Turned Against It - Sarah Mosle - The Atlantic #RealEdTalk

The Architect of School Reform Who Turned Against It - Sarah Mosle - The Atlantic:

The Architect of School Reform Who Turned Against It

Diane Ravitch's second revolution

Denise Nestor

The survival of the school-reform movement, as it’s known to champions and detractors alike, is no longer assured. Even a couple years ago, few would have predicted this turn of events for a crusade that began with the publication of A Nation at Risk in 1983, gathered momentum as charter schools and Teach for America took off in the 1990s, and surged into the spotlight with No Child Left Behind in 2001. As a schoolteacher, I know I didn’t anticipate this altered landscape. If one person can be credited—or blamed—for the reform movement’s sudden vulnerability, it’s a fiercely articulate historian, now in her 70s, named Diane Ravitch.

That Ravitch helped conceive the movement she now condemns makes her current role even more unexpected. Almost four decades ago, Ravitch emerged as a preeminent chronicler of, as she put it, “the rise and fall of grand ideas” in American education. The author of 11 books, including Reign of Error (out this month), she has traced the past century’s successive battles over how best to deliver a quality education—and to whom.

In 1991, she shifted from observer to policy adviser, becoming an assistant secretary of education under George H. W. Bush. An outspoken critic of

Michelle Rhee invites teachers union reps to new town halls - Byron Tau - POLITICO.com #RealEdTalk

Michelle Rhee invites teachers union reps to new town halls - Byron Tau - POLITICO.com:

Michelle Rhee invites teachers union reps to new town halls

By BYRON TAU | 8/14/13 2:35 PM EDT

Michelle Rhee wants to have a candid conversation with her fiercest critics.

The outspoken education reformer will host a series of national town hall meetings beginning in September, according to invitations obtained by POLITICO.

Michelle Rhee at Playbook Breakfast

Latest on POLITICO

And she’s asking local teachers union leaders and activists — long her most vocal opponents — to be a part of each event.

According to the invitations sent Wednesday, Rhee’s goal is to bring teachers and their union representatives into the wider conversation about American education reform.

“Teachers’ voices are vital to the conversation about how to improve our national education system,” Rhee wrote to supporters. “Unfortunately, the dialogue around public education has become too often polarized, with extreme rhetoric and personal attacks overshadowing what’s important: getting all of our country’s kids into great schools with great teachers.”

Rhee will have company on her cross-country tour, which includes stops in Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Birmingham, Ala.,Steve Perry, who founded and runs the Capital Preparatory Magnet School in Connecticut and former Washington Teachers’ Union President George Parker will both join her at each event.

Also invited — but not yet confirmed: the brass from teachers unions city or state chapters, as

Course Limitations When Pursuing a Future - Student Voice

Student Voice:

Course Limitations When Pursuing a Future - Student Voice

About the Author: Tess Harkin attends New Milford High School in New Milford, CT as a junior. She is actively involved in the school and community as a student leader. Tess is a HOBY alumni and her interests lie in theatre, writing, and making crepes. You can find her on Twitter at @Tess_Harkin or at operation-outstanding.blogspot.com. -

I’m a very loud person, I’ll be the first to admit it. I could blame it on the Italian in me, but the real reason I’m so loud is because I want to be heard, and usually I am. So why should I be any different for my education?

My name is Tess, I’m 16 years old and am currently entering my junior year at New Milford High School in New Milford, CT. I am the type of teenager that seems harder and harder to come by–the kind that actually enjoys school and wants to learn. With a schedule packed with honors classes and a GPA that easily places me on roll, it would seem like the education system wouldn’t be one I’d want to change.

Attempting to change something that is currently helping me is a risky decision. But the reason I’m looking to make a change is because even though I might be excelling in my classes, they’re not the classes I need to be taking in order to prepare myself for my future. I’m being forced to take classes that prepare myself for the Board of Education’s future for me.

I’m planning on pursuing a degree in Arts Administration in college. To put it simply, business for the arts, specifically, theatre. All throughout high school, guidance counselors stress the importance of taking classes that will help you be more prepared in college. That’s a little hard to do when your school offers two Theatre classes, History of American Musical Theatre and Drama Workshop. Two classes might seem like a lot to some people, but compared to the fifteen Fine Arts classes, eighteen Business classes, ten Tech-Education classes and nine Health classes, it’s inequitable. Why should my school prepare students to go into

- See more at: http://www.stuvoice.org/blog/2013/08/14/course-limitations-when-pursuing-a-future/?utm_source=feedly#sthash.R8OoiuPO.dpuf

Digital Backpack Coming Soon!

Just in time for back to school, Student Voice will be launching one of its biggest projects yet — and you don’t want to miss it! Designed to be used by all stakeholders in education, you aren’t going to want the school year without it. The Student Voice Digital Backpack Coming Soon!

by Editor Admin / 12min

Tom Vander Ark and Getting Smart are recognizing 30 charter management organizations and 10 EMOs Let's see how many made our List #RealEdTalk

CHARTER SCHOOL SCANDALS:

Tom Vander Ark is recognizing 30 charter management organizations and 10 EMOs: Let's see how many made our list:

CHARTER SCHOOL SCANDALS:

National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA) Group: 1 in 5 charter schools not doing well enough to stay open

A group that oversees more than half of the nation's 5,600 charter schools said
as many as one in five U.S. charter schools should be shut down because of
poor academic performance.
http://seattletimes.com/html/nationworld/2019784379_charterschools29.html

CHARTER SCHOOL SCANDALS WEBSITE

CHARTER SCHOOL SCANDALS

A compilation of news articles about charter schools which have been charged with, or are highly suspected of, tampering with admissions, grades, attendance and testing; misuse of funds and embezzlement; engaging in nepotism and conflicts of interest; engaging in complicated and shady real estate deals; and/or have been engaging in other questionable, unethical, borderline-legal, or illegal activities. This is also a record of charter school instability and other unsavory tidbits.

CHARTER SCHOOL SCANDALS Website

Getting Smart is acknowledging people and organizations making a difference with a series of back to school top 10 lists. During August we will run about 40 ‘best of’ lists, not in order, not exhaustive, just people we appreciate.
Today we are recognizing 30 great charter management organizations and 10 EMOs. They have all achieved scale, impact and/or influence.

East Coast Networks

Achievement First: CT, NY & RI
Brooke Charter Schools: Boston
E.L. Haynes: Washington DC
Success Charter Network: NYC
DC Prep: Washington DC
Chicago International
Uncommon Schools: NY & NJ
Mastery Charter Schools: Philadelphia
Match Education: Boston
Friendship Public Charter Schools: Washington DC

Central Networks

KIPP: a national network
Breakthrough Schools: Cleveland
Brighter Choice: Albany
LEARN Charter School Network: Chicago
Noble Network of Charter Schools: Chicago
Charles A. Tindley Accelerated School: Indianapolis
Gestalt Community Schools: Memphis
IDEA Public Schools: south Texas
Uplift: Dallas
YES Prep: Houston

West Networks

Alliance of College Ready Public Schools: Los Angeles
Aspire Public Schools: CA
BASIS Charter Schools: Phoenix
High Tech High: San Diego
Rocketship Education: CA, TN, WI
Summit Public Schools: Bay Area, CA
Green Dot: Los Angeles
DSST Public Schools: Denver
Great Hearts Academies: Phoenix
Strive Preparatory Schools: Denver

Educational Management Organizations

Charter Schools USA: FL network
Connections Education: national online learning provider
K12: national online learning provider
Mosaica Education: NY, GA,
National Heritage Academies: MI, OH, NY
Responsive Education: 4 brands in TX
Academia: FL
Leona Group: AZ, FL, IN, MI, OH
Insight Schools: 13 states
AdvancePath Academics: dropout prevention network

Latest News and Comment from Education

Thursday, August 15, 2013