11-26-13 Schools Matter

Schools Matter:

Charter Schools Are About Business, Not Education

From NEPC:NEPC report finds 44% of charter school students in 2011-12 attended schools operated by EMOs
Contact: William J. Mathis, (802) 383-0058, wmathis@sover.net
Jamie Horwitz, (202) 549-4921, jhdcpr@starpower.net
Gary Miron, (269) 599-7965, garmiron@gmail.comURL for this press release: http://tinyurl.com/nzhgjupBOULDER, CO (November 26, 2013) – A new National Education Policy Center report pu

by Jim Horn / 45min 

 

11-25-13 Schools Matter

Schools Matter: Privatized Custodial Services Bring Corporate Windfalls and Dirty Schools to MemphisSince school fragmentation consolidation went into effect in Shelby County (Memphis) Schools, the lawyers in charge of SCS have been trying to save every dime they can to pay for the $212 million dollar donut hole created to pay for corporate welfare charter reform schools for the urban poor. Part o

by mike simpson / 21min 

11/26/2013 – Dec 9 Day Of Action

11/26/2013 – Dec 9 Day Of Action:

 mark as read

11/26/2013 – Dec 9 Day Of Action

November 26, 2013 Subscribe THIS WEEK:Record Number Of Homeless Students … Preschool Done Right … Following Common Core Money … Charters Undermine Public Education … Student Loans As Profit Center TOP STORY Dec. 9 Declared Day Of Action To Reclaim The Promise Of Public Education By Jeff Bryant “Americans everywhere are seeing their local schools being ground into pieces between the twin political augers of government austerity and top-down, corporate-backed ‘reform’ … An increasingly vocal opposition to this status quo has announced a December 9th National Day of Action to Reclaim the Promis

36min 

Dec. 9 Declared Day Of Action To Reclaim The Promise Of Public Education

“Public education is under attack,” comes the warning from Philadelphia in a riveting new video from community and youth organizers in that city. Their accusations are that education policies are “an attack on poor children” … policy makers “don’t care about the students” … public education “is being defunded” … and “it’s not something specific to Philadelphia.” Indeed, Philadelphia “is an early warning sign for America,” a former science teacher wrote recently at the progressive news site PolicyMic. Chronically low per-pupil spending – “behind suburban districts” – combined with a “powerful c

36min 

Charter Schools For Scandals

There are undoubtedly wonderful charter schools in existence, and Americans generally have a favorable opinion of charters, but hardly a week goes by without news of a scandal or a study tarnishing their image. With schools reopening everywhere across the country, the past week was no exception in exposing new problems with an idea that was once thought of as a collaborative endeavor between teacher unions and school administrators aimed at serving struggling students, but has now become a heavily funded, well-marketed movement designed to siphon money away from traditional public schools. Lea

300+ 84d 

NOV 19

11/19/2013 – Can Political Centrists Expand Pre-K Access

November 19, 2013 Subscribe THIS WEEK: Reading Should Be Fun … ‘White Moms,’ Common Core Clash … Good Teachers Embrace Culture … Cuts Hurt The Most Vulnerable Students … Free Online Education, Changes Course TOP STORY Will Political Centrists Go Outside Their Comfort Zones To Expand Pre-K Access? By Jeff Bryant ” Democratic leaders in both chambers last week introduced a new bill that would dram

by Jeff Bryant / 6d 

Will Political Centrists Go Outside Their Comfort Zones To Expand Pre-K Access?

Building on President Obama’s “Preschool for All Initiative” proposed earlier this year – that would dramatically expand access to prekindergarten programs for 4-year olds – Democratic leaders in both chambers last week introduced the “Strong Start for America’s Children Act”. The new bill differs somewhat from what the White House proposed, as explained by Education Week’s Alyson Klein who examin

by Jeff Bryant / 6d 

NOV 12

11/12/2013 – Still No Proof School Reform Helps

November 12, 2013 Subscribe THIS WEEK: Childcare More Expensive Than College … Schools For Wealthy Get More Funding … School Segregation Problem … Ending School To Prison Pipeline … College Misconceptions TOP STORY Sorry Nicholas Kristof, Still No Proof School Reform Helps By Jeff Bryant “Prompted by the latest results of the National Assessment of Education Progress, aka “the Nation’s Report Ca

by Jeff Bryant / 14d 

Sorry Nicholas Kristof, Still No Proof School Reform Helps

It’s hard to know whether to laugh or cry when an “All-Purpose-Pundit” at The New York Times takes it upon him/herself to write a commentary about education. “Thomas Friedman is infamous for his uninformed pieces on education,” Larry Ferlazzo, a retired schoolteacher and ubiquitous education commentator on the Internet recently observed. And there’s “David Brooks, who is equally off-base.” Diane R

52 by Jeff Bryant / 14d 

NOV 05

11/5/2013 – Behind Chris Christie’s Rage At Teachers

November 5, 2013 Subscribe THIS WEEK: Trouble Starting At Age 8 … The Excellence Gap … $1 Billion For Schools … Common Core Implementation Worse Than Obamacare … Will Bridgeport Reject Rhee Revolution TOP STORY What Chris Christie Is Hiding Behind His Rage At School Teachers By Jeff Bryant “New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has a record for responding with rage when anyone, not just teachers, q

by Jeff Bryant / 20d 

What Chris Christie Is Hiding Behind His Rage At School Teachers

“I’m tired of you people. What do you want?” Those were the words New Jersey Governor Chris Christie used to respond to one of his constituents, a taxpayer, and a public servant of the state, who had the temerity to question the governor’s leadership of the state’s education system. As reported by Valerie Strauss on her blog at The Washington Post, Melissa Tomlinson, an elementary school teacher w

200+ by Jeff Bryant / 20d 

Vote for 2013 Educational Policy Turkey of the Year Award | Cloaking Inequity

Vote for 2013 Educational Policy Turkey of the Year Award | Cloaking Inequity:

Vote for 2013 Educational Policy Turkey of the Year Award

Cloaking Inequity seeks to illuminate popular and dominant ideologies that purport to foment equality and close the achievement gap. Often well-intentioned citizens support educational policy that claim to create a more inclusive and better quality education system— unbeknownst to them— instead these policies magnify and hide inequality by utilizing an elegant, yet false, bureaucracy of data, research and media promotion. Last year I began the Educational Policy Turkey of the Year Award. The 2012 inaugural winner (as voted on by the readers of Cloaking Inequity) was TFA (See: Teach For America: 2012 Educational Policy Turkey of the Year)

The 2013 Educational Policy Turkey of the Year Award will again be voted on by the readers of Cloaking Inequity and announced Thanksgiving Day (Gobble Gobble). This award will be given to the educational policy (or program or person or groups of persons) of the year that is deemed to most egregiously cloak inequity. I will provide an introductory hyperlinks about each nominee for research purposes. Let the voting begin!

 

1. Great Hearts, Basis and other profit making and/or diversity-averse corporate charters (Click here). Because The wealthy need segregated charters too!? (1 and 2), “Diversity is too hard” and What BASIS?: Nepotism and aggrandizement in charters Notably, the Texas State Board of Education and Nashville Metro School Board saw 

Be Thankful for Libraries | Taking Note

Be Thankful for Libraries | Taking Note:

Be Thankful for Libraries

by JOHN MERROW on 26. NOV, 2013 in 2013 BLOGS

Like many of you, I gave thanks for our public schools and their teachers during American Education Week, which just ended. Now, during Thanksgiving week, I suggest we give thanks for our public libraries.

First of all, they’re everywhere: “If you have ever felt overwhelmed by the ubiquity of McDonald’s, this stat may make your day: There are more public libraries (about 17,000) in America than outposts of the burger mega-chain (about 14,000). The same is true of Starbucks (about 11,000 coffee shopsnationally).”  So wrote Emily Badger in the Atlantic Cities back in June.   She adds that libraries serve 96.4% of the US population.  While that does not mean that nearly everyone uses a public library, they could if they wanted to.

Public libraries are aggressive because they have to be; they need people coming through their doors, and so they provide internet access, loans of DVDs and more, all with the endgame of promoting literacy.

The strategy of meeting the public’s needs seems to be working: Library membership and usage are up in most parts of the country, even though public financial support has been declining.  Here in New York City for example, circulation, participation in educational programs and the number of visitors are up by 45% on average, although funding from the City is down 18%, according to the Library’s President, Tony Marx.

New York’s public library system could be a national model for how to work with schools. NYPL main 

11-26-12 Seattle Schools Community Forum

Seattle Schools Community Forum:

Gates Foundation Going All In to Support Charters in Washington State

From the Gates Foundation website:LEV Foundation Date: October 2013 Purpose: to build capacity for a state-wide public charter school support organization in Washington State Amount: $4,200,000 Term: 24 Topic: College-Ready Regions Served: GLOBAL|NORTH AMERICA Program: United States Grantee Location: Seattle, Washington So let's review. Lisa Macfarlane co-founded the League of Education

by Melissa Westbrook / 30min 

Washington State Charter Commission Has 22 Charter Applications

Plus three applications to Spokane School District.   The 22 applications are out of 28 letters of intent to the Charter Commission.The ones that dropped out appear to be:Bilingual Charter Academy (Russian) in Clark CountyPath to Success in LongviewTacoma Preparatory AcademyEducation Academy of Washington, cyber-charterInspire Development Education Academy,location unclearFinnish First, YakimaThos

by Melissa Westbrook / 58min 

Tuesday Open Thread

News that President Smith-Blum fell on her way to a restaurant and broke her arm.  We wish her a speedy recovery.From The Guardian, kids of today can't run as fast as their parents.On average, it takes children 90 seconds longer to run a mile than their counterparts did 30 years ago. Heart-related fitness has declined 5% each decade since 1975, for children aged 9 – 17.If you have a girl, you migh

by Melissa Westbrook / 29min   

11-25-13 Seattle Schools Community Forum

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Education News RoundupLocally (and thanks to reader Carolyn), news from Real Change newspaper about getting food to needy students for the weekends.  While the kids of John Hay Elementary School play outside, LaRock carries bags of food into classrooms and surreptitiously slips them into the backpacks of 15 kids at the 500-student school on Queen Anne Hill. Each ba

by mike simpson / 23h 

FCMAT » Cali Education Headlines Tuesday, November 26, 2013

FCMAT » Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team:

Fensterwald: Top legislators join critics of proposed regs for new funding formula

Education Headlines

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

FCMAT provides links to California K-12 news stories as a service to the industry. However, some stories may not be accessible because of newspapers' subscription policies.

How Common Core State Standards are changing education at Long Beach Unified

There are no one-word answers in Donna Robertson's fifth-grade classroom at Lafayette Elementary in central Long Beach.

Parent reaction to Common Core in Long Beach is mixed

Parent reaction has been varied to the new Common Core standards being rolled out by the Long Beach Unified School District.

San Ysidro contract headed to mediation

A contract standoff between the San Ysidro School District and teachers association is headed for state mediation.

Early testing reveals high toxic chemical levels at Malibu High School

The district plans to conduct more tests and clean up chemicals, but says there is 'no short-term risk' to being on campus.

From truant slacker to straight-A student, an LAUSD success story

Before Troy Clawson went from slacker to straight-A student, he used to ditch school for weeks at a time to skateboard, not knowing or caring that truancy is against the law.

Fensterwald: Rocketship charter schools singled out in California as Race to the Top finalist

Rocketship Education, with eight K-5 charter schools in San Jose, one in Milwaukee and invitations to expand into urban districts in other states, is the sole finalist from California competing for $120 million in the second district Race to the Top competition.

Fensterwald: Top legislators join critics of proposed regs for new funding formula

In a letter on Monday, leaders of the state Senate and Assembly criticized proposed regulations on state funding for the state’s neediest students as inconsistent with the intent of the new school finance law.

Monday, November 25, 2013

Sonora El fire could disrupt classes for weeks

A fire at Sonora Elementary School that burned Saturday night destroyed multiple classrooms and rendered more than a dozen unusable, which will disrupt classes and schedules for weeks.

San Luis Coastal district may spend $1.1M for Wi-Fi at elementary campuses

Elementary schools in San Luis Coastal Unified School District will be outfitted with the infrastructure needed to support Wi-Fi in classrooms - at a significant cost.

California switches testing plans, but may still risk losing $3.5 billion in federal funds

California, threatened with the loss of $3.5 billion in federal funds for suspending high-stakes testing next spring, has tweaked its exam plan. But it's not certain that the change, which was not cleared first with U.S. officials, will ease the threat to take away funds.

Public feedback sought as schools plan spending

Digital textbooks, a longer school day and year, smaller classes and preschool are early suggestions for how Inland schools should spend more money they will receive to help disadvantaged students.

Stanislaus schools weigh in as high school math curriculum gets makeover under Common Core

Algebra classes may disappear under Common Core, but nobody gets out of solving for X. Every grade gets a math makeover, focusing on learning the basics really well. But the most dramatic change will be in high school, where traditional algebra I, geometry, algebra II courses will phase out in most districts in favor of a I, II, III progression weaving all three topics together.

Vallejo mascot's end sparks mixed reaction

As word spread Thursday about Vallejo High School dropping its controversial Apache mascot, social media networks buzzed with students and alumni weighing in on the matter.

11-26-13 THE WHOLE CHILD BLOG Sharing Thanks on Twitter with Educators — Whole Child Education

Sharing Thanks on Twitter with Educators — Whole Child Education:

Hitting the Pause Button

'Tis the season for the social media firestorm of thankful messages and, as cliché as it is, I think there is something to be said for pausing and being grateful. Yet it can get overwhelming. A few years ago I did a new "thanks" message for the ten days leading up to Thanksgiving on my Facebook page. I was scraping the bottom of the barrel by the end, mostly because I felt the need to be

by Kevin Scott / 45min 

THE WHOLE CHILD BLOG

Sharing Thanks on Twitter with Educators

November 26, 2013 by Tina Byland

Last night, ASCD and an inspiring group of educators dedicated an entire hour to sharing the many things we are all thankful for over Twitter. The chat left me in an incredibly grateful mood. Whether you are thankful for your school community, your professional development opportunities, the new technologies available in your classroom, or a new position this school year, the universal theme that sounded throughout the entire chat was that you are thankful for and inspired by your students.

I wanted to share just a sampling of the powerful messages from last night. Several of you shared how thankful you were for the support in your school community. I love that Chuck Maddox shared that he is thankful for the collaborative nature of his school. Professional development was also a recurring theme during the chat. Several educators, including Eric Bernstein, shared how thankful they are for Twitter because it allows them to connect and learn from educators outside of their school buildings each day. Lastly, I believe that William Chamberlain was spot on when he shared, "Mostly though, I am thankful for my students who make my job the hardest, most rewarding thing I have ever done."

ASCD's incredibly thankful to each of you for your time and dedication to the students. We're constantly amazed by your passion for education and the thanks you show in your schools each day! Thank you!

11-25-13 THE WHOLE CHILD BLOG - Be #ASCDThankful Tonight — Whole Child Education

Be #ASCDThankful Tonight — Whole Child Education: THE WHOLE CHILD BLOGBe #ASCDThankful TonightNovember 25, 2013 by ASCD Whole Child BloggersWhat are you thankful for this school year? Join @wholechildadv and @ASCD Monday, November 25, at 8 p.m., eastern time, for a Twitter chat with fellow educators entirely devoted to gratitude and giving thanks. 11-21-13 THE WHOLE CHILD BLOG - Getting Local Comm

by mike simpson / 23h