Saturday, January 4, 2014

What is Paul Vallas up to? Personal greed and total disregard of the public good – as usual.

The candidate for Illinois lieutenant governor as endorsed by Gov. Pat Quinn (D) after resigning in haste and controversy from being Connecticut’s Commissioner of Education has demonstrated a level of personal greed and arrogance that is typical – typical for a man who has crippled and/or destroyed the school districts in Chicago, Philadelphia, Louisiana, Haiti and Connecticut.
Vallas insists on high stakes testing and accountability for children, teachers, schools, districts – everybody except himself. This is hypocrisy for personal profit.
Read HERE for more details.

Jonathan Pelto details Vallas’ latest rip-off attempt in his excellent blog HERE.
“Vallas has managed to come up with one last absolutely unbelievable insult to the taxpayers of Bridgeport and Connecticut.”
It seems that Vallas merely kinda-sorta resigned and now wants to hit-up taxpayers for more money for himself. Boomerang $$$$$$$$. Taxpayer $$$$$$$$$ for himself -as advised by his lawyers and his own personal insatiable avarice. Of course he has spent his entire public life collecting his

Learning Without Technology | My Island View

Learning Without Technology | My Island View:

Learning Without Technology

January 4, 2014 by tomwhitby

As long as I have been involved with education there has been a discussion of whether or not technology is making a difference in learning, and whether or not we should use it in schools. This discussion takes place on a teacher-to-teacher level, as well as an administrative level. It occurs on primary, secondary and higher education levels. It may be time to shift the discussions to what we need our kids to learn and how they will implement that learning in our culture, and continue to learn, as the life long learners, which we, as educators, supposedly strive to make them to be.

The more we learn about learning, the further we seem to be getting away from the primary teaching lessons of the past. Lectures, although necessary, are no longer the focus of teaching methodology. Today’s methods seem to be relying on more collaborative and authentic learning. Actually doing and making, as opposed to having descriptions and theories delivered by lectures, is a shift, which is taking place in education today. Critical thinking, always addressed to some extent in learning, is now becoming more prominent in education.

The skills that educators are emphasizing more and more are skills of: curating information, analyzing information, understanding information, communicating information in various forms, collaborating on information both locally and globally, ultimately, creating information for the purpose of publishing and sharing. These are the goals of 21^st Century educators. These are also the today’s needs of industry, business, and banking. Many of these skills are also needs of artists, writers, and musicians. Even politicians could use these skills

DIARY OF A PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHER!: Removing Recess: Test Scores Trump Play!

DIARY OF A PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHER!: Removing Recess: Test Scores Trump Play!:

Removing Recess: Test Scores Trump Play!

Let me begin by being completely honest. I hate recess. I hate being out in the cold. I hate being out when it's hot. I am not fortunate enough to work in a school where teachers have aides that monitor recess. I , and my teammates take the kids out for 15 minutes a day, unless of course it's too hot or too cold.

I read an article, "Losing Recess", written by a parent who noticed changes in her child. She attributed these changes to the fact that her kindergartner was not going out for recess. The teacher told her that they had too much work to do. Kindergartners?

As much as I despise recess, I have to agree with the points she made in her article. We have to give our kids a break. At some point, they have to be able to go outside, run around,and breathe. In the last few years, my former principal had toyed with the idea of getting rid of recess entirely, but we teachers did protest too much! That idea was canned, instead it was shortened by 10 minutes.

Another point made in the article was that recess isn't just recess. There's more to it than, "Go outside and play." It teaches socialization skills, leadership skills, gives the new kids a chance to make friends, gives our video-saturated kids a chance to run around, and the part I enjoy, it gives

WHITE HOUSE VIDEO MESSAGE: Congress must act to extend unemployment insurance | The White House

WHITE HOUSE VIDEO MESSAGE: Congress must act to extend unemployment insurance | The White House:

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

______________________________________________________________________________

EMBARGOED UNTIL 6:00 AM ET, SATURDAY, January 4, 2013

WHITE HOUSE VIDEO MESSAGE: Congress must act to extend unemployment insurance

WASHINGTON, DC — In this week’s message, Director of the Domestics Policy Council Cecilia Muñoz discusses the importance of Congress extending unemployment insurance when they return back to Washington next week. Unemployment insurance provides a vital lifeline to millions of Americans, including many Latinos, who are looking for work.

The audio of the address and video of the message is available online HERE.

Remarks by Cecilia Muñoz

Spanish Weekly Address

The White House

January 4, 2013

Hi, everybody, and Happy New Year.

This is a time when we look ahead to all the possibilities and opportunities of the year to come – when we resolve to better ourselves, and to better our relationships with one another. And today, I want to talk about how we can make a real and powerful difference in the lives of many of our fellow Americans right now.

Just a few days after Christmas, more than one million of our fellow Americans lost a vital economic lifeline – the temporary insurance that helps folks make ends meet while they look for a job. Republicans in Congress went home for the holidays and let that lifeline expire. And for many who are unemployed through no fault of their own, that decision will leave them with no income at all.

It makes a difference to a mother who needs help feeding her kids while she looks for work; to a father who needs help paying the rent while learning the skills to get a new and better job. And denying families that security is just plain cruel. We’re a better country than that.

That’s why the independent Congressional Budget Office says that unless Congress restores this insurance, we’ll feel a drag on our economic growth this year. And after our businesses created more than two million new jobs last year, that’s a self-inflicted wound we don’t need.

So when Congress comes back to work this week, their first order of business should be making this right. Instead of punishing families, Republicans should make it their New Year’s resolution to do the right thing, and restore this vital economic security right now.

After all, our focus as a country this year shouldn’t be shrinking our economy, but growing it; not narrowing opportunity, but expanding it; not fewer jobs, but doing everything we can to help our businesses create more of the good jobs that a growing middle class requires.

After five years of working and sacrificing to recover and rebuild from crisis, we have it within our power, right now, to move this country forward. It’s entirely up to us. And I am optimistic for the year that lies ahead.

Thank you and have a great weekend.

solidaridad: My comments on Mike Klonsky's 'Belmont's Blues'

solidaridad: My comments on Mike Klonsky's 'Belmont's Blues':

My comments on Mike Klonsky's 'Belmont's Blues'

My comments on @mikeklonsky 's "Belmont's Blues" #LAUSD http://t.co/wkV9ckSoCV pic.twitter.com/ZwXItnhU93— Robert D. Skeels (@rdsathene) December 26, 2013 I live within walking distance of Belmont, and Roybal is just a bit further to the east (they're separate schools). Because of Monica Garcia, the proliferation of privately managed charters in this area has caused both of the former to

by Robert D. Skeels ... / 45min hide // save

Gentrification...is not a natural process...it grows out of...institutional arrangements and deliberate actions

"Gentrification...is not a natural process...it grows out of...institutional arrangements and deliberate actions" http://t.co/s2iR1TjvWH— ken montenegro (@kmontenegro) December 25, 2013

by Robert D. Skeels ... / 1h

M Night Shyamalan's privatization agenda exposed as soon as he cites his model schools

.@tessvigeland might want to ask reactionary @MNightShyamalan how CNCA's 6% CSU proficiency is 'successful' #LAUSD http://t.co/uwJw7v65Lg— Robert D. Skeels (@rdsathene) January 4, 2014 M Night Shyamalan is crusading the right-wing, corporate edreform project. He lauds the abject Camino Nuevo Charter Academy Corporation (CNCA) as one of 50 schools that are "successfully" using his method.

by Robert D. Skeels ... / 1h

Cristal Ball | EduShyster

Cristal Ball | EduShyster:

Cristal Ball

A look ahead at some of the trendiest trends of 2014…

Why it seems like only yesterday that we were All Hailing the EduPreneur, raising our wassail boxes to his (and her) unique ability to *do well* by *doing good.* So what does 2014 have in store for us? Will it be as disruptive, innovative and excellent as its predecessor, or will it be even more disruptive, innovative and excellent? What new jargon will climb to the very top of our *must spout* list? And how much leftover wassail will it take before we all forget that 2014 was supposed to be the year ofuniversal proficiency? Here’s a peek… The Common Core debate gets auld
Reader: while you’ve been playing Candy Crush and binge watching Vanderpump Rules, I’ve been getting my history on. If the increasingly heated debate over our Common Core is

starting to feel a little auld, that’s because we’ve been having more or less this same fight for the last 100 years. The efficiency experts of the 1920′s, with their dream of transforming teaching into a

Ripley’s Botched Attack on Ravitch: A Euro Is Not a Dollar | deutsch29

Ripley’s Botched Attack on Ravitch: A Euro Is Not a Dollar | deutsch29:

Ripley’s Botched Attack on Ravitch: A Euro Is Not a Dollar

January 4, 2014

In December 2011, writer Amanda Ripley published a post in which she tried hard to discredit education historian Diane Ravitch’s claim that the US poverty level is a factor in the 2009 PISA rankings.

Even though Ripley’s piece is over two years old, I only read it yesterday. In her smug attempt to discredit Ravitch’s interpretation of the role of US poverty upon US PISA scores, Ripley makes a gross blunder in her supposed comparison of poverty between American and Finland (when poverty is defined as “below median income”).

Ripley advances the premise, “great schools are among the most effective anti-poverty measures known to humanity.”

Ripley does not bother to define what makes a “great school.” From the focus of her post, apparently a “great school” is one that delivers high standardized test scores.

I believe that “great schools” are well-funded; that the focus of “great schools” is not on standardized test scores; that “great schools” respect their teachers and the teaching profession; that “great schools” foster growth of the entire student– physically, emotionally, morally, AND academically, and that “great schools” have community

DailyCensored US Universities of Shame: Part II -

DailyCensored.com – Breaking Censored News, World, Independent, Liberal NewsUS Universities of Shame: Part II - DailyCensored.com - Breaking Censored News, World, Independent, Liberal News:

US Universities of Shame: Part II

By Stephen Lendman on January 4, 2014 5:50 pm / no comments

Previous articles discussed the American Studies Association (ASA). Its boycott of Israeli academic institutions matters.

It followed Association for Asian American Studies (AAAS) members unanimously approving one last April.

They acted responsibly. Doing so reflects growing BDS support. It’s happening in Europe. It’s gaining US adherents.

They reject Israeli lawlessness. They deplore occupation harshness. They denounce decades of crimes of war, against humanity and genocide.

Join the Project Censored Newsletter Here!

Over 90 US college and university presidents are polar opposite. They support wrong over right. They did it disgracefully. They violate fundamental moral, ethical, and legal standards doing so.

They ignored cold hard facts. They ignored decades of Israeli high crimes. They ignored its viciousness. They ignored its contempt for Islam. They ignored how it treats non-Jews.

They support racist persecution without saying so. They turned a blind eye to occupation harshness.

They ignored Israeli academia in league with IDF militarism and lawless aggression. They ignored what demands condemnation. More on this below.

Hall of shame institutions include:

American University (President Cornelius M. Kerwin)
Amherst College (President Carolyn A. Martin)
Barnard College (President Debora Spar)
Birmingham Southern College (President Charles C. Krulak)
Boston University (President Robert A. Brown)
Bowdoin College (President Barry Mills)
Brandeis University (President Frederick M. Lawrence)
Bro

Coop’s Childhood Part I – As I Was Told | Lefty Parent

Coop’s Childhood Part I – As I Was Told | Lefty Parent:

Coop’s Childhood Part I – As I Was Told

January 4th, 2014 at 13:32

Eric & Jane

I was born on April 2, 1955 in the maternity ward of the University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor Michigan. My mother, Jane Roberts Zale, was 32 years old, older than many first time mothers in those days. My father, Eric Michael Zale, was six years older than Jane. Theirs, I would later learn, would be a very unorthodox style of parenting, much more egalitarian than conventional practice, giving me a greater amount of freedom than most kids were blessed with. But given particularly my mom’s childhood story (I know little about my dad’s) that gift of an independent childhood had been passed through the generations.

As I get older, I am more and more amazed about the story of how my mom decided to go to Ann Arbor. An unlikely odyssey in 1947 for a single young woman of 23, but one consistent with her independent spirit, well nourished in her own childhood, that started a chain of events that led to my birth. Another thirty-two years later in 1978, I would embark on my own comparable odyssey to Los Angeles, coincidentally at age 23 as well.

Based on her telling, my mom had had a childhood mixing idyllic joys and adventures with some difficult family relationships, particularly with her mother Caroline. Jane was the first of three children, her brother John just two years younger and her sister Pat born to an entirely different generation 14 years later. Born in Dedham Massachusetts outside Boston, my mom would later recall to me only good memories of adventures playing outdoors as a kid. Her family moved to Watkins Glen New York during the depression, after the jewelry business her dad worked for as a salesperson failed. From that period more stories from my mom of playing in the namesake glen across the street

NY Times Writer Explores Farina’s Style and Substance | janresseger

NY Times Writer Explores Farina’s Style and Substance | janresseger:

NY Times Writer Explores Farina’s Style and Substance

Posted on January 4, 2014 by janresseger

This morning in the NY Times, without framing her discussion in the values of the corporate reforms of the Bloomberg administration, Ginia Bellafante examines the educational philosophy, background and style of the new chancellor of the NYC public schools, Carmen Farina.

Yesterday I criticized NY Times coverage as biased toward Mayor Bloomberg’s so-called reforms and suggested reading the NY Daily News for fairer coverage of education issues in New York City. I am pleased to see today’s objective profile of Farina in the NY Times, though I continue to suggest consulting both papers for education news.

Bellafante describes Farina as “both fierce and dexterous,” a principal and administrator who practiced kindness, firmness, and doggedness. Farina “opposes… myopic systems of learning in which real knowledge becomes a casualty of test knowledge, and what she calls ‘the gotcha

Latest News and Comment from Education

Saturday, January 4, 2014

Nite Cap 1-4-14 #BATsACT #RealEdTalk #EDCHAT #P2

James Baldwin said it best:

"For these are all our children, and we will profit by or pay for whatever they become."

YESTERDAY

The Curse of Paul Vallas: the Boomerang of Personal Greed | Reclaim Reform

The Curse of Paul Vallas: the Boomerang of Personal Greed