6-7-14 Saturday Matinée Double Feature "Just Sayin' " and "Corporate ED Reform: Something's Fishy!" News Breakout

Saturday Matinée Double Feature 

"Just Sayin' "  

and 

"Corporate ED Reform: Something's Fishy!"

 News Breakout

One percent’s twisted new heist: What’s really behind privatization - Salon.com

One percent’s twisted new heist: What’s really behind privatization - Salon.com: One percent’s twisted new heist: What’s really behind privatizationOutsourcing government not only leads to poor services -- it's killing the middle class, an expert tells SalonJamie Dimon, Donald Trump, David Koch (Credit: Reuters/Yuri Gripas/AP/Dan Hallman/Evan Agostini)As most experts and layman enthusiasts will te

by mike simpson / 1h 

Marie Corfield: NJ GOP is not stronger than Superstorm Christie

Marie Corfield: NJ GOP is not stronger than Superstorm Christie: NJ GOP is not stronger than Superstorm ChristieFor those readers old enough to remember, this image is a parody of the fierce reaction to President Gerald Ford's infamous but false response to NY City's 1970's financial crisis. Even though he never said those words, he might as well have because his reaction to the city's request for

by mike simpson / 2h 

Do not celebrate when a state pulls out of the Common Core tests – of the state’s brand. | Reclaim Reform

Do not celebrate when a state pulls out of the Common Core tests – of the state’s brand. | Reclaim Reform: Do not celebrate when a state pulls out of the Common Core tests – of the state’s brand.Posted on June 7, 2014by Ken PrevitiThe multiple brand names for water and high stakes standardized tests are misleading – to say the least.Do not celebrate when a state pulls out of the Common Core tests

by mike simpson / 2h 

NYC Educator: The Waiting Is the Easiest Part

NYC Educator: The Waiting Is the Easiest Part: The Waiting Is the Easiest PartIt's been over five years since any NYC teacher has seen a raise, despite the nonsense purveyed by tabloids. I've repeatedly read arguments that step increases are raises, from Bloomberg and various teacher-bashing op-ed columnists. That most other city workers got not only step increases, but also actual raises, was nei

by mike simpson / 2h 

An Incentive Program for the Feds | Missouri Education Watchdog

An Incentive Program for the Feds | Missouri Education Watchdog: An Incentive Program for the FedsinShareRace To the Top was the Federal Incentive program for states to adopt common core and the assessments. Maybe what they need now is a state developed incentive program for them to clean up their act.Utah lawmakers are considering dropping their request for an extension of their No Child Left Beh

by mike simpson / 2h 

2nd Banana 6-7-14 Recap of Last Week's Best Post #EDchat #EDreform #RealEdTalk #p2

BIG EDUCATION APE 2ND BANANARECAP OF LAST WEEK'S BEST POST       We, the undersigned, demand the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation divest from corporate education reform. | Teachers' Letters to Bill GatesWe, the undersigned, demand the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation divest from corporate education reform. | Teachers' Letters to Bill Gates: We, the undersigned, demand the Bill and Melinda Gates

by mike simpson / 3h 

6-7-14 With A Brooklyn Accent:

With A Brooklyn Accent: Notorious Phd on the New Orleans Charter DistrictIt started under Bush,But Duncan Loved It,The City of New Orleans,Told teachers to shove it,When Katrina struck,They brought charters in,With TFA to staff them,Saying students would win,But 9 years later,The schools may be worse,What looked like progress,Is just the reverse.A privatized district,With revolving door staffWhere

by mike simpson / 4h 

Oregon Save Our Schools: Sen. Ron Wyden Doesn't Get It On Common Core

Oregon Save Our Schools: Sen. Ron Wyden Doesn't Get It On Common Core: Sen. Ron Wyden Doesn't Get It On Common CorePat Eck, an OSOS member, recently wrote to Senator Ron Wyden concerning the Common Core State Standards. Here is Wyden’s responding email which is confusing as he recognizes that many constituents have raised concerns to him, yet he continues to think Common Core and the testing to be

by mike simpson / 4h 

Morning Wink 6-7-14 AM Posts #BATsACT #RealEdTalk #EDCHAT #P2

BIG EDUCATION APE - MORNING WINK  AM POSTS6-7-14 Jersey Jazzman NJ Ed News Round-up Jammin' All WeekJersey Jazzman:Jersey Jazzman Jammin' All WeekSo Why Didn't the Police Ever Investigate Michelle Rhee?Remember the "amusing" story of how Michelle Rhee, in her first year of teaching in Baltimore, taped her students' mouths shut? How she tried to find the "humor" in making her se

1 by mike simpson / 5h 

6-7-14 Jersey Jazzman NJ Ed News Round-up Jammin' All Week

Jersey Jazzman:Jersey Jazzman Jammin' All WeekSo Why Didn't the Police Ever Investigate Michelle Rhee?Remember the "amusing" story of how Michelle Rhee, in her first year of teaching in Baltimore, taped her students' mouths shut? How she tried to find the "humor" in making her second graders bleed? Remember when Alex Russo told us, when he heard about the story: "I'm not s

by mike simpson / 5h 

6-7-13 Curmudgucation Week

CURMUDGUCATION:Curmudgucation WeekData-Driven DiscriminationIf you needed any more reason to be wary of the massive upsuck of student data from the education system, The Weekly Wonk offers more reason to fear our Data Overlords.  Seeta Peña Gangadharan, and Samuel Woolley, a pair of data wonks, have written "Decoding Discrimination in the Digital Age," a brief overview of some of the con

by mike simpson / 5h 

6-7-14 NPE News Briefs ← from The Network for Public Education

NPE News Briefs ← from The Network for Public Education:NPE News Briefsfrom The Network for Public EducationOpinion: Chancellor Should Take a Stand on Field Testing | WNYCSchools Chancellor Carmen Fariña missed a crucial opportunity this week, as field tests started in schools across the city. She should have told parents and school leaders that they could choose whether to let their children part

by mike simpson / 5h 

6-7-14 THE WHOLE WEEK @ The Whole Child Blog — Whole Child Education

The Whole Child Blog — Whole Child Education:THE WHOLE WEEK @ The Whole Child Blog Free Webinar: Technology Integration to Meet the Needs of the Common CoreJoin ASCD Faculty member Andrew Miller for an exciting, free webinar to learn how to integrate technology in your classroom to support students' needs and the Common Core. Monday, June 9, 2014, 3:00 p.m. eastern time Register now! In this webin

by mike simpson / 5h 

6-7-14 This Week in LA - School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD

LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District):Ca’s reduction of student suspensions leads most statesVia EdSource | By Susan Frey A report released this week by The Council of State Governments Justice Center calls on school districts across the nation to hold themselves accountable for a positive school climate as well as test scores. “Research and d

by mike simpson / 5h 

6-7-14 Scathing Purple Musings | Color me purple in Florida ALL Week

Scathing Purple Musings | Color me purple in Florida, red in Washington, dark sky-blue in Israel and public school in Education:Scathing Purple Musings  Color me purple in Florida ALL WeekRick Scott’s “Education Investment” a “Paper Tiger”The editors of the Lakeland Ledger focus on Polk County Schools  woes they will experience under the education budget which Governor Rick Scott signed yesterday.

by mike simpson / 5h 

All Week @ The Answer Sheet 6-7-14

The Answer Sheet:All Week @ The Answer SheetNewseum in D.C. to create free 9/11 curriculum for teachersIn an effort to teach current and future generations of young people about what happened to the United States in the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, the Newseum in Washington D.C. will create a new interactive online curriculum that will be available for free to teachers and students everywh

by mike simpson / 5h 

6-7-14 Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Schooling in the Ownership Society All Week

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog:Schooling in the Ownership SocietyMike Klonsky's SmallTalk Schooling in the Ownership SocietyBridging DifferencesQuick Review: 'Exit Strategy' Looks At A Doomed SchoolGuest blogger Susan Klonsky reviews Exit Strategy If there has been another theater piece about the impact of school closings,  I haven’t heard about it. Ike Holter’s Exit Strategy at Jackalope Theater t

by mike simpson / 5h 

6-7-14 Wait What? - Jonathan Pelto: Gubernatorial Candidate and A Really Nice Guy

Wait What?:  Wait What? All WeekIpswich, Mass sixth grade students demand payment for taking Common Core Field TestsIn a Boston Tea Party like moment, a group of sixth-grade students from Ipswich, Massachusetts are making a stand.  Like Connecticut’s public schools students, they were used as unpaid lab rats in this spring’s Common Core test of the test. Under the laws and regulations of the Unite

by mike simpson / 5h 

6-7-14 Seattle Schools Community Forum Week

Seattle Schools Community Forum:Seattle Schools Community ForumSeattle Schools and SecurityA reader put up a letter from Queen Anne Elementary principal, David Elliott, that was written in light of yesterday's Seattle Pacific U shootings (QA Elementary is fairly close by as is Coe Elementary).  Mr. Elliott calmly explains what they did once the event became known to this (and this happened as scho

by mike simpson / 5h 

6-7-14 Ed Notes Online Week

Ed Notes Online: Ed Notes OnlineFred Smith Calls Farina on Field Test Waste of Learning TimeFrom Schoolbook. Go Fred. No time now but I will add to this later about the Bronx teacher who was fired years ago because 4 of his 8th grade classes refused to take the field tests. Search ed notes for Doug Avella if interested. I've been too busy with the contract stuff so have neglected the great work Fr

by mike simpson / 5h 

6-7-14 Fred All Week Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher

Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher who is just looking at the data.: Fred All Week Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacherTen minute drawing. Rahm’s city of lights.by Fred Klonsky / 12min Keeping retirement weird. The kids play their ukes with the old guy.  The west end of the parking lot of the huge old Harrison High School in Little Village was fil

by mike simpson / 5h 

6-7-14 Perdido Street School Week

Perdido Street School: Perdido Street School WeekZephyr Teachout Wants To Make Testing/Teacher Evaluation Protest A Centerpiece Of An Anti-Cuomo CampaignJummy Vielkind at Capital NY:ALBANY—Zephyr Teachout says it will be at least another week before she decides whether to mount a left-flank challenge to Governor Andrew Cuomo. “My decision is based on whether I can put together the resources to mou

by mike simpson / 5h 

6-7-14 the becoming radical EMPATHYEDUCATES! | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness by P. L. Thomas, EdD

THE BECOMING RADICALRadical ScholarshipEMPATHYEDUCATES!the becoming radical  A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness by Death to Common Core! Long Live Failed Education Policy!From the beginning of the call for and debate about Common Core, I have taken a clear stand against the promise of standards-based reform; for example, Why Common Standards Won’t Work: A call for national standards ensures that w

by mike simpson / 5h 

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit 6-7-14

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit:4LAKIDS - SOME OF THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT  New Orleans Rebuilds Education System With Charter Schoolsfrom the PBS NewsHour |http://to.pbs.org/1kKIFb1 June 5, 2014 at 6:29 PM EDT  ::  On September, New Orleans will be the country’s first all-charter school district. The evolution was accelerated after Hurricane Katrina, when state officials and others s

by mike simpson / 6h 

Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Week… 6-7-14 …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EF

Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFLLARRY FERLAZZO’S WEBSITES OF THE DAYThe Best Social Studies Sites Of 2014 — So FarHere’s one more in my series of mid-year “Best” lists (you can see all 1,300 of the lists here). You might also be interested in these previous posts: The “All-Time” Best Social Studies Sites The Best Social Studies Sites Of 2013 – Part Two The

by mike simpson / 6h 

This Week's Education Research Report 5-31-14 #SOSCHAT #EDCHAT #P2

Education Research ReportTHIS WEEK'S EDUCATION RESEARCH REPORTInteractive teaching methods help students master tricky calculusThe key to helping students learn complicated math is to understand how to apply it to new ideas and make learning more interactive, according to a new study by UBC researchers. Pre-class assignments, small group discussions and clicker quizzes improve students’ ability to

by mike simpson / 6h 

6-7-14 Schools Matter All Week

Schools Matter:  Schools Matter All WeekArne and the summer slidePosted on: http://stateimpact.npr.org/ohio/2014/06/05/the-impact-of-the-summer-slide/ Arne Duncan has suggested that year-round school is the solution to the summer slide.  Thanks to the common core, year-round school will make things worse. Research tells us that those living in poverty have the least access to books. Students livin

by mike simpson / 6h 

All Week 6-7-14 @ THE CHALK FACE

@ THE CHALK FACE : All Week @ THE CHALK FACE Dr. Krashen’s Solutions Work! Preempt “summer learning loss” by addressing poverty, and ensuring access to books!Providing more access to interesting reading material by investing in public libraries and librarians is an excellent way to deal with summer learning loss. — Dr. Stephen D. Krashen Let’s talk about serendipity. This morning at teacher sent m

by mike simpson / 6h hide  //  save

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH ALL WEEK LONG Diane Ravitch's blog 6-7-14 #thankateacher #EDCHAT #P2

Diane Ravitch's blogLISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH ALL WEEK LONGDIANE RAVITCH'S BLOGGeorge Joseph: Exposé of Trafficking in TeachersThis is an amazing story, written by investigative reporter George Joseph. It seems there are recruitment agencies that go to other nations, the Philippines especially, hire good teachers, charge outrageous placement fees, and send them to work in American schools. He writes

by mike simpson / 6h 

YESTERDAY

Nite Cap 6-6-14 #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."A BIG EDUCATION APE NITE CAPWe Don’t Have Time To Wait For Schools to Improve. But Real Change Happens Slowly. And There Are No Cookie-Cutter Solutions. | Gatsby In L.A.We Don’t Have Time To Wait For Schools to Improve. But Real Change Happens Slowly. And There Are No Cooki

by mike simpson / 20h

One percent’s twisted new heist: What’s really behind privatization - Salon.com

One percent’s twisted new heist: What’s really behind privatization - Salon.com:

One percent’s twisted new heist: What’s really behind privatization

Outsourcing government not only leads to poor services -- it's killing the middle class, an expert tells Salon

Jamie Dimon, Donald Trump, David Koch (Credit: Reuters/Yuri Gripas/AP/Dan Hallman/Evan Agostini)

As most experts and layman enthusiasts will tell you, there’s no one, single explanation for the past 30-plus years of growing economic inequality. Its drivers are multiple and separating one from the other is often quite complicated. Low taxes on wealthy individuals and corporations, the gutting of labor unions, the increased mobility of capital, technological gains, overly protective intellectual property law; the list goes on.

In fact, here’s another one to add to the list: privatization. According to “Race to the Bottom: How Outsourcing Public Services Rewards Corporations and Punishes the Middle Class,” a new study from In the Public Interest, a think tank focused on how privatization affects the economy, the routine practice of outsourcing government functions is another important reason why the middle class is shrinking as those at the very top reap more and more of the fruits of our economy. To explain how that is — and why it’s important that people committed to economic justice push back against the practice — Salon recently spoke with ITPI research and policy director Shar Habibi. Our conversation is below and has been edited for length and clarity.

I think the general perception is that privatization/government outsourcing really kicked off under Reagan, so about 30 years ago. Is it still a problem today?

I think that 30-year time frame is correct in terms of when the idea really gained steam, but I would say, since the financial crisis in 2008, there have been a lot of cities and states that have had budget shortfalls and some financial stress, and private companies have been coming in and saying, “We can do this better, faster and cheaper; we can take over these services and run them for you.” Unfortunately, there’s really a growing body of evidence that these claims are untrue and that public services that have been outsourced are not running better, faster and cheaper. What our report specifically looks at is how government outsourcing degrades jobs and One percent’s twisted new heist: What’s really behind privatization - Salon.com:

Marie Corfield: NJ GOP is not stronger than Superstorm Christie

Marie Corfield: NJ GOP is not stronger than Superstorm Christie:

NJ GOP is not stronger than Superstorm Christie

For those readers old enough to remember, this image is a parody of the fierce reaction to President Gerald Ford's infamous but false response to NY City's 1970's financial crisis. Even though he never said those words, he might as well have because his reaction to the city's request for financial help was part of his political undoing. 

My point is not to rehash what happened 40 years ago so, gentle readers, please limit your comments to current events. If you want the back story, read thisNY Times piece. In a nutshell it was a classic case of liberal vs. conservative values locked in a game of Chicken. The only difference is that unlike many of today's elected officials, both sides blinked: they came together and worked it out. 

With 30 years’ hindsight, some of the players say that if Mr. Ford had acquiesced to the city’s appeals months or even weeks earlier, New York might never have recovered. 

“Ford was good for New York, because he made us clean up our act,” said Henry J. Stern, a former parks commissioner and city councilman. 

On balance, investment banker Felix G. Rohatyn said, “I think he was a plus. Ford did change his mind, and you can’t say that about every president.” 

Edward I. Koch, who succeeded Mr. Beame, said of Mr. Ford: “Obviously he was persuaded his original position was wrong, and that shows a great man open to change. I hold nothing against him. And there are very few people, even when they’re dead, that I hold nothing against.”

2014: This isn't Ronald Reagan's version of bipartisanship

While worshipping at the feet of the tax-raising, deficit-raising, federal spending-raising, amnesty-giving, Ronald Regan, Gov. Christie forgets that despite their political and Marie Corfield: NJ GOP is not stronger than Superstorm Christie:

Do not celebrate when a state pulls out of the Common Core tests – of the state’s brand. | Reclaim Reform

Do not celebrate when a state pulls out of the Common Core tests – of the state’s brand. | Reclaim Reform:

Do not celebrate when a state pulls out of the Common Core tests – of the state’s brand.

Posted on June 7, 2014by Ken Previti

The multiple brand names for water and high stakes standardized tests are misleading – to say the least.

Do not celebrate when a state pulls out of the Common Core tests – of the state’s brand.

Too many politicians are scamming us and our children when they simply shift public education tax money from one brand of high stakes testing to another. Who gets the new billion dollar contracts? Obviously, the corporations who contribute to the re-election campaigns of the officials who grant the funds. Same old, same old – new name. It is still the insane testing craze with an arbitrarily and politically created cut-off point (failure level) for political power and private profit.

It’s called re-branding.This is no cause to celebrate.

Zephyhills Spring Water doesn’t come from Zephyrhills or a spring even though the front label says, “100% Natural Spring Water.” Nestle’s Global is perhaps the largest private, water bottling corporation in the world. Lobbyists have financed American legislation to legalize this. Tap water is simply branded for profit – immense profit. See the * info below for more. Read the Tampa Bay Times investigative article HERE. For lists of water brands, readHERE.

Pearson, CTB/McGrawhIll, Education Testing Services (ETS), Riverside Publishing and its Do not celebrate when a state pulls out of the Common Core tests – of the state’s brand. | Reclaim Reform:

NYC Educator: The Waiting Is the Easiest Part

NYC Educator: The Waiting Is the Easiest Part:

The Waiting Is the Easiest Part

It's been over five years since any NYC teacher has seen a raise, despite the nonsense purveyed by tabloids. I've repeatedly read arguments that step increases are raises, from Bloomberg and various teacher-bashing op-ed columnists. That most other city workers got not only step increases, but also actual raises, was neither here nor there.

Now, at last, there is a UFT contract, the skies are all blue, and all the people are singing songs of joy. Except, of course, those who resigned before the contract signing. And anyone who resigns before receiving that fabulous retro, now at a staggering and life-altering 2%. And, of course, those who rose within the ranks to be supervisors, who are now hearing there may be a fight before they get their money.

There's a certain cynicism at work here. After all, neither those who resigned nor those who moved up will likely join the 52% of retirees who decide UFT elections. So who really cares what they do or how they feel?  We've already established second-tier due process for working members of the ATR, so what's it to us if we screw a few thousand people out of money for which they've actually worked? It's not like they're gonna make the elite Unity Caucus to have fewer gala luncheons.

It turns out, though, that some teachers who resigned actually read the news, and have decided they should be recipients of the money they actually earned. Not only that, but they're now contemplating a class action suit to get that money. And it appears there is precedent:

In May 2001, the Hoosicks Falls school district and local teachers union approved a new contract that included retro pay for the years 1999 and 2000.
The agreement said the back pay only covered current employees, and excluded those who worked those years but then left the payroll.
But 11 former teachers sued the union and the school district for back pay and won.

Maybe it isn't a good idea, when negotiating what is clearly an inequitable monstrosity for working teachers, to simply say screw everyone who can't vote for us. Maybe it wasn't a good idea to promise no increase in health care, publicly label bloggers who questioned the program liars, NYC Educator: The Waiting Is the Easiest Part:

An Incentive Program for the Feds | Missouri Education Watchdog

An Incentive Program for the Feds | Missouri Education Watchdog:

An Incentive Program for the Feds

inShare

Race To the Top was the Federal Incentive program for states to adopt common core and the assessments. Maybe what they need now is a state developed incentive program for them to clean up their act.

Utah lawmakers are considering dropping their request for an extension of their No Child Left Behind waiver. This could be another domino falling away from the federal department of education’s control of state education agencies.

Washington State held similar debates this spring about the teacher evaluation portion of their waiver requirements. For years they had tied teacher evaluations to student test scores. The only difference between their evaluation program and the federally “incentivized” one was that they allowed school districts to choose from a number of tests to demonstrate student proficiency. The Feds would only accept scores from the common core aligned standardized tests.

Washington lawmakers decided to take federal law as, well, the law and stick with their own teacher evaluation plan. The Elementary and Secondary Education Act forbids the federal government from “exercis[ing] any direction, supervision, or control over the curriculum, program of instruction, administration, or personnel of any educational institution, school, or school system.” Seems a teacher evaluation that determines whether you get to keep your job is about as close to direct control over personnel as you can get. DC did pull Washington’s waiver but the state is standing strong and finding ways to work around the loss of flexibility over their $40 million in federal Title I funding.

Oklahoma is the latest state now to test the federal control using the waiver. Proponents of the An Incentive Program for the Feds | Missouri Education Watchdog: