8-30-14 Hemlock on the Rocks

Hemlock on the Rocks:

Half a Million NYC Parents Support their Kid’s Teachers - Don't Tread on Educators

                                         http://dtoe.org/2014/08/31/parents-support-teachers/ Half a Million NYC Parents Support their Kid's TeachersAccording to the NYC Department of Education' School Survey, that was just released, 485,696 parents took part.  When asked about the quality of their teachers,  96% stated they were satisfied or very satisfied.  http://schools.nyc.gov/NR/rdonlyres/E9

by Rene Diedrich / 4min 

The Soap Opera of Teacher “Tenure” in AMERICA and Beyond

deutsch29 posted: "I am a tenured, career public school teacher. As such, I realize I am Public Enemy Number One to the fiscally-well-backed, non-teaching finger-pointers who call themselves "education reformers." If only I could be fired without recourse, American ed" Respond to this post by replying above this line New post on deutsch29

by Rene Diedrich / 31min 

Fwd: SOLIDARITY? Call in or/and Listen !To Lois Wiener Scholar on What is Going Down in Education ! Radio show/ call in today -

Your participation is most welcome!Special Labor Day program on teachers unions on the War Report with Mary Compton and yours truly: Where we are, where we should be this Labor Day. 2pm PT, 5pm ET Listen (phone in too - 888.627.6008) http://bbsradio.com/thewarreport -- Lois Weiner, ProfessorElementary and Secondary EducationNew Jersey City University2039 Kennedy Blvd.Jersey City, NJ 07305ph

by Rene Diedrich / 31min hide  //  save

The Ratliff Report: Does the People's Choice Going to Come Clean about LAUSDeasy's iPad Shenanigans? Here is the link to the full report.

1 by Rene Diedrich / 45min 

So apparently something is going down with Tenure Terrorists in NYC : here is a snippet of the crazy thread between Weingarten, Wiener, Portelos, Ravitch and other members of the Resistance.

Sounds like campbell brownt  really put the squeeze on mona d and sam p.....  All these folks volunteered to help them until the cases were on track to be consolidated, then they all withdrew.......its Mona's word against Campbell's-- but the withdrawals suggest Mona is right.Follow the money-leads to Eva M and the Success Charters.  One wonders why they-who don't have to follow these due process

by Rene Diedrich / 46min 

Do criticisms of U.S. schools rely on. False information, bad Data and distortions

http://www.ajc.com/weblogs/get-schooled/2014/aug/30/education-mythbusters/ LIKE......DUH! University of Georgia professor and frequent AJC Get Schooled contributor Peter Smagorinsky discusses an interesting new book exposing the misperceptions and distortions about America's schools. By Peter SmagorinskyA years back there was a public service ad on TV that featured a teenaged boy discussing a maj

by Rene Diedrich / 5min 

SAY what, Mister Deasy? County education officials question LA schools' financial plans |

http://www.scpr.org/blogs/education/2014/08/20/17182/county-education-officials-question-la-schools-fin/ County education officials question LA schools' financial plans Pete/ Flickr Creative Commons The Los Angeles County Office of Education is questioning the L.A. Unified school district's report on how it plans to spend new state funds targeted at disadvantaged youth - asking whether ad

by Rene Diedrich / 5min 

iFail: Why John Deasy's Risky iPad Gambit Crashed and Burned at LAUSD | The Informer | Los Angeles | Los Angeles News and Events | LA Weekly

by Rene Diedrich / 5min 

Privatization Public Education Launches a Full Frontal Attack on Califormia

http://upwa.info/documents/Public%20Education.htm United Public Workers for Action Stop Privatization of Public Education & Union Busting! No More Public Money To Charters, End Teach For America TFA And Stop The "Common Core" Testing Scam Public education is under a frontal attack organized and supported by the Democratic president Obama, his Education Secretary Arnie Duncan with

by Rene Diedrich / 5min hide  //  save

Adapt or Die: The Political Evolution of Jerry Brown « Calbuzz

http://www.calbuzz.com/2010/03/adapt-or-die-how-jerry-sees-political-evolution/ Adapt or Die: The Political Evolution of Jerry Brown Jerry Brown roared back into California politics last week, putting on a clinic on how to win free media exposure, with a webcast announcement, CBS Evening News and Larry King Live appearances, sit-downs with more than three dozen newspaper, TV and radio outlets in

1 by Rene Diedrich / 5min 

8-30-14 Hemlock on the Rocks (The Big Gulp)

Hemlock on the Rocks: Song For Gloria Astro Turf Queen“Gloria” With apologies to Laura Branigan Gloria, you’re always on the run now.Running after teachers, you gotta get them somehow.I think you’ve got to get a teaching job, but you’ll probably blow it.I think you’re headed for a breakdown, so be careful not to show it You really don’t know squat, you just follow what Gates and Broad say?All the

by mike simpson / 57min 

8-31-14 All NEW Living in Dialogue

Home - Living in Dialogue:

Politicizing the Common Core as Candidates Plan Their Next Moves

Across the country, politicians are reacting to the Common Core debate. Some are sinking and others are swimming in their support or condemnation of the national standards. The post Politicizing the Common Core as Candidates Plan Their Next Moves appeared first on Living in Dialogue.

7 by Robert Perry / 40min 

8-30-14 All NEW Living in Dialogue

Home | Living in Dialogue:Arne Duncan’s Edu-Politics 101By John Thompson. National and local reporters who cover the Education beat already know the full story behind Secretary of Education Arne Duncan’s retreat from his demands that states comply fully and immediately to everything on his corporate reform wish list. Most have displayed balance and excellence in reporting on the second tier issue

by mike simpson / 51min 

Teachers: Happy Labor Day? | educarenow

Teachers: Happy Labor Day? | educarenow:

Teachers: Happy Labor Day?

Posted on August 31, 2014 | Leave a comment

The Detroit Free Press’s “Raw Data” series just came out with an article pointing out the decline in teacher salaries in Michigan (and most of the rest of the country) since 1999.

Mind you, this decline has taken place at the same time many Michigan colleges have increased graduation requirements for teacher certification to 5 years.  So, due to the increased time needed for certification, the cost of college has increased  for those aspiring to be teachers, as the certification and renewal process has also become more difficult and costly, while teachers must meet the requirements of “highly qualified” as determined by NCLB.

And pay is declining.

Oh, those selfish teachers.

From the Free Press:

“Salaries for public school teachers in Michigan declined 8% between 1999 and 2012 — the third largest decline among states, according to data from the National Education Association. The average salary for a Michigan public school teacher was $61,560 in 2012. Nationwide, teacher salaries declined by about 1%, to $56,383, with 27 states reporting that average salaries fell during the same period.

Average teacher salaries vary depending upon teacher education and years of experience. Michigan public school teachers with a bachelor’s degree as their Teachers: Happy Labor Day? | educarenow:

Students Should Be Creative Innovators, Not Force-Fed Consumers of Status-Quo Knowledge

Students Should Be Creative Innovators, Not Force-Fed Consumers of Status-Quo Knowledge:

Students Should Be Creative Innovators, Not Force-Fed Consumers of Status-Quo Knowledge

Sunday, 31 August 2014 09:57By Mark Karlin, Truthout | Interview/News Analysis

Mark Naison. (Photo: Haymarket Books)

 Make a contribution Truthout and receive the book Badass Teachers Unite by clicking here.

The following is an interview with Bad Ass Teachers Unite author Mark Naison:

Mark Karlin: As the excerpt fromBadass Teachers Unite, Truthout chose a section you wrote called"Education Reformers and the New Jim Crow." You make the case in just two pages that the ruling elites are pushing privatization of schools by ignoring the social and economic realities surrounding many students of color and limited economic means. Can you elaborate?

Mark Naison: Much of what is in this piece comes from my perceptions of how Bloomberg-era school reform affected Bronx schools.  When the Bloomberg administration decided to give letter grades to schools in 2007, largely based on student test scores, and followed it up by closing large numbers of Bronx public schools and replacing them with charters, one of the consequences was to drive out the community history projects I was doing in more than 20 Bronx schools. Public schools, fearing closure, now had no time for anything but test prep, and the charters had no interest in community history. It became clear to me, watching this happen, that  the Bloomberg DOE had no interest in drawing upon the Bronx community's history and traditions as a source of inspiration and strength   

There was also no room in school reform, Bloomberg style, for social justice pedagogy.  During the last four years of the Bloomberg mayoralty, Bronx residents, especially young people, were up in arms about stop and frisk and the militarized policing that had descended upon Bronx neighborhoods.  There were scores of protests and meetings in the borough, but schools were not actively participating in these protests, even though their students were those most affected.  There was no attempt to link the most important social policy affecting young people in the Bronx to what was going on in the classroom. That to me symbolized school reform policies that aimed to insulate schools in low-income communities from the problems their residents faced, rather than have schools actively engage with those problems and help solve them.

Of three parts of the book, you devote the second to "youth issues and student activism." You also state on page 138 that it's time to transform into "liberated zones where teachers, students, and parents can talk freely about" how to improve their schools and empower their Students Should Be Creative Innovators, Not Force-Fed Consumers of Status-Quo Knowledge:

8-31-14 Connected Principals | Sharing. Learning. Leading.

Connected Principals | Sharing. Learning. Leading.:

What Digital Accelerates #LeadershipDay14

This post is my contribution to Leadership Day 2014. #154397882 / gettyimages.com   The term is thrown around in circles often and it is something that I have focused on in my work with students.  What I concluded around the term was “the opportunity to use technologies to make a significant impact on the lives of others.”  In schools, we have focused on the notion of “digital citizenship” for

3 by George Couros / 17min 

New Beginnings

So this past Friday I had the opportunity to meet dozens of new students and their families who have just recently arrived new from all over the world to our amazing school, and it got me thinking about new beginnings. There is not much in the world that I love more than a fresh start and a clean slate, as they always come dripping with opportunity, possibility, excitement, and promise. That said,

2 by dkerr / 20min hide  //  save

Embrace Diversity with Civility

The Hilliard City School District is a diverse learning community – we embrace our diversity and strive to create an accepting and welcoming culture. Our diversity includes cultural and racial diversity with students from more than 40 countries speaking more than 40 languages. Our diversity includes dozens of religious background and faith-based organizations. Our diversity crosses political and i

3 by John Marschhausen / 50min 

50 Shades of Grey: An Educational Conundrum

Kids? Politics? Both? Traumatic brain injury = a conundrum wrapped in a mystery, buried in an enigma, and shrouded by secrecy   The best part about our profession of education is…kids! Most–if not all–of us teach on the most dedicated staff, with the greatest kids, affectionately supported by a passionate community, in a district that unconditionally puts kids first and is a 21st century education

by Sam LeDeaux / 50min 

Gene V Glass: Education in Two Worlds: Texas Charters Use Occasion of Texas Judge's Decision to Whine About Their Funding

Gene V Glass: Education in Two Worlds: Texas Charters Use Occasion of Texas Judge's Decision to Whine About Their Funding:

Texas Charters Use Occasion of Texas Judge's Decision to Whine About Their Funding

The Texas Charter Schools Association was hoping to get Judge Dietz — who ruled on August 28th that Texas school funding levels were inadequate and unconstitutional — to declare inequitable the $1000 difference between charter and traditional per pupil expenditures. He didn't. He simply ignored their arguments that charter schools should be supported at the same per pupil expenditure as traditional public schools.The Association whined in a press release the same day. "...the judge got it wrong on specific charter claims, and it's now time for the Texas Supreme Court to get it right," said David Dunn, executive director of the Texas Charter Schools Association (TCSA). "Public charter schools have answered the call from parents for more quality education choices and innovative options, but we know that parents aren't willingly choosing to walk away from needed funds for their students. It's unfair to provide the option and not provide the means."

In reality, charter schools are stripped-down, bare-bones, hollow institutions that pay teachers below scale and line the pockets of Education Management Gene V Glass: Education in Two Worlds: Texas Charters Use Occasion of Texas Judge's Decision to Whine About Their Funding:

Poll: Michigan should place moratorium on new charter schools pending review | Detroit Free Press | freep.com

Poll: Michigan should place moratorium on new charter schools pending review | Detroit Free Press | freep.com:

Poll: Michigan should place moratorium on new charter schools pending review

The state should place a moratorium on opening any new charter schools until the Michigan Department of Education and the state Legislature conduct a full review of the charter school system, a majority of respondents in a new poll say.

In the poll of 600 likely voters, conducted by EPIC-MRA of Lansing this month and released exclusively to the Detroit Free Press, WXYZ-TV (Channel 7) and statewide news media partners, 73% of respondents said they would favor the move.

The poll comes as state schools Superintendent Mike Flanagan awaits responses from 11 of the state’s 40 charter authorizers on why he shouldn’t suspend their ability to open new schools. The authorizers were put on an “at risk” list for reasons that include academic performance, significant financial deficiencies in their 2013 audit, or if one or more of their schools had charter contracts that failed to meet certain requirements by MDE.

■ Related: Michigan voters speak out about charter schools

■ State of charter schools: How Michigan spends $1 billion but fails to hold schools accountable

It also comes on the heels of an investigation by the Free Press into charter schools. The eight-day “State of Charter Schools” series showed that Michigan charters receive nearly $1 billion per year in taxpayer money from the state, often with little accountability, transparency or academic achievement.

Other results from the poll show strong support for looking at the role of for-profit management firms in the charter school system. The poll found:

■ 82% of respondents believe — 71% strongly — that for-profit management firms should be required to fully and publicly explain how they spend all tax dollars received.

■ 88% favor legislation to require such disclosure.

■ 61% of respondents favor prohibiting future schools from being managed by for-profit companies.

Michigan has a higher percentage of its charter schools managed by for-profit companies than any other state. In 2013-14, the state had Poll: Michigan should place moratorium on new charter schools pending review | Detroit Free Press | freep.com:

Read the fiery ruling striking down NC school voucher program:

Read the fiery ruling striking down NC school voucher program

Last week a North Carolina judge struck down a law passed by the Republican-controlled legislature that sought to award taxpayer-funded vouchers to low-income families that want to send their children to private schools.

On Aug. 21, Superior Court Judge Robert Hobgood handed down his decision that North Carolina's Opportunity Scholarship Program (OSP) violates the state constitution, which specifies that the power of taxation shall be exercised "for public purposes only." The N.C. Association of Educators, the N.C. Justice Center, the N.C. School Boards Association, and dozens of local school boards had challenged the program.

In 2013, state legislators passed a budget that allocated $10 million for the scholarships, which would provide up to $4,200 per year to qualifying students to attend a private school of their family's choice. In North Carolina, 70 percent of private schools are religious institutions. Promoted by school privatization advocates, the scholarships have been referred to by critics as "neovouchers."

Hobgood first put North Carolina's program on hold in February when he issued a preliminary injunction in the lawsuit. House Speaker Thom Tillis and Senate leader Phil Berger, both Republicans, pressured state Attorney General Roy Cooper, a Democrat, to appeal, but he declined. However, parents who intervened in the case appealed, and in May the state Supreme Court overturned Hobgood's injunction.

In last week's ruling, Hobgood pointed to the state's responsibility to provide a "sound basic education" to children attending public school as required under the state Supreme Court's 1997 Leandro decision, which came in a lawsuit filed against the state by parents, children, and school districts in high-poverty rural counties. They argued that despite higher-than-average tax rates, schools in those counties ended up with lower-than-average revenues and thus could not provide an equal education.

Hobgood forbade the voucher program from distributing any money. Voucher supporters immediately asked the N.C. Court of Appeals to issue an emergency ruling allowing the funds to be paid out to the families of the more than 1,800 children who were accepted into the program this year, but a three-judge panel rejected the request on Monday, saying it was too early to act without a written order from Hobgood. Attorneys for Berger, Tillis and several affected families then turned to the N.C. Supreme Court, which still has not decided on the Read the fiery ruling striking down NC school voucher program:

The Original Charter School Vision - NYTimes.com

The Original Charter School Vision - NYTimes.com:

The Original Charter School Vision

By RICHARD D. KAHLENBERG and HALLEY POTTERAUG. 30, 2014

 ALTHOUGH the leaders of teachers unions and charter schools are often in warring camps today, the original vision for charter schools came from Albert Shanker, the president of the American Federation of Teachers.



In a 1988 address, Mr. Shanker outlined an idea for a new kind of public school where teachers could experiment with fresh and innovative ways of reaching students. Mr. Shanker estimated that only one-fifth of American students were well served by traditional classrooms. In charter schools, teachers would be given the opportunity to draw upon their expertise to create high-performing educational laboratories from which the traditional public schools could learn.



Mr. Shanker was particularly inspired by a 1987 visit to a public school in Cologne, Germany, which stood out for a couple of reasons. Teams of teachers had considerable say in how the school was run. They made critical decisions about what and how to teach and stayed with each class of students for six years. And unlike most German schools, which are rigidly tracked, the Cologne school had students with a mix of abilities, family incomes and ethnic origins. Turkish and Moroccan immigrants were educated alongside native German students in mixed-ability groups. Sixty percent of the school’s students scored high enough on exams to be admitted to four-year colleges, compared with 27 percent of students nationally.



Mr. Shanker argued that charter schools could help reinvigorate the twin promises of American public education: to promote social mobility for working-class children and social cohesion among America’s increasingly diverse populations. There is considerable research to back up this vision. Richard M. Ingersoll, a sociologist at the University of Pennsylvania, has found that where teachers have more say in how their school is run, the school climate improves and teachers stay longer — trends that have been independently associated with increased student learning. And data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress in Mathematics show that low-income fourth graders who attend economically integrated schools are as much as two years ahead of low-income students stuck in high-poverty The Original Charter School Vision - NYTimes.com:

School reform is not so simple: experts - NY Daily News

School reform is not so simple: experts - NY Daily News:

School reform is not so simple: experts

Three experts weigh in on Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña's goals for education, from maintaining the pre-K expansion to getting second-graders reading at grade level.

BY ZAKIYAH ANSARI , DAVID BLOOMFIELD , JEREMIAH KITTREDGE 

SPECIALS TO THE NEWS

SUSAN WATTS/NEW YORK DAILY NEWSZakiyah Ansari is advocacy director for the Alliance for Quality Education.

 Zakiyah Ansari, advocacy director for the Alliance for Quality Education:

We’ve been waiting for real school reform like this for over a decade. Universal pre-K, after-school for middle-schoolers, community schools and respect for parents and teachers is a formula that will help students succeed.

Fundamentally all of this will not work if we don’t get increased school aid from the state to avoid classroom cuts and expand programs that work.

Parents, students and teachers need to hear a comprehensive vision for this plan that we can all understand and get behind.

David Bloomfield, education professor at the CUNY Graduate Center and Brooklyn College:

Without clear strategies and resources to teach reading to a mobile, linguistically diverse population of widely varying abilities, the laudable goal of having all second-graders reading on-level will be difficult to reach.

Delivering on the promise of pre-K would be a great accomplishment but it’s just the beginning. Continued funding isn’t assured. Program quality, enrollment, teacher preparation, and space all need constant attention. Pre-K is only successful if there is follow-through in kindergarten and beyond.

MARK BONIFACIO/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

David Bloomfield is an education professor at the CUNY Graduate Center and Brooklyn College.

Enlarge

Jeremiah Kittredge is CEO of Families for Excellent Schools.

Enlarge

Teacher retention is not just a problem of morale. And morale is not just about respect. Pay, class size, an orderly environment, and other concrete factors contribute to teachers’ longevity.

Jeremiah Kittredge, CEO of Families for Excellent Schools:

Fariña should acknowledge we have a crisis of failing schools. More than 140,000 kids are trapped in persistently failing schools.

To be successful, Fariña will need bold, transformational change. We need to raise standards, improve accountability and help excellent teachers thrive.

She should find the best schools and create more of them. There are strong charter and district schools where kids from the most underserved neighborhoods are thriving — let’s work to replicate them.School reform is not so simple: experts - NY Daily News:

8-31-14 Ed Notes Online

Ed Notes Online:

Vera Pavone: Why there must be accountability for police and due process

After my last post on the NYPD, where I pointed out how MORE was being trashed from the left for calling for due process for police, Vera sent these thoughts, and I totally agree.Due process does not mean automatic amnesty for all police no matter what they do. It includes investigation, prosecution and punishment of the guilty. All the guilty—not just those frightened, poorly trained, overly aggr

1 by ed notes online / 21min 

Teachers: Wear Blue Handcuffs on Tuesday to Support Innocent Teachers Arrested by NYPD

Congrats, Chaz - and I say this as someone who refused to march in Staten Island because of Sharpton's presence - you're now officially identified with the gentrification/White Backlash wing of the UFT and teaching profession.... I hope you continue to feel the same crush on your NYPD "union brothers and sisters" if/when one of them is called upon to investigate/arrest you, based upon th

by ed notes online / 14min 

Charter schools making big profits for private companies

10 Investigates found new ways charter schools companies are profiting off education: real estate and high rents...http://www.wtsp.com/story/news/investigations/2014/08/21/charter-school-profits-on-real-estate/14420317/Charter schools making big profits for private companies Noah Pransky, WTSP 12:48 p.m. EDT August 22, 2014(Photo: WTSP) 1796 CONNECT 252 TWEET 7 LINKEDINCOMMENTEMAILMORETAMPA, Flori

1 by ed notes online / 53min hide  //  save

Ms Moskowitz doesn't care about these children if so the would help the ones that really need help

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Success Charter Attempt to eliminate its at-risk a...": Yes those success academy school are shameless using the children to get what they want and they don't even care. The have a so called strict policy on behavior, not taking into consideration that mostly all of the children come from public schools that they so much despise. Their suspe

1 by ed notes online / 53min

8-30-14 Ed Notes Online Week

Ed Notes Online: Ed Notes OnlineGabrielle Horowitz-Prisco - Loretta and Gene Would Be So ProudA part of the impetus for the change is due to the behind-the-scenes work of people like Gabrielle Horowitz-Prisco, a small woman with fuchsia glasses.... Epoch TimesAt last night's ICE meeting we talked over old times about Loretta and Gene, two education fighters for social justice for their entire live

by mike simpson / 1h