Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 12/11/15

CORPORATE ED REFORM

 

ESSA Whack-A-Mole | Save Maine Schools

ESSA Whack-A-Mole | Save Maine Schools: ESSA Whack-A-MoleRecently, I read a comment on Diane Ravitch’s blog that said that with the passage of ESSA, we will now be playing “whack-a-mole” with the American Legislative Exchange Council and host of billionaire-backed foundation-funded groups who – if they have not yet descended upon your neck of the woods – are no doubt ready to pounce on your state

by mike simpson / 1h 

Hite: Pa. school plan is 'a recipe for disaster'

Hite: Pa. school plan is 'a recipe for disaster':Hite: Pa. school plan is 'a recipe for disaster'Tucked into a late-night school-code bill passed by the Pennsylvania Senate this week are details that some education watchers - including the Philadelphia superintendent - say could cripple city schools.Aimed squarely at the Philadelphia School District, the "opportunity schools" language wo

by mike simpson / 1h 

New U.S. education law includes ban on abortion funding by school-based health centers - The Washington Post

New U.S. education law includes ban on abortion funding by school-based health centers - The Washington Post: New U.S. education law includes ban on abortion funding by school-based health centersPresident Obama is flanked by Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), left, and the committee’s ranking member Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.),  along with other dignitaries as he signs the “Every Student Succeeds Ac

by mike simpson / 1h 

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Washington State Charter News Breaking Fast

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Washington State Charter News Breaking Fast: Washington State Charter News Breaking FastStatement from the Washington State Charter Schools Association on First Place Scholars, the first charter school in Washingon, closing as a charter and going back to being a private school:We support First Place Scholars in its decision to pursue converting back to a tuition-fr

by mike simpson / 2h 

CURMUDGUCATION: Can Principals Turn Around Rural Schools

CURMUDGUCATION: Can Principals Turn Around Rural Schools: Can Principals Turn Around Rural SchoolsRural schools are often left out of discussions of ed reform and public schools and all the rest. I'm acutely aware of this because I teach in a rural district, centered in a small town of around 7,000 people, but spread across many townships. We don't think of ourselves this way, but if you look at t

by mike simpson / 5h 

“We Are Not Throw-Aways!”: A Statement from the High Point Middle College Site Council | Seattle Education

“We Are Not Throw-Aways!”: A Statement from the High Point Middle College Site Council | Seattle Education: “We Are Not Throw-Aways!”: A Statement from the High Point Middle College Site Council“WE ARE NOT THROW-AWAYS!” — A slogan from the fight to save High Point Middle College, June, 2015Why is Seattle Public Schools (SPS) denying our underserved students an opportunity to become creative, criti

by mike simpson / 5h 

New education law is more capitulation than compromise - Baltimore Sun

New education law is more capitulation than compromise - Baltimore Sun: New education law is more capitulation than compromisee No Child Left Behind Act, once hailed as the most important education law in our nation's history, has been left behind, abandoned by bipartisan Congressional passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act which President Obama signed Thursday.The new law answers the feverish

by mike simpson / 5h 

Straight Talk About Standardized Tests | The Progressive

Straight Talk About Standardized Tests | The Progressive: Straight Talk About Standardized TestsFor the average civilian who doesn’t spend hours obsessing over the details of education reform, it may seem odd or even hypocritical for teachers to complain about big Common Core tests like the PARCC or SBA or [Your State's Name Here] Big Standardized Test. After all, we've been giving students standa

by mike simpson / 5h 

Protesters seek to reverse appointment of Margaret Spellings to run UNC system - The Washington Post

Protesters seek to reverse appointment of Margaret Spellings to run UNC system - The Washington Post: Protesters seek to reverse appointment of Margaret Spellings to run UNC systemMembers of the University of North Carolina system’s Board of Governors who met in Chapel Hill on Friday morning were greeted by dozens of demonstrators protesting the recent appointment of controversial former education

by mike simpson / 6h 

UFT calls for moratorium on new Success Academy charters | United Federation of Teachers

UFT calls for moratorium on new Success Academy charters | United Federation of Teachers: UFT calls for moratorium on new Success Academy chartersThe UFT Delegate Assembly put an exclamation point on its November meeting by ending it with a resounding rejection of the education practices of Eva Moskowitz and her Success Academy Charter Schools.To raucous applause, the delegate body unanimously app

by mike simpson / 7h 

CURMUDGUCATION: NY: Cuomo's Nothing Sundae

CURMUDGUCATION: NY: Cuomo's Nothing Sundae: NY: Cuomo's Nothing SundaeThey said it couldn't be done, but today NY Governor Andrew Cuomo's Common Core Task Forcedelivered a big old report in less time than it takes my students to complete their major research project. And it's a big ole Nothing Sundae with a few scoops of Fluff on the side, with a cherry on top.The announcement came with the same s

by mike simpson / 8h 

Superintendent candidates emerge as L.A. Unified seeks to keep job hunt a secret - LA Times

Superintendent candidates emerge as L.A. Unified seeks to keep job hunt a secret - LA Times: Superintendent candidates emerge as L.A. Unified seeks to keep job hunt a secretLos Angeles Unified School District Supt. Ramon C. Cortines has said he wants to retire by the end of the year.e Los Angeles Board of Education is immersed in the biggest job it has: choosing the next leader of the nation's sec

by mike simpson / 8h 

Why adults have to stop trying so darn hard to control how children play - The Washington Post

Why adults have to stop trying so darn hard to control how children play - The Washington Post: Why adults have to stop trying so darn hard to control how children playHere’s a new piece from Angela Hanscom, a pediatric occupational therapist and founder of TimberNook, a nature-based development program designed to foster creativity and independent play outdoors in New England. She has written a n

by mike simpson / 8h 

The Original ESEA: Only 32 Pages | deutsch29

The Original ESEA: Only 32 Pages | deutsch29: The Original ESEA: Only 32 PagesOn December 10, 2015, President Obama signed the latest revision of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) into law.This latest ESEA version, called the Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015 (ESSA),is 1,061 pages long and will replace the 670-page No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB).ESEA has become re

by mike simpson / 8h 

Divided On Arrival: Even In Diverse Schools, New Immigrants Face Bullying | WAMU 88.5 - American University Radio

Divided On Arrival: Even In Diverse Schools, New Immigrants Face Bullying | WAMU 88.5 - American University Radio: Divided On Arrival: Even In Diverse Schools, New Immigrants Face Bullying Students labeled as 'chanchi' can be targets of violenceIn Montgomery County, some schools have hundreds of new students who arrived illegally and alone in the United States after fleeing gangs in some of the mo

by mike simpson / 8h 

With A Brooklyn Accent: An "Affirmative Action" Story to Bring Us Back to Reality

With A Brooklyn Accent: An "Affirmative Action" Story to Bring Us Back to Reality: An "Affirmative Action" Story to Bring Us Back to RealityJust a heads up: the number of alumni children (legacies); recruited athletes ( most of whom are white and play non-revenue sports) and students whose parents pay full tuition far outnumber the "under represented minorities" as be

by mike simpson / 8h 

Zuckerbergs’ New Philanthropy Promotes Charity over Justice | janresseger

Zuckerbergs’ New Philanthropy Promotes Charity over Justice | janresseger: Zuckerbergs’ New Philanthropy Promotes Charity over JusticeAfter today, this blog will take a winter break. Congress and state legislatures will recess. Schools will close for winter break. Universities that do the research on educational policy will break at semester’s end. And here at home, it’s time to cook and shop and

by mike simpson / 8h 

A Guide to Evaluating Pay for Success Programs and Social Impact Bonds | ITPI | In the Public Interest

A Guide to Evaluating Pay for Success Programs and Social Impact Bonds | ITPI | In the Public Interest: A Guide to Evaluating Pay for Success Programs and Social Impact BondsThere’s no free lunch. Yet across the country, advocates of Pay for Success (PFS), or Social Impact Bonds (SIBs), serve up this alternative private financing model as a cost-free, risk-free silver bullet to support critical, y

by mike simpson / 8h 

Brazil is Testing U.S. Education Policies Including Charter Schools and Pay-For-Performance - The Atlantic

Brazil is Testing U.S. Education Policies Including Charter Schools and Pay-For-Performance - The Atlantic: Testing U.S. Education Policies in BrazilThe country has implemented a series of strategies including pay-for-performance and charter schools, modeled after the American system.Tying teacher pay to student test scores. Creating public schools of choice with private operators. Setting common

by mike simpson / 9h 

Katherine Bradley's influence calls into question who really makes the decisions on D.C. education reform - Washington City Paper

Katherine Bradley's influence calls into question who really makes the decisions on D.C. education reform - Washington City Paper: Shadow ChancellorKatherine Bradley's influence calls into question who really makes the decisions about D.C. education reformShe’s the wife of a media mogul, a friend of the Washington Post’s Graham family. She’s a philanthropist, adviser to public officials, and con

by mike simpson / 9h 

Can Anti-testing Bloc Swing the 2016 Election? | Al Jazeera America

Can Anti-testing Bloc Swing the 2016 Election? | Al Jazeera America: Can anti-testing bloc swing the 2016 election?A candidate who embraces the anti-testing movement in education can draw support across party linesPublic school teachers and other opponents of high-stakes testing won a significant, if partial, victory when Congress agreed to revise the No Child Left Behind act on Wednesday. The new

by mike simpson / 9h 

‘Snyder Flu’ Continues As Detroit Students, Teachers Protest Plan For Charter Schools « CBS Detroit

‘Snyder Flu’ Continues As Detroit Students, Teachers Protest Plan For Charter Schools « CBS Detroit: ‘Snyder Flu’ Continues As Detroit Students, Teachers Protest Plan For Charter SchoolsDETROIT (WWJ) – A handful of Detroit schools have closed this week due to what has been called ‘Snyder Flu’ and Thursday was no different.A plan in Lansing supported by Gov. Rick Snyder would turn dozens of schools

by mike simpson / 9h 

Taxpayer money wasted on private property when charter schools close

Taxpayer money wasted on private property when charter schools close: Taxpayer money wasted on private property when charter schools closeThe state lost as much as $150,000 in taxpayer money it invested in two Treasure Coast charter schools that lasted less than eight years.That money was intended to help pay for rent, renovations and equipment for the now-closed Indian River Academy Charter Schoo

by mike simpson / 9h 

How Arne Duncan Lost The Common Core And His Legacy | FiveThirtyEight

How Arne Duncan Lost The Common Core And His Legacy | FiveThirtyEight: How Arne Duncan Lost The Common Core And His LegacyArne Duncan could barely conceal a smirk as he answered the Republican congressman’s question about educational standards that his Education Department had encouraged states to adopt.“Facts matter,” Duncan, the secretary of education, said, dismissing concerns raised by Rep. Ma

by mike simpson / 9h 

Common Core takes a hit: N.Y. Gov. Cuomo’s task force recommends overhaul - The Washington Post

Common Core takes a hit: N.Y. Gov. Cuomo’s task force recommends overhaul - The Washington Post: Common Core takes a hit: N.Y. Gov. Cuomo’s task force recommends overhaulThe Common Core initiative just took a hit in New York state: A task force created by Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) to review the curriculum and aligned standardized testing is recommending a total overhaul, saying that there were big mis

by mike simpson / 9h 

YESTERDAY

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 12/10/15

CORPORATE ED REFORM Education Protection Account, Fiscal Year 2015-16 - Principal Apportionment (CA Dept of Education)Education Protection Account, Fiscal Year 2015-16 - Principal Apportionment (CA Dept of Education): Education Protection Account, Fiscal Year 2015-16Distribution of 2015-16 Education Protection Account (EPA) funds to local educational agencies in accordance with Proposition 30, The

by mike simpson / 1d

ESSA Whack-A-Mole | Save Maine Schools

ESSA Whack-A-Mole | Save Maine Schools:

ESSA Whack-A-Mole

Recently, I read a comment on Diane Ravitch’s blog that said that with the passage of ESSA, we will now be playing “whack-a-mole” with the American Legislative Exchange Council and host of billionaire-backed foundation-funded groups who – if they have not yet descended upon your neck of the woods – are no doubt ready to pounce on your state capitol and local districts.

ESSA, of course, offers states big grants for digital, blended learning, and competency-based learning projects –none of which have solid research support their use, but all of which have been developed behind the scenes with plenty of financial support from Wall Street and venture capitalists.

When Lamar Alexander said the following regarding ESSA:

“It will unleash a flood of excitement and innovation and student achievement that we haven’t seen in a long time…”

what he meant was exactly what Arne Duncan meant when he said this:

“Whereas No Child Left Behind prescribed a top-down, one-size fits all approach to struggling schools, this law offers the flexibility to find the best local solutions—while also ensuring that students are making progress.”

And both, of course, meant the following:

We now get to shop around, district by district, for the best “learning solutions” that are being offered by Pearson, McGraw Hill, Quester, Measured Progress, and all the rest.

As for the whack-a-mole analogy, I thought it was a great comment, and it made me think of a time when I was little and watched my mom absolutelycrush a game of whack-a-mole at Hershey Park, in a feat of super-human ESSA Whack-A-Mole | Save Maine Schools:

Hite: Pa. school plan is 'a recipe for disaster'

Hite: Pa. school plan is 'a recipe for disaster':
Hite: Pa. school plan is 'a recipe for disaster'

Tucked into a late-night school-code bill passed by the Pennsylvania Senate this week are details that some education watchers - including the Philadelphia superintendent - say could cripple city schools.

Aimed squarely at the Philadelphia School District, the "opportunity schools" language would remove from local control up to five low-performing schools per year.

The state Department of Education would seize the struggling Philadelphia schools for at least three years, with the option to either turn the schools over to either a charter or outside manager or close them outright.

Both Superintendent William R. Hite Jr. and Philadelphia Federation of Teachers President Jerry Jordan on Friday sounded alarms over the provisions - which all Philadelphia senators voted for, seemingly as part of a budget deal that would bring to the district a $100 million boost in state aid.

Long wary of Philadelphia and its schools, some Harrisburg Republicans have demanded increased accountability in exchange for more funds.Hite noted that Philadelphia has begun turnarounds - including charter conversions - at more than 30 schools in the past several years, despite extreme budget challenges.

"I do question why there is specific legislation just for Philadelphia when probably no one else in the Commonwealth has turned around the number or percentage of schools we have," the superintendent said in an interview. "There's no proof that there's no will to do this here. What we haven't had is the revenue."

Hite, who said the district had trouble attracting a deep pool of charter organizations to take over three more district schools in the fall, questioned the wisdom of "just willy-nilly designating a number of schools to give to somebody or to do something with."

He called it "a recipe for disaster."

Forcing the district to lose five schools per year - and possibly creating that many more charters - would deepen the very financial problems that lawmakers have cited as reason to be skeptical of Philadelphia.

"I do worry that their requirements will create a larger problem, or larger structural deficit than the one we're facing already," Hite said.

Jeff Sheridan, Gov. Wolf's spokesman, said the "opportunity schools" language was part of the budget compromise that

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/education/20151212_Hite__Pa__school_plan_is__a_recipe_for_disaster_.html#g2OrRWtLPAch8bWC.99

New U.S. education law includes ban on abortion funding by school-based health centers - The Washington Post

New U.S. education law includes ban on abortion funding by school-based health centers - The Washington Post:

New U.S. education law includes ban on abortion funding by school-based health centers

President Obama is flanked by Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), left, and the committee’s ranking member Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.),  along with other dignitaries as he signs the “Every Student Succeeds Act,” the successor to No Child Left Behind. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

It turns out that the country’s new K-12 education law, the successor to No Child Left Behind which President Obama signed on Thursday, includes language that prohibits school-based health centers from subsidizing abortions — but it has no real effect because the Public Health Service Act already includes such a ban.

The language is found in Section 8035. It says:

Section 399Z-1 of the Health Service Act says funds awarded for a grant under the section about school-based health centers “may not be used to provide abortions.” As a result, congressional sources said, the language in the Every Student Succeeds Act was not actually necessary to ensure that public funds would not be spent in such a manner.

Why is it in the law? The sources said that it was added as a way to appease hard-line conservatives who were wary of the bill because they believe it gives the federal government too much education policy-making power, even though it strips away a good deal of the power the federal government had under No Child Left Behind and sends authority back to the states and local districts.

The original House version of the Every Student Succeeds Act did not have any reference to abortion funding, but it was added before it went to the House floor, along with other provisions, such as one that would have prohibited personnel working in school-based student health centers from even recommending to students a full range of reproductive services.

Enter Sen. Patty Murray, the Washington state Democrat who was instrumental in compromising with Senate Education Committee Chairman New U.S. education law includes ban on abortion funding by school-based health centers - The Washington Post:

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Washington State Charter News Breaking Fast

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Washington State Charter News Breaking Fast:

Washington State Charter News Breaking Fast

Statement from the Washington State Charter Schools Association on First Place Scholars, the first charter school in Washingon, closing as a charter and going back to being a private school:

We support First Place Scholars in its decision to pursue converting back to a tuition-free independent school model – a model that was successful for years and made First Place the one the first schools to truly serve some of Washington’s most underserved populations. First Place will lean on 25 years of experience as a tuition-free independent school during this time of uncertainty, doing what’s best to serve their students."

I have asked some questions to WSCSA about grant money being provided by WSCSA to these charters as my source told me that First Place had to agree to at least one stipulation about what grade range they would continue being in order to receive those dollars. 

An announcement of a charter school forum in Pasco.  This is a rather interesting venue as Pasco has no charters nor, to the best of my recollection, has there ever been a charter application from there.

The forum, organized by the Washington Charter Schools Association, League of Education Voters and Act Now for Washington Students, will include discussion by proponents of charter schools about how they could help close achievement gaps between student groups.

Several state elected leaders will be at a forum Dec. 12 to discuss public charter schools in the state.

Read more here: http://www.tri-cityherald.com/news/local/education/article49156485.html#storylink=cpy

I think this is less about talking about closing achievement gaps and more Seattle Schools Community Forum: Washington State Charter News Breaking Fast:

CURMUDGUCATION: Can Principals Turn Around Rural Schools

CURMUDGUCATION: Can Principals Turn Around Rural Schools:

Can Principals Turn Around Rural Schools

Rural schools are often left out of discussions of ed reform and public schools and all the rest. I'm acutely aware of this because I teach in a rural district, centered in a small town of around 7,000 people, but spread across many townships. We don't think of ourselves this way, but if you look at the map, we are on the northern end of Appalachia, and many of the issues that are stirring the educational pot across the country play out far differently here.

So when the School Turnaround Learning Community ran a piece about rural school leadership, I was interested.

The School Turnaround Learning Community is run by the Center on School Turnaround, which in turn is "at" WestEd, an educational "research, development and service organization" that won the job of running school turnaround stuff for the US Department of Education. Its leadership ranks are loaded with professional bureaucrats and policy researchy types, so it's that kind of official government reformy thing. And they are probably scrambling a bit because managing School Improvement Grants seems to have been part of their bread and butter, and those grants have gone-- well, if not away, at least somewhere under ESSA.

This brief piece was written by Caitlin Scott, who works at Education Northwest doing researchy CURMUDGUCATION: Can Principals Turn Around Rural Schools:

“We Are Not Throw-Aways!”: A Statement from the High Point Middle College Site Council | Seattle Education

“We Are Not Throw-Aways!”: A Statement from the High Point Middle College Site Council | Seattle Education:

“We Are Not Throw-Aways!”: A Statement from the High Point Middle College Site Council

“WE ARE NOT THROW-AWAYS!” — A slogan from the fight to save High Point Middle College, June, 2015

Why is Seattle Public Schools (SPS) denying our underserved students an opportunity to become creative, critical, successful learners? Where is the goal of racial equity that the district itself is calling for? Where is the end of the school to-prison pipeline? Where is the learning and teaching curricula through which students become strong, vibrant thinkers, self-determining and able to navigate their way through the real “slings and arrows” of the 21st century?

Middle College High School (MC) was an alternative high school where social justice and a critical pedagogy provided underserved students, students of color, and disenfranchised students a different and personalized education. MC has historically worked to prevent students from leaving education behind and stood on the front line against the school-to prison pipeline. MC was a rigorous educational challenge with high expectations that its students grew into and succeeded while experiencing the transformative reward that comes from meaningful learning. Students who studied in the context of rigorous critical and transformative pedagogy have gone on to do remarkable things.

Then SPS ended this option for juniors and seniors who needed it most. The historically proven MC mission was gutted. High Point MC was closed and the educators dedicated to and advocating of its mission were pushed out.

FROM A PARENT TO SPS: “I really cannot understand why the School District appears to be going out of its way to gut and dismantle a program that has consistently “We Are Not Throw-Aways!”: A Statement from the High Point Middle College Site Council | Seattle Education:

New education law is more capitulation than compromise - Baltimore Sun

New education law is more capitulation than compromise - Baltimore Sun:

New education law is more capitulation than compromise

e No Child Left Behind Act, once hailed as the most important education law in our nation's history, has been left behind, abandoned by bipartisan Congressional passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act which President Obama signed Thursday.

The new law answers the feverish educational prayers of most liberals and conservatives. But properly understood, the legislation is enough to give bipartisanship a bad name. It is a massive retreat from our national interest and commitment to equal educational opportunity, especially for poor and minority children.

NCLB's enactment in 2001 was a magic political moment. In a Nixon-goes-to-China maneuver, President George W. Bush pressured the bill through Congress with the aid ofDemocrats like Sen. Edward Kennedy. Confronting Republicans' abhorrence of a federal role in public schools, he declared educational excellence to be a national issue, and "change will not come by disdaining or dismantling the federal role."

Which is exactly what the new law does. House Speaker Paul Ryan and a Wall Street Journal editorial proclaim it "the greatest devolution of power back to the states in education in 25 years."

Should that matter? Shouldn't children and parents be able to rely on the cherished principle of state and local control? The answer is unequivocally no. Supporters of the law have forgotten or ignore the historical fact that state and local systems have failed to provide equal educational opportunity for the poorest and most vulnerable students. Nor have they been held accountable for their failures.

NCLB sought accountability. It required states to impose high academic standards and tests, and to break down the results, for example, by poverty, race and students with disabilities. It also imposed escalating sanctions on low-performing schools.

The law had flaws, like unrealistic goals for student progress. But its fatal structural defects were counterintuitive and much deeper: NCLB didn't give too much power to the feds, but too little. It left states and local districts with the discretion to set their own standards and tests, and what immediately followed was a "race to the bottom" to cover up low performance. To overcome this, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan cajoled and coerced states to adopt rigorous Common Core standards and national tests — including Maryland, which has commendably held firm despite the national backlash.

The fierce reaction came, predictably, from conservatives who oppose any federal role. But they were aided and abetted by education progressives and liberal teachers unions who resist accountability and in particular detest testing (while disregarding that most testing is imposed by states and localities, not NCLB). The common cause was to curtail Mr. Duncan's aggressiveness, knowing that state and local agencies will weaken accountability if left on their own.

The Every Student Succeeds Act embodies this educational realpolitik. Its paramount aim is to severely reduce the authority of the U.S. education secretary. State and local autonomy over standards, testing and sanctions is virtually assured. Gary Orfield, a pre-eminent expert on the intersection of civil rights and public school policy, observes that NCLB was "very assertive and interventionist," while the new law strips federal funding of its "leverage for any national purpose."

When President Lyndon Johnson signed the landmark Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to distribute large-scale federal aid to poor communities, he proclaimed, "I deeply believe no law I have signed or will ever sign means more to the future of America." Yet, until NCLB, there was no attempt to hold states and local school systems accountable for whether funds were effectively spent. They weren't well spent and still aren't. Notably too, the new law includes no additional federal funds for impoverished urban and other poor school districts.

While some civil rights groups have voiced opposition, most Democrats and other liberal groups have climbed aboard the bipartisan bandwagon. The Education Trust, long a beacon for educational equity, cites the need to compromise, despite noting that "Given the long history of state and local decisions that shortchange vulnerable students," the new law is "cause for serious trepidation."

All told, it's more capitulation than compromise. It brings to mind the political saying, if you're getting chased out of town, get out in front of the crowd and pretend it's a parade. Our poorest and most vulnerable students deserve better.

Kalman R. Hettleman is a former member of the Baltimore school board and former state human resources secretary. His email is khettleman@gmail.com.  New education law is more capitulation than compromise - Baltimore Sun:

Straight Talk About Standardized Tests | The Progressive

Straight Talk About Standardized Tests | The Progressive:

Straight Talk About Standardized Tests

For the average civilian who doesn’t spend hours obsessing over the details of education reform, it may seem odd or even hypocritical for teachers to complain about big Common Core tests like the PARCC or SBA or [Your State's Name Here] Big Standardized Test. After all, we've been giving students standardized tests forever, and classroom teachers have been giving tests even longer than that. 

But there are fundamental differences between the tests I give my students and the tests mandated by the federal government. 

Who Scores The Test?

It’s a big, important test, so it’s probably scored by trained professionals, right? 

No. I’ve learned that these tests are scored by seasonal, minimum wage workers in temporary test-scoring sweatshops. The emphasis is on speed—the kind of throughput that a factory might worry about.

Test companies are also searching for the “Even-Cheaper-Grail” of computer software that can score writing samples. 

In my classroom, I score every test myself. I take whatever time is needed to dig in and understand what your child has done. More than that, I design my tests based on the best methods for determining if your student has acquired the knowledge and skill I tried to teach her; I have not designed it to be easily gradable by a person who doesn't even know what the test is about.  

Who Passes The Test?

Every test involves a line drawn between success and failure. But with the Common Core

- See more at: http://www.progressive.org/news/2015/12/188458/straight-talk-about-standardized-tests#sthash.uwNeVMlf.dpuf

Protesters seek to reverse appointment of Margaret Spellings to run UNC system - The Washington Post

Protesters seek to reverse appointment of Margaret Spellings to run UNC system - The Washington Post:

Protesters seek to reverse appointment of Margaret Spellings to run UNC system

Members of the University of North Carolina system’s Board of Governors who met in Chapel Hill on Friday morning were greeted by dozens of demonstrators protesting the recent appointment of controversial former education secretary Margaret Spellings as the next UNC president.

A handful of protesting faculty were escorted from inside the board room by police, according to a spokesman for the protesters.

The protesters — students, faculty, staff and others within the UNC community — come from a number of organizations, including the Faculty Forward Network, Scholars for North Carolina’s Future, UnKoch My Campus, the UNC Board of Governors Democracy Coalition, Greenpeace USA, Ignite NC  and Progress NC.

Leaflets passed out by the protesters said they want the Spellings appointment to be rescinded and for the school’s governing body to have a transparent process to find a replacement, a reference to what many said was a secretive process in the selection of Spellings. She was tapped last October to run the system of 16 universities, with 222,000 students, and awarded a $775,000 base salary for each of five years in a contract that also gives her deferred compensation of $77,500 annually and potential performance bonuses, and use of a presidential home.

A statement released by the protesters quoted Ajamu Dillahunt-Holloway, a student at North Carolina Central University and Black Lives Matter activist, as saying:

“Margaret Spellings’ past with the Bush administration shows that she was never in support of Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Her ideas for college as a business will only take away from the institution of learning.”

The News Observer quoted Carla Robinson, a junior at UNC-Chapel Hill, who said Spellings was a bad choice.

“She was chosen without input from students or faculty or taxpayers, and she had shown that her values are not what we want to see in continuing education,” Robinson said.

An earlier post about Spellings’s appointment said:

The News & Observer reported in August on e-mails showing that conservatives expressed delight when the board voted on Jan. 16 to oust Ross (who earned a base salary of $600,000 in his final contract year):

That day, several supportive emails and messages arrived in the inbox of board Chairman John Fennebresque. “John – this is certainly good news,” wrote U.S. Rep. George Holding, a Republican from 

Protesters seek to reverse appointment of Margaret Spellings to run UNC system - The Washington Post:

UFT calls for moratorium on new Success Academy charters | United Federation of Teachers

UFT calls for moratorium on new Success Academy charters | United Federation of Teachers:

UFT calls for moratorium on new Success Academy charters

The UFT Delegate Assembly put an exclamation point on its November meeting by ending it with a resounding rejection of the education practices of Eva Moskowitz and her Success Academy Charter Schools.

To raucous applause, the delegate body unanimously approved a resolution calling for a moratorium on the opening of new Success Academy Charter Schools pending a full investigation of the disciplinary policies and high rate of suspensions at current Success schools.

The principal at one of Moskowitz’s schools maintained a “Got to Go” list of students that the school wanted out, The New York Times reported. Several recent news reports found that Success Academy schools repeatedly suspended challenging kindergartners and 1st-graders.

“Eva Moskowitz does not seem to educate all of her students the way we educate all of ours,” UFT Vice President Richard Mantell said when introducing the motion. When a student is deemed “not a good fit” by a Success principal, he added, “Eva somehow nags those parents to get that child out of her schools.”

The test scores that the Success network touts, Mantell said, “would not be valid” because the network does not educate its fair share of English language learners, students with disabilities and students with behavior problems. “We educate all of those students, and we do so gladly,” he said.

UFT President Michael Mulgrew commented about the Success scandal during his report.

“Eva Moskowitz got caught doing what we said she has been doing for years,” Mulgrew said. Once the evidence of the “Got to Go” list became public, he added, Moskowitz claimed that her schools “provide a safe and orderly alternative to the disorderly public schools. She no longer said she is doing what we do.”

Also during his report, Mulgrew noted a recent shift in the education conversation in the state, including on the commissions formed by the State Education Department and the governor to examine the Common Core standards.

“I have heard elected officials talking about over-testing the students and saying that the Common Core rollout was a disaster,” Mulgrew said. “When you start hearing elected officials and private people sitting on a commission using words like ‘developmentally appropriate’ and ‘scaffolding,’ that means we are getting our work done. We are teaching them.”

Mulgrew also reported on State Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia’s decision to invoke the state’s new receivership law this November to give the Buffalo schools superintendent special powers to bypass the union contract in five schools designated as “persistently struggling” by the state.

“What the commissioner did was wrong,” Mulgrew said. “For the first time in the history of the state of New York, the collective-bargaining rights of a union’s members were thrown out, by law. Where is the Taylor Law?”

Mulgrew said there would probably be a court challenge of the ruling.

Two similar resolutions on the topic were introduced at the Delegate Assembly, but those who brought the motions agreed to work together to develop a single bipartisan resolution that would be introduced at the Dec. 16 Delegate Assembly.

Read the resolution on Success Academy »

UFT calls for moratorium on new Success Academy charters | United Federation of Teachers:

6 other resolutions approved

Besides the resolution on the Success Academy moratorium, delegates passed six other resolutions. They called on the UFT to:

• educate its members about the anti-union Friedrichs case before the U.S. Supreme Court and develop a strategy to fight it.

• pay tribute to the founders and other members who have made the UFT the strong union local it is today, in recognition of the anniversary of the 1960 strike.

• authorize the teacher members of the Teachers’ Retirement System to direct the TRS to look into responsible ways to remove investments from entities whose operations harm the environment.

• support a coalition of parents and community organizers who are fighting to reopen Dyett HS, a shuttered open-enrollment neighborhood high school in Chicago.

• back Mayor Bill de Blasio’s plan to reach universal literacy among the city’s 2nd-graders.

• support the Department of Education’s efforts to make computer science classes a reality within the next 10 years for all New York City public school students and adult education students served by the DOE.

CURMUDGUCATION: NY: Cuomo's Nothing Sundae

CURMUDGUCATION: NY: Cuomo's Nothing Sundae:

NY: Cuomo's Nothing Sundae

They said it couldn't be done, but today NY Governor Andrew Cuomo's Common Core Task Forcedelivered a big old report in less time than it takes my students to complete their major research project. And it's a big ole Nothing Sundae with a few scoops of Fluff on the side, with a cherry on top.

The announcement came with the same stock photo student we've seen before, and I want with all my heart to believe that his expression of, "Heh. Yeah, this is some ridiculous baloney" is the blow struck by whatever intern had to cobble this together. But the nothing in this announcement announces its nothingness right off the bat. Here's the head of the Task Force, Richard Parsons, Senior Advisor, Providence Equity Partners, LLC and former Chairman of Citigroup (because when you want to look at education policy, you call a banker):

While adoption of the Common Core was extremely well intentioned, its implementation has caused confusion and upheaval in classrooms across New York State. We believe that these recommendations, once acted on, provide a means to put things back on the right track and ensure high quality standards that meet the needs of New York’s kids. The recommendations will provide the foundation to restore public trust in the education system in New York and build on the long history of excellence that preceded this period. 

So there you have it-- the purpose of the report is "to restore public trust." Which is a little different CURMUDGUCATION: NY: Cuomo's Nothing Sundae:

Superintendent candidates emerge as L.A. Unified seeks to keep job hunt a secret - LA Times

Superintendent candidates emerge as L.A. Unified seeks to keep job hunt a secret - LA Times:

Superintendent candidates emerge as L.A. Unified seeks to keep job hunt a secret

Los Angeles Unified School District Supt. Ramon C. Cortines has said he wants to retire by the end of the year.

e Los Angeles Board of Education is immersed in the biggest job it has: choosing the next leader of the nation's second-largest school system.

Starting on Sunday, the seven-member board began interviewing candidates and weighing options. Insider or outsider? Former insider? Business executive? Educator from a much smaller city?

Although top district officials have gone to great lengths to keep the process confidential, the names of top contenders are emerging through sources close to the Los Angeles Unified School District, people who know some of those under consideration and individuals in other cities.

The Times' new education initiative to inform parents, educators and students across California >> 

Among those who are considered to be in the running and who have been or are expected to be interviewed: San Francisco Supt. Richard Carranza, L.A. Unified Deputy Supt. Michelle King and Fremont Unified Supt. Jim Morris, who formerly worked for L.A. Unified.

There is no way I would go to Los Angeles. It's a total mess.- Joshua Starr, who headed the district in Montgomery County, Md.

Others who have been part of the board's discussions and may be interviewed include: Miami schools Supt. Alberto Carvalho, St. Louis Supt. Kelvin Adams, Atlanta Supt. Meria Carstarphen, business executive Jim Berk, nonprofit director Dixon Slingerland and former senior L.A. Unified administrator Robert Collins.

This list is not complete, some insiders said, and L.A. Unified's interest is not necessarily reciprocated.

Efforts by The Times to speak with each of these individuals have been unsuccessful over the last two weeks. Carranza has not responded to interview requests. King and Morris declined.

Attorneys for famed teacher Rafe Esquith criticize release of documents

The board hopes to make a selection by the end of the month. Current Supt.Ramon C. Cortines, 83, is retiring. The veteran educator has led L.A. Unified on three separate occasions, most recently after Supt. John Deasy resigned under pressure last year.

The next leader faces daunting challenges: a looming budget shortfall, declining enrollment and lagging student achievement. There's also the challenge of an outside plan to rapidly expand the number of independently operated charter schools, which could threaten the solvency of L.A. Unified if enough students enroll in them. The schools chief also must bring together a Board of Education with different beliefs and conflicting political backers.

Altogether, the situation is enough to persuade one well-regarded former superintendent to steer clear.

"There is no way I would go to Los Angeles. It's a total mess," said Joshua Starr, who recently headed the district in Montgomery County, Md., with 156,000 students, for nearly four years and who attracted some attention for the job in Los Angeles. "I would want to be in a job that you had a chance to be successful."

Nonetheless, a large field has emerged, compiled by an executive search firm hired by the board. And although a dark horse may surface, the front-runners appear to be Carranza and King, with Morris close behind.

Carranza, 49, has led San Francisco Unified since 2012, where his focus has included expanding technology and reducing suspensions, two issues of importance in Los Angeles. He previously worked as that district's deputy superintendent for instruction, innovation and social justice. He also served as a senior administrator in Las Vegas' schools.

San Francisco is less than one-tenth the size of L.A. Unified; about 60% of students are from low-income families — a substantial percentage, but lower than in Los Angeles. Carranza recently signed a three-year extension, starting at $315,000 a year.

The leading inside candidate, and probably the only one, is King, 54, the top deputy to Superintendent candidates emerge as L.A. Unified seeks to keep job hunt a secret - LA Times: