City Criticizes Management at Charters - WSJ

City Criticizes Management at Charters - WSJ:

City Criticizes Management at Charters

Reports on Bedford Stuyvesant New Beginnings and Merrick Academy are the first of several

New York City’s comptroller on Wednesday released audits citing poor fiscal practices at two local charter schools, among the first such reports since he said he would scrutinize the finances of a sampling of charters.

The schools, Bedford Stuyvesant New Beginnings Charter School and Merrick Academy Queens Public Charter School, both said in written responses that they had taken steps to address some of the concerns and disputed other findings.

Supporters and critics of charters—which are taxpayer-funded and privately operated—are awaiting the release of Comptroller Scott Stringer’s audit of the city’s largest charter network, Success Academy Charter Schools. It is scheduled to be completed this year.

Auditors said New Beginnings didn’t have written contracts or project plans for $1.5 million spent on construction during the audit period, and it lacked controls over parents’ cash payments for lunches and other programs. The report said most board members also failed to file financial-disclosure forms on time.

Further, the schools wrote nearly $60,000 in checks for amounts roughly $1 less than the $5,000 threshold that requires signatures by two school officials, possibly to avoid oversight.

RELATED

• Success Academy Makes Two Hires Aimed at Growth (June 20)
• Success Academy Charter Schools Cancels Pre-K Program for the Fall(June 1)
• Success Academy Charter Schools Plans to Share Curriculum Online(May 30)

New Beginnings officials, in their response, disputed that the forms weren’t filed on time and said their new administration is complying with the rules. The audits covered 2013 and 2014.

Merrick Academy was accused of altering the terms of a $1.3 million contract with Victory Schools Inc., a for-profit management company, without putting those changes in writing. The auditors found no documentation to show that the school’s board of trustees approved a move to a new location or considered its costs, which totaled $4.5 million. The report said the school lacked proof City Criticizes Management at Charters - WSJ:

Badass Teachers Association: They Picked Me Up Last. #StudentsDeserveMore - from Anca Stefan

Badass Teachers Association: They Picked Me Up Last. #StudentsDeserveMore - from Anca Stefan:

They Picked Me Up Last. #StudentsDeserveMore - from Anca Stefan

They picked me up last.

They tied my wrists together behind my back, and scooped me up by the elbows.
When I was a child, I'd seen my grandmother pick up hens that way, gathering their wings into one hand, with speed and force, before she made them into soup for dinner.

There was no more space in the two vans they'd sent for us, so they pushed me into a separate police car by myself. My crime was that, along with 13 other educators from all across the state, I'd formed a human chain that, for 20 minutes at rush hour, cut diagonally through the intersection of Morgan and Fayetteville Streets, in front of Governor McCrory's office.
When the governor, again, failed to prioritize my students' suffering, I blocked traffic in protest.
When despite a well-publicized request, our governor disrespected our profession by refusing to meet with leading educators in a civil dialog about the wellbeing of our state's children, I stood in protest.
I stood in protest of the neglect Governor McCrory has continuously shown our children. Repeatedly refusing to address kids' most urgent needs and returning, unbothered, to campaigning for another term in office, was an unconscionable reality to me - so I refused to move.

(I didn't start in that intersection.)

Over the past 4 years, I'd spoken out many times about the alarming conditions my students have to fight their way through in order to learn.
When I say our schools lack basic supplies, I mean paper - both printing paper and toilet paper -, whiteboard markers, working computers, science lab materials, equipment for art or gym class.
We don't have textbooks in history class.
We don't have textbooks in history class.
We don't have textbooks in history class.
I've taught World and U.S. history without a textbook for the past 4 years.
My students can only receive medical care if they get injured Tuesday morning between 9 and Badass Teachers Association: They Picked Me Up Last. #StudentsDeserveMore - from Anca Stefan:

Part 2: Draining the Semantic Swamp of “Personalized Learning” : A View from Silicon Valley | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Part 2: Draining the Semantic Swamp of “Personalized Learning” : A View from Silicon Valley | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice:

Part 2: Draining the Semantic Swamp of “Personalized Learning” : A View from Silicon Valley

 In Part 1, based on what I have seen in 17 teachers’ classrooms in eight schools, I tried to explain what I observed by offering a “personalized learning” continuum. As small as the sample is–I will continue with the project in the Fall and add more classrooms and schools–I wanted to take a first pass at making sense (for myself and readers) of what I saw in schools located at the heart of technological enthusiasm, Silicon Valley. Let me be clear, I value no end of the spectrum more than the other. I have worked hard to strip away value-loaded words that suggest some kinds of “personalized learning” are better than others.

This “personalized learning spectrum,” I pointed out, is anchored in the tangled history of school reform, the family fight a century ago among those Progressives who were efficiency-driven and behaviorist in their solutions to problems of teaching and learning and fellow Progressives who sought student agency,  growth  of the “whole child,” and democratic schooling solving societal problems. Both wings of educational Progressives tried to uproot the traditional whole-group, direct instruction model dominating public schools then and since.

The efficiency-driven, behaviorist wing of the Progressives was victorious by the 1930s and has largely dominated school reform since. Innovations appeared each decade trumpeting the next new thing that would make teaching and learning more efficient and effective. In the 1950s, it was “programmed learning machines” (launched by behavioral psychologist, B.F. Skinner); in the 1970s, it was “mastery learning” (anchored in the work of University of Chicago Part 2: Draining the Semantic Swamp of “Personalized Learning” : A View from Silicon Valley | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice:

Post-Katrina, New Orleans School “Reform” in the Context of a History of White Supremacy | janresseger

Post-Katrina, New Orleans School “Reform” in the Context of a History of White Supremacy | janresseger:

Post-Katrina, New Orleans School “Reform” in the Context of a History of White Supremacy

In “Frederick Douglass High School in New Orleans: School Closings, Race, and the Dangers of Policy without History,” Kristen Buras quotes New Orleans’ school superintendent Paul Vallas from 2008—back when technocracy and privatization became mixed with the  New Orleans’ recovery from Hurricane Katrina.  Vallas was working with Paul Pastorek, Louisiana’s state school superintendent, to impose a new school master plan that set out to close public schools and turn many of the buildings over to charter school operators.  When someone at a community meeting, which had been convened to discuss the potential closure of Frederick Douglass High School,  brought up the racially embedded history of the school, Vallas responded: “Kids don’t know they’re going to school at a historical landmark. They just know they’re going to a building where the electricity doesn’t work, where the technology has been antiquated… I’m not going to get involved in the politics of where schools should go.  I’m going to get involved in the politics of what schools should be.”

The building of the all-black, Frederick Douglass High School had been allowed to deteriorate. Buras recounts the school’s history—the founding of Nicholls High School in 1913, its rebuilding by the Public Works Administration in 1938-1939, and its decline through the years after Brown v. Board of Education as as white students moved to private academies and the school became all-black.  The school, whose facilities were allowed to decline over time, was renamed after Frederick Douglass in the mid-1990s. Buras summarizes the assumptions under the state takeover in 2005 and the subsequent charterization of the New Orleans’ schools: “(C)harter school advocates in New Orleans criticize traditional public schools, especially black ones, for their alleged ‘failure’ without connecting racism and inequitable state education policies to the problems experienced by those schools.”

The 2005 hurricane did little damage to the Frederick Douglass building, and the school had re-opened as a comprehensive public high school post-Katrina, to serve the students in the Bywater section of the Upper Ninth Ward. Only after the school was turned over to the KIPP (Knowledge is Power Program) Charter network in 2010, was private money found to upgrade the facility.  Buras quotes Vallas: “If a charter high school like KIPP goes in the Douglass building, the organization might bring outside money to help renovate the building.”  She adds: “Again, no consideration was given to the question of why state and local officials (had) failed to maintain the building or why master planners decided Douglass did not merit renovations.”

Buras profiles the remarkable and transformational writing program launched at Frederick Douglass High School in 1998, a decade prior to the school’s eventual closure: “Douglass was one of the lowest-ranked public high schools in New Orleans when SAC (Students at the Post-Katrina, New Orleans School “Reform” in the Context of a History of White Supremacy | janresseger:

 

“Grit” Takes another Hit (with Caveats) | the becoming radical

“Grit” Takes another Hit (with Caveats) | the becoming radical:

“Grit” Takes another Hit (with Caveats)

David Denby’s The Limits of “Grit” in The New Yorker offers further evidence that the “grit” train is slowly but surely being derailed.

Paul Tough, journalist, and Angela Duckworth, scholar, have been central to the rise of “grit” as a silver-bullet in education reform—mostly targeting high-poverty racial minority students in “no excuses” charter schools. Both Tough and Duckworth have recently begun pack pedaling slightly as they release new books, Tough’s second on teaching children in poverty and Duckworth’s first on her highly celebrated “grit,” which was a hit as a TED talk and garnered her a MacAuthur Genius grant.

While the “grit” train was gaining steam among politicians, the media, and edureformers, several educators and scholars raised significant concerns about the essential racist and classist elements of “grit” research, the “grit” narrative, and why both are so politically powerful and popular with the public.

“Grit” is receiving another boost directly from Tough’s and Duckworth’s books—and the PR masked as journalism both have been afforded through their own public writings and numerous interviews at many of the most prestigious news sources.

However, an unintended consequence of Tough and Duckworth boosting the “grit” train through soft back pedaling has been a rise in substantive push back; for example consider:

• Much Ado about Grit: A Meta-Analytic Synthesis of the Grit Literature, Marcus Credé, Michael C. Tynan, and Peter D. Harms
• Teaching ‘grit’ is bad for children, and bad for democracy, Nicholas Tampio
•  Is ‘grit’ overrated in explaining student success? Harvard researchers have a new theory, Jeffrey J. Selingo
• Ethan Ris at The Answer Sheet, his Grit: A Short History of a Useful Concept, and More on Grit: Author Ethan Ris Responds to Paul Thomas’ Post.

The quality of Duckworth’s research as well as the essential value of “grit” has been fairly strongly refuted now, even in the mainstream media who love the whole “grit” charade (however, we must note, that nearly no one in that push back or the mainstream media is willing yet to acknowledge the racism and classism driving this train).

So Denby’s challenge to Duckworth and “grit” is very welcomed, but also deeply problematic.

Denby strikes first at the essential choice Duckworth has made:

Other social scientists, looking at the West Point situation and many others that Duckworth considers, might have called grit a “dependent variable”—one possible factor in a given experimental situation affecting many other factors. But Duckworth decided that grit is the single trait in our complex and wavering nature which accounts for success; grit is the strong current of will that flows through genetic inheritance and the existential muddle of temperament, choice, contingency—everything that makes life life.

“Grit,” Denby rightfully argues, is grossly over-exaggerated by Duckworth and the cult of “grit” in “no excuses” education reform. Success comes from a complicated matrix of causes—and we must acknowledge that often those competing for success are “Grit” Takes another Hit (with Caveats) | the becoming radical:

John King Gets Grilled By John Kline Over ESSA Regulations – Exceptional Delaware

John King Gets Grilled By John Kline Over ESSA Regulations – Exceptional Delaware:

John King Gets Grilled By John Kline Over ESSA Regulations

This morning, United States Secretary of Education John King was once again asked to testify in a hearing before the US House Education and the Workforce Committee.  Chairman John Kline issued a press release:

Kline Statement on Hearing with Secretary of Education King

WASHINGTON, D.C. | June 23, 2016 – Rep. John Kline (R-MN), chairman of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, released the following statement after Secretary of Education John King concluded his testimony addressing implementation of theEvery Student Succeeds Act:The Every Student Succeeds Act is based on the principle that state and local leaders can run their K-12 schools better than Washington bureaucrats. The law represents the best opportunity we’ve had in decades to provide every child in every school an excellent education. We will not allow the administration to destroy that opportunity by substituting its will for the will of Congress and for the will of our state and local education leaders. This hearing is an important opportunity to hold the administration accountable to those leaders and their students. We appreciate hearing from Secretary King, but in many ways he reinforced our concerns with the troubling direction the department is taking this new law. We will continue to use the tools at our disposal to ensure the letter and intent of the law are strictly followed. Our nation’s parents, teachers, and students deserve nothing less.

Kline also issued his opening statement in the hearing:

Kline Statement: Hearing on “Next Steps in K-12 Education: Examining Recent Efforts to Implement the Every Student Succeeds Act”

WASHINGTON, D.C. | June 23, 2016 – Welcome back, Secretary King, and thank you for joining us. When we last met, the process for implementing the Every Student Succeeds Act was just getting underway. We had a healthy discussion about the bipartisan reforms Congress passed and the president signed into law. Those reforms are designed to restore state and local control over K-12 schools.That’s not just my own personal view. It’s the view held by governors, state lawmakers, teachers, parents, principals, and superintendents who recently wrote that, “[The Every Student Succeeds Act] is clear: Education decision-making now rests with states and districts, and the federal role is to support and inform those decisions.” It’s also the view of most honest observers. As the Wall Street Journal editorialized, the law represents the “largest devolution of federal control to the states in a quarter-century.”

That’s not just my own personal view. It’s the view held by governors, state lawmakers, teachers, parents, principals, and superintendents who recently wrote that, “[The Every Student Succeeds Act] is clear: Education decision-making now rests with states and districts, and the federal role is to support and inform those decisions.” It’s also the view of most honest observers. As the Wall Street Journal editorialized, the law represents the “largest devolution of federal control to the states in a quarter-century.”The reason for this hearing and our continued oversight is to ensure the letter and intent of the law are followed. A critical part of our effort is holding your agency accountable, Mr. Secretary, for the steps that are taken to implement the law. When you were with us in February, you said, “You can trust that we will abide by the letter of the law as we move forward …”

That is a strong statement, and it is one of several commitments you’ve made John King Gets Grilled By John Kline Over ESSA Regulations – Exceptional Delaware:

Fisher v. Texas: Affirmative action at the University of Texas is constitutional, the Supreme Court rules - Vox

Fisher v. Texas: Affirmative action at the University of Texas is constitutional, the Supreme Court rules - Vox:

Fisher v. Texas: Affirmative action at the University of Texas is constitutional, the Supreme Court rules

Affirmative action in college admissions has survived yet another Supreme Courtchallenge. The court ruled 4-3 on Thursday that the University of Texas at Austin's admissions procedures are constitutional, deciding Fisher v. Texas for the second time in three years, this time in the university's favor.

Justice Anthony Kennedy, writing for a four-justice majority that also included Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor, and Stephen Breyer, concluded that the university's consideration of students' race was constitutional. (Here is the full opinion. Justice Elena Kagan recused herself because she did work related to the case during her time as Solicitor General.)

UT-Austin had specific goals for the diversity of its student body, and the majority was convinced by the university's argument that they could not achieve those goals in any other way.

UT-Austin's admission plan is somewhat unique. Kennedy cautioned that the university should continue to reevaluate the plan as more evidence emerges about its effects. And so the opinion itself doesn't make sweeping proclamations about how long affirmative action will be necessary, as former Justice Sandra Day O'Connor did with Grutter v. Bollinger in 2003.

Still, when the Court voted to take up the Fisher case for the second time in three years, many speculated that this would be the opinion that gutted the use of race in college admissions. Instead, the case was an outright win for the University of Texas and the court's liberals, although it reiterated to colleges that their affirmative action plans will have to meet high standards if challenged in court.

Why Abigail Fisher sued over the University of Texas's admissions policy

The case, Fisher v. Texas, challenged the University of Texas at Austin's admissions procedures. Most of its students are chosen by admitting the students at the top of every high school class in the state.

Because Texas's high schools are generally racially homogenous, that ensures a certain amount of racial diversity: The majority-black high schools send black students, the majority-Latino high schools send Latino students, and the majority-white high schools send white students.

But the university also admits some students who aren't in the top 10 percent of their high school class through another process, one that takes into account musical and athletic talent, as well as race and other factors. That's the process that was challenged by Abigail Fisher, who was denied admission through the so-called "holistic review."

Fisher has since graduated from Louisiana State University. But her challenge to the Fisher v. Texas: Affirmative action at the University of Texas is constitutional, the Supreme Court rules - Vox:

School Reform: Business Leaders Need Not Apply

Business Leaders Need Not Apply:

School Reform: Business Leaders Need Not Apply

Over and over again, Americans laud “business practice” and call for businessmen and businesswomen to fix our government and public institutions. A local government’s elected board congratulates itself when they hire an administrator with business experience, not local government experience. They assume that “real-world business practice” will solve the locality’s problems. People running for political office tell us that their business experience qualifies them to be the best elected officials. Public institutions—museums and other not-for-profits—hire corporate executives to “straighten out” the institution.

But “business practices,” it turns out, are volatile. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, almost half of business establishments fail within five years. There were more than 29,000 corporate bankruptcy filings in 2015. The American Productivity & Quality Center study demonstrates that nearly half of all new product launchesare unsuccessful and that only 45% of those new products are launched on time. That’s what counts for success in the business world.

We don’t tolerate that rate of failure in government. A failure of national defenses is catastrophic. We don’t tolerate a 50% safety rating for our drinking water (witnessFlint, Michigan). Nor is that rate acceptable for roads, public safety (police, fire, and rescue), and the other infrastructure we rely on. When the electricity goes out, we demand accountability. We don’t gamble with preservation of our national treasures. And when government fails to pay its creditors, the ensuing economic crisis impacts every citizen. We are outraged if government and public institutions exhibit the 50% success rate of the “for-profit” business world. We expect our public institutions to perform consistently and conservatively.

Most Americans believe that government and public institutions need reform. They need to improve efficiency and accountability. I agree. We cannot do that, however, by simply calling in a few businesspeople. Government and public institutions are not businesses. Government and public institutions are mission-driven—not profit-driven.

Our military forces undertake the sacred mission to “protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.” Every single member of the force swears allegiance to that mission. The mission of the local water utility is to provide the public with an adequate, clean water supply. The mission of the local government finance director is to insure that government funds are expended appropriately and with adequate oversight controls. The mission of the local museum is to preserve, display, and tell the story of the collections entrusted to its care. Each government and public institution has a public trust that they must maintain above all other considerations. They cannot cut their losses. They cannot shut down the product line. They cannot declare bankruptcy. They cannot fail.

Our school systems are a prime example. The effort to improve education through business metrics and acumen is not a “best practice” success story. A 2006 Harvard Business Review article summed up the challenge: “Business leaders . . . have been extremely generous with money and counsel for urban districts, only to be frustrated by the results. As some corporate executives are beginning to realize, urban school systems are vastly more complex than businesses. . . .” Still we persist. The charter school movement to privatize public education does not improve student education or outcomes. For-profit universities have exceptionallypoor student graduation levels and Business Leaders Need Not Apply:

Follow William E. White on Twitter: www.twitter.com/wwhite53

Unger: For overcoming homophobia, California's FAIR Education Act is a model - San Jose Mercury News

Unger: For overcoming homophobia, California's FAIR Education Act is a model - San Jose Mercury News:
Unger: For overcoming homophobia, California's FAIR Education Act is a model

In the wake of the 2012 Sandy Hook school massacre, NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre announced, "The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun."

Nelson Mandela, who knew a thing or two about violence, proposed a different solution to breaking the cycle of violence: "Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world."

The state of California is pioneering the kind of transformative education endorsed by Nelson Mandela. It's a model that other states should follow to help put an end to homophobic violence.

In 2011 California passed into law the Fair, Accurate, Inclusive, and Respectful (FAIR) Education Act, which includes the requirement that the contributions of LGBTQ persons to the development of California and the United States be included in California's public school curriculum in ways appropriate to grade level.

I have been teaching a course called "Lesbians and Gays in U.S. History" at Santa Clara University since 2002. I have witnessed the power of that history, as students (those who identify as straight as well as those who occupy various places all along the LGBTQ spectrum) tell me repeatedly, "This course changed my life."

History is an empowering tool, but even with the FAIR Education Act, nationwide LBGTQ History is taught almost exclusively within colleges and universities, and as an elective rather than as a requirement.

Would things have turned out differently had the Orlando shooter been educated in a school system that required that he learn about the meaningful contributions LGBTQ people have made to this country? Perhaps not. But perhaps learning that those contributions make up a vital component of a more complete understanding of American political, economic, social, legal, military and religious history would have exposed him to the reality that LGBTQ people are not outsiders to be hated, but part of the very fabric of this nation.

Public school children are taught about important leaders in African American history (such as Harriet Tubman and Martin Luther King, Jr.), and trail blazers for women (including Susan B. Anthony and Gloria Steinem). But if they are never exposed to Barbara Gittings, Frank Kameny, Harvey Milk or the other major figures in the fight for gay rights, it should not be surprising that LGBTQ people will continue to be marginalized and not taken seriously at best, vilified and terrorized at worst.

LBGTQ people need to be recognized for their many contributions, in groups and as individuals, to this country's history. All who study them will be enriched by knowledge of writers James Baldwin, Langston Hughes, Tennessee Williams and Rita Mae Brown, astronaut Sally Ride, athletes Billie Jean King, Martina Navratilova, and Greg Louganis, business executive Tim Cook, political leaders Barney Frank and Tammy Baldwin, Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson, civil rights activist Bayard Rustin, and many more creative and Unger: For overcoming homophobia, California's FAIR Education Act is a model - San Jose Mercury News:

Parents and principals will weigh in on charter placements at L.A. school campuses - LA Times

Parents and principals will weigh in on charter placements at L.A. school campuses - LA Times:

Parents and principals will weigh in on charter placements at L.A. school campuses

Families and schools in L.A. Unified could get more of a say in the way the district allocates space to charter schools, thanks to a committee the Los Angeles Unified School District board voted to create Tuesday.

The school board directed the superintendent to form a group that will suggest ways to make the process for giving charter schools space on district school campuses more transparent for families and schools. The group could include parents, district school principals, teachers and charter school leaders.

Under the current colocation process — defined by state law — schools and the parents who send their kids there are often informed that they’ll be sharing their school after the offer has been made.

The resolution isn’t just about making it easier for charter schools to take up space on traditional campuses, board member Ref Rodriguez said. Rodriguez, who wrote the resolution, said during the meeting that schools sometimes plan to use extra rooms for programs like expanding magnets or special classes, but then those rooms get allocated to charters. Involving schools earlier would help prevent this issue, he said.

In 2015-16, about 50 charter schools used space on campuses of L.A. Unified district schools. 

The committee will make suggestions that the superintendent must “carefully consider” in revising the district’s charter co-location policies.The board approved the resolution 5-2, with board members George McKenna and Scott Schmerelson dissenting. Board member Monica Garcia co-sponsored Rodriguez’s resolution.

“I do not believe it is our job to make it comfortable for charter schools to co-exist with us,” McKenna told the board during Tuesday’s meeting.

The superintendent should improve district schools so that families don’t want to leave for charters, McKenna said, instead of creating a committee.

The vote came after the school board approved a $7.6 billion budget with the warning that the district may be in deficit by the 2017-18 fiscal year, in part due to declining enrollment — and its draining effect on state funding.

The district anticipates district-operated school enrollment to drop by 13,728 students for the 2016-17 school years, while independent charter enrollment is projected to increase by 5,984 students.

Other board members who voted for the resolution did so with caveats. 

The board has already tried to address colocation practices twice before, in 2011 and 2013, board member Monica Ratliff pointed out. She added an amendment that requires the superintendent to review those recommendations and report on their status in 45 days.

Board president Steve Zimmer voted for the resolution, but said the law dictating co-location policies is faulty.

“I will be a bigger believer in the forward motion toward collaboration and joint solutions Parents and principals will weigh in on charter placements at L.A. school campuses - LA Times:

Teachers union takes to streets in the Loop, then fills City Hall | Chicago Sun-Times

Teachers union takes to streets in the Loop, then fills City Hall | Chicago Sun-Times:
Teachers union takes to streets in the Loop, then fills City Hall

Craig Cleve, a teacher at Columbia Explorers Elementary Academy, protests with more than 100 members of the Chicago Teachers Union outside the monthly Chicago City Council meeting and rallies for an elected representative school board and progressive revenue options to fund public schools, Wednesday, June 22, 2016.| Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times

If the horde of protesters from the Chicago Teachers Union, who raised the humidity in the lobby of City Hall Wednesday morning to an uncomfortable level, could force elected officials to endure the same sticky air until coming up with a fix for underfunded schools, they would

Chanting and sign waving demonstrators blasted the usual suspects — Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Gov. Bruce Rauner and Chicago Public Schools CEO Forrest Claypool.

Hovering above the muggy mass was a skeleton wearing a cap and gown adorned with a sign, complete with bullet holes, that read: Stop Killing Public Education.

The former Halloween prop is better known to art students at Carl Schurz High School as Charlie Bones — where his likeness is regularly sketched on paper to learn anatomy and proportion.

Schurz teacher Mark Nelson held the skeleton as he explained his position.

“They just don’t get it, they’re not in the trenches with us,” Nelson said of clueless and gridlocked politicians. “It’s like a cadet fresh out of West Point attempting to lead a group of battle hardened troops in the field.”

More than 100 members of the Chicago Teachers Union stage a sit-in at City Hall and rally for an elected representative school board and progressive revenue options to fund public schools, Wednesday, June 22, 2016.| Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times

Union President Karen Lewis, who is vulnerable to illness after successfully battling brain cancer, sat out the protest because of concern over predictions of foul weather, a CTU source said.

Lewis’ second in command, Jesse Sharkey summed up the day by telling fellow protesters: “It’s about demanding funding for our schools. But we haven’t seen the governor or the mayor lift a finger.”

In addition to City Hall, the teachers — who went on summer break this week — gathered at several locations, including the plaza outside the Thompson Center and outside the downtown offices of hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin, the state’s richest man.

“We need teachers, we need books, we need money Ken Griffin took!” some yelled.

Earlier this month, Claypool said it’s possible that schools in Chicago will not be able to Teachers union takes to streets in the Loop, then fills City Hall | Chicago Sun-Times:

Late Deal in Albany Could Allow Charter Schools to Hire More Uncertified Teachers - The New York Times

Late Deal in Albany Could Allow Charter Schools to Hire More Uncertified Teachers - The New York Times:

Late Deal in Albany Could Allow Charter Schools to Hire More Uncertified Teachers

In the fraught final hours of the legislative session on Friday, the Republicans in the State Senate agreed to give Mayor Bill de Blasio control of the New York City schools for one more year, but in return they demanded two provisions related to charter schools.

One made it easier for the schools to switch between charter-granting organizations. The second gave the charter schools committee of the State University of New York’s board of trustees — one of the two entities that can currently grant charters — the power “to promulgate regulations with respect to governance, structure and operations” of the schools it oversees.

The broadness of the language at first left something of a mystery as to what the provision was intended to accomplish and who might have wanted it.

A few days later, the mystery cleared up a bit.

Families for Excellent Schools, a charter school advocacy group that is closely tied to Eva S. Moskowitz, the founder of the Success Academy charter school network, sent an email to the leaders of several charter networks on Tuesday calling the provisions “a massive victory.” In particular, it said in the email, the SUNY-related bit of legislation meant that SUNY would be able to waive current requirements that limit the number of uncertified teachers that charter schools can employ.

In fact, the Senate had pushed for a provision that would have done that directly, by giving teachers at charter schools three years to become certified, but the Assembly, which is controlled by the Democrats, rejected it. After that explicit provision on teacher certification was taken out, the broader language appeared.

The three-year allowance had been a top priority for Ms. Moskowitz, who faces difficulty hiring enough teachers as she rapidly expands the number of Success Academy schools. Currently, under the state’s charter school law, a charter school cannot have more than 15 uncertified teachers. Success hires mostly young teachers. Many of them are uncertified when they begin and attend a master’s program managed by Success while they are teaching.

Stefan Friedman, a spokesman for Success Academy, expressed support for the idea of giving charters flexibility on the certification rules. “To continue to deliver the strongest academic results for children, as well as exceptional chess, debate and art programs, schools must hire the most highly qualified teachers available and give them extensive training and support,” he said in a statement.

The one-year extension of mayoral control was a major defeat for Mr. de Blasio, a Democrat who had originally asked for a seven-year extension. The Late Deal in Albany Could Allow Charter Schools to Hire More Uncertified Teachers - The New York Times:

Randi Weingarten: Lightening the Load of Student Loan Debt - The New York Times

Lightening the Load of Student Loan Debt - The New York Times:

Lightening the Load of Student Loan Debt

For people who choose educating others over enriching themselves, college debt can seem insurmountable — because it is insurmountable. To cultivate a well-educated, globally competitive American work force, we must make college affordable.

The American Federation of Teachers recently started a series of student debt clinics to help our members mitigate the crippling college debt incurred by millions of American students and their families. In 90-minute sessions, these clinics provide information on how to enroll in income-based student loan repayment programs and to qualify for Public Service Loan Forgiveness. For some participants, the clinics have been life-changing.

The A.F.T. is fighting on the front lines — warning students and their families about the risks of predatory behaviors by servicers, lenders and for-profit educational providers, educating them on repayment options and cultivating a new generation of activists who have the potential to halt this national student debt epidemic.

In October, a young adjunct professor from Miami attended a two-part A.F.T. debt clinic. Crushed by more than $168,000 in student loan debt and monthly payments exceeding $2,000, this professor, a single mother, was desperate. On the first day of the training, she kept to herself. That night, she applied for income-based repayment and was able to reduce her monthly payment to $700. On the second day of the training, she told the group that it was the first good night’s sleep she’d had in three years. She is now a trainer herself, helping others better understand how to relieve their debt.

The economic and professional advantages of earning a college degree are well established. And a highly educated work force is essential to the nation’s economic future. But many people simply can’t afford to seek higher education, or they pay dearly when they do. Forty-seven states are spending less per student than they did at the start of the recession, after adjusting for inflation. As a result, tuition costs have skyrocketed, putting more of the burden on students and their families.

These debt clinics help alleviate the costs of attending college, but the clinics alone do not make college accessible to all Americans. When our Lightening the Load of Student Loan Debt - The New York Times: