In Illinois we’re in a battle with the forces of evil to keep teachers’ pensions, pensions that were promised and that teachers paid for. To those like Ty Fahner of the Civic Committee and some members of the Illinois General Assembly, retired teachers are expensive.
We are much cheaper dead.
Which apparently occurred to Texas Governor and GOP presidential front-runner Rick Perry.
He had a plan to sell life insurance plans on retired Texas teachers. When the teachers died, the state would
California’s top school official has requested immediate relief from federal guidelines that, if unaltered, would label nearly 80% of schools serving large numbers of low-income students as failing.
State Supt. of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson formally aligned with officials from other states in seeking a waiver from federal rules and penalties under the No Child Left Behind Act. Under that law, nearly all students are supposed to be academically “proficient” by 2014. States must progress toward the 2014 requirement every year, a rising target that increasing numbers of schools are unable to meet.
Such schools are subject to federal sanctions, including being closed, having the staff replaced or being converted to charter schools. Charters are operated outside of direct school district control and don’t have to abide by a school system’s labor agreements.
Letter Seeks Support for State-Determined Accountability Systems
SACRAMENTO—State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson today called on U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan to provide state schools with immediate relief from the flawed policies of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act.
"Relief is needed immediately before more schools suffer for another school year under inappropriate labels and ineffective interventions," Torlakson wrote in a letter to Duncan.
The letter warns that many schools with rising student achievement will be mislabeled as failing under the "one-size-fits-all" approach required under NCLB. In addition, the letter notes that NCLB restrictions on how districts can use funding will further burden schools already hit hard by budget cuts.
Torlakson proposed that California be allowed to freeze the imposition of sanctions and mandatory identifications for the coming school year at last year’s levels.
Torlakson noted in the letter that he is working with the state Legislature to put in place the next generation of accountability systems to evaluate schools more appropriately and effectively, and urged the Administration to support state-determined accountability systems.
In addition, Torlakson’s letter states that the current federal waiver proposal "presents problems for California" by asking states to commit to new policies that are beyond the scope of NCLB.
"The appropriate forum for consideration of any new federal mandates is through the Congressional reauthorization process, which by its nature requires greater transparency and broader democratic debate," Torlakson said in the letter.
The full text of the letter may be found at Torlakson Seeks Relief from NCLB Sanctions - Letters.
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Tom Torlakson — State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Communications Division, Room 5206, 916-319-0818, Fax 916-319-0100
I say “youth” rather than “children”, because I think the “C-word” has become a derogatory term in our culture, implying either complete dependence or inability as in “you’re behaving like children!” In my opinion it is that inquisitiveness of a young person and willingness to ignore conventional wisdom that has empowered adults like Steve Jobs and earlier Bill Gates to revolutionize our use of information technology.
Given that prevailing connotation of the C-word, I can barely recall a time in my own remembrance of my
by Frederick M. Hess • Aug 25, 2011 at 3:44 pm
Cross-posted from Education Week
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Here's something you won't read too often in RHSU: "UFT president Michael Mulgrew is right." But he is. Just today, a New York state appellate court ruled that New York City must release reports that show value-added data on a teacher-by-teacher basis, with teachers' names attached. I agree with Mulgrew that this is an unfortunate decision.
New York City issues the reports in question to about 12,000 teachers annually, covering teachers in fourth through eighth grades whose kids take the state reading and math assessments. The value-added model in question incorporates a variety of factors, including student absenteeism, race, class size, and so forth. The result is good and useful data that ought to be incorporated into management decisions--but that shouldn't be
(Official Department of Education Photo by Joshua Hoover)
For many high school students, the first day of school usually involves shuffling through the halls trying to find next period’s classroom and comparing class schedules with friends, but for students at Eastern High in Washington, DC, the first day also involved a warm welcome from Secretary Arne Duncan, DC Mayor Vincent Gray, and DC Public Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson.
After greeting the students and touring the school’s facilities, Secretary Duncan addressed Eastern’s student body with an inspiring address. In his remarks, the Secretary articulated how ED’s policies would affect schools in DC and nationwide.
(Official Department of Education Photo by Joshua Hoover)
As a Turnaround School, Eastern is eligible for additional funding from the federal government to raise expectations, improve the quality of teaching, and provide students with the help they need to graduate and be ready to go to college and enter the workforce. ED and the Obama Administration have made a significant investment – more than $4 billion – to help states turn around their lowest performing schools. Duncan outlined how more than 1,000 schools throughout the country are using Turnaround grant money to increase education outcomes.
Duncan emphasized that Mayor Gray, Chancellor Henderson and Principal Rachel Skerritt were committed to executing an effective turnaround plan for the school.
“Eastern’s turnaround is built around four key values: Excellence, Scholarship, Honor, and Service,” Duncan said, following Mayor Gray’s remarks about the vital contributions that Eastern alumni had made to Washington and to the world.
Duncan also discussed how excellence in Eastern’s curriculum was emerging through more rigorous academic offerings. The school is adding an International Baccalaureate program and is preparing to offer Advanced Placement programs when the Class of 2015 reaches the upper grades.
Additionally, Duncan praised the more than 60 students who joined the Health and Medical Sciences Academy, a program that will help prepare them to work in one of the fastest growing fields in America’s future economy.
The Secretary finished his remarks by encouraging the students to pursue a college education and to work hard in all of their future endeavors.
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