Pat Buchanan, Trayvon Martin, And Why Racism Isn't Going Away - The Jose Vilson | The Jose Vilson

Pat Buchanan, Trayvon Martin, And Why Racism Isn't Going Away - The Jose Vilson | The Jose Vilson:

Pat Buchanan, Trayvon Martin, And Why Racism Isn’t Going Away

by JOSE VILSON on JULY 25, 2013

Animal Farm

When Scott McLeod sent me this tweet, I said, “What?”

No way. I know this was written back in 2008, but it’s worth re-reading because of the recent conversations about race, and specifically, the Trayvon Martin proceedings. The way the conversations have gone, it’s almost as if many people (many of them conservative Whites) have a “race fatigue,” meaning they think we’ve achieved post-racism as we know it. People who argue this want to tell President Barack Obama to shut up about race already. No longer do we have to work within the confines of race dialogue, and, in their arguments, believe everyone falls in one of three categories:

1. They hate everybody else, not just people from a specific race / class / gender.
2. They don’t see color, just people a.k.a. color-blindness.
3. They perpetuate race discussion by continually talking about it.

I’ll address these backwards because the arguments only deserve a few lines.

#3: Talking about class doesn’t actually perpetuate the stratification of the poor and the

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Chicago Students Speak Out and 'Mic Check' the Chicago Board of Education

I dare you to watch this without tearing up. 

http://youtu.be/jw_oJNx42MA

Background from Common Dreams:

Student after student on Wednesday took to the podium at a public board meeting of the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) to deliver a unified message against efforts by Mayor Rahm Emanuel which they say are systematically dismantling the public education in the city.
Their immediate demand: Listen to us. Their rallying cry: 'Whose Schools? Our Schools!' And their revolutionary threat: Abandon the corporate-fueled model of education reform in Chicago or face a student-led and community-powered revolt.

 

Led by twenty members of Chicago Students Organizing to Save Our Schools, a student-led educational activism organization, each speaker offered prepared remarks that covered the gamut of student and community concerns regarding the policies set forth by the CPS board and Mayor Emanuel in recent years, including the impact of school closings, teacher layoffs, privatization, and the rise of for-profit charter schools.

UPDATE: Chamber of Commerce Jumps into Board Election Seattle Schools Community Forum: Seattle School Board Votes in Budgets

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Seattle School Board Votes in Budgets:


Seattle Chamber of Commerce Jumps into Board Election

Here's the link to the flyer that was apparently mailed to homes in District IV.    It is troubling for several reasons.One, it does not have all the candidates in the race - it leaves out Dean McColgan.  This is a signal that Estey's supporters don't consider him an issue or consider Sue Peters, her opponent, a real threat.Two, it tries to look like an apples to apples comparison but conveniently

by Melissa Westbrook / 8min 

Seattle School Board Votes in Budgets

I wouldn't call yesterday's work by the School Board especially stellar.  (I think the staff did a pretty good job on the budget but, as usual, what was left out is just as important as what was put in.)

First came the Audit&Finance Committee meeting of the Whole to discuss the budget.

It is unclear to me when the Board received their copies but there had been some small edits.  I am also not sure when the appendices all got put in.  Director Carr told the group she had not read the appendices as she had been on vacation.  President Smith-Blum and Director Patu were absent.  (Smith-Blum is out of town and Patu has a family illness.)

I can only point out that one the Board's main duties and powers is to review the budget and then vote on it.  What I saw yesterday did not inspire confidence that the Board understood the budget they voted on.

Here are some key links you may be interested in.

Budget Book
Appendix A 
Appendix B
Ore-Level Budget Comparison FY14 vs. FY2013 

Highlights:

• The funding focus for this budget is Common Core 

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Rahm -- 'Let them eat chaos.'

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Rahm -- 'Let them eat chaos.':

Rahm -- 'Let them eat chaos.'

While protesting teachers marched outside, parent Chitunda Tillman Sr, who has 3 kids who are CPS students, protests tells the board exactly what he thinks about their school budget cuts. (Alex Wroblewski~Sun-Times)

 “With a historic billion-dollar deficit, we are taking every step we can to minimize any impacts to the classroom."  --CPS Liar-in-Chief Becky Carroll

Homeowners, prepare to dig deeper. Schoolchildren — especially high schoolers — prepare to get less. -- Sun-Times

The Carroll quote is from a few weeks ago. The other is the lead-in to today's CPS budget story. Remember LIC Carroll assuring parents that budget cuts wouldn't target the classroom? Well they have, slashing classroom spending by $68 million. This while throwing the whole system into chaos by closing about 50 schools, mostly in African-American neighborhoods, further disrupting the lives of more than 40,000 children and their families 

Black student achievement doesn’t look any better 10 years after a federal court ended its oversight of Dallas ISD’s desegregation plan | Education Blog

Black student achievement doesn’t look any better 10 years after a federal court ended its oversight of Dallas ISD’s desegregation plan | Education Blog:

Black student achievement doesn’t look any better 10 years after a federal court ended its oversight of Dallas ISD’s desegregation plan

By Scott K. Parks
sparks@dallasnews.com
2:04 pm on July 25, 2013 | Permalink

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U.S. District Judge Barefoot Sanders kept watch over Dallas ISD for more than three decades under a desegregation court order that controlled where schools were located, attendance zones, education programs, staffing policies and much more.

This summer marks a decade since DISD went to court and convinced Sanders to dissolve the court order and end federal oversight. So, we ask the question: What has changed in the last 10 years? Are black students better off or worse off than they were under the court order, which lasted from 1971 to June 2003?

The answer is murky, but it’s clear that federal court efforts to desegregate DISD amount to a failed social experiment. The goal was to dismantle the district’s dual system for whites and blacks and create an integrated educational system. Legally, that happened. But what’s legal and what really happened were two different things.

White families rebelled and moved to the suburbs or put their kids in private schools. In 1970, more than 60 percent of DISD students were white. Now, 43 years later,  Allen and Frisco ISDs look like DISD in 

GIMBY | Blog | Top ten problems facing public education in America

GIMBY | Blog | Top ten problems facing public education in America:

Top ten problems facing public education in America

U.S. first lady Michelle Obama visits a fifth-grade art class at Savoy School, a public elementary school in Anacostia, a neighborhood in D.C. (Photo: Jonathan Ernst, Reuters)

Brooks Hays

The most essential problems with public education in America are seldom addressed in plain language. Below, GIMBY hones in on public education’s ten most pressing problems.

Poverty

It’s hard to arrive at school each day focused and ready to learn if you’re hungry and your household is struggling to make ends meet. The American Psychiatric Association has found that the dropout rate for teenagers living in poverty is, on average, ten times higher than it is for their more affluent peers. These discrepancies are only getting worse as a result of a struggling economy. According to the 2010 Census, the poverty rate is the highest it has been since the 1960s, at more than 15 percent. Sadly, a large portion of those in poverty are children — 12.9 million by last count. Julia Thompson, a longtime school teacher and author of The First-Year Teacher’s Survival Guide, says the problems of childhood poverty call for a stronger bond between schools, communities, and social services.

Classroom size

America’s population growth is outpacing the nation’s ability to build new schools and hire new staff. Budgets simply can’t keep up, and as a result, class sizes are growing. Study after study after study (here, here, and here) has found a strong correlation between classroom size and student performance. The smaller the class is, the better the education received, and the better students perform. Whether reducing a class from 40 to 35, or from 20 to 15, this truth applies at all age levels and at all levels of achievement. Reducing class size is “one of fou

If the Ladder Is Leaning on the Wrong Structure — Whole Child Education

If the Ladder Is Leaning on the Wrong Structure — Whole Child Education:

THE WHOLE CHILD BLOG

If the Ladder Is Leaning on the Wrong Structure

July 25, 2013 by Leader to Leader

At the the recent ASCD Leader to Leader (L2L) conference, attendees had a series of passionateunconference conversations. Several groups refined their thoughts into a series of presentations to share with other attendees in an "idea marketplace." During the idea marketplace, unconference groups presented for four rounds of ten-minute sessions, giving their peers the opportunity to learn from several groups in one session.

This post, written by Jason Ellingson, an ASCD Emerging Leader and past president of Iowa ASCD, shares his group's experience. Join the conversation on Twitter by using the hashtag #ASCDL2L.

If the ladder is leaning on the wrong structure, it doesn't really matter if you can climb it.

At ASCD's L2L conference, participants were presented with an educational forecast by the KnowledgeWorks organization that demonstrated a significant shift in the workforce and our educational system. Based on the presentation, a group of us decided to focus on what new system of education would be needed to fairly prepare our students for this new workforce and new society.

The group decided that a new system of education needed to focus on personalized learning, a system that supports anytime, anywhere, any pace, any pathway for student learning. We believe that there needs to be 

Profiles in Education: Ryan Twentey

Ryan Twentey of Parkville High School in Maryland is known as a dedicated teacher who fosters his students' artistic interests to develop the skills they need to be successful in school, in the community, and in preparation for college. His photography and multimedia students have earned a 100 percent pass rate on the AP exam. Twentey also teaches interactive media production. He produces tutorial

by ASCD Whole Child ... / 7d 

Winning Rap of Science Genius 2013

    Connecting learners with curricular content so they take ownership of it and make it their own necessitates that design and delivery of learning experiences meets two requirements. It must be meaningful to learners. It must make sense to learners. In a paradigm of top-down education reform that effectively limits teacher autonomy, this is easier said than done. How much flexibility

by Jason Flom / 7d 

ASCD Affiliates Unconference

Over the past year, in my work with ASCD affiliates, we have been exploring ways to revolutionize the ways we serve their affiliate members. Why? The writing is on the wall that today's educators have different needs and expectations. It's difficult to get out of the classroom to attend conferences, and when educators can get away for professional development they want to be actively engaged in a

by Walter McKenzie / 7d mark as read  //  save

Who Says Book Clubs Are Just for Moms?

I was honored to host the most recent Whole Child Podcast where we talked about ways we reflect, recharge, and refresh as educators. One theme present in the podcast discussion and one we hear about over and over again is reading. While we encourage students (of all ages) to read often, as adults we find it difficult to find the time to read between full-time jobs, raising our children, and, heav

by Kevin Scott / 7d

 

The Effects of Early Learning

We have come to a pivotal point in education. The effects of early learning have consistently shown that children who do not have a strong start will continue to lag behind and encounter major barriers in the latter grades. Data from early grades have been powerful predictors of achievement and outcomes. Therefore, strong foundational skills in reading, math, and writing are fundamental for succe

by Dianna Minor / 3d

Image vs. Reality: A Lesson for the 7th Grader in All of Us

Post written by Emily Cherkin for Ashoka's Start Empathy Initiative, a whole child partner organization. When I tell people I work with 7th graders, I often hear, "Oh, wow. ... I'm so sorry!" They tell me how miserable their seventh grade year was. Sometimes I hear, "It takes a certain person to work with that age group..." before their voice trails off, uncertainly. I am usually bemused, at tu

by Start Empathy / 1d 

 

Improving Schools: The “Real World” Fallacy

First, if you haven't read Tom Whitby's post "The Big Lie in Education," do so. This post is a follow-up from what Whitby has eloquently started. While we are reflecting, refreshing, and recharging, lets reflect on what we are trying to teach our students and why. Take the premise uttered by many that education must prepare our students for the "Real World." What is this "Real World" that is oft

by Sean Slade / 1h mark as read  //  save