Saturday, June 21, 2014

Who Should Go, the Public Education Privatizers or the Teachers? You be the Judge - Perdaily.com

Who Should Go, the Public Education Privatizers or the Teachers? You be the Judge Big money, Edvoice, Privatization scams, AB215 and Vergara invoking misassignment problems supposedly addressed in the Williams settlement. By Kathleen Carroll - Perdaily.com:

Who Should Go, the Public Education Privatizers or the Teachers? You be the Judge Big money, Edvoice, Privatization scams, AB215 and Vergara invoking misassignment problems supposedly addressed in the Williams settlement. By Kathleen Carroll

(Mensaje se repite en Español)

(KATHLEEN CARROLL WAS LEAD ATTORNEY FOR CALIFORNIA TEACHERS CREDENTIALING, UNTIL SHE REFUSED TO LIFT THE CREDENTIALS OF TEACHERS WHOSE FILES CLEARLY SHOWED HAD DONE NOTHING TO WARRANT THIS DRACONIAN ACTION- SHE WAS SUBSEQUENTLY FIRED AND IS PRESENTLY INVOLVED IN LITIGATION).

One of the main goals of the public education privatizers has been to make it easier, legally, to fire teachers. Understanding this goal is not difficult. You fire more teachers; you show how bad the public education system is with so many bad teachers. This in turn justifies systemic change or more euphemistically referred to as education reform. And the reform is always the same, more charter schools, more online education, more testing, more replacement of teachers with Teach For America Troops/others. Education reform also always includes more for profit teacher preparation programs- because now not only are the public schools really bad according to the privatizers, but now we don't have enough teachers in the profession, so we need to recruit more and find alternative ways, short cuts, on how teachers get licensed- enter for profit teacher preparation programs $$$$. The public education privatizers have the perfect business plan- create chaos, justify change, make change, make profits. And the more change, the more profits to make.

Add the constant false claim that there are so many sex offenders in the classroom that are impossible to get rid of, and the privatizers create the perfect distraction to fool the public while scooping up billions of tax dollars- all in the name of helping students.

The problem that never gets addressed in the corporate controlled media is the serious human abuse taking place against teachers to achieve these privatizing ends. As the public education system gets primed with low wage, inexperienced, temporary teachers who cost less and don't require benefits, the privatizers are also adding teacher bullies provided by the numerous education leadership academies trained to spy on, write up and report back on any outspoken critic of the privatization agenda. Some of the teacher bullies are Broad trained education consultants (privatizer moles). These bullies are right there working along side the teachers.

So if a teacher happens to complain when school administrators hold back Black students in a English class, when in fact they qualify for advanced placement (an actual story), this teacher automatically becomes a target. She begins to get reassigned to classes where the majority of students have behavioral problems, she then gets assigned to subjects outside of what she is authorized to teach, and she is constantly monitored, watched and written up for even speaking to colleagues. As her every move is watched, and the privatizer moles continue to write her up, the teacher becomes more and more stressed. Eventually the dismissal will look like a

New York Badass Teachers Association Press Release - Badass Teachers Association

Badass Teachers Association:

New York Badass Teachers Association

Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 21, 2014
More Information Contact:

Mark Naison, Co-founder BATs
Marla Kilfoyle, General Manager, BATs

contact.batmanager@gmail.com

Badass Teachers Association - http://www.badassteacher.org/

The New York Badass Teachers Association (BATs), an activist organization of over 2000 educators, are releasing this statement to voice their displeasure with the APPR deal reached by Governor Cuomo and NYSUT. This deal, which allows a teacher who is rated ineffective or developing to get a second review without the Common Core tests aligned to their evaluations, is an insult to educators, parents, and students in New York.

“This does nothing to alleviate the testing driven curriculum and the prescriptive one-size-fits-all instructional methodology that accompanies it. This is more window dressing to try to save Cuomo from embarrassment in the upcoming elections ,” stated NY BAT Bill Heller

Marla Kilfoyle a NY BAT administrator states, “Where is the relief for our students? They are still exposed to a test driven APPR system, Common Core tests, pilot tests for Pearson, and regents exams. Where is their relief? Gov. Cuomo, the Regents, and John King have turned education in NYS into chaos”

BAT Co-Founder Mark Naison added, “" Any policy which does not immediately and dramatically reduce the amount of testing in the public schools of New York State is just plain wrong."

NY BATs demand that Governor Cuomo, Regents, John King, and state lawmakers begin to examine their disastrous education agenda. Their education agenda has caused chaos in NYS schools and is not good for children, teachers or education! We need to prioritize student needs over corporate interests. NYS children deserve a rich education that is full of music, art, child-centered curricula, and fun!

Democrats Reap $91,000 From Charter Schools Advocate And His Family - Courant.com

Democrats Reap $91,000 From Charter Schools Advocate And His Family - Courant.com:

Democrats Reap $91,000 From Charter Schools Advocate And His Family

Jon LenderGovernment Watch

2:17 p.m. EDT, June 21, 2014

There may be no better illustration of state Democrats' massive fundraising efforts in Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's re-election year than the political donations of Jonathan Sackler and his extended family.

A total of $91,000 in donations has rolled into Connecticut Democratic Party coffers in 2013 and 2014 from four people: Sackler, a Greenwich businessman, investment executive and charter schools advocate; his wife; mother and father.

That unusually high amount was made possible by the Democrat-controlled legislature's passage of a law last year — with Malloy's support — that doubled the annual limit for individual persons' contributions to state party organizations, from $5,000 to a new high of $10,000.

Here's the rundown on contributions to the party from those four family members during 2013 and 2014, according to campaign financing records:

•$55,000 to the account of the Connecticut Democratic Party's state-regulated committee. Sackler and his wife, Mary Corson, each gave a maximum $10,000 donation to the Democratic Party's state account in 2013 and already have given the same amount in 2014, for a total of $40,000 between them. Also, Sackler's mother and father, Raymond and Beverly Sackler, have given $15,000 — $10,000 and $5,000, respectively — to that same party account this year.

•$36,000 to the Connecticut Democratic Party's federally regulated account. Jonathan Sackler and Mary Corson each have given $10,000 to that account in 2014, and each gave $8,000 in 2013. The federal account is regulated by the Federal Election Commission and is intended under law to be used to help elect Democrats to federal office in Congress. But the account also can be legally used to fund salaries of state party staff members, and for other purposes that would benefit Malloy this year.

Jonathan Sackler and his wife live a stone's throw from his mother and father — in large homes on Field Point Circle, one of affluent Greenwich's most exclusive addresses with spectacular waterfront views of Long Island Sound.

The couple is in an elite group of political donors tapped by state Democrats who might be called "double-uppers" — individuals who gave the maximum $10,000 to a Democratic Party committee in 2013 and quickly doubled up on it with another maximum contribution this year; or couples who each gave the maximum $10,000 for one year.

But the Sacklers stand out.

In addition to making individual donations, Jonathan Sackler and Mary Corson opened their Greenwich home for an event on May 30, 2012 that raised $40,000 for a political action committee run by a Malloy pal. The PAC, Prosperity For Connecticut, organized by longtime Democratic activist and lawyer James Wade, has handed out $42,000 to state and local Democratic committees since 2012.

Malloy attended and spoke at the Sackler fundraiser that drew many donations from people involved with charter schools, in and out of Connecticut, or their relatives. For example, one, who gave $250 in connection with that event was Dmitri Mehlhorn of Virginia, who co-founded and served for a time as COO of StudentsFirst, a national education reform group involved with charter schools.

Jonathan Sackler is a leading proponent of charter schools in Connecticut, the region and the nation. He is a trustee for Achievement First, operator of about 20 charter schools in New York and Connecticut with thousands of students. He was the founding chairman and still a director of ConnCAN, the Connecticut Coalition for Achievement Now, and serves as director of other education groups such as 50CAN and Students for Education Reform.

Firm Gave $106,050

Also, a privately held pharmaceutical company in Stamford with which Sackler family members have long been associated — Purdue Pharma — contributed $56,050 in 2013 and $50,000 to the Democratic Governors Association, a national group that spends its money to help elect Democratic governors across the country.

Jonathan Sackler is a director at Purdue Pharma — which is listed as his employer in the space where that information is required to be listed on campaign finance disclosure forms. But, according to a Democrats Reap $91,000 From Charter Schools Advocate And His Family - Courant.com:

D.C. halting key Michelle Rhee reform - Salon.com

D.C. halting key Michelle Rhee reform - Salon.com:

D.C. halting key Michelle Rhee reform

One of the first U.S. cities to judge teachers off of student test scores is now putting the practice on hold

Washington, D.C., chancellor Kaya Henderson announced on Thursday that the city’s public schools would at least temporarily stop evaluating teachers based off of student test scores, a move Henderson described as necessary in order to allow students to acclimate themselves to new tests built around the standards established by the Common Core.

The decision represents one more break between the city and the legacy of Henderson’s predecessor, the famous and controversial education reformer Michelle Rhee. During her tenure as D.C. chancellor, Rhee’s aggressive implementation of test-based evaluation standards was one of the many initiatives she championed during her short and contentious tenure.

Henderson’s action was supported by one of the most powerful players in the education reform wars, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Along with two powerful teachers’ unions — who are usually their adversaries (or frenemies, if you prefer) — the foundation stated that a temporary suspension of test-based evaluations was necessary in order to properly embrace the new Common Core standards.

The Department of Education, however, was considerably less enthusiastic about D.C.’s decision. “Although we applaud District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) for their continued commitment to rigorous evaluation and support for their teachers,” said DOE spokeswoman Raymonde Charles, “we know there are many who looked to DCPS as a pacesetter who will be disappointed with their desire to slow down.”

On the other hand, Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, celebrated the move and chastised the DOE for its lack of support. ”The federal Department of Education should be applauding this, not thwarting it,” Weingarten said. “When they’re thwarting it, you wonder, ‘What is that about? Is that about learning or is it about measurement for measurement’s sake, or testing for testing’s sake?’”

A study published last month in Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis raised questions about whether evaluating teachers and making personnel decisions based on test scores had any effect on teacher quality. Some critics also believe that such high-stakes testing
D.C. halting key Michelle Rhee reform - Salon.com:

LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy: "3 LAUSD teachers should have been fired without a hassle" - Perdaily.com

LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy: "3 LAUSD teachers should have been fired without a hassle" - Perdaily.com:

LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy: "3 LAUSD teachers should have been fired without a hassle"

(Mensaje se repite en Español)

I would agree with Superintendent Deasy that it shouldn't take years to get rid of the few dangerous and incompetent teachers. However, it is LAUSD that stalls, because it knows that teachers put in "teachers jail" or on unpaid administrative leave without benefits find it almost impossible to lawyer up and defend themselves in a system that should presume them innocent until LAUSD IN A NEUTRAL FORUM is capable of proving they have done something that warrants their firing by a preponderance of the evidence. Hitting virtually ever unjustly targeted teacher with a fabricated morals charge under Ed. Code 44939 to leapfrog over their collective bargaining rights to grievance and arbitration has become common place in LAUSD/Deasy's attack on teachers.

The nature of law is that somebody like Superintendent Deasy who is subjectively involved and a party in favoring teacher dismissals should not be the person to determine who stays and who gets fired. In my own case after an exemplary 23 career at both the secondary and university levels without any negative marks against me, two weeks after I reported that my school was graduating students with low elementary school reading abilities- some as low as 2nd grade- I was hit with 4 notices of unsatisfactory acts and 4 suspensions that were signed by my principal's superior as much as 57 days before I even had my "hearing"- it was already a done deal. Due process?

While testing a student for diabetes is ill-advised without parent permission, viewed in the context of a district with a 73% Latino population that has a 50% higher Type 2 diabetes rate than the general population, one can at least understand the teachable moment that this Type 2 diabetes suffering teacher felt. Should she be sanctioned? Yes. Should she lose her job after an exemplary decades long career, absolutely no. What somehow avoids being mentioned is that this teacher won her case at the Office of Administrative Hearing (OAH), sitting as the legally constituted neutral forum as Committee of Professional Competency. Did LAUSD put her back to work- no. They appealed to Superior Court. Now they have lost their, but still refuse to put this teacher back to work. Is LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy: "3 LAUSD teachers should have been fired without a hassle" - Perdaily.com:

Transcript of Gates’ March 2014 Washington Post Interview | deutsch29

Transcript of Gates’ March 2014 Washington Post Interview | deutsch29:

Transcript of Gates’ March 2014 Washington Post Interview

June 21, 2014

On June 7, 2014, Washington Post reporter Lyndsey Layton published a blockbuster article largely based on a 28-minute interview she had with Gates following his keynote speech at the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards’ (NBPTS) Teaching and Learning Conference in Washington, DC, on March 14, 2014.

I am writing my second book, this one on the origins of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). In the process of writing a chapter on the Gates bankrolling of CCSS, I transcribed the entire 28- minute interview, complete with every “uhh” and “you know.”

My primary purpose in writing this post is to make my transcription available to the public:

Layton-Gates Interview March 14, 2014

Allow me to offer a few observations regarding both Layton’s March interview and her June article:

The June Article

The layout of Layton’s June article is such that one might mistake the entire article as being based upon her March interview with Gates. Not so. In fact, a key admission revealed in the article– and the one with which Layton chooses to open her piece– is not part of her 28-minute interview with Gates.

As one views the June article, one first sees a 5-minute video clip of Gates, an abbreviated version of the full-length, 28-minute interview.

Immediately followed by the video clip is the stunning news that former Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) President Gene Wilhoit and CCSS “lead writer” David Coleman asked Gates in 2008 to bankroll CCSS.

Even though one might believe that this Wilhoit/Coleman information was part of Layton’s March interview with Gates, it is not. The Wilhoit/Coleman information came from Wilhoit.

Much of Layton’s June article focuses on the information in the March interview. Further along in the article, the video link for the full, 28-minute interview is available, with the caption that this is the “full interview.”

The descriptor “full interview” might lead one to believe that the Wilhoit/Coleman admission is part of this interview. Again, not so.

Layton’s article also declares Kentucky as the first state to sign on for CCSS, in February 2010. Again, not so. By June 2009, 46 states and US territories had already signed the legally-binding CCSS memorandum of understanding (MOU). Most dodged the entire legislative process. In February 2010, the Kentucky legislature approved Transcript of Gates’ March 2014 Washington Post Interview | deutsch29:

CERESTA SMITH For NEA Executive Committee - Badass Teachers Association

Badass Teachers Association:

CERESTA SMITH
For NEA Executive Committee

Defend the Right to Public Education for ALL Students!

Stop the Privatization of Public Education!

Build the New Social Justice Labor Movement!

I have been on the forefront of organizing on the community level to fight for and to protect public education, and while out there I discovered that as we struggle to provide quality public education for all communities, we have to take our struggle to the community and take on their struggles as our own. To put it simply, it is how we build a movement that can win and takes on the critical issues facing the nation today. As a staunch defender of equality and a fighter for social justice via my leadership in Save Our Schools March and United Opt Out National and my involvement in Bad Ass Teachers Association; I am a candidate that knows how to build and sustain a movement for progress.

With progressive leadership we can fight to restore quality and equality in education, in our schools, and in our communities. We can end the school to prison pipeline. We can end the shutting down of community public schools and the handing of them over to private profit, and we can end the dismantling of the teaching profession via a flawed accountability system. All of these injustices are fueled and fostered by high stakes testing. In the process of restoring what we’ve lost and extending our gains, we can end NEA’s adapting to policies that are filled with ill-will toward teachers and students and are aimed at damaging public education and collective bargaining.

According to teacher educator and author Lois Weiner "social movement" unionism gets at the need for empowering members, building the union from the bottom-up, making the union itself a social movement. The BAMN Caucus and I have been on the forefront of advocacy for a social movement union model as opposed to the model that subordinates our union to the politicians and an electoral strategy and thus far too often fails to address effectively the current crises in public education and collective bargaining.

As we face a corporate takeover that serves to privatize public education while attempting to destroy all vestiges of collective bargaining and teaching as a noble profession, the communities in which we teach and work face similar crises as they struggle to subsist in an economy that favors the wealthy and disfavors those who are not. We need to join in struggle and stand with our real allies — those who are fighting for a future of hope. We need to use our strength and resources as a union with members and supporters in every city and community across the country to fight to win!

Vote Ceresta Smith for NEA Executive Committee. Join the EON/BAMN caucus!

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