Battle For Texas: #SaveBillPowers Has Strong Record on Race & Gender | Cloaking Inequity

Battle For Texas: #SaveBillPowers Has Strong Record on Race & Gender | Cloaking Inequity:

Battle For Texas: #SaveBillPowers Has Strong Record on Race & Gender

Yesterday I blogged “July 4 Coup”: Governor Perry and Lackey Cigarroa Trying to Fire Powers. The debate is much larger than UT-Austin. Inside Higher Education quoted Hunter Rawlings III, president of the AAU.

I thought the State of Texas had in the past two years reached the outer limit of political intrusion into academic institutions, but apparently not: now a board appointed by a lame duck governor, and, astonishingly, a lame duck chancellor, are threatening to oust a highly accomplished and popular president of Texas’ flagship university, and a national leader in higher education.

This lengthy battle has been extremely corrosive, and clearly damages one of the nation’s great research universities. Believe me, faculty members and researchers and graduate students across the country know what is transpiring in Texas: the complete politicization of higher education. This latest fiasco makes a bad situation much worse.

Today Black faculty have come out in support of President Powers. Here is an open letter to UT-System Chancellor Cigarroa that I just received from the chair of the black studies department.

Dear Chancellor Cigarroa,

As chair of the African and African Diaspora Studies Department at the University of Texas at Austin I write to offer strong support for President William Powers and to respectfully request that you support the continuation of his presidency of our university. By any measure President Powers has been an outstanding leader of the University of Texas over the last nine years. The list of his accomplishments is well known including the opening of the new Dell Medical School, the championing and enhancement of undergraduate education, the successful 3 billion dollar campaign, his national leadership position as president of the prestigious AAU, to name only a few.

What is less well known is that President Powers has played an unprecedented role in the diversification of the University of Texas so that it better represents the diverse people of the state. During his time as president of our University, as a direct result of his policies and actions, President Powers has presided over a substantial increase in the representation of every historically underrepresented ethnic group at both the student and faculty levels. Over the course of this period there has been a substantial increase in the percentage of the faculty who are women. President 

Battle For Texas: #SaveBillPowers Has Strong Record on Race & Gender | Cloaking Inequity:

An Urban Teacher's Education: On Schools, Health, and Success

An Urban Teacher's Education: On Schools, Health, and Success:

On Schools, Health, and Success

In the Western world, success is often thought of in terms of working hard to become upwardly , making a name for yourself, and, perhaps, accomplishing something of lasting importance.

Our notions of success, and the pressures they exert on our egos and superegos, have had varied effects on millions ofType A personalities in the modern world. (I include myself among them.) We push ourselves to the brink, attempting to fulfill societal expectations, and humblebrag about how many hours we spent working to get this contract signed or that task finished on our way up the career/reputation ladder.

We overextend ourselves, accumulate cortisol buildup from being overstressed, overeat, and die early. Our role models are those who sacrifice themselves for their work, whether the result of that work is a better planet or insane amounts of money.



Health - "a state of being free from illness or injury." 

A major contributor to health is balance. Imbalance leads to dysfunction leads to ill health. In the body, this is easy to understand. If you eat too much sugar (inflammatory) or not enough vegetables (anti-inflammatory), you run the risk of develop a host of illnesses, cancer among them.

By what standards should we judge the health of a school? I don't think it's all that different from how we should judge the health of an individual.

• Do students know how to deal with their emotions, so that they don't build up and lead to harmful stress? Do staff?
• Are students and staff generally happy in schools or angry?
• Is real food served? Are the meals balanced?
• Do justice matter?
• Is a sense of empathy cultivated?
• Is the workload of students and staff humane?
• Do students and staff have opportunities to build community and learn fromAn Urban Teacher's Education: On Schools, Health, and Success:

ACT for Kindergarteners: Redefining Childhood and Monetizing Children | Reclaim Reform

ACT for Kindergarteners: Redefining Childhood and Monetizing Children | Reclaim Reform:

ACT for Kindergarteners: Redefining Childhood and Monetizing Children

Posted on July 7, 2014

by Ken Previti

ACT for kindergarteners is a form of corporate education reform greed that is so bad as to defy explanation. Let’s accept that as a challenge. Let’s attempt to explain this most recent abusive targeting of our children for the private profit of multinational corporations and hedge fund managers.

The degree of hype a company uses often determines its profits. Advertise by using paid experts as toadies. Pay media sources to use ads as press releases. Get the fast buck and to hell with the consequences from the product.

Our kindergarteners will suffer the consequences. Suffer the consequences.

Most parents are not professional educational experts. Those who want their children to have as many educational benefits as possible are actually quite normal parents. Parents generally want what is best for their children.

Put corporate hype together with what most parents want for their children, and let the buyers beware. Especially when the money comes from tax funds intended for public education.

“It’s a multimillion dollar project, ACT officials said, but will be affordable and easily accessible. Schools won’t be compelled to use the new tool, but Erickson said he anticipates that entire states or groups of states will choose to utilize it. The tool can be customized to include state-specific ACT for Kindergarteners: Redefining Childhood and Monetizing Children | Reclaim Reform:

7-7-14 Jersey Jazzman Jammin' All Week

Jersey Jazzman:

Earth to @starledger: There Are No Miracle Charter Schools

What do you do with someone who, when presented with the truth time and time again, refuses to see it? What so you do when a person of influence -- for example, the Star-Ledger's Editorial Page Editor, Tom Moran -- repeatedly, stubbornly, infuriatingly continues to perpetuate myths that are demonstrably untrue?Newark, for all its woes, is a city that’s surprisingly easy to fall in love with if you

8 by Duke / 29min 

7-5-14 Jersey Jazzman NJ Ed News Round-up Jammin' All Week

Jersey Jazzman:Jersey Jazzman Jammin' All WeekHey Professor: There IS a War On TeachersSpeaking for myself, one of the most frustrating things about being a teacher is when non-teachers in positions of influence tell me that my profession isn't really being targeted -- it's all just in my head, silly!Take the intellectual godfather of reforminess, Eric Hanushek, speaking here of the Vergara decisi

by mike simpson / 24min 

At National Charter Conference, the Numbers Add Up | EduShyster

At National Charter Conference, the Numbers Add Up | EduShyster:

At National Charter Conference, the Numbers Add Up

Except for the ones that don’t…

*The numbers add up.* That was the theme of this year’sNational Alliance for Public Charter Schools conference in Las Vegas, an event that drew me like a moth to a high-performing flame. The numbers that are adding up, of course, refer to the growing number of charter schools, their students, and their scores (their scores!), not to mention the swelling ranks of advocates, politicians, actors, TV news personalities, pollsters and [insert unlikely charter supporter here] that have leaped aboard the charter express, now headed direct to achievementville. But what of the lesser numbers—the ones that are, well, less than prime—and hence, don’t quite add up?  Was there anyone who would speak for them? 

793 
If there was one thing that I learned during my time in Las Vegas it’s that Vegas is an apocalyptic hellholecharter schools are public schools.This fact was impressed upon me constantly by virtually everyone I talked to. And yet even as I attempted merely to avoid catching fire in the 112 degree (dry???) heat, a heated debate was taking place some2,326 miles away over North Carolina’s Senate bill 793, which would have kept secret how much charter school employees in the state are paid. In fact, if my math is correct, the At National Charter Conference, the Numbers Add Up | EduShyster:

Nation's Largest Teachers' Union Calls On Arne Duncan To Resign:

Nation's Largest Teachers' Union Calls On Arne Duncan To Resign

 WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation's largest teachers' union wants Education Secretary Arne Duncan to quit.

Delegates of the National Education Association adopted a business item July 4 at its annual convention in Denver that called for his resignation. The vote underscores the long-standing tension between the Obama administration and teachers' unions — historically a steadfast Democratic ally.

A tipping point for some members was Duncan's statement last month in support of a California judge's ruling that struck down tenure and other job protections for the state's public school teachers. In harsh wording, the judge said such laws harm particularly low-income students by saddling them with bad teachers who are almost impossible to fire.

Even before that, teachers' unions have clashed with the administration over other issues ranging from its support of charter schools to its push to use student test scores as part of evaluating teachers.

The vote is a "venting of frustration of too many things that are wrong," said Dennis Van Roekel, the outgoing president of NEA. He said it wasn't directed at Duncan personally, but was about teachers wanting what is best for students.

Duncan wouldn't comment Monday to reporters at the White House, but said he wished the NEA's new president "the best of luck." Van Roekel's term ends Aug. 31. He's to be replaced by Lily Eskelsen Garcia, an elementary school teacher from Utah.

"I always try to stay out of local union politics. I think most teachers do too," Duncan said.

Duncan said the Education Department has had good relations with the NEA in the past, noting that they've teamed up every year to put on a national summit.

The business item passed said it was necessary to call for Duncan's resignation because of the "department's failed education agenda focused on more high-stakes testing, grading and pitting public school students against each other based on test Nation's Largest Teachers' Union Calls On Arne Duncan To Resign:

Remarks by the President before Lunch with Teachers | The White House

Remarks by the President before Lunch with Teachers | The White House:

Remarks by the President before Lunch with Teachers

Blue Room

12:10 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT:  Well, good afternoon, everybody.  I am here with some outstanding teachers as well as Secretary Arne Duncan.  And the reason we’re here is with the school year now over, it is a great time for us to focus on what we need to do to make sure that next year and the year after that and the year after continues to improve for students all across this country. 

The one ingredient that we know makes an enormous difference is a great teacher, and we have four of the best teachers in the country here.  But what we also know is that there are outstanding teachers all across the country, and Arne, myself, I suspect many of you had wonderful teachers that made all the difference in your lives and allowed you to be excited about learning and set you on a path for an extraordinary career.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of kids around the country who are not getting the kind of teaching that they need -- not because there aren’t a whole lot of great potential teachers out there, but because we’re not doing enough to put a lot of our teachers in a position to succeed.  They may not be getting the training they need, they may not be getting the professional development and support that they need in the classroom.  And part of our goal since we came into office, since Arne became Secretary of Education is how do we continue to improve how teachers can get better each and every year.

Of particular concern is the fact that typically the least experienced teachers, the ones with the least support, often end up in the poorest schools.  So we have a problem in which the kids who need the most skilled teachers are the least likely to get them.  And the most talented and skilled teachers oftentimes are teaching the kids who are already the best prepared and have the most resources outside of the school in order to succeed.

So what we’re trying to do today -- and Arne is going to have more to say about this this afternoon because we’re hosting a bunch of other teachers who are here in town -- is to highlight what we’re calling “Excellent Educators for All.”  It’s going to be a program in which we ask states to take a look at where they’re distributing great teachers, what are they doing in order to train and promote and place teachers in some of the toughest environments for children.  And what we’re also going to be doing is providing technical assistance, highlighting best practices, all with the intention of making sure that wherever a child is, anywhere in the country, they’ve got that opportunity to have somebody in front of the classroom or beside them guiding them, mentoring them, helping them learn. 

And when I think about my own experience, the only reason I’m here in the White House is because I had some extraordinary teachers as well as a pretty extraordinary mom and grandparents.  I think everybody sitting around this table probably feels the same way -- I suspect that’s part of what inspired some of these people to become teachers.  We want to make sure every child has that access to excellent teachers and we’re very confident that if we can lift up what works, that there are going to be a lot of states that want to adapt to it. 

So, unfortunately right now, they don’t necessarily have the information and, as I said, if we do nothing, if we don’t highlight the problem, then inevitably the kids who probably need less help get the most, and the kids who need the most help are getting the least.  That’s something that we’re going to need to reverse not just because it’s good for these kids -- we know that if they’ve got a great teacher, they’re more likely to graduate, they’re more likely to go to college, they’re more likely to succeed in their career -- it’s also necessary for our economy, because we’ve got too many kids who are trapped in situations in which they’re not able to realize their full potential. 

So I want to thank all these folks for being here, and I’m really looking forward to listening to them to find out what they think can be most helpful in promoting excellence in teaching.

Thank you, everybody.

The Take-over of Testing

The Take-over of Testing

The Take-over of Testing focuses on the history of standardized testing as well as documenting the use of these tests to close public schools in Chicago. This documentary also focuses on how children are affected by these tests and closings. Public education reform is the issue of our time. How we fairly educate all of our children has yet to be addressed.

7-7-14 LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD

LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District):

Two LAUSD charter schools face closure after fiscal audit

Two high performing LA Unified charter schools, Magnolia Science Academy 6 and Magnolia Science Academy 7, have been ordered to shut down after failing a new round of scrutiny, leaving the possibility that 450 students will be looking for a new school in the fall. The two schools had initially been approved for renewal by the school board in March, pending the results of an internal fiscal audit b

by Vanessa Romo / 2min 

Arne Duncan launches plan to address inequities in education

Stating that “teachers and principals are not the problem,” Secretary of Education Arne Duncan took to the podium at the White House today to unveil a national initiative aimed at addressing “systematic inequities” that shortchange some schools and disproportionately affect students in high-poverty, high-minority areas. While Duncan called teachers and principals “absolutely essential elements of

2 1h 

Morning Read: Big questions linger in shadow of Vergara

For Vergara ruling on teachers, big questions loom Among the lingering questions: Will the ruling, at a slim 16 pages, hold up on appeal? Will California’s notoriously polarized legislature, fearful of additional litigation and bad press, consider changing the statutes at issue on its own? And finally, will similar lawsuits elsewhere—one is already primed for introduction in New York—be as initial

2 23min 

7-5-14 This Week in LA - School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD

LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District):To our readers: Happy 4th of July3 by Jamie Alter Lynto... / 20h MORNING READ: Tuck throws a punch at TorlacksonChallenger to CA schools chief  blasts handling of Inglewood Unified takeover Marshall Tuck, the man who hopes to unseat Tom Torlakson as state superintendent of public instruction on Wednesday d

by mike simpson / 34min 

ISTE14 Impressions | My Island View

ISTE14 Impressions | My Island View:

ISTE14 Impressions

July 7, 2014 by Tom Whitby @tomwhitby

This year ISTE put on what appeared to me to be the biggest education extravaganza to date. The number of participants was said to be somewhere between 20 and 22 thousand educators. I never verified that number but based on the food lines it seemed likely to be true.

Of course there was apparently a huge number of connected educators in attendance. I say apparently, because in reality I don’t believe it was so many. Many connected educators volunteer to do sessions. Many are also bloggers. A natural gathering place for them to gather, interact, and network is at the Bloggers Café, or the PLN Lounge. Twitter has added a whole new dimension to these education conferences where educators connected to other educators through various Social Media can meet up face to face. This enables real-time collaboration with people who have had a virtual relationship with each other for a while. Even if there were a thousand connected educators meeting at the Bloggers Café all at once (and there weren’t), It would seem to those gathered that the entire conference was connected. Of course this ignores the 21,000 other educators who were not connected.

I guess my take away for this is that being connected networks you with more people to have a good time with, as well as extend collaboration, but a majority of educators have yet to discover this. One would think that would be a lure for more educators to connect, but of course the only people who recognize these benefits are those who are connected. I imagine most of the people reading ISTE14 Impressions | My Island View:

Geaux Teacher!: New Leadership for NEA

Geaux Teacher!: New Leadership for NEA:

NEA Election Results Are In: Garcia Wins Presidency

By Liana Heitin on July 4, 2014 6:53 PM

By guest blogger Liana Heitin

Denver

With 94 percent of the vote going her way, Lily Eskelsen Garcia was elected president of the National Education Association today at the Representative Assembly. 

Garcia will replace Dennis Van Roekel, who has served as president since 2008, on Sept. 1.

A former Utah Teacher of the Year and the current vice president of NEA, Garcia has been a strong critic of attaching high stakes to standardized test scores. 

In an interview just after her election, Garcia criticized Secretary of Education Arne Duncan for his emphasis on using test scores to evaluate teachers. "I believe Secretary Duncan is sincere and I absolutely believe he is sincerely wrong," she said. 

Garcia went on to denounce state laws that use reading test scores to determine whether 3rd grade students are promoted, pointing to Oklahoma (though the policy was recently overturned there). And she criticized the "global education reform movement—"GERM," that she says is seeking to privatize schools and deprofessionalize teachers. She named the Koch brothers, prominent industrialists, and the American Legislative Exchange Council, a conservative lawmakers' group, as threats to public education.

When asked about the Gates Foundation, whose influence on education policy is a constant source of debate among educators, Garcia said she applauds the work they've done to promote the Common Core State Standards. "I read those standards, and I love them," she said.

Concerning her leadership style, Garcia said, "People will know where I stand. There will be absolutely no question. I think that will get me in trouble sometimes."

As for the other election results, for the first time in the history of the union, three women of color were elected to fill the top leadership positions. 

Here's how the results shook out:

• Rebecca "Becky" Pringle, current secretary-treasurer, was elected vice president with 92 percent of the vote. 
• Princess Moss, who served two terms on the executive committee and was president of the Virginia affiliate, just barely took the secretary-treasurer position, with 53 percent voting in her favor. 
• Earl Wiman, a Tennesee teacher, was re-elected to the executive committee.
• There will be a runoff between George Sheridan and Shelly Moore for the second seat on the executive committee, as the results were too close to call.

And for a preview of what else Garcia has in store for her time in office, check out this  audio clip. 

NEA Membership Asks for Duncan Resignation

http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/teacherbeat/2014/07/nea_calls_for_sec_duncans_resi.html?cmp=ENL-EU-NEWS2UPDATED By Liana Heitin and Stephen SawchukDenverDelegates to the National Education Association's annual convention passed a new business item July 4 calling for U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan to resign.The surprising move comes on the heels of union anger over moves across the United S

by lbarrios / 22min

Bill Gates needs to drop his Common Core obsession - Salon.com

Bill Gates needs to drop his Common Core obsession - Salon.com:

Bill Gates needs to drop his Common Core obsession

The billionaire's latest little fixation is catching hell on all sides. Here's why he's better off simply moving on

Bill Gates (Credit: AP/John Minchillo)

It’s hard to envision Bill Gates not getting exactly what he wants, or backing down from anything. However, that was before he became the sugar daddy and primary backer of the Common Core State Standards, which have raised the ire of parents, students and educators in the past year. As Common Core critics began pushing back against adoption of the standards and influencing several state legislatures to cut ties with Common Core, Gates and his foundation found themselves in the unusual position of backpedaling last month.

In a surprising act of damage control, the pro-Core Gates Foundation took to the pages of the New York Times with an open letter calling for a two-year delay in the use of Common Core-linked tests as measures for teacher and student accountability. Gates Foundation director Vickie Philips conceded frustrations with Common Core, writing, “No evaluation system will work unless teachers believe it is fair and reliable. The standards need time to work. Teachers need time to develop lessons, receive more training, get used to the new tests and offer their feedback.”

Of course, educators know those considerations should have been obvious from the beginning, long before states were coerced into adopting the standards, in some cases unseen. For a successful businessman, Gates has been rather negligent in testing, piloting and evaluating an unproven product like Common Core before selling it to an unsuspecting public. Experts in education like Dr. Diane Ravitch know there is a time-honored process to review policies and standards. Bill Gates, however, is far from being an education expert.

He is, instead, a billionaire who believes his wealth and business success qualify him to set education policy.

---

---

This isn’t the first time Gates has reversed his position on education after realizing he knows less than he thought he did about how to “fix schools.” Gates poured more than $600 million into his “small schools campaign,” only to later concede he was wrong and the idea was virtually Bill Gates needs to drop his Common Core obsession - Salon.com:

7-7-14 @ The Chalk Face

@ THE CHALK FACE:

About the radio show

Join Drs. Shaun Johnson and Tim Slekar 

LIVE Sundays at 6PM EST and Wednesdays at 7PM EST 

on Blog Talk Radio for progressive, pro-public education talk radio. 

Call in to speak live with Tim and Shaun during the show, (805) 727-7111. 

You can also listen to our Monday "Sunday-Replay" at 7PM EST, and re-broadcasts of the archives every Tuesday and Thursday at 7PM EST.

Visit the @ the Chalk Face radio main page for more information on the show and syndication.

A Chronicle of Echoes Gets Noticed in Salon

This summer, I am writing my second book, this time on the history, development, and promotion of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). On July 4th, I finished writing the ten-chapter body of that book, which means that even though I now turn my attention to proofing, editing, and formatting my references, I do not […]

by deutsch29 / 10min hide  //  save

The collective illiteracy of education reform

I have no idea how any reform conversant can say what follows with a straight face: When people say the education system is too focused on the adults at the expense of the kids, it can be dismissed as a throwaway line. In fact, as our ongoing conversation about stakes and consequences shows, it’s so much […]

2 by Shaun Johnson / 53min 

Replace Arne Duncan with whom? THIS GUY!

Sunday July 6th kicked off our first in a series of shows on the craziness that is education reform in the counties surrounding Denver, CO, particularly Douglas County, where we’ve featured topics previously on @ the Chalk Face. I’m sure the reader has heard the NEA’s call for the current Secretary’s resignation. I am also […]

1 by Shaun Johnson / 7min 

7-6-14 @ The Chalk Face

@ THE CHALK FACE: About the radio showJoin Drs. Shaun Johnson and Tim Slekar LIVE Sundays at 6PM EST and Wednesdays at 7PM EST on Blog Talk Radio for progressive, pro-public education talk radio. Call in to speak live with Tim and Shaun during the show, (805) 727-7111. You can also listen to our Monday "Sunday-Replay" at 7PM EST, and re-broadcasts of the archives every Tuesday and Thursd

by mike simpson / 21h