Marie Corfield: Fixing NJ's pension crisis: Do. Or do not. There is no try.

Marie Corfield: Fixing NJ's pension crisis: Do. Or do not. There is no try.:

Fixing NJ's pension crisis: Do. Or do not. There is no try.

Last week dozens of NJEA members rallied outside the state house to protest the State Supreme Court's ruling and Gov. Christie's refusal to fully fund the pension system. The rally/lobby day (there are two more next week) was part of NJEA's efforts to push the legislature to do something—anything—to stave off impending disaster when the fund runs dry in 12 years.

When the NJEA members drowned out the voice of Assemblyman Declan O'Scanlon, who was addressing a small group of Americans for Prosperity counter protesters, he responded with this:

"Do you want to yell at me or do you want to have a discussion? Because quite frankly, if we're just going to yell, we're not going to get anywhere."
...
“This is the type of ignorance and screaming that gets us nowhere. … You have to make a real plan that’s sustainable so, long term, we can take care of our dedicated workers, make sure that the pensions are there, make sure that in two or three or five years from now, it doesn’t fall apart. Screaming, ‘just make the payment,’ doesn’t get me $2 billion.” (emphasis mine)

Look, I get it, no one wants an angry mob screaming and yelling at them, and when people are pushed, they kinda tend to push back. I'm not attacking Asm. O'Scanlon. I have never met him, nor do I have extensive knowledge of his voting record and/or history with public employee unions. From his Twitter posts (more below), he seems like a reasonable guy who is willing to communicate with constituents in an open forum. His altercation with NJEA members is but a snapshot in the larger pension crisis picture. 

That said, we are not ignorant. Frustrated? Yes. Angry? You betcha! But we are not ignorant. We know full well what's going on right now and we're not taking Marie Corfield: Fixing NJ's pension crisis: Do. Or do not. There is no try.:

A report on Steven Adamowski and Windham – Because Parent’s Voices Matter - Wait What?

A report on Steven Adamowski and Windham – Because Parent’s Voices Matter - Wait What?:

A report on Steven Adamowski and Windham – Because Parent’s Voices Matter

The announcement that Steven Adamowski would be forced to release his grip on Windham’s public schools was met with a variety of emotions in the community.  The huge sigh of relief was combined with an overwhelming sense of anger and bitterness on the part of many parents, teachers and public education advocates who had watched in horror as Adamowski, Governor Malloy’s point person when it comes to taking over local districts, engaged in a campaign of disruption and confrontation leaving parents, teachers AND local officials stunned.

The voters of Windham were saddled with a Special Master as a result of some legislative language that was inserted deep within the 2011 State Budget bill.   Malloy’s political appointees on the State Board of Education then named Adamowski as Windham’s Special Master without an open process that even allowed for the community’s input. The process was a sad reminder that even the most sacred notion of local control can be destroyed in a moment.

There are numerous stories about Steven Adamowski’s arrogant and authoritarian “leadership style” and how he squandered a significant amount of money that the General Assembly had set aside to help improve educational opportunities for Windham’s children.

The CT Mirror wrote two major stories about Adamowski’s tenure as Windham’s Special Master.  CT school reform: 2 years under ‘special master’ and Connecticut sheds daily operations of Windham schools.  The articles are informative, but as parents and teachers out here in Eastern Connecticut will tell you, they only scratched the surface about the damage Adamowski did to the very schools he was sent to “save.”

The announcement that the Norwalk Board of Education is on the verge of appointing Adamowski as that community’s next superintendent of schools has re-ignited the bad memories that people in Windham have about Adamowski and his record.

A series of weekend conversations among those most knowledgeable about Adamowski’s time as Special Master in Windham produced the following article

Windham’s Experience with Special Master Steven Adamowski

There are those, some of whom apparently serve on the Norwalk Board of Education, who are enamored with the notion of “Education Reform” as trumpeted by non-educators like George W. Bush, Barak Obama, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, former Governor Jeb Bush and Governor’s such as Chris Christie, Andrew Cuomo and Dannel Malloy.

Rather than recognize that lack of educational achievement is driven by poverty, English A report on Steven Adamowski and Windham – Because Parent’s Voices Matter - Wait What?:

Can Adamowski be named Norwalk’s Superintendent on Tuesday?

On Tuesday, the Norwalk Board of Education plans to name the controversial Steve Adamowski as the district’s next superintendent of schools, but Adamowski lacks the state certification necessary to become a superintendent of schools as required by Connecticut law.

Adamowski’s educator certification lapsed in 2007 and he never saw fit to take the necessary steps to renew that certification.

Adamowski’s unwillingness to take the appropriate certification tests and participate in the required professional development training has, to date, prevented him from adding the time he has worked in Connecticut (since 2007) to his teacher retirement pension.

As previously reported here, Governor Malloy engaged in a failed attempted to change Connecticut’s teacher pension law in 2012 to bend the rules to allow Adamowski to add up to seven years of time to his Connecticut teacher pension.

The Malloy administration returned to the issue of Adamowski’s pension in the contract they provided him when he was retained as Windham’s Special Master, a contract that was funneled through the quasi-governmental agency SERC in order to avoid the State’s competitive bidding laws.  However, once again, the maneuver failed to get Adamowski extra years for his pension.

Journalist Mark Chapman has been covering the Adamowski developing story in Norwalk for the news site Nancy on Norwalk.

In his most recent article entitled, BoE release of super choice’s name greeted with mixed reaction, Chapman followed up on the Wait, What? observation that Adamowski does not have the certification necessary to be a Connecticut superintendent and that he would need another waiver from Malloy’s Commissioner of Education in order to take the Norwalk job.

Chapman writes,

 “Board of Education Chairman Mike Lyons said the allegations are not true.  ‘The ‘nonrenewable certification’ that Pelto refers to (which expired on 11/7/07) was replaced by a new certificate issued the day before its expiration (on 11/6/07). That certificate remains in effect. I’ll get a copy of it for you.’

Adamowski responded to a late email and elaborated further:

‘Connecticut laws allows ‘highly qualified’ superintendent candidates to receive a waiver of CT requirements (in my case I exceeded the Supt requirements but my CT elementary teaching certificate from the 1970’s had lapsed). There are requirements for this in the statute – you have to hold certification in another state and have at least 15 years experience as a superintendent. I received the waiver from then-Commissioner Mark McQuillan on 11/7/07.’”

While we wait for the Norwalk Board of Education Chairman Mike Lyons to produce the 

Can Adamowski be named Norwalk’s Superintendent on Tuesday?

EVAAS’s Bill Sanders: “I’m Full of &$%#” | VAMboozled!

EVAAS’s Bill Sanders: “I’m Full of &$%#” | VAMboozled!:

EVAAS’s Bill Sanders: “I’m Full of &$%#”

Following up on my most recent post — about VAM developer Bill Sanders who is soon to receive a distinguished award for his TVAAS/EVAAS efforts — oh I wish how I had the technical talent to take the sign in this picture here…

…and place it on the chest of Bill Sanders in this picture here (…thanks Joe Nashville 

For those of you confused by this post, or for those of you who have not been following VAMboozled! for an extended period of time, click here, here, here, here, and here, for prior blog posts on this topic, for starters 

See also here for a research article I authored in 2008 about this particular model. See also here for a more recent article just published largely about this model, in a recent special issues on the topic of VAMs in the esteemed Educational Researcher.

See another two articles here and here about this model’s actual use (and its intended consequences, or lack thereof, and its unintended consequences, as very relevant thereof) in the Houston Independent School District.EVAAS’s Bill Sanders: “I’m Full of &$%#” | VAMboozled!:

Ed Notes Online: A Principal Asks a Question About E4E on CTS Listserve - and Gets Answers

Ed Notes Online: A Principal Asks a Question About E4E on CTS Listserve - and Gets Answers:

A Principal Asks a Question About E4E on CTS Listserve - and Gets Answers

Has anyone worked with E4E (Educators for Excellence)? They seem to be influential at the policy level. .. a NYC Principal

The positions of E4E and the Unity/UFT leadership are very much in alignment. We've tracked E4E since its beginnings. Backed by Bill Gates and the deformers and also very heavily connected to TFA, it was founded by TFA teachers who taught for 3 years before starting a heavily funded faux teacher group with outposts in NYC, LA and Minnesota and possibly Chicago - basically pushing the agenda of deform but in more subtle ways -- their connections to the deformers is what has given them access to policy - they have full-time employees trying to reach into the schools and undermine the union.... Norm

Yeah Norm I got that vibe from them as well. Anyone else have thoughts?..... NYC Principal

Here is E4E's stance on high stakes testing. You see they go right along with the deformers....
http://www.educators4excellence.org/NYtesting

Pat

A former neighbor became a spokesperson for E4E. He's young, grew up being homeless, and was huge on attempting to prove that poverty and life conditions are not factors in one's education- that a really good teacher could overcome all of that. Well, two years into his first years of teaching at a charter school in my Bed Stuy hood, he started asking questions about what happens at my school. We never got a chance to really talk before he left, but he left teaching. Such a shame...

 

In a nut shell, they're mostly straight out of college, recruited through TFA, and and I know that with the TFA program dwindling, they attempt to present in schools, which is illegal. 

One former E4E person told me that, at first, they were encouraged to do research, but their program director would provide the research (pre-selected) for them to read... When they wanted to find their own studies, it was not included in their discussions. Gates funded studies dominated the discussions.

I haven't worked with E4E but have worked against them particularly when they partnered with Bloomberg's effort to overturnEd Notes Online: A Principal Asks a Question About E4E on CTS Listserve - and Gets Answers: 

Happy Birthday, BATS! | Diane Ravitch's blog

Happy Birthday, BATS! | Diane Ravitch's blog:

Happy Birthday, BATS! 

When I first heard about the BadAss Teachers two years ago, I had trouble saying their name. It seemed rude and crude. But I overcame my reaction and celebrated the emergence of a group of teachers who were prepared to stand up and be bold and fearless on behalf of their students and their profession.

They asked me to share this news with you:

BATs are 2 years old on Sunday. two years of teachers speaking the truth about what is really happening to their schools, their children, and their communities

From July 23-26 BATs will be meeting in Washington, D.C. at the BATs Teacher Congress.

Suggested by Dr. Yohuru Williams at the BAT meeting last year with Arne Duncan, the Congress will convene over 300 educators, parents, students, and advocates from around the nation.

Over 20 BATs State groups will lobby their lawmakers on Capitol Hill July 22nd and 23rd.

BATs will conduct a protest parade on July 24th to the USDOE with Jesse Turner as he walks his last mile of a 400 mile journey from Connecticut to D.C.

SOS will host a mock trial of the USDOE on the 24th and “Heal our Schools”, an amazing documentary by Laurie Gabriel, will be shown after the trial.

300 BATs from around the nation will then convene on July 25th in a Congress where they will create resolutions on such topics as The School to Prison Pipeline, Union Strong, and Creating Positive Change. Dr. Yohuru Williams, Dr. Denisha Jones, Jesse Turner, Morna McDermott, and The Youth Dreamers will be the keynotes.

The event will be radio broadcast on The Rick Smith Show and livestreamed off several twitter feeds on Periscope.

After the Congress, United Opt Out will give a 1 hour book talk over their amazing book “An Activist Handbook for the Education Revolution: United Opt Out’s Test of Courage.”

Finally, on the evening of the 25th, the BATs will meet for the BAT Social with performances by The BAT Band “A Class Act”, Hip Hop sensation and NY teacher Jeremy Dudley, and NY Theatre Teacher Karen Sklaire will perform her one woman show “Ripple of Hope: One Teachers Journey.” The event will be groundbreaking and family friendly!!!

To learn more about the BATs Teacher Congress you can visit the BAT website

http://www.badassteacher.org/ or their open event Facebook page herehttps://www.facebook.com/BATsTeacherCongress2015

To contact BATs you can email Marla Kilfoyle or Melissa Tomlinson at contact.batmanager@gmail.com

Happy Birthday, BATS! | Diane Ravitch's blog:

 

Milwaukee Residents Fight The Takeover Of Their Public Schools | ThinkProgress

Milwaukee Residents Fight The Takeover Of Their Public Schools | ThinkProgress:

Milwaukee Residents Fight The Takeover Of Their Public Schools

MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN — As Governor Scott Walker’s state budget inches toward passage, parents, teachers and students are taking to the streets to oppose sections of the education budget, which include sweeping changes they say would effectively privatize many public schools while draining funding from others.

On an afternoon in early June, a few dozen public school advocates marched up and down a busy street in the wealthy Milwaukee suburb Menomonee Falls, chanting, “Education is a civil right!” and “Down with privatization, up with MPS!” The group was picketing in the district of State Senator Alberta Darling (R) to oppose her bill to take over some low-performing Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) and turn them over to private or charter operators. Those schools would be controlled by an appointed commissioner, not the elected school board. While the sponsors of the bill hail from the suburbs, the legislators who actually represent the impacted community in Milwaukee oppose the plan.

One of the demonstrators that day was Rafael Diaz, a junior at Ronald Reagan High School in Milwaukee. He said of Senator Darling and her co-sponsors: “They want to come into our schools, in a district they don’t represent, and take it over. But they don’t know what’s best for our schools.”

When ThinkProgress asked what he feared would result from the takeover, Diaz said he’s “worried the charters wouldn’t care for the students. MPS has to cater to every student, no matter how much help you need. When a charter comes in, they don’t have to offer that, so students will be neglected in the system, especially students with disabilities.”

The parents and teachers marching beside Diaz echoed his concerns, pointing to recent cases of private schools in Milwaukee expelling struggling students after cashing their voucher checks.

CREDIT: ALICE OLLSTEIN

Others pointed to the lack of accountability in the existing voucher program, in which schools have shut down abruptly after state authorities discovered illegal behavior. And while low test scores at public schools are the justification for the new takeover bill, at some private religious schools receiving taxpayer vouchers, only a single student out of 400 could read or do math proficiently in 2011 or 2012, according to state tests.

Jennifer Epps-Addison, an activist and alumnus of the Milwaukee Public Schools whose two children currently attend, told ThinkProgress that instead of taking over the schools, the legislature should properly fund them.

“When I was a student schools offered drivers’ education, they offered Japanese, Latin, French and Spanish. Those are the types of experiences every single child deserves no matter what zip code they live in,” she said. “It’s heartbreaking to see what teachers are dealing with now: having to pay out of their own pockets just to provide basic supplies like markers and tissues, not being able to take kids on field trips.”

She noted that class sizes have also increased due to several years of budget cuts.

“My son has learning disability, a speech impediment and ADD,” she said. “He is in elementary school, in a class with 32 other students. He’s got both parents in the home, grandparents who support him, a family that can afford tutoring, and he’s still struggling. And his teacher is Milwaukee Residents Fight The Takeover Of Their Public Schools | ThinkProgress:

The awful effects of the Regents proposed APPR regulations: What every teacher and parent should know | Round the Inkwell

The awful effects of the Regents proposed APPR regulations: What every teacher and parent should know | Round the Inkwell:

The awful effects of the Regents proposed APPR regulations: What every teacher and parent should know

On Monday, the New York State Board of Regents will meet to vote on the NYSED recommendations for changes to APPR.

If APPR was bad before (and it was) it is about to get considerably worse. Here is why:

Half of a teacher’s evaluation will be dependent on the performance of her students. For 3-8 teachers of Common Core English and/or mathematics, that rating (Ineffective, Developing, Effective of High Effective) will be either 100% dependent on Common Core tests, or 80% dependent on Common Core tests.

Some continue to claim that student performance is not half of the new evaluation. The latest attempt at such spin can be found in the newsletter of the New York State School Boards Association. The article’s assertion that student performance is not of equal weight to observation is misleading. The model has two components, which, if you interchange ratings on the matrix, produce exactly the same outcomes.

And yes, despite the article’s claim, the role of test scores has increased. In the previous model, a 3-8 teacher or principal could have an Ineffective growth score, but still be Effective overall. With the new plan, if a teacher or principal has an Ineffective growth score, she must be either Developing or Ineffective overall. Is there hope that the “other measures” can make a difference?

When you first read this statement, in slide 19, in the SED powerpoint, it sounds promising:

“If the optional student growth subcomponent does not involve additional traditional standardized tests (e.g., includes no additional testing or includes only Department-approved performance-based tasks), the required student growth subcomponent would be weighted at least 50% and the optional student growth subcomponent would be weighted no more than 50%, as determined locally.”

But then go back to slide 16 and see just what those optional measures you can locally choose would be:

• Computed by the State based on the percentage of students The awful effects of the Regents proposed APPR regulations: What every teacher and parent should know | Round the Inkwell:

Ed Notes Online: George Schmidt on Winter Chicago Teacher Strike Possibilities - Warm Socks

Ed Notes Online: George Schmidt on Winter Chicago Teacher Strike Possibilities - Warm Socks:

George Schmidt on Winter Chicago Teacher Strike Possibilities - Warm Socks

I find these bulletins from George immensely illuminating on the goings on in Chicago education. He is not without criticism of the Chicago Teachers Union leadership, even though he remains a supporter. At times he seems to think some of the leaders are not dealing with certain realities. That they go straight to trying to mobilize without doing some essential organizing. I see a lot of that here both in the rulers of the UFT and in the opposition groups, MORE included. But more on that aspect in the future.

CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS AND A STRIKE? The Board of Education is working to stall union work as long as possible. So part of our discussion was about warm socks and the other things we needed for winter striking. Those of us who had been on strike during the winter strikes of the 1970s and 1980s went over how those picket lines had been organized. Unlike the mass strike pickets and marches of the Chicago Teachers Strike of 2012, many strikes were organized carefully, with picket duties organized by the delegates, and not everyone having to picket every day. The strike, as the union's officers have reported, is about not working, not about picketing and demonstrations. So during a strike the most important thing every worker is doing is what he or she is not doing. Working. 

SCABS NOT POSSIBLE. Despite the crazy claims, always a part of the pre-strike nonsense, that a Board of Education can organize enough scabs to keep schools open. During the last strike, the members of SEIU Local 73, led by 

Ed Notes Online: George Schmidt on Winter Chicago Teacher Strike Possibilities - Warm Socks:

My Turn: Leaving behind No Child Left Behind | Juneau Empire -• Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska

My Turn: Leaving behind No Child Left Behind | Juneau Empire - Alaska's Capital City Online Newspaper:

My Turn: Leaving behind No Child Left Behind

 FOR THE JUNEAU EMPIRE

Twenty-two to zero. In sports, that sounds like a convincing football score. In the halls of the United States Senate, though, such unanimity is nearly unheard of. But I am proud to tell Alaska’s parents, students and teachers that this is exactly the result we got after weeks of consensus building and constructive negotiating to draft the Every Child Achieves Act — the antidote to the flawed No Child Left Behind law — as it passed out of committee and was sent to the Senate floor for debate.

The committee vote and all that went into it didn’t grab a whole lot of headlines or attention; as a matter of fact, this may be the first you’ve heard of it. Perhaps there were other subjects grabbing headlines; maybe there wasn’t enough partisan bickering to draw a TV camera. But when it comes to delivering results and restoring major decisions about education policies back to the state and local level, this was a 22-0 success story.

Whenever Alaskans and I talked about the No Child Left Behind law, it was clear that no one — educators, students, parents, or tribes — was happy. The one-size-fits-all mandates, poor tribal consultation, and the lack of state and local control over our children’s education were not working. The Every Child Achieves Act that came out of committee gets the federal government out of the way and makes sure the Secretary of Education cannot dictate education standards, student tests, school accountability or teacher evaluations.

As a member of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, which came together for our students, I am proud that I was able to successfully negotiate with my colleagues a number of provisions and policy changes into the bill that Alaskans said they needed to better teach our students and meet the needs of our unique communities.

This collaboration was just the most recent example of how the United States Senate is getting back to being a functioning body again. We’re taking votes. We’re allowing amendments from both sides of the aisle. We actually voted on more amendments before Easter than we had in all of 2014! But in 2011 and 2013, the two previous efforts to fix NCLB went nowhere due to the partisan mindset that had infected the entire Senate. This time, the Republican chairman, Sen. Lamar Alexander from Tennessee, worked closely with his counterpart, Democrat Sen. Patty Murray of Washington. All members of the committee were asked for their ideas and many were accepted into the base bill. During negotiations, many amendments offered by both Democrats and Republicans were accepted unanimously. Others were adopted by majority vote — just the way the Senate is supposed to work.

Just as important as ‘how’ the bill was crafted is ‘what’ was in the final legislation reported out of committee and how it responds to the concerns vocalized by Alaskans. My top priority was making sure that any rewrite of No Child Left Behind gave more power to make decisions about Alaska’s schools to Alaska and our local communities. The failed experiment of Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) had to go, too. Under the Every Child Achieves Act, done and done. The failed “Highly Qualified Teacher” mandates that made little sense and did not work had to go, too. Gone. States will again be able to decide what qualifications and skills to demand of teachers and principals and whether or not to include growth in student learning in educators’ evaluations instead of being told to do so and how.

In addition, I was able to make sure that some provisions were added that reflect Alaska’s unique culture and geography. The final bill out of committee makes sure that the federal government engages with the Native community to get their stakeholder input on how best to meet the needs of Alaska Native children. I was able to get rid of regulatory red tape that made it nearly impossible for our rural school districts to claim Impact Aid dollars to which they are entitled, just because NCLB and Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act didn’t play well together. I also led the charge to help working parents and keep kids safe after school by making sure the 21st Century Community Learning Center program that sustains many afterschool programs was maintained and improved.

All these provisions and more are found within the legislative accomplishment that hit the rare Congressional ‘sweet spot’ for unanimous passage. Now that it heads to the Senate floor, 78 additional Senators will get their chance to offer improvements to the bill, but 22-0 sends a clear statement that the Every Child Achieves Act has the wind at its back and the support of nearly a quarter of the Senate already. I look forward to continued debate, but I am very proud of the work that has been done so far to repeal and replace No Child Left Behind.

• Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, is the senior U.S. Senator from Alaska.My Turn: Leaving behind No Child Left Behind | Juneau Empire - Alaska's Capital City Online Newspaper:

Editorial: Civil rights and charter schools - Boulder Daily Camera

Editorial: Civil rights and charter schools - Boulder Daily Camera:

Editorial: Civil rights and charter schools

Twin Peaks Charter Academy valedictorian Evan Young, who was barred from delivering his valedictory address at the school's ceremony, gets a hug from former Twin Peaks physics teacher Dallin Witt after delivering the speech at a private home in Boulder. As part of a message about respecting those with whom you disagree, Young disclosed in the address that he is gay. (Jonathan Castner / Daily Camera)

 One simple fact seemed to get lost amid the predictable political ping-pong that followed Twin Peaks Charter Academy's decision to bar valedictorian Evan Young from delivering an address in which he planned to disclose he is gay: Under Colorado law, this should not be a political matter at all.

Colorado's anti-discrimination statute explicitly includes educational institutions and lists sexual orientation among the areas in which discrimination is unlawful, in addition to disability, race, creed, color, sex, marital status, national origin and ancestry. So the various political analogies that have been raised — would it be OK to use a valedictory speech to advocate a position on abortion or capital punishment or the Rockies' pitching staff — are not actually analogous because they are not covered by the state's anti-discrimination law.

Now, it is true that charter schools are not subject to school district policies in a number of areas — among them teacher evaluation, pay, hours, and personnel policies generally — but this isn't one of them. The Colorado Charter Schools Act specifically subjects these public schools to all federal and state anti-discrimination laws.

It strains credulity to imagine that Twin Peaks Principal BJ Buchmann would have prohibited a male valedictorian from talking about his girlfriend or a female valedictorian from talking about her boyfriend. Personal references such as these are not uncommon in high school valedictory addresses. So the question becomes why he chose to prohibit an address that included mention of sexual orientation when that orientation happened to be gay.

It's not as if the situation was unprecedented. Ted Chalfen, a Fairview High School senior two years ago, talked about being gay in his 2013 commencement speech. Emily Bruell, a senior this year at Roaring Fork High School in Carbondale, did exactly what Young hoped to do, coming out as gay in her valedictory address as part of a discussion about labels. When she held up a sign with that label on it — GAY — her audience showed its appreciation of the 17-year-old's courage by rising to give her a standing ovation. The administration at Roaring Fork knew her plan in advance and approved it.

When you read the correspondence between Twin Peaks officials and Rep. Jared Polis on the subject, it appears that certain school officials, particularly counsel Barry Arrington, viewed this as a matter of politics rather than civil rights from the start. Arrington has published his personal view about "whether same-sex relations are licit" on a blog. "A man's body is designed to be complementary Editorial: Civil rights and charter schools - Boulder Daily Camera:

Gov. Wolf sits down with Inquirer, talks schools

Gov. Wolf sits down with Inquirer, talks schools:



Gov. Wolf sits down with Inquirer, talks schools

Gov. Wolf repeated his call for a 5 percent tax on extracted natural gas. (MICHAEL PRONZATO / Staff Photographer)

Note to Philadelphia students, teachers, and parents: Gov. Wolf sees you.

Five months into his term as Pennsylvania's chief executive, he has already spent more time in Philadelphia School District buildings than his predecessor, who never visited one.

Wolf said he has seen and heard and read things that worry him. Take the plight of Lingelbach, the Germantown elementary school that ran an operating budget of $160 for the entire year, brought to light in an Inquirer article and flagged by the governor as a problem he needed to address.

"We have schools that have been starved of the resources they need to operate," Wolf said Friday in his Philadelphia office. "What I saw was great promise. . . . I also saw a lot of problems caused by simple underfunding."

Wolf, a Democrat, has spent much of the early days of his administration stumping for education funding, crisscrossing the state to make a case for a budget that would pump nearly $1 billion more into public schools - including at least $159 million in new money for Philadelphia.

It's proving to be a tough sell, to say the least, in the Republican-led legislature.

But Wolf is firm: Philadelphia schools matter, even to people in his home territory of York County and other parts of the state more accustomed to considering the state's largest district unworthy of investment.

Fixing the district is a moral imperative, he said, but it's more than that.

"This is an investment that actually pays a return, pays a dividend," said Wolf, who keeps an apartment in Philadelphia and said he planned to spend the weekend in the city. "We have got to get this right, or we pay a price down the road - we have a weaker economy, a weaker democracy, we have overcrowding in prisons."

Wolf wants to impose a 5 percent tax on extracted natural gas to raise the cash for schools. Pennsylvania is the only natural-gas producing state in the country that lacks such a tax, he said.

"We need to stop being toyed with," Wolf said. "We need to recognize that if we did have one, like all the other states, we could have money that we could invest in our education system."

In a wide-ranging interview, Wolf also addressed the future of the School Reform Commission.

His preferred form of governance for the district?

"Local control," Wolf said.

Not just yet.

As long as the state is shirking its fiscal responsibility to schools, the SRC is necessary, the governor said.

Wolf said the SRC "is doing a phenomenal job in terms of the narrow range of choices and options it has."

Wolf said Pennsylvania lags the rest of the United States for state support of public schools, and said that this has hit Philadelphia hard, with its high concentration of needy

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/education/20150613_Gov__Wolf_sits_down_with_Inquirer__talks_schools.html#g5qjrHugveHEJqIp.99

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 6/13/15

SPECIAL NITE CAP 

CORPORATE ED REFORM

Scrap the MAP test: My Kindergartner Joins the Opt Out Movement! | I AM AN EDUCATOR

Scrap the MAP test: My Kindergartner Joins the Opt Out Movement! | I AM AN EDUCATOR: Scrap the MAP test: My Kindergartner Joins the Opt Out Movement!Last week the Seattle School District told my kindergarten son to take the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) test.Given my intense relationship with this specific standardized test–an exam that has forever altered the course of my life–this was a pa

by mike simpson / 30min 

When it Comes to the Student Debt Crisis, Taxpayers Lose Either Way

When it Comes to the Student Debt Crisis, Taxpayers Lose Either Way: When it Comes to the Student Debt Crisis, Taxpayers Lose Either WayIf there was ever a scenario in which there were no winners, the student debt crisis may be it. Thousands upon thousands of graduates are being funneled out of American colleges and universities every year, packing with them, on average, around $30,000 in debt. Th

by mike simpson / 43min 

Wisconsin Teacher Training? | Christopher Brauchli

Wisconsin Teacher Training? | Christopher Brauchli: Wisconsin Teacher Training? "A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops."--Henry Brooks Adams, The Education of Henry AdamsThe fact that Scott Walker is now running for president comes as no surprise to those who knew him in college. When a student, he told one of his dorm mates that he was going to be presi

by mike simpson / 46min 

L.A. Unified (LAUSD) Schools add ScootPad to Their Strategic Plans With Multi-year Site Licenses - Yahoo Finance

L.A. Unified (LAUSD) Schools add ScootPad to Their Strategic Plans With Multi-year Site Licenses - Yahoo Finance: L.A. Unified (LAUSD) Schools add ScootPad to Their Strategic Plans With Multi-year Site LicensesAccelerated rate of learning coupled with overall love for ScootPad by both students & teachers resulted in several L.A. Unified (LAUSD) Schools to extend their ScootPad Site License for

by mike simpson / 49min 

Ethnic studies gaining traction in Sacramento-area public schools | The Sacramento Bee

Ethnic studies gaining traction in Sacramento-area public schools | The Sacramento Bee: Ethnic studies gaining traction in Sacramento-area public schoolsAsami Saito will be done with high school well before 2020, when Sacramento City Unified School District students will have to take ethnic studies to graduate.Even so, the West Campus High School junior, who serves as the student trustee on the ci

by mike simpson / 1h 

Alan J. Borsuk - Charter Schools 101: The basics behind a hot education topic

Alan J. Borsuk - Charter Schools 101: The basics behind a hot education topic: Charter Schools 101: The basics behind a hot education topicAmid the many education issues now in flux, the future of charter schools seems to attract a high degree of heat and, frequently, misunderstanding. So I thought it might be good to offer a Charter Schools 101 primer.Q.Just what is a charter school?A. Launched i

by mike simpson / 1h 

Heavy emphasis on “hard skills” leaves children unprepared for the real “tests” in life. | WagTheDog

Heavy emphasis on “hard skills” leaves children unprepared for the real “tests” in life. | WagTheDog: Heavy emphasis on “hard skills” leaves children unprepared for the real “tests” in life.The appropriate and skillful application of hard skills is soft skills dependent.~ Corporate Learning World BlogWorking with grade 7-12 students in a public school for more than a quarter century, and as a summ

by mike simpson / 1h 

Madeline Dietrich | Bullying: An Open Letter to the Superintendent of Milwaukee Public Schools

Madeline Dietrich | Bullying: An Open Letter to the Superintendent of Milwaukee Public Schools: Bullying: An Open Letter to the Superintendent of Milwaukee Public SchoolsI wrote the following letter to call attention to the tragic suicide of one of Milwaukee's brightest teachers. The incident went unnoticed by the public, occurring over the Thanksgiving holiday. While a large component underscores

by mike simpson / 1h 

Our Dirty Little Secret Education Lessons From A Sparkly District

Education Lessons From A Sparkly District: Our Dirty Little SecretI want to share with all of you an example of what parents of children with disabilities go through in New Jersey. Sadly, this is not new, nor is it likely to change anytime in the near future. There needs to be a fundamental shift in how NJDOE/OSEP view these students, how individual districts view them, and how communities value t

by mike simpson / 4h 

Is the Common Core killing kindergarten? - Ideas - The Boston Globe

Is the Common Core killing kindergarten? - Ideas - The Boston Globe: Is the Common Core killing kindergarten?LAST SPRING, Susan Sluyter quit teaching kindergarten in the Cambridge Public Schools. She’d spent nearly two decades in the classroom, and her departure wasn’t a happy one. In a resignation letter, Sluyter railed against a “disturbing era of testing and data” that had trickled down from th

by mike simpson / 4h 

CURMUDGUCATION: I'm Defending Teach for America

CURMUDGUCATION: I'm Defending Teach for America: I'm Defending Teach for AmericaI'm about a week behind on this, mostly because I don't usually pay any attention to conservative rantist Michelle Malkin. Yes, she often rants against Common Core and corporate commandeering of public education, but when I first started picking apart the odd alliances, congruence, and alignments of the education debat

by mike simpson / 7h 

When the School Becomes the Graduation Sheriff - Teacher in a Strange Land - Education Week Teacher

When the School Becomes the Graduation Sheriff - Teacher in a Strange Land - Education Week Teacher: When the School Becomes the Graduation Sheriff Several years ago, I was traveling across the state with then-President of the MI Education Association, Julius Maddox, and our conversation wandered into territory where I had some strong opinions: the overuse of praise, awards and celebrations in sch

by mike simpson / 7h 

A gifted Newark teacher asks: Why are we not good enough to educate our children? | Bob Braun's Ledger

A gifted Newark teacher asks: Why are we not good enough to educate our children? | Bob Braun's Ledger: A gifted Newark teacher asks: Why are we not good enough to educate our children?Jonathan AlstonEDITOR’S NOTE: I am proud to present this guest blog by Jonathan Alston, an English teacher and debate coach at Newark’s Science Park High School. Alston, born and raised in Newark and educated at Sci

by mike simpson / 7h 

Oregon passes Student Assessment Bill of Rights | Seattle Education

Oregon passes Student Assessment Bill of Rights | Seattle Education: Oregon passes Student Assessment Bill of RightsFrom the Oregon Education Association:On June 11, the Oregon Senate passed HB 2655, the Student Assessment Bill of Rights. The Bill recognizes students and their parents as important stakeholders in the assessment process and improves transparency around the assessment process for st

by mike simpson / 7h 

Jersey Jazzman: America, Meet @GovChristie: Teacher Bashing Hypocrite

Jersey Jazzman: America, Meet @GovChristie: Teacher Bashing Hypocrite: America, Meet @GovChristie: Teacher Bashing Hypocrite  The Reading Zone points us to a video of Chris Christie out on the campaign trail doing what he does best: bashing teachers.Q: Which do you regard as a bigger threat to the nation: ISIS, or our K-12 education system. CHRISTIE: (Laughs) Both.America, meet Chris Christie: a m

by mike simpson / 7h 

The Only Teaching Evaluation That Matters | gadflyonthewallblog

The Only Teaching Evaluation That Matters | gadflyonthewallblog: The Only Teaching Evaluation That Matters“Yes, my writing got a lot better than what I was, and I love writing now. And you pushed me to do better. Not a lot of teachers push their students, some teachers don’t care about their students.”One of my 8th graders wrote that to me on the last day of school.I had asked her class to fill ou

by mike simpson / 7h 

Civil Rights and Testing: Response to Haycock and Edelman | Deborah Meier on Education

Civil Rights and Testing: Response to Haycock and Edelman | Deborah Meier on Education: Civil Rights and Testing: Response to Haycock and EdelmanBy Marc TuckerJune 10, 2015 11:00 AMFrom EdWeek blog Top PerformersTwo weeks ago, I published a blog post suggesting that some leaders of the civil rights community might want to reassess their support for annual testing in the reauthorization of the Elem

by mike simpson / 7h 

No Child Left Behind Rewrite To Face Another Showdown in House - Breitbart

No Child Left Behind Rewrite To Face Another Showdown in House - Breitbart: NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND REWRITE TO FACE ANOTHER SHOWDOWN IN HOUSEAnother fight may be on the horizon in the House of Representatives, as Republican leaders seem poised to again try to replace the controversial No Child Left Behind law with the Student Success Act, a measure that has proven to be just as unpopular with conserv

by mike simpson / 8h 

Rally supports laid-off teachers at charter school - Redding

Rally supports laid-off teachers at charter school - Redding: Rally supports laid-off teachers at charter schoolREDDING, California - For the second time in five months, the California Teachers Association is fighting layoffs at the Academy of Personalized Learning, a charter school in Redding.Teachers, parents, students and CTA representatives stood in front of the school on Larkspur Avenue on Fr

by mike simpson / 8h 

Legislature passes standardized testing opt-out bill - East Oregonian

Legislature passes standardized testing opt-out bill - East Oregonian: Legislature passes standardized testing opt-out billA bill heading to Governor Kate Brown's desk would make it easier for parents to opt their students out of state testing.A bill headed to Governor Kate Brown’s desk could decrease the number of students taking state tests next year.House Bill 2655 would allow parents to opt th

by mike simpson / 8h 

Where “All About the Kids” Must Lead | Raginghorseblog

Where “All About the Kids” Must Lead | Raginghorseblog: Where “All About the Kids” Must LeadAllow someone who is trying to hurt you to define the argument and you will be hurt. Allow the same to someone who is trying to trap you and you will be trapped.This unwitting allowance, as much as the limitless funding of billionaires and the spinelessness of the corporate media, has been one of the reason

by mike simpson / 9h 

From University Sit-Ins to Highway Blockades, the Spring Rages On | The Nation

From University Sit-Ins to Highway Blockades, the Spring Rages On | The Nation: From University Sit-Ins to Highway Blockades, the Spring Rages OnThis post is part of The Nation’s biweekly student movement dispatch. As part of the StudentNation blog, each dispatch hosts first-person updates on youth organizing. For recent dispatches, check out May 1 and May 18. Contact studentmovement@thenation.com

by mike simpson / 9h 

FOM: Post Secondary Ed: The CCSS Trojan | commoncorediva

FOM: Post Secondary Ed: The CCSS Trojan | commoncorediva: FOM: Post Secondary Ed: The CCSS TrojanAs the push for the re-authorization of the HEA heats up, more evidence has surfaced showing how post-secondary education is an ideal set-up for the CCSS Machine.Over the past months, we anti CCSS warriors, have learned so much in fighting Common Core. We’ve learned that Common Core has a wide array of

by mike simpson / 9h 

YESTERDAY

MPS teachers protest against failing school takeover proposal | FOX6Now.com

MPS teachers protest against failing school takeover proposal | FOX6Now.com: MPS teachers protest against failing school takeover proposalMILWAUKEE — Teachers gathered Friday morning, June 12th to protest against a state proposal that could convert struggling Milwaukee Public Schools into charter or private schools. It’s happening at 82nd and Grantosa.They’re against a republican-led proposal that

by mike simpson / 18h 

La. Education Legislation: Final Update of 2015 | deutsch29 #flipbese

La. Education Legislation: Final Update of 2015 | deutsch29: La. Education Legislation: Final Update of 2015On May 29, 2015, I wrote a post that was a Louisiana legislative update.During the Louisiana legislative session, the Louisiana Federation of Teachers (LFT) issues a weekly legislative digest of education-related legislation. (Archived digests can be found here.)In this post, I would like to

by mike simpson / 19h 

CCSA, California Charter Schools Association Board of Directors

CCSA, California Charter Schools Association Board of Directors: CCSA, California Charter Schools Association Board of DirectorsMade up of charter school and charter management organization leaders, as well as education advocates and representatives of charitable foundations, the Board of Directors broadly formulates CCSA's policy and activities.Diane Tavenner Board Chair (term ending 6/30/2016)Ca

by mike simpson / 23h 

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 6/12/15

SPECIAL NITE CAP CORPORATE ED REFORMUnion-backed group calls for pause in federal money for charter schools - The Washington PostUnion-backed group calls for pause in federal money for charter schools - The Washington Post: Union-backed group calls for pause in federal money for charter schoolsA labor-backed group is objecting to an U.S. Education Department proposal to expand federal funding for

by mike simpson / 23h