ESSA Means the End of How These States Use 'Super Subgroups' for Accountability - Politics K-12 - Education Week

ESSA Means the End of How These States Use 'Super Subgroups' for Accountability - Politics K-12 - Education Week:

ESSA Means the End of How These States Use 'Super Subgroups' for Accountability

 One of the more interesting features of the era of waivers from the No Child Left Behind Act was that many states chose to use "super subgroups" for school accountability purposes. Super subgroups combine smaller subgroups of students often deemed low-performing or disadvantaged in some way, like the bottom 25 percent of students for academic performance. States liked the flexibility these super subgroups afforded in NCLB waivers, but civil rights advocates argued theyallowed states to mask the performance of some student subgroups. 

The Every Student Succeeds Act changes the landscape for this issue. Under ESSA, these super subgroups can no longer be used in place of individual subgroups of students for accountability purposes. (Proposed ESSA regulations released last month put a fine point on this.) That naturally raises the following question: How many states will have to transition away from using super subgroups in the place of traditional subgroups, at least when it comes to federal accountability?

The Politics K-12 team, along with Daarel Burnette II of State EdWatch, surveyed all 50 states to get an answer to the question of how many states currently use at least one form of super subgroups for federal accountability. (Remember: ESSA won't fully kick in until the 2017-18 school year, although waivers themselves expire relatively soon, on Aug. 1 of this year.) Not every state got back to us with an answer to that specific question. But 43 states did respond. We compiled their answers and highlighted them on the map you can see below.

Create your own infographics

The final tally:

• Twenty-five states said they use super subgroups for federal purposes. 

• Eighteen states said they do not use super subgroups for federal purposes.

• Seven states did not respond to our survey. (And states: If you have an answer for us that's not portrayed on our map, please let us know!)ESSA Means the End of How These States Use 'Super Subgroups' for Accountability - Politics K-12 - Education Week:

Charter group money flooded local election, but many donors live far away | 89.3 KPCC

Charter group money flooded local election, but many donors live far away | 89.3 KPCC:

Charter group money flooded local election, but many donors live far away

Big campaign spending from outside interests, including charter school advocates, helped propel a slew of state legislative candidates out of primaries onto November ballots. But in many cases, the candidates groups opposed also advanced, setting up costly general election rematches.

The flood of charter spending comes from a trio of groups that support the expansion of charter schools: committees representing EdVoice, California Charter School Association Advocates, and the Parent Teacher Alliance.

The PTA spent more than $1.4 million on a single Southern California Assembly race, accounting for more than 70 percent of the outside money in that contest.

While that spending could shape education policy across the state, a significant chunk of the PTA's financing arrives from across state and district lines.

The Parent Teacher Alliance has received $3.2 million in contributions since March 1, according to Secretary of State records. That funding has arrived indirectly from donors: the data shows California Charter Schools Association Advocates' political spending committee as the only donor to the PTA.

Most in-state donations to the CCSA Advocates committee come from Northern California, and recent donors list addresses outside the Southern California district where the group spent heavily.

CCSA Advocates are a well-known education reform player, and a fixture in Los Angeles debates over charters.The number of people and groups who have donated significant sums to the group is relatively limited. At 23, it's smaller than the average LAUSD kindergarten class.

Charter-backed candidates advanced in primary

The local election will feature a rematch between Democrats Laura Friedman and Ardy Kassakhian, both Glendale city officials vying to represent 43rd Assembly District in Sacramento. The district also encompasses Burbank and neighborhoods of Los Angeles including Los Feliz and the Hollywood Hills.

Charter interests weren't the only groups spending big there before June's primary. Real estate groups and teachers unions backed Kassakhain.

But 70 percent of the $2 million in outside political spending in that race came from the Parent Teacher Alliance. It spent $1.1 million to support Friedman and another $355,264 to defeat Kassakhian, the most spent by a charter group to oppose any candidate.

Statewide, the three charter groups spent more than $500,000 in seven races. The Charter group money flooded local election, but many donors live far away | 89.3 KPCC:

Eli Has Spoken:Traditional L.A. Unified schools and charter schools need to learn to share - LA Times

Traditional L.A. Unified schools and charter schools need to learn to share - LA Times:

Traditional L.A. Unified schools and charter schools need to learn to share

e tension between charter schools and traditional Los Angeles Unified schools has never been higher. The district is in bad financial straits as a result of lower enrollment, while a new philanthropic group calling itself the Great Public Schools Initiative has plans to fund more charter schools, which attract students from L.A. Unified. That’s just one of many points of friction.

But one problem — the sharing of campuses by both charter schools and traditional schools — has ruffled more feelings than necessary. A proposal that comes before the school board on Tuesday takes a stab at mending fences, but it needs more work.

School districts are required by law to offer unused, surplus space to charters for a fee under a provision of Proposition 39, which was passed in 2000. Though voters may have figured at the time that the proposition referred to schools that would otherwise be closed, in reality, the space is usually at a less-than-full campus.

What’s really in LAUSD’s online credit recovery courses?

A few sharing arrangements have worked smoothly, but most have not. You’d be amazed how complicated it can be to define what an empty classroom is. The district might say that a room that seems empty is in fact a computer lab. The charter might respond that there are never any computer classes taking place there.

And how should the space be divided? Should the district school, for instance, have to shorten or change its recess times to make way for the charter students?

L.A. Unified school board member Ref Rodriguez — co-founder of a group of charter schools — proposes to create a task force made up of district and charter leaders, who would work out a more agreeable and transparent system for what is known as “co-location.” 

Frankly, it’s hard to imagine the two sides amicably solving this fraught an issue. Charter schools and traditional public schools, which often have very different cultures, are Traditional L.A. Unified schools and charter schools need to learn to share - LA Times:

An economist delves into charter schools | MIT News

An economist delves into charter schools | MIT News:

An economist delves into charter schools

PhD student Elizabeth Setren brings data to bear on questions about local education policy.

“There are some big unanswered questions in the policy debate of whether charter schools should be allowed to expand,” Elizabeth Setren says; key among these are questions pertaining to how well the schools serve special education students and English language learners, and what happened when charter schools expanded in 2010.

Photo: Bryce Vickmark

Elizabeth Setren was a sophomore at Brandeis University trying to figure out how to combine her dual loves of math and public policy when she stumbled across the perfect answer: economics. Now, as a PhD student in economics at MIT, Setren has spent the past four years researching the charter school system in Boston in an attempt to figure out what exactly is going on, and what policymakers need to know.

As she strives to “infuse facts into what’s a very emotional and ideological debate” on the expansion of charter schools in the Boston area, Setren is also working closely with school leaders, and she meets with decision-makers in the policy sphere to ensure that they have as much information as possible. In fact, she regularly presents her work to various agencies  such as the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, and herresearch is featured on Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker’s website. 

Discovering a love of economics

Setren’s interest in education started early: There are many teachers in her extended family, and she attended public school in Baltimore County, Maryland, where she was thrust into an academic environment characterized by some of the very same issues she now studies.

“We had students from many different countries, speaking many different languages,” she says, “and it really stood out to me that my schools were very diverse, but they were also very segregated. It seemed like where you went to elementary school and where you went to middle school was very determinant of how advanced your coursework was. So that inequality in our education system was very apparent to me from the beginning.”

Setren was drawn to research as a high school student and dabbled in various math and science-related fields — she interned with NASA and worked in an environmental biology lab where she collected specimens in the Chesapeake Bay. However, it was as an undergraduate at Brandeis University that she uncovered her true research passion: economics.

“When I took my first econ course, it just kind of clicked,” she says. “It was a great way to combine my love of math and problem-solving with my interest in making progress and better understanding social and public policy issues.”

From that point forward, Setren dove into economics research with summer internships, a senior thesis, and a two-year stint at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Along the way, she became increasingly certain that graduate school was the right move for her, which is how she landed at MIT.

Addressing unanswered questions in education

Once at MIT, Setren decided to study education, and the Boston charter schools in her own backyard seemed like a convenient yet important place to start. In 2010, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts decided to increase the number of charter seats and schools in Boston, and there is currently an effort to increase these numbers once again. Still, charter schools remain An economist delves into charter schools | MIT News:

ALEC groups funds Ga. primary fights

ALEC groups funds Ga. primary fights:

ALEC groups funds Ga. primary fights

Here’s a little bit of intrigue for you: what did an ALEC-affiliated, pro “school choice” group do with $86,000 in Georgia’s primary races?

The American Federation for Children is a group to watch and fear. They are a 501(c)(4) organization, tied to the (c)(3) non-profit Alliance for School Choice.

Both the The American Federation for Children and the Alliance for School Choice fund ALEC activities and shape the organization’s pro-privatization, pro-corporate profits education agenda, with staff and resources bleeding between the two organizations.

Yes, these ALEC-affiliated, pro-school takeover organizations poured resources into Georgia’s primaries. This does not bode well for the upcoming fight against the school takeover ballot measure this November.

The AJC reports that:

“The American Federation for Children spent more than $86,000 supporting a variety of candidates, including Republican and Democratic incumbents. But the group, which advocates for school choice, was a major backer of [Kerstin] Liberty’s bid to unseat [Republican incumbent Howard] Maxwell in Paulding County.”

This is the race for the District 17 seat, which represents Dallas, Ga, a region that sits about halfway between Atlanta and the Alabama border. Liberty was ultimately unsuccessful. Maxwell did vote for the Opportunity School District legislation last year — Deal’s major school takeover package — which begs the question what more does this organization want?

They also put money behind the likes of Bill Cowsert, the powerful Senate Majority Caucus Chair, representing Athens, Ga. Cowsert was able to crush his Republican primary opponent — 76 percent to Patricia Daugherty’s 24 percent — and faces no Democratic opposition in the ALEC groups funds Ga. primary fights:

 

My Visit to Sandy Hook, Connecticut | deutsch29

My Visit to Sandy Hook, Connecticut | deutsch29:

My Visit to Sandy Hook, Connecticut

 On Monday, June 13, 2016, I was driving from Massachusetts to New Jersey along I-84, which took me through Sandy Hook, Connecticut.

Only days prior, on Saturday, June 11, 2016, I realized I was near Sandy Hook when I decided upon an alternate route from New Jersey to Massachusetts. I was initially on I-95, but the stop-and-go traffic along the Connecticut coast soon wore me out and had me looking for an alternative route. I traveled directly north along Connecticut’s Highway 25 and realized I would pick up I-84 near Sandy Hook.

I remember that terrible December day in 2012. Just as our Louisiana high school was taking in for the day, news of the Sandy Hook Elementary tragedy had teachers leaving their televisions on during the day in shock, sadness and sympathy. School is supposed to be a safe, happy learning community. Such a terrible day.

I did not stop in Sandy Hook on my way to Massachusetts, but on my way back to New Jersey, I thought, “When is the next time I will be driving through Sandy Hook, Connecticut?” Maybe never.

I had already passed the exit. I turned around at the next one.

Sandy Hook is a beautiful small town, and the weather that day complemented the geography of rolling roads, leafy foliage, inviting sidewalks, and homey businesses. It turned out that I had stopped on the last day of school for the 2015-16 year, and school was dismissing students right as I was driving through town, shortly after My Visit to Sandy Hook, Connecticut | deutsch29:

Summer Break – the Least Understood and Most Maligned Aspect of a Teacher’s Life | gadflyonthewallblog

Summer Break – the Least Understood and Most Maligned Aspect of a Teacher’s Life | gadflyonthewallblog:

Summer Break – the Least Understood and Most Maligned Aspect of a Teacher’s Life

It’s inevitable.

Once the weather gets warm and school lets out, it’s no longer safe for teachers to be out in public.

You’ve got to stay indoors, get off the Internet, hide the cell phone – do whatever you can to stay away from non-educators.

Because if, like me, you happen to be out and about – let’s say standing in line at your favorite neighborhood burger joint waiting for a juicy slab of ground beef to stop sizzling on the grill – you’re bound to hear the kind of willful ignorance that sets a teacher’s nerves permanently on edge.

Imagine just two normal people – they seem nice enough – standing in line having a friendly conversation. It’s hot outside, so you might hear the usual topics discussed: the weather, the best place to buy ice cream, which public pool has the best prices – that an oh I don’t know, how easy teachers have it with their summers off.

Son of a…!

Normal folks, I know you often get the urge to talk about this. You think it’s just another topic of polite conversation. It’s nothing serious. You think it’s just like Summer Break – the Least Understood and Most Maligned Aspect of a Teacher’s Life | gadflyonthewallblog:

$15,000 LA Times VAM Mystery Solved - Living in Dialogue

$15,000 LA Times VAM Mystery Solved - Living in Dialogue:

$15,000 LA Times VAM Mystery Solved

By Anthony Cody.

In my recent research into the 2010 LA Times series on “teacher effectiveness,” I learned that $15,000 was used to help pay for someone to generate the VAM analysis used to create thousands of teacher ratings that the newspaper published. These funds came from a 2010 grant from the Hechinger Institute. Since I have been especially interested in the role the Gates Foundation has played in promoting VAM and other misguided “reforms,” I wondered if this 2009 grant from the Gates Foundation to Teachers College was possibly the source of this funding.

Today I got an answer, from Richard Lee Colvin, who was then the Director of The Hechinger Institute, and now works for the US Department of Education under John King. He told me by phone that the source of the $15,000 was a pool of funds that included Gates money, but also included grants from the Broad Foundation, Ford, Carnegie, and others. There was not, according to him, any direct line from the Gates Foundation to this grant of $15,000, and the decision to provide this funding was made independently, by staff at Hechinger, interested in promoting good journalism.

So there you have it. The VAM analysis used by the LA Times to rate the effectiveness of thousands of teachers was partly paid for by a conglomeration of corporate foundations that included the Gates Foundation, among others. The Hechinger Institute was interested in what the test score data would show, and provided the funding, but did not endorse the publication of teacher names their funding made possible.

So we are left with the task of figuring out if this represents anything harmful, in an ethical sense, to the integrity of journalism and the public interest.

We have assurances from everyone involved that there was no direct influence. Nobody at the Gates Foundation told The Hechinger Report “When we give you a grant to support education journalism, here is a list of stories we want to see.”

The grant money to any one project is not directly linked to any one funding source. There is an intermediary $15,000 LA Times VAM Mystery Solved - Living in Dialogue:

Sherrod Brown Demands Additional Federal Oversight of Ohio’s Charter Schools Following Reports Exposing Their Failures

Brown Demands Additional Federal Oversight of Ohio’s Charter Schools Following Reports Exposing Their Failures | Press Releases | United States Senator Sherrod Brown:

Brown Demands Additional Federal Oversight of Ohio’s Charter Schools Following Reports Exposing Their Failures

$30 Million in Taxpayer Dollars Was Spent on Now-Defunct or Non-Existent Ohio Charter Schools

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Following a report that uncovered attendance rates of less than 50 percent at some dropout recovery and prevention charter schools – along with areport that exposed Ohio’s misuse of charter school grant funds – Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) today urged additional oversight of Ohio’s charter school sector. In a letter to U.S. Department of Education (ED) Secretary John King, Brown requested that ED also investigate how the academic performance and closing rate of Charter School Program (CSP) grant recipients in Ohio compares to CSP grant recipients nationwide, and, upon disbursement of a $71 million federal grant to the state, that ED appoint a special monitor to review each expenditure Ohio makes of the grant to ensure that funds are being spent for their intended purpose.

“The lack of oversight of Ohio’s charter schools disadvantages students and wastes taxpayers’ money,” Brown said. “I’m grateful the U.S. Department of Education is taking steps to address this scandal but the failures of Ohio’s charter school sector require an additional level of scrutiny. By increasing accountability and transparency, we can ensure that the funding awarded to Ohio will be spent on educating students, not fraud and abuse.”

In October 2015, amidst reports that certain charter schools in Ohio are misspending taxpayer dollars and falsifying data, Brown led members of the Ohio delegation in a lettercalling on ED to strengthen accountability and transparency for Ohio’s charter schools. The members of Congress asked ED Secretary Arne Duncan to clarify how ED ensured that falsified data was not used to evaluate an Ohio grant application and to take steps to ensure that the funding awarded to Ohio will be used appropriately. In response, ED asked Ohio for further information regarding their grant application and the state’s charter school sector and announced that they would not approve any expenditures by ODE of the $71 million in CSP funds awarded in September 2015 until they were satisfied that Ohio had adequate controls in place in order to administer these funds appropriately.

In July 2015, Brown introduced the Charter School Accountability Act – parts of which were included in the Senate-passed Every Child Achieves Act, legislation to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Reauthorization Act. The bill would strengthen charter school accountability and transparency, prevent fraud, and increase community involvement.

Full text of the letter is below.Brown Demands Additional Federal Oversight of Ohio’s Charter Schools Following Reports Exposing Their Failures | Press Releases | United States Senator Sherrod Brown:

June 20, 2016

The Honorable John King
Secretary
U.S. Department of Education
400 Maryland Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20202

Dear Secretary King: 

I write regarding the Department of Education’s (ED) continued engagement with the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) about the $71 million September 2015 Charter School Program (CSP) grant awarded to the state.  While I was encouraged to see that ED has not disbursed this money, has placed special conditions on the grant, and has engaged in multiple fact finding efforts with ODE, I remain concerned regarding the performance and oversight of the state’s charter school sector.  It is incumbent upon ED to take additional steps to increase oversight, accountability, and transparency before this grant money is disseminated.

Last month, the Charter School Accountability Project published a report titled “Belly Up: A Review of Federal Charter School Program Grants” which analyzed the use of CSP grant dollars in Ohio’s charter schools. This report found that during the CSP’s 20 year history Ohio has received $99.6 million in CSP funding, a number surpassed by only Florida and California.  Of the 292 Ohio charter schools that received this funding, over one-third have closed or never opened, meaning that almost $30 million in taxpayer dollars was spent on now-defunct or non-existent schools.  Nearly $4 million in CSP funds was given to 26 Ohio charters that never opened.  

The dismal state of the Ohio charter school sector has been further demonstrated by Ohio State Auditor Dave Yost’s May 2016 report regarding poor attendance at many of the state’s charter schools.  Yost’s report highlighted problems with ODE’s oversight of attendance reporting and found particular problems with the attendance reports at drop-out recovery prevention charter schools, some of which had attendance rates of less than fifty percent during the surprise inspections.  He further found that while the Ohio General Assembly has taken action to reform charter schools, ODE still has significant weaknesses in evaluating the effectiveness and reliability of the charter schools sector.  He went on to state that ODE was "among the worst, if not the worst-run state agency in state government."

In your November 2015 response letter to the members of the Ohio Congressional delegation, you outlined a number of steps ED has taken and will continue to take to verify the accuracy and completeness of ODE’s grant application.  I appreciate these steps, but more must be done to provide order to the state’s chaotic charter school sector.  In light of this report, I ask that you examine the performance of Ohio charter schools who have received CSP grants to determine whether grant recipients are failing or closing at a higher rate than those in other states and how the academic performance of CSP grant recipients in Ohio compares to CSP grant recipients nationwide.  I further ask that when Ohio has satisfied all necessary conditions for this grant money to be released that you appoint a special monitor to review every expenditure made pursuant to this grant in order to ensure that all funds are being spent for their intended purpose. 

Ohio’s current lack of oversight wastes taxpayer’s money and undermines the ostensible goal of charters: providing more high-quality educational opportunities for children.  There exists a pattern of waste, fraud, and abuse that is far too common and requires extra scrutiny.  Federal investment in high-quality education is important and funds from the most recent CSP grant could greatly benefit students in Ohio if spent appropriately.  This, however, would require that only high-quality operators with a history of student success have access to these important resources.  Such an approach would include greater scrutiny of taxpayer spending and detailed analysis of academic performance.

I ask that you keep me and my staff apprised with your evaluation of ODE’s application for CSP funding and the subsequent disbursement of funds.

Sincerely,Brown Demands Additional Federal Oversight of Ohio’s Charter Schools Following Reports Exposing Their Failures | Press Releases | United States Senator Sherrod Brown:

Big Education Ape: Ohio Congressman questions Arne Duncan’s $32 million charter grant - The Washington Post - http://go.shr.lc/28KseLj 

Big Education Ape: Ohio’s charter chaos - Toledo Blade - http://go.shr.lc/28KspGv 

Big Education Ape: Shame on the Ohio House for pushing off action on critical charter school reform bill:http://bit.ly/1MjatQZ

Big Education Ape: Will John Kasich Stand Up to the Republican Donors Taking Billions from Ohio’s Charter Program? ... http://bit.ly/1MjauVd

Big Education Ape: Could Charter School Scandal Weaken The Kasich Campaign? | John A. Tureshttp://bit.ly/1MjaxAg

CURMUDGUCATION: Mexico: How Bad Can the Ed Debates Get?

CURMUDGUCATION: Mexico: How Bad Can the Ed Debates Get?:

Mexico: How Bad Can the Ed Debates Get?

Negotiation? Strike? I'm not sure we have any English words for a teacher protest that really rise to this occasion

I try to be careful with word choice. I've been reluctant to call the reformster-driven ed debates in this country a "war" or even an "assault" because when we inflate the nature of some conflict, we dilute the meaning of words, words that we may need when something that does more closely resemble an actual war, with fighting and shooting and killing. Which takes us to Mexico.

Reformsterism is, of course, not strictly a USA phenomenon. Lots of nations are experiencing the loving embrace of neo-liberalism and the attempts to create a test-centric school system that puts teachers in their place. But in Mexico, leaders have stopped acting like reformsters and started acting like gangsters.

Before I dig in, I do want to be clear on one point-- I have been trying to make sense of ed reform in the US for roughly 1800 posts over three years. I am now going to address Mexico in just one post. Corners will be cut in discussing what is clearly a complex situation. If this moves you to a high level of concern, I suggest you do what I'm doing-- start reading and then go find some more stuff and read that, too.

Mexico has everything other reformster-infected countries have-- but they have everything on steroids.

Educational crisis? Yup. Writing about Mexico repeatedly points at their PISA scores, and while I'm not deeply respectful of the PISA's diagnostic value, Mexico is almost dead last among members of the Organization of Economic Development and Cooperation nations. Mexico also has one of the highest dropout rates in OECD nations. And while their ed spending as a budget percentage is high among Latin American nations, it has the highest student-teacher ratio of OECD countries and spends less per pupil than any other country. I don't consider any of those data points critical measures of education excellence, but it's pretty hard to look at Mexico's whole picture and think, "Well, yeah, it could still be a great education system."

The country was pretty sure that Something had to be done. But the Something they picked was a pretty direct run at the teachers' union of Mexico, and that may not have been a great tactical CURMUDGUCATION: Mexico: How Bad Can the Ed Debates Get?:

Live Blogging Ed Reform Marriage Counseling Session

A few weeks ago, Robert Pondiscio wrote what seemed to me to be a fairly well-measured piece about the uneasy and possibly-unraveling collaboration between reformy conservatives and reformy liberals. I even wrote a vaguely thoughtful response. But lots of folks absolutely lost their heads, and the post and various responses to it bounced all over the reformy side of the blogoverse.

That seems to have led to a counseling session, brought to the web by an unprecedented team-up between the right-tilted Fordham Institute and the left-tilted Education Post. Mike Petrilli will be ringmaster in just a few minutes, hosting Derrell Bradford (50CAN), Valentina Korkes (Ed Post), Valley Varro (50CAN), and Lindsay Hill (Raikes Foundation). Because it's summer, and I love a challenge, I am going to attempt my first live-blogging of the event.

I'm really hoping for the moment when everyone says, "You know what? We're all just neo-liberals here. There's no reason we can't get along!" But that's probably not what's going to happen. Let's just see what happens when this kicks off at 4:30 EDT (assuming that I can get all my technology balanced on my desk.)

4:30

Well, the live link for the webcast doesn't seem to be happening yet.

4:34

Still not actually seeing anything, though twitter is abuzz. I always have to remind myself that only in Teacher World do things start exactly to the minute. If this were my class, I would be freaking out about now.

4:37

Well, we have 

Live Blogging Ed Reform Marriage Counseling Session

ON TEACHING THE JOURNALISTS | DCGEducator: Doing The Right Thing

ON TEACHING THE JOURNALISTS | DCGEducator: Doing The Right Thing:

ON TEACHING THE JOURNALISTS

HOW INSULTING!

This article really pissed me off. Why does this objective reporter use only one “school”of sources? Why infer that only reformers know how to teach teaching?  

ON TEACHING THE TEACHERS: The Economist June 11, 2016

Whoever said this? “Great teaching has long been seen as an innate skill.”

“But reformers are showing that the best teachers are made, not born.”

 How condescending can this be? This article implies that teachers don’t know that?

“Mr. Cavanagh is the product of a new way of training teachers. Rather than spending their time musing on the meaning of education, he and his peers have been drilled in the craft of the classroom.”

MUSING? REALLY?

This is not new. He is actually the result of good training that has gone on for a long time. Hey guess what… reformers haven’t reinvented the wheel.

“Like doctors on the wards of teaching hospitals, its students often train at excellent institutions, learning from experienced high-caliber peers.” 

This has been true for decades! It is how I learned from a cooperative master teacher when I student taught for a semester and how I received mentoring from my Principals, Assistant Principals, and department chairs for 38 years, not just the first.

This too has always been true: “teaching for what it is: not an innate gift, nor a refuge for those who, as the old saw has it, “can’t do, but ‘an incredibly ON TEACHING THE JOURNALISTS | DCGEducator: Doing The Right Thing:

Marie Corfield: IMMEDIATE Action Needed to Reduce Gun Violence!

Marie Corfield: IMMEDIATE Action Needed to Reduce Gun Violence!:

IMMEDIATE Action Needed to Reduce Gun Violence!

"The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil but by those who watch them without doing anything." 

~ Albert Einstein. 

Since the massacre in Orlando just 8 days ago there have been 9 more mass shootings in the US, most of which have not been reported by the mainstream media. Since the beginning of this year, 6,239 people have been killed, and almost 13,000 have been injured—over 1500 of them were children and teenagers. And it's only June. But thanks to the Gun Violence Archive, this information is now readily available and regularly updated.

Next to public education, ending gun violence is a cause that is near and dear to my heart, partly because far too often, gun violence happens in schools.

The only way we as a nation can stop the bloodshed is to demand our legislators take action. On this issue we all should be shouting from the rooftops and marching in the streets.

This morning I received this email from Carol Stiller of the Mercer Co. (NJ) chapter of the Million Moms March/Brady Campaign to Reduce Gun Violence. I urge every person reading this to take action today by making calls and forwarding this to your contacts. Please do not delay. This vote is happening TODAY at 5:30 pm.

If you cannot make calls, there is a quick and easy way to contact these Senators through your cell phone. I highlighted it in yellow. 

There are also two rallies in NJ today: one with Senators Booker and Menendez at 11:30 in Newark; the other with Reps. Pallone and Watson-Coleman at 2:00 in Trenton. Details are below. I plan to be at the Trenton rally.

Please take action today. Please help stop the bloodshed. Please help reduce gun violence. Please make your voice heard.

...

As most of you already know, the U.S. Senate will be holding a vote today, MONDAY, JUNE 20, at 5:30 P.M. on closing the Terror Gap that allows suspected terrorists to buy guns, and on Universal Background Checks. WE ALL need to make calls to the offices of those Senators who we feel could make the difference in a win or loss.

Here are 20 targets for calls. Some are Republicans, some are Democrats. We cannot take these votes for granted, one way or the other. We REALLY NEED ALL of these to get to 60 votes and win! It will only take a couple minutes for each call. These kinds of opportunities don’t come often — WE MUST ACT NOW. Their phone numbers are listed below… 

HOWEVER,

if you have a cell phone, the EASIEST and QUICKEST way to contact every one is to text DISARM HATE to 877-877 and you will be automatically connected to one of the targets. WHEN you call again, you will be connected to a different one, and so on. PLEASE MAKE THESE CALLS. We must hold them accountable!

Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL) - 202-224-2854

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) - 202-224-2235

Sen. RIchard Burr (R-NC) - 202-224-3154

Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) - 202-224-2043

Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) - 202-224-3324

Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV)  - 202-224-6244

Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) - 202-224-3353

Sen. Joe Donnelly (D-IN) - 202-224-4814

Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) - 202-224-2523

Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) - 202-224-2644

Sen. Robert  Casey (D-PA) - 202-224-6324

Sen. Patrick Toomey (R-PA) - 202-224-4254

Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) - 202-224-2023

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) - 202-224-3954

Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) - 202-224-4521

Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-GA) - 202-224-3643

Sen. Dan Coats (R-IN) - 202-224-5623

Sen. Tim Sott (R-SC) - 202-224-6121

Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) - 202-224-4944

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) 202-224-5323

Ask them to vote YES on Senator Feinstein's amendment to prevent those on the Terror Watch List from buying firearms and NO on the weak substitute amendment being introduced by NRA-supported Senator Cornyn of Texas. 

Ask them to vote YES on Senator Murphy’s universal background check amendment and NO on the weak substitute amendment being introduced by NRA-supported Senator Grassley of Iowa. 

Tell the staffer that answers:
“Hi, my name is _____________.  Please tell Senator ______ to vote YES on Senator Feinstein’s Terror Gap Amendment and Senator Murphy’s Background Check Amendment, and NO on the Cornyn/Grassley substitute amendments. Thank you.”

Please leave a message for the Senator if you can’t reach a staffer.

We are so fortunate that both Senators Booker and Menendez will be voting the right way. If you haven’t already, please call to thank them:

Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) - 202-224-3224

Sen. Robert Menende (D-NJ) - 202-224-4744

Remember that you can watch LIVE Senate floor proceedings on MONDAY, 5:30 p.m. (other archived proceedings are also available):  http://www.senate.gov/floor/index.htm 

If you know anyone in the DC area who would like to join a group who will sit in the Senate Gallery during the proceedings, have them contact their senator’s office for tickets.

THEN after you make your calls or while calling on the way, come out to attend a rally and/or press conference — one in NEWARK with Senators Booker and Menendez at 11:30 a.m. and one in TRENTON with Representatives Pallone and Watson Colman at 2:00 p.m.  See the attached media releases for details. We need to keep up the momentum on these important common sense gun violence solutions!

I know this seems like a lot, but so worth the effort.  And if you need some incentive, listen to my Oakland CA MMM friend Lorrain Taylor’s “It’s Time to Take a Stand”. Devastatingly, Lorrain lost her twin 22-year-old sons to gun violence while they were working on a car. 

“…But now its time for us to stand together as one voice…Its time to let the world know that gun violence is not our choice.” 

THANK YOU EVERYONE. Together we CAN make a difference.

Carole

    REMEMBERING JIM and SARAH BRADY!No Background Check - No Gun - No Excuses 

UNIVERSAL Background Checks!

Marie Corfield: IMMEDIATE Action Needed to Reduce Gun Violence!: