Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Rahm's new grad requirements an 'empty gesture'

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Rahm's new grad requirements an 'empty gesture':

Rahm's new grad requirements an 'empty gesture'

Jermiya Mitchell, 17, a rising senior at Morgan Park High School on the South Side, said she has had few interactions with her guidance counselor. “We never had that conversation about life after high school,” she said. “I would like to have a counselor that really wanted to know what I wanted to do after high school and would help me get there.” (Washington Post)

With black and Latino youth unemployment in the city running at over 50% and the cost of college putting it of reach for most students, Mayor Rahm Emanuel has decided unilaterally, that kids without a job offer or college acceptance can no longer graduate from high school.

Oh yes, there's one exception to the new rule. Enlisting in the military can fulfill the graduation requirement. Chicago is now in position to become the nation's number-one military recruiter.

The ill-conceived and unenforceable plan now being imposed from above, without input from parents or educators, comes in the wake of Rahm's cutting hundreds of counselor positions throughout the district. Counselors are now reporting caseloads of up over 400. Morgan Park High School now has three guidance counselors and a college and career coach for about 1,300 students in grades seven through 12.

The Washington Post reports:

Critics say Emanuel’s idea is an empty gesture that does nothing to address the fact that many teenagers are graduating in ­impoverished, violence-racked neighborhoods with few jobs, or that the most readily accessible community Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Rahm's new grad requirements an 'empty gesture':

Teachers' union considers hard line on charter schools

Teachers' union considers hard line on charter schools:

Teachers' union considers hard line on charter schools

The USA’s largest teachers’ union is poised to take a hard line against charter schools, publicly funded but often privately run K-12 schools that now educate about one in 16 public school students.

Meeting in Boston this week, the National Education Association (NEA) is expected to vote Tuesday on an overhaul of its policy statement on charter schools. A policy statement is the highest-level position the union can adopt on an issue. Though it is 160 years old, NEA has policy statements on fewer than a dozen issues.

The new statement is NEA’s first since it took up the matter in 2001. At the time, charter schools were something of a curiosity: They were less than a decade old and enrolled around 571,000 students. The statement took a wait-and-see attitude, recommending that educators evaluate charter schools on a case-by-case basis.

Today, charter school enrollment tops 3 million, more than five times the 2001 total. The new statement, appended to a lengthy April 26 report from an NEA task force, says charter schools’ explosive growth has led to the rise of “separate and unequal systems of charter schools that are not subject to the same basic safeguards and standards that apply to public schools.”

Since the first charter school opened in St. Paul, Minn., in 1992, the sector has grown steadily. Last fall alone, more than 300 charter schools opened, says the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. More than 6,900 charter schools now enroll an estimated 3.1 million students.

Overall, about 50.4 million students attend public K-12 schools, federal statistics show. About 5.2 million attend private schools.

But a quarter-century after the first charter school opened, the movement is at a crossroads. Though it stands to grow even more under President Donald Trump, a few Teachers' union considers hard line on charter schools:

 

Public Schools and Freedom: A New Threat as We Celebrate This 4th of July

Public Schools and Freedom: A New Threat as We Celebrate This 4th of July:

Public Schools and Freedom: A New Threat as We Celebrate This 4th of July

I wish to dedicate this post to the woman I’m calling America’s librarian, Joan Kramer, who lost her battle with cancer last week. Joan fought for children, their libraries, and their schools, bolstering us with her strong but kind ways. I felt it was important to acknowledge her this 4th of July.

A hero and friend to us all, Joan was a fine activist and pursuer of social justice. Our hearts are heavy. We miss her. But I think the finest compliment to Joan, is to let her spirit live on in us, the best way we know how.

 So, this one’s for you, Joan!  

Public Schools: One of the Last Democratic Institutions in America!     

On this 4th of July, when we celebrate America’s freedoms, it’s a perfect time to discuss our free public schools, and where we are with them when it comes to school reform. It’s important to understand that our public schools have a new  threat, as I will explain below.

Public schools, with all their faults, are the only truly democratic institution we own “together” as a country. Our public schools open their doors to all children.

Teachers take on the challenge of working with the oppressed, the poor, immigrants, Public Schools and Freedom: A New Threat as We Celebrate This 4th of July:

July 4: A Day to Celebrate Our Heroes | Diane Ravitch's blog

July 4: A Day to Celebrate Our Heroes | Diane Ravitch's blog:

July 4: A Day to Celebrate Our Heroes 

Diane Ravitch's blog

Paul Horton: The Real Meaning of July 4

2by dianeravitch / 2h

Paul Horton teaches history at the University of Chicago Lab School. He writes: Creating a Commonwealth: July 4th as a Concept For most Americans July 4th is a celebration of American Independence. It is a day of music, fireworks, and 

Three of the Founding Fathers Died on July 4

1by dianeravitch / 55min

This is a wonderful bit of trivia about American history. Three of the nation’s Founding Fathers died on July 4. All three were former presidents. Thomas Jefferson and John Adams died on the same day in 1826. James Monroe died on 

Nancy Bailey: Celebrate This Day By Celebrating Our Public Schools, a Mainstay of Democracy

by dianeravitch / 0min

Nancy Bailey dedicates her post to the late, beloved Joan Kramer. “On this 4th of July, when we celebrate America’s freedoms, it’s a perfect time to discuss our free public schools, and where we are with them when it comes to school 

Bill Phillis: We Need The Separation of Church and State

by dianeravitch / 0min

Bill Phillis retired years ago as a Deputy Commission of Education in Ohio. He is passionate about equitable funding for the public schools. He has been relentless in exposing the raids on the state treasury by private profiteers like ECOT and 

Melissa Heckler Learned About Education for Democracy in Namibia

1by dianeravitch / 36min

What a curiously interconnected world this is! Melissa Heckler read Paul Thomas’s post about his terrible Father’s Day and his reflections on our “gladiator culture.” She is in Namibia. She was moved by it and sent me the speech she gave at Bank Street College in New York City when she received an alumni award. She said: Good Evening. Thank you to the Alumni Board for this award. I am honored. To

A Poem to Honor a Warrior for Children, for Intellectual Freedom, for Public Schools

12by dianeravitch / 1h

An admirer of the late Joan Kramer wrote this poem in her honor: In memory of our friend and dearest warrior Joan Kramer – may we all fight the good fight till the very end. Tribute to the Warriors Dark, deceitful, dreadful The war continues. Hidden from the public Children succumb to oblivion. Masses are found naked In the valley of corporate reform. Masses of children Stripped of their humanity

July 4: A Day to Celebrate Our Heroes

33by dianeravitch / 2h

I always enjoyed July 4 as a day to celebrate our nation and to honor its heroes. With an ignorant bully in the White House, it is hard to feel good about what is happening today. Trump seems eager to demolish the First Amendment and that’s bad for our nation and our future. He wants to remove environmental protection and allow the pillaging of our air, water, and lands. He wants to defund every

YESTERDAY

Chris Christie Closed the State Beaches for the Holiday Weekend, but Not for Him and His Family

8by dianeravitch / 20h

Soon we can forget about Chris Christie. He is term limited. He will be gone. But here is typical Christie. All state beaches are closed because of a stalemate on the state budget. But Chris Christie went to a state beach with his family because the state owns a beach house. The beach was gloriously empty. Just for him and his family. He said if you want the use of the beach house, run for govern

KIPP-Houston Rips Off Poor Parents

68by dianeravitch / 22h

Charter schools lain they are public schools. They are not. What public school is part of a corporate chain? What public school operates for profit? What public schools charges fees for service? The KIPP schools in Houston have been charging fees to poor parents. Now that the scam has been exposed, KIPP refuses to refund the money to parents who need the money far more than the multi-million doll

Charles Pierce: “Education Is Not A Damn Marketplace!”

16by dianeravitch / 23h

There is one super-smart columnist writing in Esquire, and his name is Charles P. Pierce. He gets it. Unlike the editorial boards of the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and the Washington Post, he understands that schools don’t get “better” by competing. He understands that what is called “reform” these days is a massive failure. He knows that charter schools, despite the boasting, despite

This High School Adopted (De)personalized Education for All, Thanks to Laurene Powell Jobs

11by dianeravitch / 1d

A California public high school received a grant of $10 million from Laurene Powell Jobs to redesign itself. Guess what? They have gone whole hog for “ personalized learning. ” Known on this Blog as Depersonalized Learning. This is where the computer mines your data all day long and you develop a close relationship with the computer. Meanwhile the giants of Silicon Valley send their own children

“Democracy”: What Does Research Say About AP Courses?

100+by dianeravitch / 1d

We have had an interesting conversation on the blog about the value of AP courses. It was tied to Jay Mathews’ use of AP courses to rank the quality of high schools: the more AP courses, the better the high school. I have made clear two points: One, when I was in high school in the 1950s, there were no AP courses, so I have had no experience with them; and my children graduated high school withou

Roy Turrentine: The Trouble with AP

9by dianeravitch / 1d

I often hear AP lauded because it enables students to get through college in only three years, thus saving a year of tuition. What if college were free? Would there be such a rush to get it over with? What’s the purpose of college? Why four years? 

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all 

Teacher Tom: Interdependence Day

Teacher Tom: Interdependence Day:

Interdependence Day

We must hang together gentlemen . . . else we shall most assuredly hang separately. ~Benjamin Franklin

Happy Independence Day! And “happy” is the appropriate greeting for today. The Declaration of Independence was the first historical instance of the word "happiness" appearing in the founding documents of any nation.

Today in 1776, 56 men signed their names to this radical document. As a result they were, without trial, proclaimed traitors by the government and sentenced to death. These were middle class people. John Hancock was the wealthiest among them and he was not even a millionaire by today's standards. The wealthy sided with the king. Most of the signers were working people -- farmers and tradesmen primarily. None of them left behind a family fortune, or a foundation, or any other kind of financial memorial of their lives. Our nation is their legacy.

Their average age was 33 (Thomas Jefferson's age at the time). The youngest was only 20-years-old. The oldest was Benjamin Franklin, who was 83.

As a result of having signed the Declaration of Independence, Teacher Tom: Interdependence Day: