CURMUDGUCATION: PA: Scott Wagner Financed by DeVos Ed Reformsters #VoteTuesday

CURMUDGUCATION: PA: Scott Wagner Financed by DeVos Ed Reformsters

PA: Scott Wagner Financed by DeVos Ed Reformsters

At PennLive.com they did some quick record checks and found these fun facts about the money behind this year's governor's race in PA. You'll never guess who's bankrolling Scott Wagner. (Incidentally, you don't have to guess-- you can play along at home by digging the finance reports out at the PA campaign finance records website).

This frickin' guy.

One interesting factoid is the numbers-- Governor Tom Wolf has almost 27,000 separate contributors to his race. GOP's Scott Wagner has 5,900 contributors.

Wolf's contributors ran from $1 to $500,000. Wagner's run from (weirdly) $2 up to $1,000,000. Wolf totaled up $29.8 million, while Wagner collected a mere $14.4 million. Wagner has kicked in $5 million of his own money and borrowed another $6 million.

But here's one more thing to take note of. Wagner's biggest donor not named Wagner is Students First PAC, which kicked in $1,000,000.

The name "Student First" might ring a bell; that group was founded almost a decade ago by Michele Rhee (former chancellor of DC schools and builder of the foundation of years of scandals in that district).  That group has long been busy in PA, trying to do away with all employment protectionsfor teachers, pushing the Common Core, and trying yet again to Continue reading: CURMUDGUCATION: PA: Scott Wagner Financed by DeVos Ed Reformsters

NYC: No Charter Waiting Lists! Charters Hire Firm to Market Their Brands | Diane Ravitch's blog

NYC: No Charter Waiting Lists! Charters Hire Firm to Market Their Brands | Diane Ravitch's blog

NYC: No Charter Waiting Lists! Charters Hire Firm to Market Their Brands

Susan Edelman of the New York Post reports that the NYC DOE is under investigation by federal and state officials for giving personal information about students to a marketing firm hired by charter schools.

https://nypost.com/2018/11/04/department-of-education-probed-for-pitching-charters-to-public-school-kids/

Wait! What about the long waiting lists?!

She writes:

“The city Department of Education reduces its enrollment by giving student names and addresses to a private vendor that produces mass mailings to help charter schools woo families.

“The longtime marketing practice has now come under investigation by state and federal officials after a Manhattan mom complained it violates student privacy rights.

“Each year my family receives a large number of pamphlets and flyers from charter schools, promoting and marketing their schools and urging me to apply, ” Johanna Garcia wrote to state and US officials.

“While Garcia has three kids in public schools, flyers have targeted her daughter who qualified for a gifted and talented program, she wrote, but not two other children with special needs.

“The DOE says it gives only student names, grade levels and addresses to Vanguard Direct, a bulk-mailing company, and forbids the company to share the data with anyone else.

“Charter schools — which are privately run but get taxpayer funds based Continue reading: NYC: No Charter Waiting Lists! Charters Hire Firm to Market Their Brands | Diane Ravitch's blog

Arizona: #RedforEd Is So Popular that Even Its Opponents are Hitching Their Wagon to It | Diane Ravitch's blog #VoteTuesday

Arizona: #RedforEd Is So Popular that Even Its Opponents are Hitching Their Wagon to It | Diane Ravitch's blog
Arizona: #RedforEd Is So Popular that Even Its Opponents are Hitching Their Wagon to It

This story in the New York Times by veteran education writer Dana Goldstein describes the peculiar situation in Arizona, where everyone claims to support public education even if they don’t.

Even Governor Doug Ducey, the nemesis of public schools, is boasting about his thin education record.

PHOENIX — Campaign signs are clustered on street corners and highway ramps across this low-slung, sun-baked city, proclaiming “#YesforEd” and “Protect Public Education.” In TV commercials, the Republican governor promises to “put more money in the classroom, not bureaucracy.” “Our schools are falling apart,” his Democratic challenger counters.

Six months after tens of thousands of red-clad teachers swarmed the Arizona Capitol in a weeklong walkout, demanding higher pay and more funding for schools, education is a dominant issue in the state’s elections next month.

The teachers’ protest movement, which calls itself #RedforEd, has transformed the political battleground. The movement remains so popular in Arizona that candidates and causes across the ideological spectrum are competing to identify with it — including conservatives who, in years past, might have been more likely to criticize teachers or unions than associate with activist educators.

That has left some Democrats — teachers’ traditional allies — scrambling Continue reading: Arizona: #RedforEd Is So Popular that Even Its Opponents are Hitching Their Wagon to It | Diane Ravitch's blog

Are Charter Schools An “Innovation”? | Dissident Voice

Are Charter Schools An “Innovation”? | Dissident Voice

Are Charter Schools An “Innovation”?

Charter school supporters and promoters never tire of repeating the banality that “charter schools are an innovation.”

“Innovation” has become one of many hackneyed buzzwords in the neoliberal lexicon. Everyone is under intense pressure to blindly embrace “innovation” at full velocity, no matter how irresponsible.

Other closely-related and worn-out neoliberal catchwords include: “data-driven,” “results-oriented,” “performance-based,” “competition,” “choice,” “efficiency,” and “accountability.” Ludicrous phrases like “systems leader” are also appearing on the neoliberal scene.

Not surprisingly, the neoliberal world has become a comi-tragedy, a joke, a cynical dystopia saturated with dysfunction and irrationalism of all sorts; everything is upside down and incoherent, causing many to experience mental, emotional, and physical problems.

Neoliberalism offers only a bleak scenario for society, something no amount of voting in an outmoded and discredited political system can change. The only thing the two-party system of the rich has achieved effectively over the years is preventing progress that favors the people. Progress will again be a casualty in the November 2018 elections.

While they are constantly cast as an “innovation,” charter schools are nothing more than pay-the-rich schemes that are multiplying with each passing year. They are “innovative” only in the sense that they reject evidence more than others and have invented new forms of fraud, corruption, and racketeering that go beyond what any other sector has seen. Not a day goes by without an arrest or scandal in one or more of the nation’s 7,000 charter schools, which Continue reading: Are Charter Schools An “Innovation”? | Dissident Voice

Articles about “Reading Wars” Meant to Divide Teachers and Parents!

Articles about “Reading Wars” Meant to Divide Teachers and Parents!

Articles about “Reading Wars” Meant to Divide Teachers and Parents!

A wave of recent articles about reading trick parents and educators into thinking teachers are not teaching reading and are not being trained to teach reading correctly. The opinion pieces are written by journalist Emily Hanford.

Warning! Corporate reform fingerprints are all over these articles. Could it be about transforming classrooms to technology, where students look at screens instead of getting help from teachers?

Here is a quote from one.

Scientific research has shown how children learn to read and how they should be taught. But many educators don’t know the science and, in some cases, actively resist it. As a result, millions of kids are being set up to fail.

These accusations, teachers “don’t know” and teachers “actively resist it” anger parents who are critical of how their students learned or are learning to read in school.

The three Hanford articles have anti-teacher titles, and a title to run down their COEs (Colleges of Education) all meant to undermine teachers and how they teach reading.

• “Why Are We Still Teaching Reading the Wrong Way?”
• “Teachers Criticize Their Colleges of Education for Not Preparing Them to Teach Reading”
• “Why Aren’t Kids Being Taught to Read?”

Each one of these articles has set off a firestorm of comments on social media. Teachers Continue reading: Articles about “Reading Wars” Meant to Divide Teachers and Parents!

CURMUDGUCATION: ICYMI: The Campaign Home Stretch Edition (11/4)

CURMUDGUCATION: ICYMI: The Campaign Home Stretch Edition (11/4)
ICYMI: The Campaign Home Stretch Edition (11/4)

I could have called this the Moved My Son And His Family Into Their New Place Edition, which is the long way around to saying that I wasn't quite up to my usual level of collecting this week. And I'm not going to tell you to vote; I'm going to tell you to vote Democrat, even if your local Democrat sucks, because the GOP controlled government needs some sand in its gears. So vote Democrat.

Stop Pretending and Make School Relevant

I may or may not entirely agree with some of what Michael Soskil says here (I have my own ideas about the R word), but this piece is definitely worth a read.

Teachers versus the Koch Brothers in Arizona  

Arizona has one of the worst and most destructive voucher programs around. Jeff Bryant looks at the campaign to beat it back.

Snake Oil, Charter Schools and Disingenuous Debate

From Tennessee, a newspaper op-ed repudiates the charter movement.

Values That Express Our Ideas of Public Schools   

Jan Resseger with some writings to help focus your thinking as you head for the polls.

Halloween and the Value of Make-Believe   

Oh, yeah. Halloween happened this week. Nancy Bailey has some thoughts on the value of the holiday.

Ipads Are Not The Future of Education    

Just in case there was any doubt in your mind.

Billionaires Are Spending Their Fortunes Reshaping America's Schools. It Isn't Working.

From Vox. Add to the "ed reform is losing" file.

Who Gets Access To Your Kids' Information?  

Project Unicorn's promises are vague and unconvincing. Did your school sign up?

DeVos Meets With Far More GOP than Dems

I don't know if this is news, exactly. But it's an interesting look at yet one more aspect of Betsy "My Mind's Made Up So I Don't Need To Listen TO Anyone" DeVos and her approach to leading the USED>

What a Difference a Decade Makes   

Nancy Flanagan is dead on with this piece about election outcomes, and the key quote (which comes from Sabrina Joy Stevens) is so important I'm going to put it here, just in case you don't follow the link.

I am very worried about people tying their emotional well-being and sense of empowerment to the outcomes of elections.

NPE Action - Political Endorsements - http://npeaction.org/ on @NPEaction

CURMUDGUCATION: ICYMI: The Campaign Home Stretch Edition (11/4)

Why Principals Differ: Joe, Ralph, and Edna | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Why Principals Differ: Joe, Ralph, and Edna | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Why Principals Differ: Joe, Ralph, and Edna

The film Lean on Me portrays high school principal Joe Clark in Paterson, New Jersey in the early 1980s rescuing a school mired in violence and poor academic performance. In one dramatic scene, over two hundred troublemakers are on the auditorium stage. The rest of the student body sitting in the auditorium watch as Clark at the microphone–played by a young Morgan Freeman– quiets everyone including those students standing behind him. Clark tells the students that those on stage have caused all the trouble and to turn around this school, they must be removed.

Facing the two-hundred mischief-makers milling around on stage, Clark points his finger at them and says: “You are expurgated! You are no longer welcome in this school.” The school security staff in blue blazers shoves them out of the doors.

Joe Clark’s kicking out troublesome students pleased movie crowds 30 years ago as it did the country when they learned about this baseball bat-toting principal. In real life, Joe Clark got in trouble with the school board over expelling the students yet he had his 15 minutes of fame and continued as an educator until he retired.

But he was a sprinter principal, not a marathoner.

Lean on Me lays out the fantasy Americans have about their principals. We want fearless school leaders but get managers with keys dangling on their belts. This expectation of principal-as-Superman (or Wonder Woman) is fairly common but few principals are Clark Kents in mufti. Most principals want to be leaders but cannot because they are caught in the middle between their district bosses wanting them to follow policy, parents wanting their requests fulfilled, teachers wanting to be left alone, and students wanting teachers who teach. Principals learn to navigate among potential conflicts by being managers and politicians juggling competing expectations and constituencies. The DNA of the job is Continue reading: Why Principals Differ: Joe, Ralph, and Edna | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Idaho School Employees Who Dressed as MAGA Wall and Mexicans on Halloween Put on Paid Leave Pending Further Investigation | deutsch29

Idaho School Employees Who Dressed as MAGA Wall and Mexicans on Halloween Put on Paid Leave Pending Further Investigation | deutsch29

Idaho School Employees Who Dressed as MAGA Wall and Mexicans on Halloween Put on Paid Leave Pending Further Investigation

Fourteen teachers/staff at a Middleton, Idaho, school have been placed on paid leave for collectively dressing on Halloween as a wall with “Make America Great Again” written on it and a group of Mexicans. Investigation into the situation continues.

According to the November 3, 2018, Idaho Statesman, the staff members dressed “as part of a team building activity after school hours.”

What amazes me is that none of the 14 individuals exercised enough foresight to nix the idea. Nothing doing. Not only did the crew dress as the border wall and Mexicans; they posted pictures to the district Facebook page on Thursday, November 01, 2018.

Though the pictures have been deleted and the FB page apparently shut down, that did not stop the pics from going viral:

Middleton Schools superintendent, Dr. Josh Middleton, also posted this response on the district website, on Friday, November 02, 2018:

Dear MSD Parents,

I want to bring you up to date on events within the district.

We are getting lots of inquiries regarding Halloween day costumes and a photo posting from one of our schools. Local patrons and people across the country are calling in expressing their displeasure with the costume choices. This matter was brought to me last night and district admin are currently reviewing and investigating the chain of events. I have released a statement to the media and spoken to our local TV stations. The district as a whole is receiving publicity that is judging our schools and community on the events of that afternoon into a negative, broad generalization. I know we are better than that literal snapshot, but in the meantime we need to continue our investigation.

I hope we can wrap up our review by Monday. Despite this disruption, our Continue reading:Idaho School Employees Who Dressed as MAGA Wall and Mexicans on Halloween Put on Paid Leave Pending Further Investigation | deutsch29

Top Posts This Week 11/3/18 #VOTE #VoteTuesday

Top Posts This Week 11/3/18  #VOTE

• 

  End K-12 Sex Harassment and Assault #MeTooK12 #MeToo #timesup
• 

  Schools Matter: Marshall Tuck’s racist dog whistle
• 

  Education philanthropy: why the billions spent aren’t working - Vox
• 

  ACLU of Northern California Executive Director to EdVoice: Stop Misleading Voters | ACLU of Northern CA
• 

  CURMUDGUCATION: Failing Brown v. Board of Education
• 

  We Discover Outstanding Candidates That Support Our Public Schools - NPE Action Endorsements - NPE Action
• 

  Six Reasons Not To Get Excited About The New SAT Scores
• 

  Seattle Schools Community Forum: Gates Foundation Flounders
• 

  CURMUDGUCATION: ICYMI: Scary Time of Year Edition (10/28)
• 

  How America Is Breaking Public Education

NPE Action - Political Endorsements - http://npeaction.org/ on @NPEaction

Posts This Week 11/3/18

TODAY

Thurmond vs Tuck and how FAKE Democrats are fooling voters with help from Alt-Right Billionaires | Crazy Normal - the Classroom Exposé

by mike simpson / 1h

Thurmond vs Tuck and how FAKE Democrats are fooling voters with help from Alt-Right Billionaires | Crazy Normal - the Classroom Exposé Thurmond vs Tuck and how FAKE Democrats are fooling voters with help from Alt-Right Billionaires Politico.com reported on November 1, five days before the 2018 election, “In the race to be California’s top educator, charter schools ally Marshall Tuck registered a

Dr. Rosa Castro Feinberg: How and why to avoid Florida’s flaws | Cloaking Inequity

by mike simpson / 1h

How and why to avoid Florida’s flaws | Cloaking Inequity HOW AND WHY TO AVOID FLORIDA’S FLAWS It’s not too late to improve state ESSA plans. Approved state ESSA plans can be amended at any time. That’s both good news and bad 

Political Issues In Public Education - A Guide For Beginners | Blue Cereal Education

by mike simpson / 26min

Political Issues In Public Education - A Guide For Beginners | Blue Cereal Education Political Issues In Public Education - A Guide For Beginners It’s election time again, and – in some places, at least – education-related disputes are once again all over social media and the local news. Given that it’s rare for such a traditional, local issue to break through our current national insanity, some

John Thompson: Insights on the Origins of “A Nation at Risk”: A Conversation with James Harvey and John Merrow | Diane Ravitch's blog

by mike simpson / 1h

John Thompson: Insights on the Origins of “A Nation at Risk”: A Conversation with James Harvey and John Merrow | Diane Ravitch's blog John Thompson: Insights on the Origins of “A Nation at Risk”: A Conversation with James Harvey and John Merrow John Thompson, retired teacher and historian in Oklahoma, shares his thoughts about the Network for Public Education Conference in Indianapolis. He begins

CURMUDGUCATION: Is School Choice At Odds With Community?

by mike simpson / 2h

CURMUDGUCATION: Is School Choice At Odds With Community? Is School Choice At Odds With Community? A couple weeks back, Amy Lueck in the Atlantic took a look at how public high schools shaped communities in this country, depicting a relationship between school and community that certainly still looks familiar to those of us who live in ruralish areas where among grown-up adults, "Which high school

YESTERDAY

The World Mourns for Jews After Pittsburgh’s Synagogue Shooting. What About Other Targets of Hate? | gadflyonthewallblog

by mike simpson / 19h

The World Mourns for Jews After Pittsburgh’s Synagogue Shooting. What About Other Targets of Hate? | gadflyonthewallblog The World Mourns for Jews After Pittsburgh’s Synagogue Shooting. What About Other Targets of Hate? When a white supremacist killed 11 people and wounded 6 others at a Pittsburgh synagogue last weekend, the world took notice. Lights dimmed at the Eiffel Tower and Empire State bu

CURMUDGUCATION: Failing Brown v. Board of Education

by mike simpson / 23h

CURMUDGUCATION: Failing Brown v. Board of Education Failing Brown v. Board of Education If you're not regularly exposed to the problem, you might think that finding the ways in which non-white non-wealthy students are shortchanged would require deep and nuanced research. As it turns out, finding the ways in which education fails to serve those students requires no more careful research than findi

Values that Express Our Idea of Public Education: The Values that Should Steady Us in this Tumultuous Week | janresseger

by mike simpson / 1d

Values that Express Our Idea of Public Education: The Values that Should Steady Us in this Tumultuous Week | janresseger Values that Express Our Idea of Public Education: The Values that Should Steady Us in this Tumultuous Week This blog, which usually posts Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, will post on neither election day nor the next morning. Look for a new post on Thursday, November

Unanswered Questions in the Race for California State Superintendent of Public Instruction

by mike simpson / 1d

Unanswered Questions in the Race for California State Superintendent of Public Instruction Unanswered Questions in the Race for California State Superintendent of Public Instruction We are largely unable to accept new offers to complete questionnaires” – Marshall Tuck Campaign The California Charter School Association and their allies have provided Marshall Tuck with enough cash to flood the airw

NOV 01

ACLU of Northern California Executive Director to EdVoice: Stop Misleading Voters | ACLU of Northern CA

by mike simpson / 2d

ACLU of Northern California Executive Director to EdVoice: Stop Misleading Voters | ACLU of Northern CA ACLU of Northern California Executive Director to EdVoice: Stop Misleading Voters ACLU of California Statement on Misleading Campaign Ad . @edvoice Your mailer uses the ACLU's name in a manner that misleads voters. You are not a fly by night organization, and with your decision, you have damage

The Education Wave That Began In West Virginia May Change Politics For The Nation

by mike simpson / 2d

The Education Wave That Began In West Virginia May Change Politics For The Nation The Education Wave That Began In West Virginia May Change Politics For The Nation Whether Democrats take back the House in the midterm elections may come down to races like the one in West Virginia’s third Congressional District. “Richard Ojeda has taken a district that Trump won by almost 50 points … and turned int

What Should We Really Learn From New Orleans After the Storm? A Q&A With NEPC Fellow Bruce Baker | National Education Policy Center

by mike simpson / 2d

What Should We Really Learn From New Orleans After the Storm? A Q&A With NEPC Fellow Bruce Baker | National Education Policy Center What Should We Really Learn From New Orleans After the Storm? A Q&A With NEPC Fellow Bruce Baker Learn More: NEPC Resources on Charter Schools NEPC Fellow Bruce Baker discusses his critique of a recent policy brief that attributed positive outcomes to market-based re

Lawsuit Accuses Betsy DeVos And Her Deputies Of Being Motivated By Sexism | HuffPost

by mike simpson / 2d

Lawsuit Accuses Betsy DeVos And Her Deputies Of Being Motivated By Sexism | HuffPost Lawsuit Accuses Betsy DeVos And Her Deputies Of Being Motivated By Sexism The lawsuit says that the education secretary’s decision to scrap Obama-era rules governing sexual assault on campus was based on bias and stereotypes. A new filing in a lawsuit against the Trump administration accuses Secretary of Educatio

What’s Wrong with America’s Schools? David Berliner Blames America’s Failure to Eradicate Child Poverty | janresseger

by mike simpson / 2d

What’s Wrong with America’s Schools? David Berliner Blames America’s Failure to Eradicate Child Poverty | janresseger What’s Wrong with America’s Schools? David Berliner Blames America’s Failure to Eradicate Child Poverty Despite lots of evidence about why we shouldn’t use test scores as a measure of school quality, for nearly twenty years, government programs like No Child Left Behind and Race t

OCT 31

Confronting Inequity and Structural Racism by Building Community Schools | Schott Foundation for Public Education

by mike simpson / 2d

Confronting Inequity and Structural Racism by Building Community Schools | Schott Foundation for Public Education Confronting Inequity and Structural Racism by Building Community Schools The last few decades of disinvestment and privatization have devastated public schools across the country, especially those in poor and distressed neighborhoods and communities of color. But we shouldn’t simply t

How Teachers Might Save Arizona Schools from the Kochs | OurFuture.org by People's Action

by mike simpson / 2d

How Teachers Might Save Arizona Schools from the Kochs | OurFuture.org by People's Action How Teachers Might Save Arizona Schools from the Kochs “A change in education is Arizona’s No. 1 issue,” Garcia said in a televised debate . “It is my strength, it is Ducey’s weakness, and it’s going to be the difference.” (Photo: Victoria Pickering /flickr/cc) The moment Beth Lewis realized the powerful pol

We Discover Outstanding Candidates That Support Our Public Schools - NPE Action Endorsements - NPE Action

by mike simpson / 2d

Endorsements - NPE Action We Discover Outstanding Candidates That Support Our Public Schools - NPE Action Endorsements - NPE Action NPE Action Endorsements NPE Action Endorsements When we discover outstanding candidates that support our issues, and it is a race that we are able to support, we endorse. Candidates must complete a questionnaire and have the support of our supporters in the area. We

CURMUDGUCATION: Jobs' XQ Institute Plugs Competency Based Education

by mike simpson / 3d

CURMUDGUCATION: Jobs' XQ Institute Plugs Competency Based Education Jobs' XQ Institute Plugs Competency Based Education Laurene Powell Jobs is one of the major players in the reformster world. Steve Jobs's widow is the fourth richest woman in the world , and she has been a player in the world of education venture philanthropy for a while, logging time with NewSchools Venture Fund (We raise contri

Kids’ apps are filled with manipulative ads, according to a new study - Vox

by mike simpson / 3d

Kids’ apps are filled with manipulative ads, according to a new study - Vox Apps for preschoolers are flooded with manipulative ads, according to a new study New research looks at how gaming apps ads are pushing very young children to spend money. In the children’s gaming app Doctor Kids , a popular purchase in the Google and Amazon app stores, kids get to play doctor in a children’s hospital. Th

Teachers Are Testing Us: In State Elections, Will We Reject the Anti-Tax, Pro-Privatization Orthodoxy of the Far Right? | janresseger

by mike simpson / 3d

Teachers Are Testing Us: In State Elections, Will We Reject the Anti-Tax, Pro-Privatization Orthodoxy of the Far Right? | janresseger Teachers Are Testing Us: In State Elections, Will We Reject the Anti-Tax, Pro-Privatization Orthodoxy of the Far Right? In an extraordinary photo essay, USA Today profiled a day 

Chicago Teachers Union educators at Acero/UNO vote overwhelmingly to strike. – Fred Klonsky

by mike simpson / 3d

Chicago Teachers Union educators at Acero/UNO vote overwhelmingly to strike. – Fred Klonsky Chicago Teachers Union educators at Acero/UNO vote overwhelmingly to strike. CHICAGO, Oct. 30, 2018 —Chicago Teachers Union educators at Acero/UNO charter schools voted overwhelmingly today to strike. 96% of Acero CTU members turned out to vote, and of those voting, 98% voted to strike. Of the CTU’s 536 me

Halloween and The Value of Make-Believe to Reading and Emotional Development

by mike simpson / 3d

Halloween and The Value of Make-Believe to Reading and Emotional Development Halloween and The Value of Make-Believe to Reading and Emotional Development It is not mere childish escapism. There is a political aspect to it – we won’t try to change this world unless we are able to imagine another reality. One could say all change starts with fantasy. ~Cornelia Funke, German author of children’s fic

OCT 30

Education philanthropy: why the billions spent aren’t working - Vox

by mike simpson / 4d

Education philanthropy: why the billions spent aren’t working - Vox Billionaires are spending their fortunes reshaping America’s schools. It isn’t working. Here’s the problem with education philanthropy. Philanthropists need to take a step back from the American education system before it ruins them, they ruin it, or both. Major philanthropies like the Gates , Walton Family , and Broad Foundation

How America Is Breaking Public Education

by mike simpson / 4d

How America Is Breaking Public Education How America Is Breaking Public Education The ultimate dream of public education is incredibly simple. Students, ideally, would go to a classroom, receive top-notch instruction from a passionate, well-informed teacher, would work hard in their class, and would come away with a new set of skills, talents, interests, and capabilities. Over the past few decade

Young voters will determine the outcome of the 2018 midterms

by mike simpson / 4d

Young voters will determine the outcome of the 2018 midterms Youth will determine the outcome of the 2018 midterms That’s why Republicans are trying to stop them The stakes are high in the upcoming midterm elections, but few races have commanded as much national attention as the one for Texas senator between Republican incumbent Ted Cruz and Democratic U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke of El Paso. O’Rourke

No School Is “Doomed.” Continuous Improvement, Not School Closure, Must Be the Goal | janresseger

by mike simpson / 4d

No School Is “Doomed.” Continuous Improvement, Not School Closure, Must Be the Goal | janresseger No School Is “Doomed.” Continuous Improvement, Not School Closure, Must Be the Goal I have read Eliza Shapiro’s reporting in POLITICO for years and I respect her as a reporter, but her story in Friday’s NY Times baffles me: New York Knew Some Schools In Its $773 Million Plan Were Doomed, They Kept Ch

OCT 29

NPE Indianapolis: “We Are Winning!” | tultican

by mike simpson / 4d

NPE Indianapolis: “We Are Winning!” | tultican NPE Indianapolis: “We Are Winning!” Diane Ravitch opened the fifth Network for Public Education (NPE) conference stating, “We are the resistance and we are winning!” She noted that “reformers” were envious of our domination of social media. When they hired mercenaries to staff their own multimillion dollar web-publications to counter us; they failed.

Zombie Ideas Are Killing Public Education - The Crucial Voice of the PeopleThe Crucial Voice of the People

by mike simpson / 4d

Zombie Ideas Are Killing Public Education - The Crucial Voice of the PeopleThe Crucial Voice of the People Zombie Ideas Are Killing Public Education “Zombie ideas … are policy ideas that keep being killed by evidence, but nonetheless shamble relentlessly forward, essentially because they suit a political agenda.” Paul Krugman Zombie Ideas!?! Exactly! Policymakers have been using zombie ideas to d

Submission: Marshall Tuck’s track record proves him unfit as state superintendent candidate | Daily Bruin

by mike simpson / 4d

Submission: Marshall Tuck’s track record proves him unfit as state superintendent candidate | Daily Bruin Submission: Marshall Tuck’s track record proves him unfit as state superintendent candidate ROBERT D. SKEELS Business banker Marshall Tuck is running for California superintendent of public instruction again. He’s backed by ideologically charged billionaires – several of whom supported reacti

Public school fees go largely unchecked in Louisiana, prompting reform proposals | Education | theadvocate.com

by mike simpson / 4d

Public school fees go largely unchecked in Louisiana, prompting reform proposals | Education | theadvocate.com Public school fees go largely unchecked in Louisiana, prompting reform proposals Ursula Clark-Holmes, who has three children attending public schools in Baton Rouge, is beset by so many student fees that she even offered to offset the charges by volunteering at the schools. "I can't affo

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Washington State Charter School Law Upheld

by mike simpson / 4d

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Washington State Charter School Law Upheld Washington State Charter School Law Upheld On October 26, 2018, in a split decision, the Washington State Supreme Court ruled that the charter school law created by the Legislature, after a voter initiative was thrown out in 2012, is valid under our state's constitution. Here's the ruling . As someone who has never suppor

Betsy DeVos’ Family Gives $2 Million to Far-Right Candidates | Diane Ravitch's blog

by mike simpson / 5d

Betsy DeVos’ Family Gives $2 Million to Far-Right Candidates | Diane Ravitch's blog Betsy DeVos’ Family Gives $2 Million to Far-Right Candidates During her confirmation hearings, Betsy DeVos pledged not to make political contributions while she was Secretary of Education. But, knowing her penchant for parsing words, we may now assume that she was not covering the political donations of her family

Six Reasons Not To Get Excited About The New SAT Scores

by mike simpson / 5d

Six Reasons Not To Get Excited About The New SAT Scores Six Reasons Not To Get Excited About The New SAT Scores Today's big-- well, not big. Medium-sized, maybe--news comes from the College Board, which announced that both participation and scores are up, as well as the percentage of college-ready students . Here's why you can comfortably not care. It's 8 Points The average score "jumped" from 10

Choosing Democracy: Teachers Respond to Hate

by mike simpson / 5d

Choosing Democracy: Teachers Respond to Hate Teachers Respond to Hate As I stood at a vigil at Temple Emanuel in New York City today to honor the Tree of Life synagogue victims, I couldn’t stop thinking about how hate has become a fact of life in our country. Hateful rhetoric and words of incitement have fueled heinous acts of violence across our nation over the past week: pipe bombs mailed to el

Research evidence on bullying prevention at odds with what schools are doing - The Hechinger Report

by mike simpson / 5d

Research evidence on bullying prevention at odds with what schools are doing - The Hechinger Report Research evidence on bullying prevention at odds with what schools are doing Punishing the bullies doesn't really help, researchers say. But what does work? I n September 2018, I wrote about the so-called “Trump effect” on bullying in schools, citing a study that found higher bullying rates in GOP

OCT 28

CURMUDGUCATION: ICYMI: Scary Time of Year Edition (10/28)

by mike simpson / 5d

CURMUDGUCATION: ICYMI: Scary Time of Year Edition (10/28) ICYMI: Scary Time of Year Edition (10/28) Just a few things to catch up on. Remember, sharing is caring. Documenting Maine's Failure To Implement Proficiency Based Education Maine tried to turn the whole state into proof of concept for PBL/CBE. Things didn't work out. Here are some of the details. Maine Went All in on Proficiency Based Lea

Dahlia Lithwick: Who Is Responsible for the Epidemic of Hate Crimes? | Diane Ravitch's blog

by mike simpson / 5d

Dahlia Lithwick: Who Is Responsible for the Epidemic of Hate Crimes? | Diane Ravitch's blog Dahlia Lithwick: Who Is Responsible for the Epidemic of Hate Crimes? Dahlia Lithwick writes in Slate about where the responsibility lies for the horrendous hate crimes of the past week. We have been told over and over that we are not to take this President literally, or seriously, or jokingly, or truthfull

The names. – Fred Klonsky

by mike simpson / 6d

The names. – Fred Klonsky Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting Victims Identified Fundraiser by Shay Khatiri : Tree of Life Shooting’s Victims - https://www.gofundme.com/tree-of-life-synagogue-shooting on @gofundme The names. – Fred Klonsky

Despite US Fixation on Testing, ACT Results Slip; ACT Board Doing Just Fine | deutsch29

by mike simpson / 6d

Despite US Fixation on Testing, ACT Results Slip; ACT Board Doing Just Fine | deutsch29 Despite US Fixation on Testing, ACT Results Slip; ACT Board Doing Just Fine On October 17, 2018, ACT released a report, “Condition of College and Career Readiness 2018.” Beginning with the passage of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) in January 2002, standardized testing has increasingly been the central focus of pu

OCT 27

The Pittsburgh Community is Stronger Than the Synagogue Shooter’s Hate | gadflyonthewallblog

by mike simpson / 6d

The Pittsburgh Community is Stronger Than the Synagogue Shooter’s Hate | gadflyonthewallblog The Pittsburgh Community is Stronger Than the Synagogue Shooter’s Hate There’s a popular yard sign in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh. In bands of green and blue and yellow, it projects the same message in Spanish, English and Arabic: “No matter where you are from, we’re glad you’re our neigh

CURMUDGUCATION: A Teacher's Opinion and the Classroom Door

by mike simpson / 6d

CURMUDGUCATION: A Teacher's Opinion and the Classroom Door A Teacher's Opinion and the Classroom Door Twice this week the issue of teachers and their opinions cropped up, first in David Berliner's thoughtful piece at The Answer Sheet and again in Robert Pondiscio's reaction to a math teacher's tweet about the Kavanaugh hearings. Berliner was not wrong in answering student questions about how he w

NYC Public School Parents: A growing class divide in education: small class size vs. computerized learning; how Silicon valley is very aware that the ed tech they're foisting on our schools is dangerous to kids

by mike simpson / 6d

NYC Public School Parents: A growing class divide in education: small class size vs. computerized learning; how Silicon valley is very aware that the ed tech they're foisting on our schools is dangerous to kids A growing class divide in education: small class size vs. computerized learning Three articles in today’s NY Times well worth reading, with some excerpts below, explore the growing class d

Sacramento Unified School District Budget Update - The Result of 20 Years of Corporate Education Reform - Please Vote for People Who Really Support Public Schools

by mike simpson / 6d

Budget Update Sacramento Unified School District Budget Update The Result of 20 Years of Corporate Education Reform Please Vote for People Who Really Support Public Schools Dear Community Member, Last night our Board of Education voted to continue working with our local Sacramento County Superintendent, fiscal advisor and labor partners to address the district’s budget deficit. Voting to continue

Top Posts This Week 10/27/18 #VOTE

by mike simpson / 7d

Top Posts This Week 10/27/18 #VOTE This Week In Trump's 'Alternative Facts' : NPR Tuck’s Ethnocentrism Contradicts Californian Values - LA Progressive Top Posts This Week 10/20/18 #NPE18INDY Anna Molander for School Board DeVos