Latest News and Comment from Education

Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Confessions of a Whistleblower: LAUSD Whistle Blower Protection is a Fallacy by Cheryl Dorsey - Perdaily.com

Confessions of a Whistleblower: LAUSD Whistle Blower Protection is a Fallacy by Cheryl Dorsey - Perdaily.com:

Confessions of a Whistleblower: LAUSD Whistle Blower Protection is a Fallacy by Cheryl Dorsey

CherylDorsey.png
This is the story of what happens when someone reports wrong doing by an employer. This story probably plays out daily in an office near you. This is why most go along to get along; but I'm not built that way. The Office of the Inspector General within the Los Angeles Unified School District is an independent investigatory body responsible for investigating fraud, waste and abuse. So, what would you say if the very entity responsible for those investigations was itself engaged in behavior that appeared fraudulent, wasteful and abusive? And what would you say if an employee of the Office of the Inspector General reported what appeared to be abuse only to become the subject of bullying and retaliation? You'd say "that's wrong". Then- what would you say if those in a position of authority tasked with preventing retaliation failed to act? You'd say, "That's outrageous". Welcome to my world.
The Los Angeles Unified School District's Whistleblower Policy reads in part, "If the report alleges that the OIG or the General Superintendent interfered or took the retaliatory action, the OIG shall not investigate the report. The file shall be directly provided to the President of the Board who shall investigate the matter or designate someone to investigate the retaliation."
I guess the Los Angeles Unified School District administrators are (above the law) not required to follow or enforce whistle blower complaints with mandated investigations.
The Los Angeles Unified School District is the second largest school district in the nation; an untouchable super power, seemingly. Right now, the highest authority figures on the Los Angeles Unified School District are burying their heads to allegations of possible criminal activity and actively circling the wagons around an out of control Office of the Inspector General.
I have for the better part of a year, been publicly silent and fighting this battle alone.
In March 2015, I reported what I believed to be potentially criminal behavior and acts of Confessions of a Whistleblower: LAUSD Whistle Blower Protection is a Fallacy by Cheryl Dorsey - Perdaily.com:

Rife with scandal, Detroit’s state-run school district to fold as privatization schemes continue - World Socialist Web Site

Rife with scandal, Detroit’s state-run school district to fold as privatization schemes continue - World Socialist Web Site:
Rife with scandal, Detroit’s state-run school district to fold as privatization schemes continue


The Eastern Michigan University (EMU) Board of Regents voted on February 5 to sever its agreement with the scandal-ridden Educational Achievement Authority (EAA).
The EAA, promoted and partially funded by the pro-charter Broad Foundation, marked a major step in the growing attack on public education in Michigan. Its record of lucrative no-bid contracts, outright bribery and FBI indictments—while miserably failing the most vulnerable children—made it a notorious symbol of the avarice behind the drive for school privatization.
This decision would end the partnership between the state university and the Detroit Public Schools (DPS), under which the EAA has operated, effectively pulling the plug on the district by the end of the 2016-17 school year. The EAA’s 15 “failing schools” had been separated from the Detroit Public Schools in 2012 and were constituted as a state-run “turnaround” school district.
While the EAA will be abolished, the political establishment in Michigan, Democrat and Republican, is pressing forward in its drive to dismantle public education.
The future of the EAA schools has been one of the hotly disputed issues in the ongoing negotiations over the restructuring of DPS. Detroit Democrats and union officials associated with the Coalition for the Future of Detroit Schoolchildren and Detroit Federation of Teachers (DFT) leaders have urged that the EAA schools be returned to the DPS district.
The EMU vote, however, is purely symbolic. Pending legislation, based on Michigan Governor Rick Snyder’s plan to dissolve the DPS and establish the Detroit Community Schools, already made provisions to reabsorb the EAA schools. With Detroit schools facing the possibility of running out of cash by April, legislators are expected to come up with a compromise by the end of the current school year.
Mike Morris, chair of the EMU Board of Regents, acknowledged as much, explaining the board’s decision: “It is increasingly clear that the anticipated legislation in Lansing to formally address this matter, and end the EAA, is now moving forward… June 30, 2017 will mark the University’s official withdrawal. Given the legislative efforts under way, we fully expect the EAA to cease to exist well before that time.”
The Board of Regents had for several years reauthorized the EAA arrangement despite vocal protests from the university’s Education Department faculty and students, even as the EAA’s incompetence, graft and fraud were uncovered.
While the EAA itself will not be directly transitioned into charter schools, as pro-privatization state legislators originally hoped, a mechanism is being established for systematic closures of “failing” public schools, first in Detroit and then across the state.
Under the pending legislation, the state mandate for “turnaround schools” under the State School Reform/Redesign District (SSRRD) will be not only maintained but strengthened. Snyder recently moved the SSRRD as an Rife with scandal, Detroit’s state-run school district to fold as privatization schemes continue - World Socialist Web Site:


How Finland broke every rule — and created a top school system - The Hechinger Report

How Finland broke every rule — and created a top school system - The Hechinger Report:

How Finland broke every rule — and created a top school system

It’s not just a “Nordic thing”

Jussi Hieveta’s fourth-grade class at the University of Eastern Finland’s Normaalikoulu teacher training school in Joensuu, Finland.
end five minutes in Jussi Hietava’s fourth-grade math class in remote, rural Finland, and you may learn all you need to know about education reform – if you want results, try doing the opposite of what American “education reformers” think we should do in classrooms.
Instead of control, competition, stress, standardized testing, screen-based schools and loosened teacher qualifications, try warmth, collaboration, and highly professionalized, teacher-led encouragement and assessment.
At the University of Eastern Finland’s Normaalikoulu teacher training school in Joensuu, Finland, you can see Hietava’s students enjoying the cutting-edge concept of “personalized learning.”
But this is not a tale of classroom computers. While the school has the latest technology, there isn’t a tablet or smartphone in sight, just a smart board and a teacher’s desktop.
Screens can only deliver simulations of personalized learning, this is the real thing, pushed to the absolute limit.
This is the story of the quiet, daily, flesh-and-blood miracles that are achieved by Hietava and teachers the world over, in countless face-to-face and over-the-shoulder interactions with schoolchildren.
Often, Hietava does two things simultaneously: both mentoring How Finland broke every rule — and created a top school system - The Hechinger Report:

Has Newark’s community schools initiative been sold out already? |

Has Newark’s community schools initiative been sold out already? |:

Has Newark’s community schools initiative been sold out already?

Activist Donna Jackson ejected from board meeting after she called on the panel not to give in to Cerf's "threats."
Activist Donna Jackson ejected from school board meeting Tuesday night after she called on the panel not to give in to Cerf’s “threats.”

Community schools in Newark were supposed to be the public school answer to expansion of privately-operated charter schools imposed on the city school district by Gov. Chris Christie’s agents. But, now, it turns out, two of the schools selected to receive extra resources as community schools have applied to become charter schools–and won’t withdraw their applications.
The announcement that the two BRICK Academy schools–Peshine Avenue and Avon Avenue–were among the five South Ward schools to be selected as community schools set off a sharp argument between members of the elected school board and state-appointed superintendent Christopher Cerf at Tuesday’s night’s board meeting. Cerf unexpectedly partnered with Mayor Ras Baraka to sponsor the community school initiative at the end of last year.
Board members demanded to know why Cerf and Baraka had chosen Peshine and Avon, schools run like charter schools with enhanced funding and headed by an entrepreneur named Dominique Lee who was an associate of former state-appointed superintendent Cami Anderson at Teach for America (TFA), a private recruitment agency that has brought young teachers into the city for brief tenures while seasoned veterans lost their jobs. BRICK stands for Building Responsible Intelligent Caring Kids.
Board member Antoinette Baskerville Richardson said she believed resources to be provided to the community schools “might be best spent” on other public schools in the South Ward that are not seeking to be charters. Schools like George Washington Carver, Chancellor Avenue, and Hawthorne Avenue were mentioned.
Cerf, who did not offer an explanation as to why and how Avon and Peshine were Has Newark’s community schools initiative been sold out already? |:


COE Fiscal Procedural Manual Update for 2016 | Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team

COE Fiscal Procedural Manual Update for 2016 | Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team:

COE Fiscal Procedural Manual Update for 2016

The Fiscal Procedural Manual for Business Officials in California County Offices of Education has been updated for 2016.

 

Notes and Information
For ease of navigation, every item listed on the index page of the manual is a clickable link that will take readers directly to that section. In addition, at the bottom of the first page of each section of the manual is a link that takes the reader back to the index. This feature is fully functional only in the complete electronic version of the manual. The manual also contains many links to websites, online resources, and downloadable files, including many in native formats such as Microsoft Word and Excel.
Both the complete manual and the updates are designed to be easy to both view in electronic format (Adobe pdf) and to print double-sided (this is why some even numbered pages are blank) for insertion in a three-ring binder.

The 2015 Fiscal Procedural Manual and  Updates

The 2014 Fiscal Procedural Manual and  Updates

The 2013 Fiscal Procedural Manual and  Updates

The 2012 Fiscal Procedural Manual and 2012 Updates

The 2011 Fiscal Procedural Manual and 2011 updates

For the manual binder cover and spine artwork, click here.

COE Fiscal Procedural Manual Update for 2016 | Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team:

Gene V Glass: Education in Two Worlds: They Recruit, They Skim, They Flunk Out The Weak ... They are Arizona's Top Charter Schools

Gene V Glass: Education in Two Worlds: They Recruit, They Skim, They Flunk Out The Weak ... They are Arizona's Top Charter Schools:

They Recruit, They Skim, They Flunk Out The Weak ... They are Arizona's Top Charter Schools


Arizona is a leader in the charter school movement. They lead in % of students in charter schools, and they lead the world in "Lack of Accountability." And no one in a position of influence really cares. The Governor loves charter schools and even wrote to the Scottsdale City Council urging them to approve even another BASIS charter school in their city. But of course, the reality is that Arizona's charter schools are ripping off the public purse and contributing greatly to the resegregation of public education.

The Blog known as Arizonans for School Accountability is the single best investigator of the charter school scene — maybe the single best investigator of charter fraud anywhere. It's originator and sole proprietor may be losing hope, because expose after expose is met with a shrug from anybody in position to stop the abuse. He posted the following entry on a "survey" performed by thePhoenix Business Journal to find the 20 best charter schools in Arizona.
The 20 "best" charters in Phoenix serve White and Asian children...almost exclusively. The Phoenix Business Journal just released the top 20 charter schools in Phoenix based on AzMerits fifth grade scores.The "best" charter schools in Phoenix are:

    BASIS Phoenix
  • BASIS Scottsdale
  • Bright Beginnings
  • BASIS Ahwatukee
  • BASIS Peoria
  • Challenger Basic
  • Archway North (GH -Great Hearts)
  • Adams Traditional
  • Self-Development Charter
  • AZ School for the Arts
  • Archway Veritas GH
  • BASIS Central Primary
  • Candeo Peoria
  • Archway Chandler GH
  • Paragon Science Academy
  • Archway Glendale GH
  • BASIS Mesa
  • Archway Cicero GH
  • Benchmark
13,452 students go to these charter schools:
    Asian 17%
  • Black 2%
  • Hispanic 11%
  • White 66%
Free Lunch - only Paragon has free lunch students. ELL - None. Special Education 4%86% are either White or Asian. BASIS Ahwatukee has 330 Asian

Gene V Glass: Education in Two Worlds: They Recruit, They Skim, They Flunk Out The Weak ... They are Arizona's Top Charter Schools:


ACT’s College and Career Readiness Standards | deutsch29

ACT’s College and Career Readiness Standards | deutsch29:

ACT’s College and Career Readiness Standards

On February 11, 2016, the Fordham Institute published its idea of a report on how well a number of assessments align with the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). Here is a bit of what Fordham Institute wrote about ACT:
  • ACT Aspire and MCAS both did well regarding the quality of their items and the depth of knowledge they assessed.
  • Still, panelists found that ACT Aspire and MCAS did not adequately assess—or may not assess at all—some of the priority content reflected in the Common Core standards in both ELA/Literacy and mathematics.
That same day, ACT responded with a statement to the effect that ACT aligns “with college and career readiness standards”:
The finding that ACT Aspire assessments adequately assess many but not all of the priority content reflected in the Common Core standards is not surprising. Unlike other assessments included in the study, ACT Aspire is not and was never intended to measure all of the CCSS. Rather, ACT Aspire is designed to measure the skills and knowledge most important in preparing students for college and career readiness. This is a significant philosophical and design difference between ACT Aspire and other next generation assessments. ACT has made the choices we have to align with college and career readiness standards, rather than specifically to the Common Core, and we intend to keep it that way. [Emphasis added.]
According to the above, ACT states that “college and career readiness standards” are not one and the same as CCSS. In fact, based upon the statement above, ACT snubs both CCSS and those who consider CCSS the center of the standards universe by implying that to be aligned with CCSS is a narrow alternative to “college ACT’s College and Career Readiness Standards | deutsch29:

Government Affairs and School Facilities and Trans - Year 2016 (CA Dept of Education)

Government Affairs and School Facilities and Trans - Year 2016 (CA Dept of Education):

State Schools Chief Tom Torlakson Appoints Division Directors for Government Affairs and School Facilities and Transportation


SACRAMENTO — State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson announced today that he has appointed new Directors for the California Department of Education's (CDE) Government Affairs Division and School Facilities and Transportation Services Division.
Debra Brown, a veteran in education legislation and policy, will lead the Government Affairs Division and serve as the CDE's liaison with local, state, and federal elected officials and government agencies.
Juan Mireles, an expert in school facilities funding, will direct the School Facilities and Transportation Services Division.
"These are two top experts in their fields, and I look forward to the great work they will do for the CDE team," Torlakson said. "These Divisions provide outstanding service to the public, elected officials, and California schools."
Brown recently served as Director of Education Policy at Children Now, a non-partisan national, state, and local research, policy development, and advocacy organization.
She helped implement Children Now's education policy agenda, including the organization's work on school finance reform, Common Core, assessment and accountability issues, and early childhood readiness. She also worked as a senior legislative advocate at the California School Boards Association (CSBA) and served as their lead advocate on funding and finance.
As CDE's Division Director for Government Affairs, Brown will be responsible for the administration of all departmental activities relating to state and federal legislation. Brown replaces former Division Director Monique Ramos, who is now a lobbyist.
Mireles was a Principal Program and Budget Analyst at the State Department of Finance, where he supervised analysts responsible for budgets on school facilities, charter schools, and teacher credentialing.
He has worked in school facilities since he began his state career at the Office of Public School Construction (OPSC) in 1998. The OPSC is under the authority of the state's Department of General Services. As staff to the State Allocation Board, OPSC implements and administers a $35 billion voter-approved school facilities construction program. Mireles later served as OPSC's Deputy Executive Officer.
The CDE School Facilities and Transportation Services Division assists school districts and their communities in creating well-planned, K-12 learning environments in safe, clean, and up-to-date schools. Transportation services assist school districts, school bus contractors, transit agencies, and farm labor vehicle operators in providing the safest and most efficient transportation services.
Mireles replaces former Division Director Kathleen Moore, who retired.
# # # #
Tom Torlakson — State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Communications Division, Room 5206, 916-319-0818, Fax 916-319-0100
Last Reviewed: Wednesday, February 17, 2016
 Government Affairs and School Facilities and Trans - Year 2016 (CA Dept of Education):

CURMUDGUCATION: One-to-One Tech Barriers

CURMUDGUCATION: One-to-One Tech Barriers:

One-to-One Tech Barriers


We leapt into the one-to-one world in the fall of 2010, when my district put a netbook in the hands of every single high school student.

I was excited. The process of trying to get a class into the single computer lab or, worse, use the traveling laptop labcart, was generally frustrating and lacked-- well, a certain spontaneity. I want a world where students always have computers handy, ready to be called into action at a moment's notice.

Some of us went and got us some training. Some of us already had some computer skills. Policies were created, the netbooks were rolled out and, ever since, we have been a technology-linked school where students romp happily through a field of modern educational tech-supported possibilities. Ha! Just kidding. We've wrestled with a bunch of obstacles to one-to-one tech.

I don't present the following as anything but our own specific story; I'm not sure whether we're an outlier or an exemplar. I'm inclined to think a bit of both. But here are the obstacles that stood (and in some cases still stand) in the way.

Student's Deeply Limited Grasp of Tech 

When automobiles first became available, the average owner owned a set of tools and knew how to repair and maintain most parts of the vehicle. The steady development ever since has been in the direction of a car that anyone can own and use without even a rudimentary understanding of CURMUDGUCATION: One-to-One Tech Barriers:


CURMUDGUCATION: School for School's Sake http://bit.ly/1SzZypr

Billionaire-Funded Charter School Juggernaut Hits Roadblock in Los Angeles | Alternet

Billionaire-Funded Charter School Juggernaut Hits Roadblock in Los Angeles | Alternet:
Billionaire-Funded Charter School Juggernaut Hits Roadblock in Los Angeles
Teachers union organizing in hostile charter environment, while L.A. school board blocks "out of touch" plan by billionaires.


 Over the past decade and longer, there has been a massively funded effort by the wealthiest people in America to replace public education and elected school boards with a privatized charter-school system. Walmart’s Walton Family Foundation justcommitted an additional $1 billion to the cause. The result has been a highly successful juggernaut leading to more than 6,700 charter public schools in 42 states and Washington D.C., and funded by taxpayers, with nearly 3 million students.

Co-mingling substantially public funds with private dollars, leveraging the advantage of its own set of rules and laws enabled by state legislatures—which eliminated most public accountability — school privateers have run roughshod over school systems in many American cities. New Orleans, Detroit, Milwaukee and Philadelphia are just a small number of urban areas with a heavy presence of publicly funded private charters. Charter advocates and their deep-pocketed investors and supporters, using aggressive lobbying and campaign contributions of many wealthy supporters, have established strong footholds in Florida, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, California and many other states. In California, there are now an estimated 500,000 students in 1,200 charter schools.
Along the way it became clear that a key tactic of privateers has been the scapegoating of public school teachers and locally elected school boards. The attack on teachers, so clearly articulated in the slick propaganda film, Waiting for Superman, attempted to hold teachers responsible for widespread poverty-induced school failures, which of course, were fundamentally out of their control. The formula for rapidly expanding non-union charters includes undermining teachers unions, and followed the overall game plan of a larger right-wing strategy by Walmart, the Koch brothers and others to weaken or eliminate public employee unions.
The larger goal? To get private access to $500 billion in taxpayer funds spent Billionaire-Funded Charter School Juggernaut Hits Roadblock in Los Angeles | Alternet:


Russ on Reading: The Importance of Making Mistakes

Russ on Reading: The Importance of Making Mistakes:

The Importance of Making Mistakes

The vile video of Success Academy teacher, Charlotte Dial, berating a first grader for making a mistake on her math paper, reminds me of something I have been saying to teachers for years. "Value student errors, because those errors are our best window into what a child does not know and, therefore, they tell us what we need to teach next." Because we teachers are human we sometimes fall into the trap of bemoaning student errors. We think, "Gee whiz, I just taught that, but they still didn't get it. What is wrong with them?" The truth is, though, that there is a gap between what is taught and what is learned and student errors give us the information we need to reteach or teach in a different way to fill that gap. I often joke that we should all be grateful that students make errors, since if they got everything right we would be out of a job.

My favorite story about student mistakes comes from my time in the early 1970s when I was teaching geography to 7th graders. This was during the time that the former East Pakistan had won its independence and renamed itself Bangladesh. After a unit on South Asia, instruction in the historical, political, social and religious importance of the region and considerable map study, I gave the students a test. On the test I asked a fill-in-the-blank question, "The former East Pakistan has recently won its independence and been renamed __________." One student, no doubt struggling with the difficult pronunciation and spelling of Bangladesh, answered -- "Balderdash!" I gave full credit for the answer because it was a good effort and because it gave me a great story to tell in the teacher's lounge.

The distinguished literacy researcher and theorist, Ken Goodman, helped 
Russ on Reading: The Importance of Making Mistakes:



Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 2/17/16



CORPORATE ED REFORM




Ways to Object to Disclosure of Student Data - Year 2016 (CA Dept of Education)
Ways to Object to Disclosure of Student Data - Year 2016 (CA Dept of Education): Superintendent Torlakson Voices Strong Support for Protecting Student Privacy and Explains Ways to Object to Disclosure of Student DataSACRAMENTO— State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson reiterated his strong commitment to student privacy today, calling it a top priority of his administration. "W
What's a "walk-in" and why were they happening at L.A. schools today? - LA Times
What's a "walk-in" and why were they happening at L.A. schools today? - LA Times: What's a "walk-in" and why were they happening at L.A. schools today?See Video: http://www.latimes.com/local/education/lausd/la-me-walk-in-lausd-schools-video-20160217-premiumvideo.html"Lets’s go, dolphins, let’s go!” chanted dozens of students, parents and teachers as they walked into 20th S
Black Parallel School Board | ABC10.com
Black Parallel School Board - February 16, 2016 | ABC10.com: Black Parallel School BoardBlack Parallel School Members Darryl White and LaShanya Breazell discussed with Sac&Co Host Mellisa Paul about the California Law currently in place regarding IQ tests and African American kids in the public school system and whether or not these laws are necessary.  Darryl went more in depth and addressed 
Join us in Olympia this Friday, February 19th to stop the passage of charter school House Bill 2367 | Seattle Education
Join us in Olympia this Friday, February 19th to stop the passage of charter school House Bill 2367 | Seattle Education: Join us in Olympia this Friday, February 19th to stop the passage of charter school House Bill 2367 From:WASHINGTON VOTERS FOR PUBLIC EDUCATIONJOIN US IN OLYMPIA, THIS FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 19TH, TO STOP THE PASSAGE OF HOUSE BILL 2367—POSSIBLY THE MOST HARMFUL EDUCATION BILL OF THE L
School Discipline: Equity at Issue – Cloaking Inequity
School Discipline: Equity at Issue – Cloaking Inequity: School Discipline: Equity at IssueExtensive peer-reviewed research has demonstrated that students with frequent suspensions are more likely to become involved in gangs, drop out of school and become part of the juvenile justice system.Years of suspicions about inequity in school discipline have also been investigated by a spate of reports. On
Regulating Education for Profit - WSJ
Regulating Education for Profit - WSJ: Regulating Education for ProfitTony Miller helped trash for-profit colleges. Now he hopes to cash in.The University of Phoenix Chicago campus on July 30, 2015 in Schaumburg, Illinois. PHOTO: SCOTT OLSON/GETTY IMAGESPresident Obama’s Department of Education has been waging a seven-year war against for-profit colleges. So it’s a lesson in the self-interested wa
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Hillary's here, but where's the mayor?
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Hillary's here, but where's the mayor?: Hillary's here, but where's the mayor?#‎walkintoCPS‬ rally at Goethe Elementary this morningHillary Clinton picked a fine day to visit Chicago. The sun is out. Snow is melting, uncovering fresh mounds of dog poo on every sidewalk and back alleyway. New potholes are bursting open like spring azaleas. The town is jumping.Thousand
Food Research & Action Center Scorecard Ranks States on School Breakfast Participation: « Food Research & Action Center
Food Research & Action Center Scorecard Ranks States on School Breakfast Participation: « Food Research & Action Center: Food Research & Action Center Scorecard Ranks States on School Breakfast Participation:West Virginia Tops the List; Utah at the Bottom- Companion Report Shows Many Large School Districts Make the Grade, Most Have Work to Do -WASHINGTON, Feb. 16, 2016 — The Food Resea
Schools Matter: Guest Post: To Good to Be True? + Susan Ohanian: See Bill. See Money. See News.
Schools Matter: Guest Post: To Good to Be True?: Guest Post: To Good to Be True? By Alison McDowellAlison is a parent of a public school student and a member of the Alliance for Philadelphia Public SchoolsFebruary 17, 2016On February 16, 2016, Diane Ravitch's blog promoted a vision statement for the future of Texas public education that had been developed by a group of 35 Texas superintendents bet
Judge: State broke the law when it fired Newark attendance counselors |
Judge: State broke the law when it fired Newark attendance counselors |: Judge: State broke the law when it fired Newark attendance counselorsAnderson fired attendance counselorsIn 2013, a time when the state-operated Newark public schools suffered from one of the highest truancy rates in the state–if not the nation–its state-appointed superintendent fired all of its attendance officers. Now, thre
Education Reform in Common Core Land | Johnathan Chase | LinkedIn
Education Reform in Common Core Land | Johnathan Chase | LinkedIn: Education Reform in Common Core LandAmericans have been “sold” the Common Core State Standards by leaders who have carefully crafted their words and shaped the narrative of the education reform movement. As Humpty Dumpty declared…‘When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to m
The Worst Thing About the Brutal 'No Excuses' Success Academy Video
The Worst Thing About the Brutal 'No Excuses' Success Academy Video: The Worst Thing About the Brutal 'No Excuses' Success Academy VideoAs Vox's Libby Nelson writes, the "undeniably upsetting" video of a Success Academy charter school teacher berating first graders is "the latest exhibit in a long-running debate about Success Academy and similar 'no excuses' charter schools." N
Housing squeeze leaves low-income students on the streets :: SI&A Cabinet Report
Housing squeeze leaves low-income students on the streets :: SI&A Cabinet Report :: The Essential Resource for Superintendents and the Cabinet:Housing squeeze leaves low-income students on the streets(Wash.) The number of homeless youth in Washington is on the upswing and correlates with an increase in reports of child abuse or neglect in the state, according to recent data.More than 35,000 st
Parents, teachers and children rally for public education at schools across the nation - The Washington Post
Parents, teachers and children rally for public education at schools across the nation - The Washington Post: Parents, teachers and children rally for public education at schools across the nationParents, teachers, children and community members rallied in support of public education at schools across the country Wednesday morning, many of them calling for more funding and less testing.Thousands o
Schools on Trial And What Does Progress Mean? | The Jose Vilson
Schools on Trial And What Does Progress Mean? | The Jose Vilson: Schools on Trial And What Does Progress Mean?I don’t have rules posted in my classroom.I’ve been issuing mandates asking students to respect each other, respect themselves, and respect the classroom and environment around them. As steward for the environment around me, I haven’t had many challenges to these rules from the students th
Seattle Schools Community Forum: "This Bill is Better Than no Bill"
Seattle Schools Community Forum: "This Bill is Better Than no Bill": "This Bill is Better Than no Bill" The Quarterly Journal of Economics put out a report in October 2015 - The Effects of School Spending on Educational and Economic Outcomes: Evidence from School Finance Reforms.  They linked school spending and school finance reforms in public school spending.  (This follows a
Supreme Court wipes out SRC's powers to waive provisions of Pa. school code
Supreme Court wipes out SRC's powers to waive provisions of Pa. school code: Supreme Court wipes out SRC's powers to waive provisions of Pa. school codeThe ruling has huge implications for both charter schools and the union contract. In a decision that could have massive repercussions for Philadelphia schools, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Tuesday declared unconstitutional the provision in sta
APNewsBreak: Indiana Official Had Say in Independent Report - ABC News
APNewsBreak: Indiana Official Had Say in Independent Report - ABC News: APNewsBreak: Indiana Official Had Say in Independent Report A report summarizing what was billed as an independent investigation into Indiana's new, unpopular standardized student exam includes edits and suggested changes by a state administrator hired by Gov. Mike Pence's State Board of Education who altered language that ref
With A Brooklyn Accent: The "Best and the Brightest" Who Have Brought us "School Reform"
With A Brooklyn Accent: The "Best and the Brightest" Who Have Brought us "School Reform": The "Best and the Brightest" Who Have Brought us "School Reform" In the 1960's journalist David Halberstam wrote a devastating book, entitled "The Best and the Brightest," about the intellectuals and policy makers who developed the strategic rationale for the
Reflecting on School Reforms: Scaling Up versus Short, Happy Life or Hanging in | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice
Reflecting on School Reforms: Scaling Up versus Short, Happy Life or Hanging in | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice: Reflecting on School Reforms: Scaling Up versus Short, Happy Life or Hanging in For decades, under the influence of efficiency-minded policymakers the “wisdom” of reform has been as follows:To solve serious school problems federal, state, and district policymakers
Study shows Grit not all it’s cracked up to be – Missouri Education Watchdog
Study shows Grit not all it’s cracked up to be – Missouri Education Watchdog: Study shows Grit not all it’s cracked up to beThese videos are hysterical. It is amusing to watch an animal who can’t help himself chase the shiny object.  It is less amusing when it is human beings who are chasing something shiny that is not real.In 2013, to much fanfare, the US The U.S Department of Education’s Office
The NEA’s strange fight against institutional racism. | Fred Klonsky
The NEA’s strange fight against institutional racism. | Fred Klonsky: The NEA’s strange fight against institutional racism.When the NEA talks of teaching excellence, do they mean white?Pictured above are the winners of the NEA Foundation awards for teaching excellence.I’m sure they are all good teachers. But it looks like the nominees for this year’s Oscars.At last year’s NEA Representative Assemb
New York City Has Created a Model Pre-K Program—Affordable, Accessible, High Quality | janresseger
New York City Has Created a Model Pre-K Program—Affordable, Accessible, High Quality | janresseger: New York City Has Created a Model Pre-K Program—Affordable, Accessible, High QualityA new report from Padres & Jovenes Unidos in Denver, Colorado names the classic problems that block families’ ability to enroll their children in preschool.  First there are not enough high-quality pre-K programs
It’s a CONFLICT OF INTEREST to serve on the State Board of Education while collecting hundreds of thousands of dollars a year via the State Department of Education - Wait What?
It’s a CONFLICT OF INTEREST to serve on the State Board of Education while collecting hundreds of thousands of dollars a year via the State Department of Education - Wait What?: It’s a CONFLICT OF INTEREST to serve on the State Board of Education while collecting hundreds of thousands of dollars a year via the State Department of Education The only thing more incredible than Governor Dannel Malloy
New York Schools Wonder: How White Is Too White? - The New York Times
New York Schools Wonder: How White Is Too White? - The New York Times: New York Schools Wonder: How White Is Too White?How white is too white? At the Academy of Arts and Letters, a small K-8 school in Brooklyn founded in 2006 to educate a community of “diverse individuals,” that question is being put to the test.The school — along with six others in New York City — is part of a newEducation Depart
LAUSD needs to reverse its neglect of black students - LA Times
LAUSD needs to reverse its neglect of black students - LA Times: LAUSD needs to reverse its neglect of black studentsLAUSD superintendent Michelle King in the LAUSD board room, in Los Angeles on January 12. (Los Angeles Times) In the speculation about whether LAUSD superintendent Michelle King – a product of the district and its first black female chief executive -- will be a gentle consensus buil
Seattle Schools Community Forum: If I had a million dollars
Seattle Schools Community Forum: If I had a million dollars: If I had a million dollars The recent $1.5 Billion prize in the PowerBall lottery made a lot of news. A lot of people who don't normally buy lottery tickets bought some for that drawing. I didn't because, as my brother succinctly told me, buying a ticket does not significantly improve your odds of winning. Needless to say, I didn't win t
School budgets long recovered, not teacher-librarians :: SI&A Cabinet Report
School budgets long recovered, not teacher-librarians :: SI&A Cabinet Report :: The Essential Resource for Superintendents and the Cabinet: School budgets long recovered, not teacher-librarians (Calif.) The good news is that the number of certificated librarians in California schools has increased slightly the past three years.The bad news, however, is that the state’s ratio of one librarian f
I’m a New York City school administrator. Here’s how segregation lives on. - Vox
I’m a New York City school administrator. Here’s how segregation lives on. - Vox: I’m a New York City school administrator. Here’s how segregation lives onThe doors opened to our homemade banners and smiling faces. It was the first day of school ever for the Urban Assembly Unison Middle School in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn. It was my first day ever as a leader in the school I co-founded. I was 27 year
Hillary Clinton's plan to undo the school-to-prison pipeline, explained - Vox
Hillary Clinton's plan to undo the school-to-prison pipeline, explained - Vox: Hillary Clinton's plan to undo the school-to-prison pipeline, explainedAt a speech in Harlem on Tuesday, Hillary Clinton will call for a $2 billion plan to help end punitive school policies that can push black children from schools to jails and prisons.The new $2 billion plan, which goes after the so-called "school
Michigan: The Poster Child for How Not to do Charter Schools
Michigan: The Poster Child for How Not to do Charter Schools: Michigan: The Poster Child for How Not to do Charter Schools Behind the Detroit schools crisis lies a troubling charter school sector.As Detroit Public Schools' teacher sick-outs and mounting debt capture the attention of press around the world, it might be easy to conclude money alone will solve the Motor City's educational woes. The t
Charter schools bristle at Wolf proposal to give unspent cash to districts | TribLIVE
Charter schools bristle at Wolf proposal to give unspent cash to districts | TribLIVE:Charter schools bristle at Wolf proposal to give unspent cash to districts When City Charter High School invited state police to do a safety inspection of the building Downtown, the agency recommended adding bullet-proof glass at the entrance for extra security.The school followed that advice, CEO and principal R
Teachers Union Organizes ‘Walk-In’ Protests Over CPS Budget Cuts « CBS Chicago
Teachers Union Organizes ‘Walk-In’ Protests Over CPS Budget Cuts « CBS Chicago: Teachers Union Organizes ‘Walk-In’ Protests Over CPS Budget CutsCHICAGO (CBS) — Students, parents, and teachers at nearly 200 schools across Chicago were staging a series of “walk-in” demonstrations, to protest budget cuts by the Chicago Public Schools.The Chicago Teachers Union said the protests are part of a national
Frank Cagle: Beware the money behind vouchers
Frank Cagle: Beware the money behind vouchers: Frank Cagle: Beware the money behind vouchers The school voucher bill isn't dead, but it is lying in a coma on the clerk's desk, unlikely to rise for the rest of this session. The pros and cons of public school money being given to private schools aside, the fate of the bill is a hopeful sign for our state House of Representatives.The out-of-state spe
10 million California student records about to be released to attorneys - San Jose Mercury News
10 million California student records about to be released to attorneys - San Jose Mercury News: 10 million California student records about to be released to attorneysCalifornia public-school records on about 10 million students -- including their Social Security numbers -- will soon be handed over to attorneys for a parent group suing the state, with both parties blaming the other for the impend

YESTERDAY

Are Standardized Tests the New Hunger Games? – Welcome to the Testing Games
Are Standardized Tests the New Hunger Games? – Welcome to the Testing Games: Are Standardized Tests the New Hunger Games?  Are our children being used in a new, horrible form of the Hunger Games? Are the odds ever in their favor?Are you willing to be a tribute for your child? Listen in to learn how …. #MockingjayAre Standardized Tests the New Hunger Games? – Welcome to the Testing Games:
Reunión Comunitaria, 25 de febrero de 2016- Optar-Fuera las Pruebas del sector Urbano - UNITED OPT OUT: The Movement to End Corporate Education Reform
Reunión Comunitaria, 25 de febrero de 2016- Optar-Fuera las Pruebas del sector Urbano - UNITED OPT OUT: The Movement to End Corporate Education Reform: Reunión Comunitaria, 25 de febrero de 2016- Optar-Fuera las Pruebas del sector UrbanoLa división de clase/color en nuestras escuelas públicas urbanas es sostenida mediante una maquinaria de desigualdad y racismo que al fin le proporciona a las corp
Philadelphia Community Town Hall, February 25, 2106– Opting Out in the Urban Core - UNITED OPT OUT: The Movement to End Corporate Education Reform
Philadelphia Community Town Hall, February 25, 2106– Opting Out in the Urban Core - UNITED OPT OUT: The Movement to End Corporate Education Reform: Philadelphia Community Town Hall, February 25, 2106– Opting Out in the Urban CoreThe class/color divide in our urban public schools is propped up by an inequitable and racist high-stakes testing machine that ultimately provides for corporate profiteeri
NEA BAT Caucus – BATS
NEA BAT Caucus – BATS: NEA BAT Caucus OfficersBy-LawsCaucus MinutesMaster List of NBIs 2015Sign up for NEA BAT CaucusComplete the on line survey form above, send in dues via paypal button on this site with NEA BAT Caucus and full name in the note section.Optional: Downloadable Form if you prefer to mail inThe Badass Teachers Association, IncPO Box 1390 Bellmore NY 11710NEA BAT Caucus – BATS:
Feature: With ‘walk-ins,’ national teachers union spotlights LA charter fight | 89.3 KPCC
Feature: With ‘walk-ins,’ national teachers union spotlights LA charter fight | 89.3 KPCC: With ‘walk-ins,’ national teachers union spotlights LA charter fightWe hope you can join us on February 17! Walk-In Resources:Check out the Resources page for walk-in resources you can use!Teachers union sympathizers will rally at public school sites in more than two-dozen cities across the nation Wednesday
Elk Grove Mayor Gary Davis’(director for CCSA) plan to open a charter school may be postponed.
Elk Grove Citizen : News: Proposed charter school’s status being decidedCharter group to review district’s concernsElk Grove Mayor Gary DavisIn addition to being Elk Grove’s mayor, he is the director for the California Charter School Association.Elk Grove Mayor Gary Davis’ original plan to open a charter school in Elk Grove this late summer may be postponed.He is collaborating with Tri-Valley Lear
Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 2/16/16
CORPORATE ED REFORMFebruary 2016 Meeting Agenda - Resources (CA Dept of Education)February 2016 Meeting Agenda - Resources (CA Dept of Education): AMERICAN INDIAN EDUCATION OVERSIGHT COMMITTEEMEETING AGENDAFriday, February 26, 201610 a.m.–5 p.m.California Department of Education1430 N Street, Room 1101Sacramento, CA 95814Soboba Tribal Administration Building23906 Soboba Road, Grants OfficeSan Jaci