Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger "Folsom Prison Blues"
Latest News and Comment from Education
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What Country Has The Longest School Day? A Comprehensive Guide - In today’s fast-paced world, education plays a crucial role in shaping the future of individuals and nations...9 hours ago
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Who’s Running This Grift? - I laughed in your face and said, “You’re not Dylan Thomas, I’m not Patti Smith” This ain’t the Chelsea Hotel We’re modern idiots Who’s going to hold you li...17 hours ago
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Defend the People’s Schools - By Thomas Ultican 4/19/2024 I am sure you’ll be shocked to your core but there are some really bad people out there trying to end publicly-financed free ed...18 hours ago
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Free the Columbia 100. Keep cops off campus. - The movement protesting U.S. support for Israel’s Gaza War shows no sign of going away. In fact, it grows larger every day.Fred Klonsky in Retirement is a ...21 hours ago
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Florida: DeSantis Signs Bill to Limit Book Bans and Adds a Sugarplum for Charter Schools - Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill limiting the ability of non-parents to initiate book bans. That’s a step forward since any crank was free to challenge ...21 hours ago
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The strategy behind never-ending war - US could have backed peace talks in Ukraine. Yesterday it was the only NO vote in UN on recognizing Palestinian statehood.22 hours ago
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PA: Far Right Law Group Comes To Meadville - Crawford Central School District has joined the ranks of school districts in Pennsylvania considering anti-LGBTQ policies. And while their name didn't come...22 hours ago
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How to Raise Ethical, Caring Children - Most of us want to raise children who are ethical and caring. Indeed, when surveyed 96 percent of us say that this is a "very important, if not essentia...22 hours ago
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Forced birth is local, pt. 1: what is the rape exception protocol, Sheriff Judd? - Individual local police officers are the new real-time gatekeepers of the "rape, incest, and human trafficking" exceptions to 6-week forced birth in a stat...1 day ago
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Teaching Is a Grind Peppered with Joyful Moments (Bill Ferriter) - This post appeared in Bill Ferriter’s blog, “The Tempered Radical.” In his blog, he describes himself as follows: “Bill Ferriter has about a dozen titles—S...1 day ago
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Adolescents: almost 17% experience weight-related bullying online, almost 70 percent of Twitter users reporting being bullied - The freely available article in *PLOS ONE*: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0299830 *Each additional hour of social...1 day ago
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Memorial Stadium Open House - Done on the Downlow? - I am going to sit in on the brief Board "special meeting" today on the process of curriculum adoption in Washington State. I did ask about any attached ...1 day ago
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The Super 20 - What follows are thumbnail sketches of the 20 applicants who want to be the next Superintendent of Duval County Public Schools. Before beginning, I want to...1 day ago
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SPI Hosts California Apprenticeship Summit - State Superintendent Thurmond hosts California Apprenticeship Summit to connect California’s youth to high-wage opportunities.1 day ago
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Hear about how you can protect your child from having their data sold by College Board & ACT - Online Forum: No More Student Data Sales! *WHEN* May 06, 2024 at 7:00pm - 8pm *WHERE* Online via Zoom: register here: bit.ly/5_6_24_webinar Test companies...1 day ago
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What is White Christian Nationalism and How Is It Affecting Public Education Today? - Our politics and our national ethos seem to have gone awry, and a lot of people blame it on something called Christian nationalism or white Christian natio...2 days ago
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Bibliography for History Posts on This Blog - I remember when school reformers insisted the biggest problem in education was that teachers didn't come from the best colleges. Bibliography VER...2 days ago
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Episode # 97—Please repost and spread the word - Episode #97: Again, Winter with Mark Nowak2 days ago
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The Unintended Multiverse of Black Widow’s Origin - [Header Panel from Tales of Suspense (v1) 57; Don Heck, artist] After writing a blog series on Black Widow, I searched for an opportunity to turn that work...2 days ago
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Where’s the “Evidence” in State-Mandated Science of Reading Programs? - Last I looked, thirty-seven states and the District of Columbia have signed reading laws (Schwartz 2024). Parents, educators, school administrators, and ...2 days ago
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Urgent! send a message to your legislators now – no backdoor deal on mayoral control! - April 15, 2024 Last week the State Education Department released an excellent report, summarizing the public testimony at the borough hearings and in writi...3 days ago
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Earth Day Is On April 22nd – Here Are Teaching & Learning Resources - Earth Day is on April 22nd. You might be interested in The Best Earth Day Sites.6 days ago
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TN Taliban Votes to Arm Teachers - As parents, students, and teachers lined the gallery with signs calling for gun regulations in a state where are none, a bill sailed through the State Se...1 week ago
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Where I Agree with Katherine Westerhold - In February 2023, former Louisiana state superintendent John White’s wife, Katherine Westerhold, was in the news because their home security system capture...1 week ago
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Guess Who’s NOT Coming to School! - American students are skipping school in record numbers, a crisis that is so acute that it became the lead story in The New York Times recently, as well as...1 week ago
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THE EVOLUTION OF OUR SPECIES - As I considered writing this blog, I did not want to write a piece that painted a dystopian future for humanity. I felt that the blog should, first and for...1 week ago
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Why Do My Groceries Cost So Much? - Giant corporations and billionaires want to keep their taxes low and the prices we pay high. That’s why they want Trump back in office. In 2004, I was a si...1 week ago
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Billionaires, like the (labor union hating WalMart) Walton Foundation are creating their OWN unions to support publicly funded, private sector, secretive, for profit, autocratic, often cheating, Charter Schools with a goal to destroy public school teachers’ unions and OUR (all the people) transparent, democratic, K-12 Public Schools. I think they want to control what OUR children learn or don’t learn. - Maurice Cunningham: Reporters Should Raise These Questions With the “National Parents Union”1 week ago
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Critical Race Theory Is About You, and All of Us - Recently, Christina Cross, a Black woman sociologist at Harvard, found her work at the crosshairs of the same person who brought us the bastardization of...2 weeks ago
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THE UNSETTLING INFLUENCE OF TRUMP AND MAGA ON POLITICAL VIOLENCE - *THE UNSETTLING INFLUENCE OF TRUMP AND MAGA ON POLITICAL VIOLENCE* *TRUMP RHETORIC IS LITERALLY CAUSING HIS FOLLOWERS TO LOSE THEIR MINDS AND THEIR FR...2 weeks ago
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Grow Your Own Teachers? A BustED: Pencils Podcast - Julian Vasquez Heilig and Laura Dinehart join Dr. Tim to discuss how Western Michigan University is ‘Growing Their Own’ teachers, without test tubes or sci...2 weeks ago
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Grassroots Education Network- March 2024 Newsletter - The NPE Grassroots Education Network is a nationwide network of over 195 grassroots organizations that have joined together to preserve, promote, improve...2 weeks ago
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UFT Welfare Fund nest egg – bigger than most nests - A nest egg. A rainy day fund. A reserve. Back up. We all have some, or would like some. In case things go sideways, a way to pay some bills in the meantime...3 weeks ago
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March (2024) Useful Parent Engagement Resources - “Gentle parenting” seems to be based on sound child psychology principles, but these techniques may not be as effective for more serious challenging behavi...3 weeks ago
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PCSP comments on how the privacy protections in the proposed COPPA regs should be improved - See below comments that PCSP and attorney Zephyr Teachout submitted to the Federal Trade Commission, urging them to strengthen their proposed student priva...4 weeks ago
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Focused: Understanding, Negotiating, and Maximizing Your Influence as a School Leader - INTRODUCTION Focus, focus, and focus! Focus is what this book is about. Here we aim to help school leaders understand what they should focus on and why. We...4 weeks ago
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Let’s recall just how bad a president Trump was! - For the record, concerning Covid:, this is from Quora: ———- President Trump tweeted that 17,000 people died from Swine Flu under Obama. How does this compa...1 month ago
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March 5, 2024: The time for delay has passed - It is time to open the ballot sitting on my kitchen counter. Only, the more I learn of politics, the… The post March 5, 2024: The time for delay has pass...1 month ago
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More Allegations Of Sexual Abuse From The Early Days Of KIPP NYC - [Note: This post draws from an interview I conducted with an anonymous source who identifies as a KIPP alum from the late 1990s. I consider this person cre...1 month ago
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A Change of Plans - Last September, in a piece titled Where We Expect To Retire, I informed folks that we were planning to move to Kendal Crosslands Communities, the Crossla...1 month ago
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Dr. Kriznar explains why birthday parties and so much more are now on the chopping block. - I am kind of grosseed out at her explanation so I am not going to comment now, but I wanted anyone interested to see it. This is her responce after I wr...1 month ago
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Wisdom from the Sage of Mount Vernon - Words of wisdom appropriate to our time. …from George Washington, America’s first President, on President’s Day. (Edited and updated from a previous post) ...2 months ago
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Book Review: “The Bill Gates Problem: Reckoning with the Myth of the Good Billionaire” - By Anthony Cody What impact has Bill Gates had on the world since he launched the most wealthy tax-exempt foundation in the world? We finally have a book t...2 months ago
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We are making a CPESS documentary! - In 2020, I was approached by Deborah Meier and Jane Andrais and I decided we should document the story of Central Park East Secondary School (CPESS). This ...2 months ago
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Radical Eyes for Equity: Media Misreads Reading Science (Again) - Radical Eyes for Equity: Media Misreads Reading Science (Again) For more than five years, mainstream media has been obsessed with two false but compelling...2 months ago
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From Asa to A. Phillip: Nothing But a ‘Sigma’ Man by Mark Anthony Neal - Richard Avedon, *A. Philip Randolph, Founder, Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, New York City, April 8, 1976* *From Asa to A. Phillip: Nothing But a...3 months ago
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2023 In Review And What’s To Come In 2024 - 2023 is almost complete and it was a busy, challenging, rewarding, and fun year. The news of the world was sometimes too much to watch. Countries were dest...3 months ago
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Could This Be Gadfly’s End? Top 12 Articles From 2023 Read By Fewer Than Ever - After 9 years of pounding my head against the wall - well, it seems like the wall is winning.3 months ago
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Volunteer in 2024 - Be the change, volunteer and make the difference! Let’s face it, the world is in turmoil, and divisive politics in our country is threatening our democracy...3 months ago
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Israel’s War on Gaza Is Also a War on History and Education - Israel's war on Gaza is also a war on children--and just like the attempts to ban discussion of race and gender in U.S. classrooms, Israel aims to censor h...4 months ago
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The Sky is Falling, or is it? - Well, this is the first anniversary of the introduction of Generative AI in the form of ChatGPT to the world of education. Before it was a week old, over o...4 months ago
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Redesigning School Governance: Beyond Mayoral Control - From time to time the legislature passes a bill with a sunset provision, unless the law is reauthorized by a specific date the law reverts to the law it re...5 months ago
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20 Best Mph Programs In New York, NY (2023 Updated) - 20 Best Mph Programs In New York, NY 1. Pace University Rating: (4.2 ) Address: One Pace Plaza, New York, NY 10038... The post 20 Best Mph Programs In...6 months ago
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POSTPONED: Florida’s Impact on Social Studies - POSTPONED: discussion with Florida and DC educators and advocates on the impact of Florida's new laws Continue reading7 months ago
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Lying Liars of the NYC DOE - The APPR travails continue. When last I blogged I shared how my principal, XXXXXXXX XXXXX of PS XXX did an end run around me. I was refused to be obser...9 months ago
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Vote NO on the UFT Contract. Here is Why: - The best reason to vote no on this contract is this: UFT Unity* lied* to us in 2018. They misrepresented that contract. It was predicated on deals we wer...10 months ago
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Metaphors in ‘I Have a Dream’ Speech - In this article, we will explore the powerful use of metaphors in Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” ... Read more1 year ago
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What ever happend to John Deasy, the Man From Gates? - * Here's an update on Deasy from 2020* By Thomas Ultican 7/29/2020 April 21, the Stockton Unified School District (SUSD) board accepted John Deasy’s let...1 year ago
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Testimony to the CPS Truancy Task Force - I prepared testimony for one of two public hearings held by the Chicago Public Schools Truancy Task Force, a body mandated by state legislation. The meetin...1 year ago
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Skin Deep - She spends so much time on her outward appearance. There is never a hair out of place. Her makeup is perfect and her clothes are stylish and match to ...1 year ago
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Tennis Memories from a Time When Racism and Anti-Semitism Still Prevailed - I learned tennis at a public park in Brooklyn- Lincoln Terrace- where the teaching pro was a mailman named Phil Rubell. Almost all the kids who took lesson...1 year ago
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There Is A Teacher Shortage.Not. - THERE IS A TEACHER SHORTAGE. And just to be sure you understand, it’s not that teachers don’t want to teach. It’s not that there aren’t enough teachers cer...1 year ago
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Reason #1 to pick Dr. Grace over Mr. Walters: The future we’ve already seen - In 2014, Oklahoma voters corrected the mistake we made in 2010. In 2022, let’s not make the mistake in the first place. Elect Dr. April Grace instead. She ...1 year ago
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THERE IS A TEACHER SHORTAGE. NOT! - There is a teacher shortage.And just to be sure you understand, it's not that teachers don't want to teach.It's not that there aren't enough teachers certi...1 year ago
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Abortion: Only For Those Who Need It! - NOTE: This post contains my opinions on Catholicism based on my experiences as a child in the 1960's and 70's. Take what you like and leave the rest. I m...1 year ago
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Want to know the condition of a Philly school building? New map to help. - [image: Two students walk by a Philadelphia school building.] Aging infrastructure has been an issue for Philadelphia schools for years. A new interactive...1 year ago
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Hello world! - Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start writing! The post Hello world! first appeared on Just another WordPress site.1 year ago
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What can we learn by modeling existing variations in school spending and outcomes? (Reprise) - There are those in the ed reform world who would tell us that existing public schools and districts are simply inefficient in their use of existing funding...2 years ago
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STREET LIFE - My mom told me, “You should treat all people equally, but don’t bring a “colored” into the house.” I believed … Continue reading →2 years ago
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Schools Matter: Reflecting on Green Dot’s Disastrous Locke Takeover - *“Green Dot came and made it into more of a jail.” — Chris* My history of opposing the Green Dot Charter School Corporation back when I was an activist i...2 years ago
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Book Banning Turns to Dick and Jane - Breaking News: Dateline February 4, 2022 - Parents in Dimwitty, Alabama have asked the Dimwitty Board of Education to ban the children's primer *Fun with...2 years ago
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On the Edge of Silence - “There is but one truly serious philosophical problem and that is suicide. Judging whether life is or is not worth living amounts to answering the fundamen...2 years ago
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The Howlers of History and How We Must Reclaim the Narrative - “There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all judgments and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignor...2 years ago
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Have You Heard Has a New Website - TweetHave You Heard has a new website. Visit us at www.haveyouheardpodcast.com to find our latest episodes and our entire archive. And be sure to check out...2 years ago
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Follow me at Substack - I've moved. Follow me at Substack I'm now posting regularly at Substack. You can subscribe for free to my new Edu/Pol blog at michaelklonsky.substack.com ...2 years ago
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On Remote Teaching and Learning In an Ongoing Pandemic - Some recent stories I've been thinking about (all emphases mine). Tennessee: Gov. Bill Lee’s administration is getting pushback in Memphis on new Tenness...2 years ago
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Milwaukee Bradley Foundation at Center of Attacks on U.S. Voting Rights - The Big Money Behind the Big Lie Donald Trump’s attacks on democracy are being promoted by rich and powerful conservative groups that are determined to win...2 years ago
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Milwaukee Bradley Foundation at Center of Attacks on U.S. Voting Rights - The Big Money Behind the Big Lie Donald Trump’s attacks on democracy are being promoted by rich and powerful conservative groups that are determined to win...2 years ago
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Aspiring Teachers Get New Help Paying For College - [image: colorful classroom pattern] *; Credit: shuoshu/Getty Images* Cory Turner | NPR New rules kick in today that will help aspiring teachers pay for c...2 years ago
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Major victory over a corporate charter school chain and their trade association - Original post at Robert’s page on Medium. On Tuesday, March 23, 2021, I got my second big win in court against a charter school corporation. It was also a ...3 years ago
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Tips Akses Situs Judi Qq Tanpa Perlu Takut Nawala - Kegiatan berjudi slot melalui situs judi qq online, sekarang sudah dilakukan oleh banyak penjudi Indonesia. Tentu, Kamu yang sedang membaca artikel ini a...3 years ago
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CEJ’s Virtual Mayoral Candidate Forum; Racial Justice in Public Schools - On Thursday, February 18th, over 1,000 students, parents, educators, community members, and activists alike, joined CEJ to hear the mayoral candidates’ vis...3 years ago
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GA run-offs need your help! - Extremely important. Volunteer if you can. Thank you if you are already doing so. Out of state opportunities here: Ralph … Continue reading →3 years ago
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Pandemic Teaching – What’s up? - Responding to the call from Pocketful of Primary to answer questions about how teaching during the pandemic is going.3 years ago
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The Threat of Integration - I have lived in the same house in the Miracle Mile section of Los Angeles for over 30 years, where up until now I have had little or no interaction with th...3 years ago
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New Teacher Evaluation Report Released by the Network for Public Education - A new report on current teacher evaluation systems throughout the US was just released by the Network for Public Education. The report is titled, “Teachers...3 years ago
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www.job-applications.com - https://www.job-applications.com/bed-bath-and-beyond-job-application/3 years ago
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Teacher Creates National Database Tracking COVID-19 Outbreaks in Schools - Kansas educator Alisha Morris's online coronavirus news-tracker goes viral, now hosted on a new NEA website.3 years ago
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School Year 2020-21: We Are Asking the Wrong Questions - It is perfectly understandable that many in our country want public school buildings to be open for in person instruction this year. Among the many hardshi...3 years ago
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Correction for July 10th Post on School District Audit - On July 10, 2020 we published a post “School District Caught Manipulating Attendance Records to Get More Money” which incorrectly cited Valley Park School ...3 years ago
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We fight for a democracy worthy of us all! - The nation stands at a crossroads, said NEA President Lily Eskelsen García in her final keynote address to the 2020 NEA Representative Assembly and it’s up...3 years ago
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A Citizens’ Rebellion 2020 - The United States began to form after the rebellion against the King of England when the settlers in the colonies along the eastern coast reacted to the in...3 years ago
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Giving Private Schools Federal Emergency Funds Slated for Low-income Students Will Shortchange At-risk Kids - Low-income Seattle students began to pick up bagged lunches in March after their school closed. Karen Ducey/Getty Images Derek W. Black, University of Sout...3 years ago
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A Fundamental Redesign of Our Schools - I climbed the hill leading up to one of my favorite coffee shops in Seattle this morning to enjoy a coffee while taking in a phenomenal view of the city o...3 years ago
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The Passing Of Chaz 1951-2020 Age 69 - I am the son of Chaz and like to inform you that he passed away this afternoon from the COVID virus. My father passed in peace beside his loved ones. We ar...3 years ago
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Thoughts on schooling in the era of COVID-19 - Well, a whole lot has changed since I returned to blogging a month and half ago. In case you didn't notice, and I'm sure everyone reading this did, there's...4 years ago
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What are You Going to Do when Disaster Capitalism Knocks on the Public-School Door? - “Schools will be closed until at least April 20, after the upcoming spring break, but could stay closed for significantly longer, Mr. de Blasio said.” Whe...4 years ago
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Let The Next Round Of Anti-Semitic Ads Begin - All four pro-public education candidates came in first in their LAUSD school board elections, but two will face run-offs in November.4 years ago
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NAEP scores and "the science of reading" - *Sent to US News. They just informed me that they no longer publish letters to the editor. * *Re: “National reading emergency” November 12* *[https://www...4 years ago
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2019 NAEP Scores: Achievement Gap or …? - Here you go: A ‘Disturbing’ Assessment: Sagging Reading Scores, Particularly for Eighth-Graders, Headline 2019’s Disappointing NAEP Results NAEP 2019: Re...4 years ago
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Cara Menang Bermain Judi Bola Online - Bermain judi bola online tentu saja memiliki kesenangannya tersendiri baik itu mendapatkan keuntungan maupun ketika menantikan hasil skor pada sebuah perta...4 years ago
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What Cory Booker isn’t telling us about the Newark water crisis. - BY GUY STERLING Guy Sterling, a longtime resident of Newark and a member of the Newark Water Group, spent almost 30 years as reporter with The Star-Ledger ...4 years ago
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A Storm is Coming! (…again) - A new Commissioner will have as much impact on our state ed system as a new meteorologist will have on … Continue reading →4 years ago
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JerseyCAN Can't Hide From Opioids Crisis Billionaire Founder - [image: Image result for jerseycan] NJ Spotlight needs to stop giving space to billionaire-backed corporate reform groups like JerseyCAN. JerseyCAN does n...4 years ago
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Déjà vu: 2019 ELA Assessment: Dear Board of Regents - Dear Board of Regents, I have copied below an email I sent to you almost a year ago, after the 2018 ELA assessment's computer-based testing failures and mo...5 years ago
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This Week in Education Organizing - February 15, 2019 - Coalition for Education Justice to Release Report on CRE Eighty-five percent of public school students in New York City are Black, Latinx, or Asian and y...5 years ago
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Black Lives Matter at Schools National week of Action: Feb 4 - Feb 8 - Join the National Week of Actions for Black Lives Matter at Schools. Starting Monday, February 4th educators in cities across the country will draw closer...5 years ago
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The World According to Michelle Rhee - The men behind the curtain fashioning the brave new world of corporate run education in America! Michelle Rhee is the founder of StudentsFirst, The New T...5 years ago
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13 Things I Learned While Blogging for Education Week - This is the 500th blog I've written as the Teacher in a Strange Land, for Education Week Teacher. As it turns out, it's also my final blog for EdWeek. Here...5 years ago
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Blockchain: Life on the Ledger - Originally posted on Wrench in the Gears: I created this video as a follow up to the one I prepared last year on Social Impact Bonds. It is time to examine...5 years ago
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New York Times piece on '68 Democratic Convention Protest - ‘The Whole World Is Watching’: The 1968 Democratic Convention, 50 Years Later On Aug. 28, 1968, violent clashes in Chicago between demonstrators and the ...5 years ago
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My Letter to the NYS Board of Regents and Commissioner Elia Regarding ESSA Opt Out Provisions - commissioner@nysed.gov Regent.cashin@nysed.gov ESSARegComment@nysed.gov Regent.Rosa@nysed.gov Regent.Reyes@nysed.gov Regent.Chin@nysed.gov Regent.Young@n...5 years ago
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Corruption on Top of Corruption: How Rahm’s Response to Sexual Abuse of Students Reveals His Core Function - Rahm Emanuel’s response to the Chicago Tribune investigation that found CPS failed to protect hundreds of students from sexual abuse is cowardly. It is co...5 years ago
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New Local Businesses in Sacramento - Starting a new local business in Sacramento is a monumental task, but can be accomplished with footwork, perseverance and knowledge. One must learn the loc...5 years ago
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3rd Grade Reading: Who is Failing? - Education Trust Midwest has just released its study on third grade reading and, predictably, the results aren’t great. This study uniquely compares Michiga...6 years ago
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Why Poetry? Why Now? – a poem from Linda Christensen and an invitation - My dear friend Dr. James Avington Miller Jr. sent me a phenomenal book on poetry called Rhythm and Resistance – Teaching Poetry for Social Justice. Here is...6 years ago
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Opting out of the Dinosaur (end of year test) - Today I sent in a second letter to refuse PARCC/CMAS for my son, Luke. The first email I sent at the beginning of the year was not sufficient as they requi...6 years ago
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Resurrection - I realized it's Lent, but this blog, bless Jesus Christ, can't wait. Ok, so with that said, I plan to discuss Class Action suits in existence, as well as w...6 years ago
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Chicago Collegiate Charter School Must STOP Expansion Plans - So I did a little digging into Chicago Collegiate Charter Schools, the tiny school looking to expand into the empty Kohn Elementary School building. A sch...6 years ago
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IDEA Is Still The Law Of The Land - Unless you've been living under a rock, you know the US Department of Education (USDOE) rescinded 72 Dear Colleague and other letters of explanation to ...6 years ago
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Education Is a Civic Question - In their final post to end Bridging Differences' decade-long run, Deborah Meier and Harry Boyte urge readers to put the energy, talents, wisdom, and hard w...6 years ago
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Education reform should come from within by Wendy Lecker - In her latest Stamford Advocate commentary piece, education advocate Wendy Lecker observes, Education reform should come from within. Wendy Lecker write...6 years ago
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Site News: New Home for Education News & Commentary - Quick! Get over there! The daily education news roundup and education commentaries that you're probably looking for are now being published over at The Gra...6 years ago
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An Open Letter to NC Lawmakers - An Open Letter to NC State Lawmakers and NC State Superintendent Mark Johnson: I am a NC native, voter, and public school teacher. I am addressing you all ...6 years ago
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CANCER IS BACK AND THIS TIME IT HURTS RIGHT OFF THE BAT! - APRIL IS STILL POETRY MONTH AND LIBRARY MONTH. MANY WONDERFUL THINGS TO CELEBRATE. But in the middle of the month I received some bad news about my ca...6 years ago
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The Secret to Fixing Schools (My Next Bestseller) - The Secret to Fixing Schools (My next bestseller) Prologue I just finished watching a fascinating documentary on Netflix entitled, “The Secret”. The film p...7 years ago
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Farewell, Sleep - Today is the official last day of my spring break. I've done a scientific survey: My natural bedtime is 2 AM, and my natural wake up time is 9:41 AM. Tom...7 years ago
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IBO REPORT: NYC Charter School Costs To Grow More Than Budgeted! - *New York City Charter School Costs To Grow More Than Budgeted!* Although the preliminary budget forecast of charter school enrollment is lower than project...7 years ago
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Education Bloggers Daily Highlights 3/2/2017 - Education Bloggers Daily Highlights 3/1/2017 Education Bloggers Daily Highlights Courtesy of Big Education Ape A special thank you to education blogger Mik...7 years ago
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Attitude Determines Altitude* (*conditions apply)… and the Importance of Humane District Themes - It has been a tumultuous few years in the South Brunswick community, specifically the South Brunswick School District. All you have to do is google the dis...7 years ago
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Capturing the Spark - It’s been a long time since InterACT was an active education blog, though I remain quite proud of what we did here. Those of us who wrote blog posts here h...7 years ago
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Prison Gerrymandering: Incarceration Weakens Vulnerable Voting Communities - One person equals one vote: seems simple enough. Unfortunately, that hasn’t worked out for many Americans throughout history, specifically women and peop...7 years ago
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Random Musings and Observations. . . . - I’ve been gone a while from the blogging scene. Some of my more regular readers no doubt noticed but did not hassle me about it. Thank you for that. Sinc...7 years ago
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WTU Peterson Slate: Not a 1 Woman Dictatorship - Candi Peterson & GeLynn Thompson Candidates for WTU Prez & GVP 2016By Candi Peterson, WTU Gen. Vice President *Statements or expressions of opinions herein...7 years ago
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WHY SCHOOL START TIMES PLAY A HUGE ROLE IN KIDS’ SUCCESS - Teens are severely sleep-deprived. This needs to change. Rebecca Klein Editor, HuffPost Education| https://t.co/zInVJoy29W evgenyatamanenko via Getty Image...7 years ago
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Feminism-in-Schools Featured at First International Girls’ Studies Association Conference - Leaders in the feminism-in-schools movement recently made history at the inaugural International Girls’ Studies Association (IGSA) conference when we were ...7 years ago
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MY NEW BLOG - My new blog will consist of fictitious headlines, meant to be a blend of humor and satire. I apologize ahead of time if any other satirical site has simila...7 years ago
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Thank you - Dear Readers, Thank you for visiting *The Perimeter Primate*. This blog is being retired for the time being. Although I no longer post here, I do still s...8 years ago
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GLSEN Massachusetts Educator Retreat - *GLSEN Massachusetts Educator Retreat* *SAVE-THE-DATEMarch 8-10, 2019 • Provincetown, MA* The GLSEN Massachusetts Educator Retreat in Provincetown is a s...8 years ago
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I am Retiring - I have some news: I am retiring from the PBS NewsHour and Learning Matters. [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other conte...8 years ago
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Flaws at the Heart of Current Education Reforms - Originally posted on Creative by Nature: “Teaching is an art form rooted in the wise and careful use of educational research and assessment tools. When gove...9 years ago
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Joanne Barkan: One of my favorite writers on #EdReform… - I’ve been going through some of my Twitter “favorites” and retweeting them. I thought I would pass on to you some information about one of my favorite writ...9 years ago
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Pay Teachers Less to Improve School Efficiency - hmmm! - As I was reading through education news on several of the news sites I regularly visit, I came...9 years ago
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Kimberly Olson, Broad Superintendents Academy Class of 2005 - Kimberly D. Olson, Colonel, USAF (retired), is currently the Executive Director of *Grace After Fire*, an online social support network for women veteran...13 years ago
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Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Brouhaha in Brooklyn: Live-blogging the PEP’s school closure vote | GothamSchools
Brouhaha in Brooklyn: Live-blogging the PEP’s school closure vote | GothamSchools
Brouhaha in Brooklyn: Live-blogging the PEP’s school closure vote
by Philissa CramerTonight’s school closure vote is underway in Brooklyn. Anna and Maura are on the scene and will be providing dispatches until the meeting’s bitter end.
12:45 a.m. I’m just going to go ahead and say it: Don’t expect Remainders tonight.
12:40 a.m. Just a reminder that there are a number of items on the PEP’s agenda that don’t involve school closures. One of those is the space plan for PS 15 and PAVE Academy in Red Hook. Julie Cavanagh, the PS 15 teacher who tried to win the right to picket outside Mayor Bloomberg’s house last week, explained why she’s still out on a school night: “I am going to make them look me in the eye when they vote.”
It may take a lawsuit to preserve schools
It may take a lawsuit to preserve schools:
"On Tuesday night at the San Francisco Board of Education meeting my administration brought forward a preliminary budget proposal that encompassed the next two fiscal years and contains cuts of a magnitude never seen in California public education to date. To say it is a bleak outlook would grossly underestimate the size of the tsunami that is about to hit not only San Francisco's schools but the entire state education system. Yes, these cuts will be greater than those imposed after Prop. 13 and even greater than those experienced during the Great Depression."
To provide some perspective, here simply is our situation: SFUSD has an unrestricted general fund budget of approximately $400 million. Due to the actions taken in Sacramento over the last 18 months, our projected deficit over the next two years will total $113 million, or $1,365 less per student. This means we will be getting $4,977 per student instead of $6,342 per student. So we face 21 percent less for teachers and counselors, for books and math texts, for computers and art classes, and for field trips and science labs.
Sacramento has presented us with this problem and no new math can help us. School districts throughout the state are required by law to make the numbers work or face being put under state receivership. California school districts have been fiscally prudent; this is not a problem created by educators. We've tried to do more with less in a state whose dwindling commitment to education has gotten so bad that by next year we will rank dead last in the country for how much we spend per pupil. How is it possible that the eighth richest economy in the world can have the lowest per-pupil expenditure in the
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/01/26/ED9H1BNOE4.DTL#ixzz0dmZJzWXm
To provide some perspective, here simply is our situation: SFUSD has an unrestricted general fund budget of approximately $400 million. Due to the actions taken in Sacramento over the last 18 months, our projected deficit over the next two years will total $113 million, or $1,365 less per student. This means we will be getting $4,977 per student instead of $6,342 per student. So we face 21 percent less for teachers and counselors, for books and math texts, for computers and art classes, and for field trips and science labs.
Sacramento has presented us with this problem and no new math can help us. School districts throughout the state are required by law to make the numbers work or face being put under state receivership. California school districts have been fiscally prudent; this is not a problem created by educators. We've tried to do more with less in a state whose dwindling commitment to education has gotten so bad that by next year we will rank dead last in the country for how much we spend per pupil. How is it possible that the eighth richest economy in the world can have the lowest per-pupil expenditure in the
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/01/26/ED9H1BNOE4.DTL#ixzz0dmZJzWXm
President Obama to Propose Freezing Spending on Some Programs - Politics K-12 - Education Week
President Obama to Propose Freezing Spending on Some Programs - Politics K-12 - Education Week
President Barack Obama's fiscal year 2011 budget will propose freezing some $447 billion in discretionary programs. The change will save about $15 billion next year (or to put in perspective, a little more than the federal government spent on Title I grants to districts last year).
The freeze doesn't apply, apparently, to military and veterans programs, as well as programs such as Social Security. And it likely would not apply to programs covered under the health-care-overhaul bill, the future of which is pretty uncertain. And it won't apply to any spending put into a "jobs bill," such as the $154 billion measure the House approved late last year, which included some substantial education spending.
It's not clear yet whether, and which, K-12 education programs will be subject to the freeze, since it is for overall spending levels not individual programs. (We know that at least one program, the $4 billion Race to the Top competition, will be slated for an increase of $1.35 billion and opened up to school districts).
But it certainly sounds as if programs such as Title I grants to districts and special education, or smaller Education Department programs, such as TRIO, could be in the mix for cuts or freezes. And if they see even a small increase when everything else is level-funded, that will be a big deal, symbolically.
But, at the same time, symbolism may not mean much to cash-strapped districts, which are still making program and staff cuts despite the $100 billion in
Eduflack: The NYC HIgh School Improvement Experience
Eduflack: The NYC HIgh School Improvement Experience
Whenever Eduflack writes about the "successes" of New York City's school improvement efforts under Chancellor Joel Klein, I get publicly flogged by some audience or another. Most take significant issue with my conclusions that NYC Department of Education has improved the quality of the public schools. Others take issue with giving Klein (and NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg) credit for such school improvement. And even if I can get the opposition to acknowledge an uptick in student achievement in NYC, they will immediately retort that the gains are minimal, and not nearly enough to declare turnaround efforts in New York a success.
My responses to such criticism have been relatively simple. The test scores, at least on New York's state exams, do show gains in both reading and math in NYC. If you don't believe the final tallies coming from Albany, you should at least acknowledge that NYC has won the Broad Prize, and that Broad similarly crunched the numbers and found academic gains across the city. And if the gains aren't big enough for you yet, first, give it time. Then remember how large the NYCDOE truly is. Upticks in a system that size are worthy of praise.
Always a glutton for punishment, Eduflack is going to raise the NYC achievement flag again. Today, we're going to reflect on a forum hosted yesterday by the Alliance for Excellent Education. Offering a multi-hour symposium yesterday under the banner of "Informing Federal Education Policy Through Lessons from New York City," the Alliance also put a spotlight on a new report it has released, "New York City's Strategy for Improving High Schools."
Whenever Eduflack writes about the "successes" of New York City's school improvement efforts under Chancellor Joel Klein, I get publicly flogged by some audience or another. Most take significant issue with my conclusions that NYC Department of Education has improved the quality of the public schools. Others take issue with giving Klein (and NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg) credit for such school improvement. And even if I can get the opposition to acknowledge an uptick in student achievement in NYC, they will immediately retort that the gains are minimal, and not nearly enough to declare turnaround efforts in New York a success.
My responses to such criticism have been relatively simple. The test scores, at least on New York's state exams, do show gains in both reading and math in NYC. If you don't believe the final tallies coming from Albany, you should at least acknowledge that NYC has won the Broad Prize, and that Broad similarly crunched the numbers and found academic gains across the city. And if the gains aren't big enough for you yet, first, give it time. Then remember how large the NYCDOE truly is. Upticks in a system that size are worthy of praise.
Always a glutton for punishment, Eduflack is going to raise the NYC achievement flag again. Today, we're going to reflect on a forum hosted yesterday by the Alliance for Excellent Education. Offering a multi-hour symposium yesterday under the banner of "Informing Federal Education Policy Through Lessons from New York City," the Alliance also put a spotlight on a new report it has released, "New York City's Strategy for Improving High Schools."
Villegas to resign from Southwest ISD
Villegas to resign from Southwest ISD:
"The Southwest Independent School District will soon be looking for a new chief after Superintendent Velma Villegas announced her retirement, effective June 30, during a Jan.18 school board meeting.
“This decision is one that has mixed emotions for me because I have come to love the Southwest community and my work as your superintendent,” she said in a letter to the board.
Villegas said she plans to spend more time with her family and do some consulting work, including helping Texas A&M-San Antonio develop its teacher preparation program.
A Texas native, Villegas has led the district since 2005. She previously was an assistant superintendent in Spring Branch ISD near Houston."
“This decision is one that has mixed emotions for me because I have come to love the Southwest community and my work as your superintendent,” she said in a letter to the board.
Villegas said she plans to spend more time with her family and do some consulting work, including helping Texas A&M-San Antonio develop its teacher preparation program.
A Texas native, Villegas has led the district since 2005. She previously was an assistant superintendent in Spring Branch ISD near Houston."
Daily Media Use Among Children and Teens Up Dramatically From Five Years Ago - Kaiser Family Foundation
DAILY MEDIA USE AMONG CHILDREN AND TEENS UP DRAMATICALLY FROM FIVE YEARS AGO
Big Increase in
Most Youth Say They Have No Rules About How Much Time They Can Spend
The amount of time spent with media increased by an hour and seventeen minutes a day over the past five years, from 6:21 in 2004 to 7:38 today. And because of media multitasking, the total amount of media content consumed during that period has increased from 8:33 in 2004 to 10:45 today.
Generation M2: Media in the Lives of 8- to 18-Year-Olds is the third in a series of large-scale, nationally representative surveys by the Foundation about young people’s media use. It includes data from all three waves of the study (1999, 2004, and 2009), and is among the largest and most comprehensive publicly available sources of information about media use among American youth.
Mobile media driving increased consumption. The increase in media use is driven in large part by ready access to mobile devices like cell phones and iPods. Over the past five years, there has been a huge increase in ownership among 8- to 18-year-olds: from 39% to 66% for cell phones, and from 18% to 76% for iPods and other MP3 players. During this period, cell phones and iPods have become true multi-media devices: in fact, young people now spend more time listening to music, playing games, and watching TV on their cell phones (a total of :49 daily) than they spend talking on them (:33).
Parents and media rules. Only about three in ten young people say they have rules about how much time they can spend watching TV (28%) or playing video games (30%), and 36% say the same about using the computer. But when parents do set limits, children spend less time with media: those with any media rules consume nearly 3 hours less media per day (2:52) than those with no rules.
Media in the home. About two-thirds (64%) of young people say the TV is usually on during meals, and just under half (45%) say the TV is left on “most of the time” in their home, even if no one is watching. Seven in ten (71%) have a TV in their bedroom, and half (50%) have a console video game player in their room. Again, children in these TV-centric homes spend far more time watching: 1:30 more a day in homes where the TV is left on most of the time, and an hour more among those with a TV in their room.
“The amount of time young people spend with media has grown to where it’s even more than a full-time work week,” said Drew Altman, Ph.D., President and
Black and Hispanic children spend far more time with media than White children do. There are substantial differences in children’s media use between members of various ethnic and racial groups. Black and Hispanic children consume nearly 4½ hours more media daily (13:00 of total media exposure for Hispanics, 12:59 for Blacks, and 8:36 for Whites). Some of the largest differences are in TV viewing: Black children spend nearly 6 hours and Hispanics just under 5½ hours, compared to roughly 3½ hours a day for White youth. The only medium where there is no significant difference between these three groups is print. Differences by race/ethnicity remain even after controlling for other factors such as age, parents’ education, and single vs. two-parent homes. The racial disparity in media use has grown substantially over the past five years: for example, the gap between White and Black youth was just over two hours (2:12) in 2004, and has grown to more than four hours today (4:23).
Big changes in TV. For the first time over the course of the study, the amount of time spent watching regularly-scheduled TV declined, by 25 minutes a day (from 2004 to 2009). But the many new ways to watch TV–on the Internet, cell phones, and iPods–actually led to an increase in total TV consumption from 3:51 to 4:29 per day, including :24 of online viewing, :16 on iPods and other MP3 players, and :15 on cell phones. All told, 59% (2:39) of young people’s TV-viewing consists of live TV on a TV set, and 41% (1:50) is time-shifted, DVDs, online, or mobile.
Effective Teaching Campaign grades contract | Philadelphia Public School Notebook
Effective Teaching Campaign grades contract | Philadelphia Public School Notebook
The Effective Teaching for Every Childcampaign gave the new teachers' contract mostly high marks in a report card, but said that it does not provide enough incentives to recruit and keep teachers in hard-to-staff schools.
While progress was made in site selection, teacher standards and evaluations, and tailoring professional development to the needs of specific schools, "we also see a larger missed opportunity," said Lauren Jacobs of the Cross City Campaign for School Reform, a coordinator of the campaign. More should have been done to make these schools more attractive places to work, she said.
At a rally and press conference in front of School District headquarters, about 60 students, parents and teachers gathered to express their opinion on the contract. To express their mixed feelings, they chanted, "Way to go, more to go."
The campaign is urgently concerned about distributing effective and experienced equitably across the system and creating stable staffs at the neediest schools. It gave the contract a D on incentives because:
Do you keep pushing when others can’t (or won’t) ’see’ your vision? � EducationCEO's Blog
Do you keep pushing when others can’t (or won’t) ’see’ your vision? EducationCEO's Blog
Approximately 1.5 years ago our organization, Millennium Scholars Academy (MSA), submitted a charter petition to the Gwinnett County Board of Education. We proposed to open the first K-12 Visual and Performing Arts (tuition-free) charter school in the county. At the time that we submitted our petition, we had enrollment commitments for 160 students, ranging from grades K-9; we even had parents whose children were not school-age who asked us to consider adding a Pre-K program!
The board denied our petition, citing several reasons, including the following: (1) looping/multi-year classrooms were already being implemented in schools throughout the county; (2) our plans for the arts program was too extensive to do during the traditional school day (Kennedy Center Arts Edge Standards); and (3) Understanding by Design was not research based. As required by the state, I responded to the board’s deficiencies. I even went so far as to imply that looping implementation must be based on the zip code of the
Approximately 1.5 years ago our organization, Millennium Scholars Academy (MSA), submitted a charter petition to the Gwinnett County Board of Education. We proposed to open the first K-12 Visual and Performing Arts (tuition-free) charter school in the county. At the time that we submitted our petition, we had enrollment commitments for 160 students, ranging from grades K-9; we even had parents whose children were not school-age who asked us to consider adding a Pre-K program!
The board denied our petition, citing several reasons, including the following: (1) looping/multi-year classrooms were already being implemented in schools throughout the county; (2) our plans for the arts program was too extensive to do during the traditional school day (Kennedy Center Arts Edge Standards); and (3) Understanding by Design was not research based. As required by the state, I responded to the board’s deficiencies. I even went so far as to imply that looping implementation must be based on the zip code of the
voiceofsandiego.org | News. Investigation. Analysis. Conversation. Intelligence. - San Diego Schools' New Testing Idea: No Child Left Unmeasured
voiceofsandiego.org | News. Investigation. Analysis. Conversation. Intelligence. - San Diego Schools' New Testing Idea: No Child Left Unmeasured
By EMILY ALPERT
Tom O'Malley knew that the fourth grade classes at Birney Elementary had been a success -- but the numbers said it had failed.
O'Malley said two years ago, he and a fellow teacher got a crop of children who were badly behind. They helped the students improve, making even bigger gains than the last classes they taught. But because the kids didn't do as well as the earlier class, who came in ahead and scored higher, test scores seemed to drop.
"I felt like a failure as a teacher," O'Malley said, shaking his head. "I'm not one of these teachers who are scared to be held accountable. I just want to be held accountable for what I actually do."
His story underscores a nagging problem with test scores, especially under No Child Left Behind: Schools are gauged by how well they do from year to year, but nobody is comparing the same children. When school officials say that fourth grade math scores sunk or soared, they really mean that one class of third graders -- the class from last year -- did well or poorly
Education Research Report: Achievement Effects of Four Early Elementary School Math Curricula: Findings from First Graders in 39 Schools
Education Research Report: Achievement Effects of Four Early Elementary School Math Curricula: Findings from First Graders in 39 Schools
Achievement Effects of Four Early Elementary School Math Curricula: Findings from First Graders in 39 Schools
Achievement Effects of Four Early Elementary School Math Curricula: Findings from First Graders in 39 Schools reports on the relative impacts of four math curricula on first-grade mathematics achievement. The curricula were selected to represent diverse approaches to teaching elementary school math in the United States. The four curricula are Investigations in Number, Data, and Space; Math Expressions; Saxon Math; and Scott Foresman-Addison Wesley Mathematics.
First-grade math achievement was significantly higher in schools randomly assigned to Math Expressions or Saxon Math than in those schools assigned to Investigations in Number, Data, and Space or to Scott Foresman-Addison Wesley Mathematics.
The research described in this report is consistent with WWC evidence standards:
First-grade math achievement was significantly higher in schools randomly assigned to Math Expressions or Saxon Math than in those schools assigned to Investigations in Number, Data, and Space or to Scott Foresman-Addison Wesley Mathematics.
The research described in this report is consistent with WWC evidence standards:
Schools Matter: Bill Gates Honors His Empire's Prime Directive on Uganda's Kill The Gays Bill
Schools Matter: Bill Gates Honors His Empire's Prime Directive on Uganda's Kill The Gays Bill
With Bill and Melinda softening any resistance to good old fashioned corporate colonialism in Africa with their foundation's unlimited supply of tax-sheltered handouts, Microsoft has established a lock on educational technology in Uganda and elsewhere on the continent. And just this week, Forbes reportsthat Gates has teamed with Coke and TechnoServe to assure Coca-Cola global advantage in the fruit juice market.
With Bill and Melinda softening any resistance to good old fashioned corporate colonialism in Africa with their foundation's unlimited supply of tax-sheltered handouts, Microsoft has established a lock on educational technology in Uganda and elsewhere on the continent. And just this week, Forbes reportsthat Gates has teamed with Coke and TechnoServe to assure Coca-Cola global advantage in the fruit juice market.
The project seeks to help local farmers whose fruit will be used for Coca-Cola's locally produced and sold fruit juices. TechnoServe will train farmers in improving quality, increasing production and getting organized into farmer groups, and it will facilitate gaining access to credit.
U.S.-based TechnoServe's corporate partners include Cargill, Kraft,Nestle -Nespresso, Olam International,Peet's Coffee & Tea andUnilever . Since its founding in 1968, TechnoServe has helped to create or expand thousands of businesses in more than 30 countries.
Hey, I wonder if TechnoServe will offer Ugandan farmers any
The DC VOICE Ostrich: DC VOICE City-Wide Reform Campaign Action Briefing
The DC VOICE Ostrich: DC VOICE City-Wide Reform Campaign Action Briefing
DC VOICE City-Wide Reform Campaign Action Briefing
| author: The DC VOICE OstrichOn Thursday, January 28th at 12:30 pm DC VOICE is hosting a city-wide conference call and webinar to update the community about the status of the Demand Reform Demand Equality Campaign focused on Community Schools, Parent/Community Resource Coordinators, and Professional Development. Community members have demanded that community schools be a priority for education reform in the District, and DC VOICE intends to make sure we keep it a priority for policymakers during budget season.
Call toll free: 1-866-415-4341
Conference code: 634019443
Webinar: DC VOICE City-Wide Reform Campaign Action Briefing
Please join us in this movement to coordinate community partnerships within schools so we can offer our children and families the best education and comprehensive services possible. This city-wide action call and webinar will also give you a chance to ask questions and learn how you can get involved.
Call toll free: 1-866-415-4341
Conference code: 634019443
Webinar: DC VOICE City-Wide Reform Campaign Action Briefing
Please join us in this movement to coordinate community partnerships within schools so we can offer our children and families the best education and comprehensive services possible. This city-wide action call and webinar will also give you a chance to ask questions and learn how you can get involved.
Mentoring: The New Activism in America - THE DAILY RIFF - Be Smarter. About Education.
Mentoring: The New Activism in America - THE DAILY RIFF - Be Smarter. About Education.
"Everyone should be involved . . . in some way to help out." Here are four ways to make a difference:
Newark Mayor Cory Booker is on the move with a call for action in the
"education movement" in this 1:23 video below.
He is a participant in the upcoming movie "The Lottery" coming this Spring.
"education movement" in this 1:23 video below.
He is a participant in the upcoming movie "The Lottery" coming this Spring.
Booker should know. He is a member of numerous boards and advisory committees that are committed to education including: Democrats for Education Reform, Columbia University Teachers' College Board of Trustees, and the Black Alliance for Educational Options.
"Everyone should be involved . . . in some way to help out." Here are four ways to make a difference:
- Be a mentor only requires four hours a month. "Everyone should be a involved in the life a child that is not your own or some way to help out".
- There are also "e-mentors" - mentoring by e-mail.
- Get involved in the local scene. Put political pressure on changing local schools.
- Check out the organizations in every state that are fighting for change, innovation and choice.
10 Lessons Every College Student Should Learn from Mark Zuckerberg - Becoming a Computer Technician
10 Lessons Every College Student Should Learn from Mark Zuckerberg - Becoming a Computer Technician
10 Lessons Every College Student Should Learn from Mark Zuckerberg
It is a story that gets told hundreds of times over and will continue to be told a hundred times more. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, along with many of his Harvard computer science contemporaries, set up the wildly popular, time-sinking, “it’s complicated”-touting social networking site in 2004 from their dorm room. From single-school directory featuring a high-contrast male mascot with a hauntingly creepy expression to worldwide phenomenon, according toForbes it eventually led Zuckerberg to a net worth of $1.5 billion in 2008. Computer scientists and college students hoping to start their own business have a few broad lessons to learn from his success that may apply to careers and life alike.
1. Be open to change without losing sight of your goals.
Facebook grew because of Zuckerberg’s flexibility and willingness to change his product based on consumer demands and financial opportunities. “Change,” of course, does not have to necessarily indicate inherent compromise. As his brainchild expanded from a Harvard dorm room to a global community, Zuckerberg never strayed away from its two most basic premises. At no point did he charge users to take advantage of the networking service – profits came purely from advertisements. Nor did Facebook ever mutate beyond its core ideal of connecting people with one another. While the artifice grew and shifted and modified to fit requests, the social networking service never quit being a social networking service. Because of this, Facebook stands as a perfect example of exercising a great deal of adaptability without ever having betrayed its initial intentions.
Recovery School District's books are in better shape, but still flawed, audit finds | New Orleans Metro Education News - - NOLA.com
Recovery School District's books are in better shape, but still flawed, audit finds | New Orleans Metro Education News - - NOLA.com
The state-run Recovery School District's problems with overpaying employees who no longer work for it have continued for a third straight year, although to a reduced extent, according to a new report released by the state's legislative auditor Monday.
The report also rapped the district for making some late payments to vendors for a second straight year and for failing to adequately track equipment such as laptops, among other concerns.
RSD officials said they've made significant progress on reducing overpayments, adding that most of the problems predate current district leaders, including RSD Superintendent Paul Vallas. In general, they attributed many of the findings to the fact that, because the RSD is a state agency that was created quickly after Hurricane Katrina, it's hamstrung by financial and accounting rules that don't apply to other school districts.
"A lot of these are penny-ante things that are a product of us being subjected to rules and regulations that no other school districts are subjected to," Vallas said.
However, members of the legislative audit advisory council, made up of state lawmakers, grilled Vallas and State Superintendent Paul Pastorek for hours on Monday morning at a meeting held in the Superdome.
RSD officials said they've made significant progress on reducing overpayments, adding that most of the problems predate current district leaders, including RSD Superintendent Paul Vallas. In general, they attributed many of the findings to the fact that, because the RSD is a state agency that was created quickly after Hurricane Katrina, it's hamstrung by financial and accounting rules that don't apply to other school districts.
"A lot of these are penny-ante things that are a product of us being subjected to rules and regulations that no other school districts are subjected to," Vallas said.
However, members of the legislative audit advisory council, made up of state lawmakers, grilled Vallas and State Superintendent Paul Pastorek for hours on Monday morning at a meeting held in the Superdome.
Teachers challenging state's raid of funds | State News | eastvalleytribune.com
Teachers challenging state's raid of funds | State News | eastvalleytribune.com:
"Two teachers are challenging a maneuver by lawmakers to balance the state budget by taking money they say legally can go only to supporting public schools.
The lawsuit filed Friday at the state Supreme Court contends legislators are violating both constitutional provisions and state law by siphoning off 10 percent of the money that is raised from the sale of state trust lands. Attorney Tim Hogan of the Center for Law in the Public Interest said the move also runs afoul of the federal law which gave Arizona the trust lands when it became a state in 1912.
Hogan wants the high court to direct the state Land Department to return the nearly $10 million already taken from the special trust fund and a prohibition against future transfers."
The lawsuit filed Friday at the state Supreme Court contends legislators are violating both constitutional provisions and state law by siphoning off 10 percent of the money that is raised from the sale of state trust lands. Attorney Tim Hogan of the Center for Law in the Public Interest said the move also runs afoul of the federal law which gave Arizona the trust lands when it became a state in 1912.
Hogan wants the high court to direct the state Land Department to return the nearly $10 million already taken from the special trust fund and a prohibition against future transfers."
SAISD exploring charter school increase
SAISD exploring charter school increase:
"When James Aden relocated here from Berkeley, Calif., he wanted to live near downtown and he wanted his children in good schools, so he moved into the coveted Alamo Heights school district.
But Aden toured a school there and decided he wanted something more for his kids — including a measure of diversity he felt was lacking at his neighborhood school. Now Aden's kids attend Hawthorne Academy, a district-run charter school in the San Antonio Independent School District that is open to students who live outside the district boundaries.
Parents like Aden are one reason the San Antonio Alliance, which represents SAISD teachers and other district staff, would like to see more district schools become charters."
But Aden toured a school there and decided he wanted something more for his kids — including a measure of diversity he felt was lacking at his neighborhood school. Now Aden's kids attend Hawthorne Academy, a district-run charter school in the San Antonio Independent School District that is open to students who live outside the district boundaries.
Parents like Aden are one reason the San Antonio Alliance, which represents SAISD teachers and other district staff, would like to see more district schools become charters."
Literacy to be schools' top job The Post and Courier - Charleston SC newspaper
Literacy to be schools' top job The Post and Courier - Charleston SC newspaper:
"Teaching students to read is more important than anything else in Charleston County School District.
The county school board unanimously agreed Monday night that that should be the district's top priority, and their historic decision will focus current and future superintendents on the problem of illiteracy.
The final approval of the board's first-ever literacy policy will translate into roughly $8 million being directed this year toward new reading initiatives and will prevent struggling readers from being passed to the next grade without extra help.
The new policy is the culmination of reactions stirred by a series of Post and Courier stories revealing the serious illiteracy problem in local schools; nearly 20 percent of the county's ninth-graders read on a fourth-grade level or worse"
The county school board unanimously agreed Monday night that that should be the district's top priority, and their historic decision will focus current and future superintendents on the problem of illiteracy.
The final approval of the board's first-ever literacy policy will translate into roughly $8 million being directed this year toward new reading initiatives and will prevent struggling readers from being passed to the next grade without extra help.
The new policy is the culmination of reactions stirred by a series of Post and Courier stories revealing the serious illiteracy problem in local schools; nearly 20 percent of the county's ninth-graders read on a fourth-grade level or worse"
Minnesota teacher pay raises small ... and still controversial - TwinCities.com
Minnesota teacher pay raises small ... and still controversial - TwinCities.com:
"As school districts across Minnesota scrambled this month to approve new two-year teacher contracts, teachers ended up with their smallest pay raises in years.
But maybe not small enough.
Cost-of-living raises averaged less than 1 percent, but many districts will shell out millions to cover seniority raises promised in years past and rising health insurance costs.
And that has irked some lawmakers who have tried to hold education harmless despite mounting state budget deficits. When the legislative session begins in February, they have to figure out how to erase a projected $1.2 billion shortfall over the next 18 months."
But maybe not small enough.
Cost-of-living raises averaged less than 1 percent, but many districts will shell out millions to cover seniority raises promised in years past and rising health insurance costs.
And that has irked some lawmakers who have tried to hold education harmless despite mounting state budget deficits. When the legislative session begins in February, they have to figure out how to erase a projected $1.2 billion shortfall over the next 18 months."
Gov. Charlie Crist backs easing class-size rules - South Florida - MiamiHerald.com
Gov. Charlie Crist backs easing class-size rules - South Florida - MiamiHerald.com:
"TALLAHASSEE -- Having already spent $16 billion to reduce class sizes -- and facing a multibillion-dollar budget deficit -- leading Republicans including Gov. Charlie Crist want voters to reconsider their 2002 vote in favor of smaller classes.
Crist, who in the past has opposed tinkering with the class-size amendment, said Monday he now supports essentially freezing it where it is now -- with mandated caps calculated as school-wide averages.
State Sen. Don Gaetz, a former Panhandle schools superintendent, and Rep. Will Weatherford plan to unveil such a proposal in the coming days as a new constitutional amendment that would be put before voters in November if the Legislature approves it."
Crist, who in the past has opposed tinkering with the class-size amendment, said Monday he now supports essentially freezing it where it is now -- with mandated caps calculated as school-wide averages.
State Sen. Don Gaetz, a former Panhandle schools superintendent, and Rep. Will Weatherford plan to unveil such a proposal in the coming days as a new constitutional amendment that would be put before voters in November if the Legislature approves it."
Math school leader retiring - Education - NewsObserver.com
Math school leader retiring - Education - NewsObserver.com:
"The leader of the N.C. School of Science and Mathematics announced his retirement Monday, following 10 years in which the Durham campus continued to grow but questions arose about the administrators he hired and the pay they received.
Chancellor Gerald Boarman said he wants to return to his home in Maryland to spend more time with his family, who had remained there.
The announcement surprised both the school's trustees and members of the UNC Board of Governors, who oversee the elite residential high school for academically gifted students. A spokeswoman for UNC President Erskine Bowles said that Boarman first broached the retirement with him shortly before Christmas."
Chancellor Gerald Boarman said he wants to return to his home in Maryland to spend more time with his family, who had remained there.
The announcement surprised both the school's trustees and members of the UNC Board of Governors, who oversee the elite residential high school for academically gifted students. A spokeswoman for UNC President Erskine Bowles said that Boarman first broached the retirement with him shortly before Christmas."
Female teachers may pass on math anxiety to girls, study finds - latimes.com
Female teachers may pass on math anxiety to girls, study finds - latimes.com:
"Girls have long embraced the stereotype that they're not supposed to be good at math. It seems they may be getting the idea from a surprising source -- their female elementary school teachers.
First- and second-graders whose teachers were anxious about mathematics were more likely to believe that boys are hard-wired for math and that girls are better at reading, a new study has found. What's more, the girls who bought into that notion scored significantly lower on math tests than their peers who didn't.
The gap in test scores was not apparent in the fall when the kids were first tested, but emerged after spending a school year in the classrooms of teachers with math anxiety. That detail convinced researchers that the teachers -- all of them women -- were the culprits."
First- and second-graders whose teachers were anxious about mathematics were more likely to believe that boys are hard-wired for math and that girls are better at reading, a new study has found. What's more, the girls who bought into that notion scored significantly lower on math tests than their peers who didn't.
The gap in test scores was not apparent in the fall when the kids were first tested, but emerged after spending a school year in the classrooms of teachers with math anxiety. That detail convinced researchers that the teachers -- all of them women -- were the culprits."
City Department of Education to shutter problem-plagued Brooklyn charter school - NYPOST.com
City Department of Education to shutter problem-plagued Brooklyn charter school - NYPOST.com:
"The city is about to pull the plug on a Brooklyn charter school that's rife with financial mismanagement, The Post has learned.
East New York Preparatory, which has booted low-performing students and shortened its year by a dozen days, would be only the fourth city charter school ever shuttered and the second to have its charter revoked by the chancellor, who authorized it to open in 2006.
The school, which yesterday received a 30-day notice of the city's intention to close it in June, was put on probation last February, after city officials caught wind of sky-high staff turnover and the dissolution of the school's board of directors.
In November, state Education Department inspectors documented a host of violations that led city officials to drop the hammer."
East New York Preparatory, which has booted low-performing students and shortened its year by a dozen days, would be only the fourth city charter school ever shuttered and the second to have its charter revoked by the chancellor, who authorized it to open in 2006.
The school, which yesterday received a 30-day notice of the city's intention to close it in June, was put on probation last February, after city officials caught wind of sky-high staff turnover and the dissolution of the school's board of directors.
In November, state Education Department inspectors documented a host of violations that led city officials to drop the hammer."
Panel To Vote On School Closings; Heavy Turnout Expected - NY1.com
Panel To Vote On School Closings; Heavy Turnout Expected - NY1.com:
"A citywide education panel is scheduled to vote Tuesday on whether to allow the DOE to shut down some city schools based on their performance rates. NY1's Lindsey Christ filed the following report.
With 20 schools on the chopping block, and people energized by a new process that encourages public comment, Department of Education officials expect to face a large and unfriendly crowd at Tuesday night's public meeting.
Last summer, the state Legislature continued mayoral control of the schools but stripped the DOE of its power to close them. That's now the responsibility of the Panel for Educational Policy, whose members are picked by the mayor and the five borough presidents.
Since school closure decisions are no longer made behind closed doors, the PEP is required to vote in front of the public while also allowing them an opportunity to be heard.
'The participation that I've seen in this school closure issue this year has really been extraordinary and something that we really haven't seen a lot before,' said Kim Sweet of Advocates for Children of New York."
With 20 schools on the chopping block, and people energized by a new process that encourages public comment, Department of Education officials expect to face a large and unfriendly crowd at Tuesday night's public meeting.
Last summer, the state Legislature continued mayoral control of the schools but stripped the DOE of its power to close them. That's now the responsibility of the Panel for Educational Policy, whose members are picked by the mayor and the five borough presidents.
Since school closure decisions are no longer made behind closed doors, the PEP is required to vote in front of the public while also allowing them an opportunity to be heard.
'The participation that I've seen in this school closure issue this year has really been extraordinary and something that we really haven't seen a lot before,' said Kim Sweet of Advocates for Children of New York."
Rubber Rooms: NYC Teachers Paid To Do Nothing - wcbstv.com
Rubber Rooms: NYC Teachers Paid To Do Nothing - wcbstv.com
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
Hundreds of New York City teachers removed from classrooms on a wide range of allegations are sent to offices that are called "rubber rooms."
Many stay there for years, waiting for determinations of their guilt or innocence.
But while they wait they do nothing at all. And they're still paid -- with your tax dollars.
CBS 2 HD takes you "inside … the rubber rooms."
CBS 2 HD's hidden cameras recently got a rare look inside the rooms, which are located in every borough of New York City. As many as 530 teachers are paid to do nothing while the Department of Education investigates various charges against them. Many teachers say it's a nightmare -- being forced to sit in a room all day and not teach.
"The saddest thing is that there are some people doing nothing. Not even that," teacher Leevert Holmes said.
They're officially called "temporary reassignment centers."
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
Many stay there for years, waiting for determinations of their guilt or innocence.
But while they wait they do nothing at all. And they're still paid -- with your tax dollars.
CBS 2 HD takes you "inside … the rubber rooms."
CBS 2 HD's hidden cameras recently got a rare look inside the rooms, which are located in every borough of New York City. As many as 530 teachers are paid to do nothing while the Department of Education investigates various charges against them. Many teachers say it's a nightmare -- being forced to sit in a room all day and not teach.
"The saddest thing is that there are some people doing nothing. Not even that," teacher Leevert Holmes said.
They're officially called "temporary reassignment centers."
Big New York High Schools Fall Hard but Are Not Going Quietly - NYTimes.com
Big New York High Schools Fall Hard but Are Not Going Quietly - NYTimes.com
As the Department of Education sent fewer students to Columbus, enrollment began to decline, but so did the academic level of its entering student body. By 2005, only 6 percent of the entering eighth graders were reading at grade level, and the proportion of special education students rose to nearly a quarter. Another reorganization led the school to create small clusters with names like “Equality” and “Justice,” and to form work-study and other structured programs that give students on the verge of dropping out a second chance.
The school stabilized, but its four-year graduation rate remained stubbornly low, and struggles continued. As measured by the city’s “peer index,” which takes into account over-age and special education students and the academic level of its entering class, Columbus had the eighth-lowest ranking among 380 high schools in 2008-9.
The Columbus student body is in constant flux. Because the school has unscreened admissions, it takes children expelled from charter schools, released from juvenile detention, and others on a near-daily basis: last year, 359 of its 1,400 students arrived between October and June. Even after the city proposed the school’s closing in December, it received 27 more students. Lisa Fuentes, the Columbus principal
As the Department of Education sent fewer students to Columbus, enrollment began to decline, but so did the academic level of its entering student body. By 2005, only 6 percent of the entering eighth graders were reading at grade level, and the proportion of special education students rose to nearly a quarter. Another reorganization led the school to create small clusters with names like “Equality” and “Justice,” and to form work-study and other structured programs that give students on the verge of dropping out a second chance.
The school stabilized, but its four-year graduation rate remained stubbornly low, and struggles continued. As measured by the city’s “peer index,” which takes into account over-age and special education students and the academic level of its entering class, Columbus had the eighth-lowest ranking among 380 high schools in 2008-9.
The Columbus student body is in constant flux. Because the school has unscreened admissions, it takes children expelled from charter schools, released from juvenile detention, and others on a near-daily basis: last year, 359 of its 1,400 students arrived between October and June. Even after the city proposed the school’s closing in December, it received 27 more students. Lisa Fuentes, the Columbus principal
More schools require students to learn personal finance - USATODAY.com
More schools require students to learn personal finance - USATODAY.com:
The recession hit the family hard and they can no longer afford the building. Quach helps pack the goods for a move to a cheaper location. On weekends, her mother often goes door to door, hoping to find new retail customers.
'I never want to go through what they go through,' Quach said, tears gathering in her eyes."
"MIAMI — Each day after school, 17-year-old Phyllis Quach goes to a warehouse filled with silk flowers, stuffed animals and other gift items her parents sell through their South Florida wholesale business.
The recession hit the family hard and they can no longer afford the building. Quach helps pack the goods for a move to a cheaper location. On weekends, her mother often goes door to door, hoping to find new retail customers.
'I never want to go through what they go through,' Quach said, tears gathering in her eyes."
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