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Saturday, February 18, 2012

Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top 2-18 AM Posts #soschat #edreform


Katehi survives no confidence vote at UC Davis - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee

Katehi survives no confidence vote at UC Davis - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee:Katehi survives no confidence vote at UC DavisShareBy Brad Brananbbranan@sacbee.comPublished: Friday, Feb. 17, 2012 - 6:56 pm A motion asking for a vote of no confidence in UC Davis Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi failed to gain a majority of votes needed to pass, school officials said tonight.The motion received 312 yes votes and 697 no votes, out of 2,693 eligible voters ... more »

FROM CHUTZPAH TO MOLLYCODDLING « Teachers Fight Back

FROM CHUTZPAH TO MOLLYCODDLING « Teachers Fight Back:FROM CHUTZPAH TO MOLLYCODDLINGby alkleenNice to see some teachers with chutzpah for a change instead of legislators and education administrators. The Chicago Teachers Union is asking for a 30% raise over two years because the administration is mandating an extra 90 minutes of instruction next year. The C.T.U. also wants class size reductions and several other items. Wow, how refreshing.Just heard from a friend who is a teacher in an upper middle class ... more »

Failed DC Chancellor Michelle Rhee's Charters quick to suspend, expel, council told - D.C. Schools Insider - The Washington Post

Charters quick to suspend, expel, council told - D.C. Schools Insider - The Washington Post:Charters quick to suspend, expel, council toldBy Bill TurquePublic charter school officials pushed rarely seen suspension and expulsion data into public view at Friday’s D.C. Council oversight hearing, some of it astonishing if accurate--and some school leaders contend that it is not.Perhaps the most alarming stat comes from Friendship Collegiate Academy-Woodson, the Ward 7 high school, which expelled eight percent (102 of 1,231) of its students ... more »

COP Meeting Notice for February 28, 2012 - Title I Committee of Practitioners (COP) (CA Dept of Education)

COP Meeting Notice for February 28, 2012 - Title I Committee of Practitioners (COP) (CA Dept of Education):Meeting Notice:Title I Committee of PractitionersTuesday, February 28, 201210:00 a.m.The meeting will be held at:California Department of Education1430 N Street, 6th Floor, Room 6102Sacramento, CA916-319-0926The following sites will also be available to the public:Tustin Unified School District 1362 Mitchell AvenueTustin, CA714-730-7385Valley Center-Pauma Unified School District 28751 Cole Grade RoadValley Center, CA760-749-0464Reef-Sunset Unified School District 205 North Park... more »

A.M. Winn Closure Meeting: What You Said on Facebook - Rosemont, CA Patch

A.M. Winn Closure Meeting: What You Said on Facebook - Rosemont, CA Patch:A.M. Winn Closure Meeting: What You Said on FacebookThursday night's meeting of the Sacramento City Unified School District Board of Education was filled with dozens of people asking that the district keep A.M. Winn Elementary School open next year.But not all of the school's supporters could be there. Here's what some of Rosemont Patch's Facebook fans said on our page during the meeting:Kayla Amber Chung: "I know a ... more »

Jersey Jazzman: The War on Teachers Unions Hits a New Low

Jersey Jazzman: The War on Teachers Unions Hits a New Low:The War on Teachers Unions Hits a New Lowby DukeJust so classy:In its escalating war with the New Jersey Education Association, the state’s Republican Party recently turned to a new tactic: ambushing the head of the union with a video camera in the hope of capturing an embarrassing YouTube moment.The association said Thursday that having videographers lurking outside their offices in hooded sweatshirts and knit caps showed the lengths to ... more »

Are You Feeling RESPECT? « InterACT

Are You Feeling RESPECT? « InterACT:Are You Feeling RESPECT?by David B. CohenDear California Teachers,While you were in the classroom or eating lunch, or supervising lunch, or sponsoring a club, or helping students or attending an IEP meeting this past Wednesday afternoon, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan was talking about transforming our profession, launching Project RESPECT – which stands for Recognizing Education Success, Professional Excellence, Collaborative Teaching. It took from 2009 to 2012 for the administration to come around to the ... more »

Letter to Arne Duncan - Two Teachers and a Microphone

Letter to Arne Duncan Listen for a minute to what I sayWe don't teach kids for the merit pay I wipe away tears and break up fights in the hallsWhile Arne Duncan plays basketballPublic school you never taught in your lifeBut you studied Harvard so it gives you the right To bully the states who don't in your run raceWho oppose the policies that you embraceBased on the test you and your crewCrucify teachers and close our schoolsPimping out Pearson ... more »

Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top Early Afternoon Posts 2-1 #soschat #edreform

When it comes to the free-speech rights of teachers, the joke’s still on usBig Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All)-2 minutes agoWhen it comes to the free-speech rights of teachers, the joke’s still on us:When it comes to the free-speech rights of teachers, the joke’s still on usby SamThe good news is that Republican lawmakers in Arizona are now retreating from their recent proposal to require teachers to limit their speech to words that comply with FCC regulations on what ... more »

RheeFirst! » Kansas City Federation of Teachers Local 691 thwart Rhee’s e-lobby day

RheeFirst! » Kansas City Federation of Teachers Local 691 thwart Rhee’s e-lobby day:Kansas City Federation of Teachers Local 691 thwart Rhee’s e-lobby dayby adminWritten by Kansas City Federation of Teachers. Read the entire post here.“Not only did we pack the house (with less than 24 hours notice), but our members spoke eloquently and passionately about our students and the negative impact that the charter school and the anti-due process legislation would have on our district and our children.Although the district ...more »

Borrowing wise words from those truly market-based, Private Independent schools… « School Finance 101

Borrowing wise words from those truly market-based, Private Independent schools… « School Finance 101:Borrowing wise words from those truly market-based, Private Independent schools…by schoolfinance101Lately it seems that public policy and the reformy rhetoric that drives it are hardly influenced by the vast body ofempirical work and insights from leading academic scholars which suggests that such practices as using value-added metrics to rate teacher quality, or dramatically increasing test-based accountability and pushing for common core standards and tests to go with ... more »

Mother Crusader: Regis Academy Hires Closed Charter VP, NJDOE Opens Enrollment Beyond Four Districts

Mother Crusader: Regis Academy Hires Closed Charter VP, NJDOE Opens Enrollment Beyond Four Districts:Regis Academy Hires Closed Charter VP, NJDOE Opens Enrollment Beyond Four DistrictsLast night the Regis Academy held an information session that was attended by approximately 32 prospective parents. Some Cherry Hill residents that have been vocal opponents of the charter school also attended the meeting. One that is known to Amir Khan was pulled aside before the meeting and told that if she caused any trouble the ... more »

Brookings Institution Hits Common Core, Denounces Education Alarmism | Truth in American Education

Brookings Institution Hits Common Core, Denounces Education Alarmism | Truth in American Education:Brookings Institution Hits Common Core, Denounces Education Alarmismby James BellThe left-of-center Brookings Institution has a new report that indicates that the United States is not falling behind the rest of the world in education.It turns out that the “education reformers” who insist that the US public education system needs to be made accountable to Washington bureaucrat are hyperventilating. Brookings declares that at worst the US is “statistically indistinguishable” ... more »

Grumpy Educators: Colorado: Parents Oppose Excessive Testing

Grumpy Educators: Colorado: Parents Oppose Excessive Testing:Colorado: Parents Oppose Excessive TestingIn their own voices, parents speak out against excessive testing and test-centric instructional environments, one by one.Posted by Sandra at 2:10 PM

When it comes to the free-speech rights of teachers, the joke’s still on us

When it comes to the free-speech rights of teachers, the joke’s still on us:When it comes to the free-speech rights of teachers, the joke’s still on usby SamThe good news is that Republican lawmakers in Arizona are now retreating from their recent proposal to require teachers to limit their speech to words that comply with FCC regulations on what can be said on TV or radio — a half-baked idea rightly characterized by one critic as the “most hilariously unconstitutional ... more »

Teachers statewide will wear black in protest of legislation Gov. keeps pushing for educational reform - wtvr

Gov. keeps pushing for educational reform - wtvr:Gov. keeps pushing for educational reformTeachers statewide will wear black in protest of legislationComments0Share0TopicsRegional AuthorityGovernmentExecutive BranchSee more topics »Lorenzo Halladded by Alix Bryan/Online Producer11:26 p.m. EST, February 16, 2012RICHMOND, Va. (WTVR) --—Kathy Boultt and thousands of other teachers across the state on Friday will take part in a silent protest opposing lawmakers who want to do away with tenure-like contracts for teachers.“What the governor is proposing lends no stability whatsoever to te... more »

NYC Public School Parents: Carol Burris, principal, on the new NY State teacher evaluation plan announced yesterday

NYC Public School Parents: Carol Burris, principal, on the new NY State teacher evaluation plan announced yesterday:Carol Burris, principal, on the new NY State teacher evaluation plan announced yesterdayby Leonie HaimsonCarol is the courageous Long Island principal who co-authored the letter, signed onto by one third of all NY State principals, protesting the NYS teacher evaluation system. Her follow-up article for the Washington Post Answer Sheet was called, “Forging ahead with a nutty teacher evaluation plan.”Below is the email she ...more »

Schools Matter: Cuomo and Mulgrew Get New York in LIne with Other Lemmings

Schools Matter: Cuomo and Mulgrew Get New York in LIne with Other Lemmings:Cuomo and Mulgrew Get New York in LIne with Other Lemmingsby Jim HornLast night the king of hackneyed superlatives, Arne Duncan, was on Jon Stewart's show demonstrating once again that there is an Orwellian platitude for every serious question, a punishing lie inside every gilded compliment, a cynical calculation for every saccharine formula.And in the wee hours of this morning, New York teachers joined the death march of ... more »

Don't Like Value-Added? Cool. So Pick Your Poison :: Frederick M. Hess

Don't Like Value-Added? Cool. So Pick Your Poison :: Frederick M. Hess:Don't Like Value-Added? Cool. So Pick Your Poisonby Frederick M. Hess • Feb 17, 2012 at 8:03 amCross-posted from Education Week Print Send RSS ShareAs regular readers know, much of my writing on value-added dings would-be reformers for getting waaaay ahead of themselves. They're busy trying to build whole systems around tools that are crude, limited, and relevant for only a portion of what teachers and schools do. That's ... more »

Opportunism and cowardice. « Fred Klonsky

Opportunism and cowardice. « Fred Klonsky:Opportunism and cowardice.by Fred KlonskyThis morning my comrades in the schools of New York are writing rants about the foul deal that was worked out between their unions and the governor on teacher evaluation.The deal is a hoax, of course.Just like Illinois’ Senate Bill 7 is a hoax.Like all top-down reform plans. These scams will do nothing to address or fix the real or imagined ills claimed by their sponsors.Their sponsors know that. It is ... more »