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Tuesday, May 21, 2013

UPDATE: VAM This: Is This a New Definition of an Effective Teacher Ed Notes Online: Noon Today: TEACHERS COLLEGE STUDENTS AND FACULTY TO PROTEST

Ed Notes Online: Noon Today: TEACHERS COLLEGE STUDENTS AND FACULTY TO PROTEST AWARD TO MERRYL TISCH, NYS BOARD OF REGENTS CHANCELLOR:




VAM This: Is This a New Definition of an Effective Teacher - Throwing your body over kids during a tornado or in front of a bullet?

One can never say what you would do in situations like these and I cannot say for sure what I would do. I had a few minor incidents over my years of teaching where I hope I did the right thing. I think most teachers generally act in the interests of the safety of the kids in extreme conditions. It is an almost automatic act to put the kids in your charge ahead of yourself. But here is a scary thought: you take your kids on a trip and either due to your not being careful enough or due to one of your kids going off kilter (and maybe if a kid who was capable of going off should not have been on the trip) a kid falls on the tracks and a train is coming. What do you do? I'm really picturing this scene and right now I'm still standing on the edge of the platform reaching down and urging the child to grab my hands. But I haven't jumped on the tracks yet. The clock is ticking. How effective will I be deemed under the new definition of VAM?


Special to Ed Notes from Jim Callaghan 
 
Great to hear from Jim today, chief defender of teacher rights at the NY Teacher before Mulgrew fired him in the summer of 2010. Jim watching the actions of the teachers in Oklahoma expresses some outrage though he is a 



Noon Today: TEACHERS COLLEGE STUDENTS AND FACULTY TO PROTEST AWARD TO MERRYL TISCH, NYS BOARD OF REGENTS CHANCELLOR


We've been reporting on this for a week as various parents, faculty and student groups have petitions going. But today is the live protest by students, faculty and alumni of TC. The protest is as much against the actions of TC President Susan Fuhrman who is on the board of the Pearson test giant as it is against Tisch. TC students go there because many are progressive educators opposed to the high stakes testing regime while TC itself has blood on its hands in many ways. The alumni I know are outraged.

A group based at TC, Edu4, has a web site Edu4.

Check out this powerhouse 
School Book piece by Change the Stakes member Fred Smith on the exploding student, parent, alumni protest of the selection of Regent Merryl Tisch to be honored at tomorrow’s graduation.





MEDIA ALERT FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                  MAY 20, 2013

Press Contacts:
Daiyu Suzuki: (646) 546-2513daiyu.suzuki@gmail.com
Sulafa Khalid-Musa: (917) 600-7607smk2194@tc.columbia.edu


 TEACHERS COLLEGE STUDENTS AND FACULTY TO PROTEST
AWARD TO MERRYL TISCH,
NYS BOARD OF REGENTS CHANCELLOR


WHEN:             TUESDAY, MAY 21
TIME:               12:00 NOON
WHAT:              TEACHERS COLLEGE CONVOCATION
WHERE:           IN FRONT of CATHEDRAL OF ST. JOHN THE DIVINE
                        112th ST. AND AMSTERDAM AVENUE, NYC



WHY:  
At tomorrow’s graduation ceremony Merryl Tisch, Chancellor of New York State Board of Regents, is to be a speaker and receive an award from Teachers College. Tisch is a driving force behind the state’s policies of high-stakes testing in the public schools and the promotion of charter schools. Critics of these policies include TC graduates and other students as well as members of TC faculty, staff, and alumni.
Many TC students and faculty members state that Chancellor Tisch’s policies hurt children and damage all public schools, and most drastically damage schools that serve middle-class and poor families. In contrast,there are no high-stakes tests in elite private schools, where Chancellor Tisch’s children studied and where she taught. TC community members also object to TC President Susan Fuhrman’s unilateral decision to honor Chancellor Tisch with an award at their graduation.
Students, including graduates coming out of the convocation, and a number of faculty members are prepared to be interviewed by the press. They will share their photos of the protest as well.


Change the Stakes High States Testing Updates - Field Tests, Merryl Tisch Outrage, and More!

Message from the most dynamic group in the battle against Ed Deform in NYC.

Thanks so much for continuing to share and support the petition to Give New York State Parents the Right to Opt Their Children Out of High Stakes Testing.  A few important updates:

1.      Say No to Field Testing – Check out the Change the Stakes fact sheet, listing of NYC field test schools and sample opt out letters.  Statewide resources also available on the NYStopTesting site.  

2.      Problems Opting Out in April? – If you opted your NYC child out of State testing in April and feel you experienced some form of punishment please email changethestakes@gmail.com.  We are collecting stories for a legal support group that may be interested in taking action.  (NYC only for this item, please).  

3.      Controversy Brews at Teachers College – Please check out this powerhouse School Book piece by Change the Stakes member Fred Smith on the exploding student, parent, alumni protest of the selection of