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Thursday, May 23, 2013

MORNING UPDATE LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 5-23-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all:

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This Student Refused to Take the State Test

Zoe is in the sixth grade in North Carolina. She decided to opt out of the state tests.her parents supported her. At first, the school told her there would be no repercussions. But when testing day came, her family got a letter warning that she would not be allowed to come back to school unless she took the test. Zoe and her dad started the Blue Hat Movement.
You can read about it here.
Zoe refused to take the test and was asked to leave the building. She is a straight A student.



How ALEC Sets the Agenda in Ohio

Ohio leaders–Governor John Kasich and the Legislature–are determined to privatize public education, demoralize teachers, and generate profits for entrepreneurs and campaign contributors. Here is the latest from Bill Phillis, who is leading a campaign to stop the destruction of public education in Ohio. A former deputy commissioner of education, he leads the Ohio Education and Adequacy Coalition.
Phillis writes:
FY2014-FY2015 State Budget Proposal: “Education Reform” process must change
May 23, 2013
The recently adopted “education reform” process seems to follow these steps:
· State officials assume that any deficiencies in student test scores, behavior, work force readiness, college 


Time for an Elected School Board in Chicago

This article argues that Chicago needs an elected school board.
Rahm’s school board sounds like the Politburo, all voting in unison to do what is unconscionable.
One protester said, “Every school is my school.”
This is the saddest comment of all:
“In between the dramatic scenes of angry audience members refusing to leave the podium, there were so many 

LA Times: How Monica Ratliff Won

Howard Blume has a terrific article
explaining how Monica Ratliff beat Antonio Sanchez and his multi-million $$$ campaign fund.
Sanchez had millions of dollars, a large staff, the endorsement of the LA Democratic Party (thanks, Mayor Villarigosa), and major labor unions.
Monica raised $52,000, had no paid staff, and taught her class every day. She never told her students that she 

Chicago: Most Disgusting Editorial on Mass Closings

The Chicago Tribune would have advised American troops to lay down their arms when defeat seemed certain. They would have advised appeasement in the 1930s. This is an editorial board that cares not a whit for 40,000 children (not their children, after all) or for public education.
The Chicago Tribune editorial board is composed of Quislings. This is their advice to teachers:
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May 22, 2013
When a vast tornado ripped into an Oklahoma elementary school, some teachers threw themselves on top of their students to shield them. They put their students’ lives before their own.
Some quick-thinking teachers huddled children into a bathroom. Though the roof blew off the school, the kids

What Is “Creative Destruction”? Who Wins? Who Loses?

This is a brilliant, stunning analysis by a reader, who explores the goals of corporate reformers–using the template of Schumpeter’s ideas–and contrast them to the ethics of educators. She says that the market reformers and educators are necessarily at odds because their basic values are in conflict.
Read the whole post, not just my excerpts.
I wish I had written this. I am glad I had the opportunity to read it, you should too. You will come away with a 

Texas Fails to Create Privatized “Recovery” District–So Far

In the closing days of the Texas legislative session, an effort to create a so-called “recovery school district” or “achievement district” failed to pass. However, its sponsors tucked it into another bill, and its ultimate fate is uncertain. The article notes that the bill has the support of some of the state’s wealthiest lobbyists, including former Enron trader John Arnold, a staunch supporter of market-based school “reform.”
As always, it is important to read between the lines. The new district, under state control, would take control of low-performing schools, hand them over to private charter operators, and been free to hire uncertified teachers 

Is the Reform Movement Based on the Soviet Model?

Author William Doyle has been observing the current “reform movement” promoted by people like Arne Duncan, Michael Bloomberg, Bobby Jindal, Rick Snyder, Rick Scott, and Michelle Rhee, and he has developed a theory about its true nature. Doyle thinks that the current movement is Soviet-style, with unrealistic targets and top-down control. What struck me as amazing is that I read an article in the Teachers College Record and bloggedabout it a year ago, in which the author argued that the current model of “education reform” is Stalinist. At the 

Are Teachers Overpaid? The Last Word Comes from Oklahoma

A few years ago, a study released by the American Enterprise Institute concluded that teachers are overpaid.
Not so, writes CNN contributor LZ Granderson. In this wonderful article, he shows the every day courage of teachers–most recently demonstrated when a devastating tornado hit an elementary school in Moore, Oklahoma, and last December when teachers in Newtown, Connecticut, died shielding their students.
Here is the AP story about the Oklahoma tornado, showing how quickly teachers protected their children.

Chicago School Closings: The Largest in US History

Never in U.S. history has a local school board–or any other board, appointed or elected–chosen to close 49 public schools.
Never.
That’s what the Chicago Public Schools did yesterday.
Thousands of parents, students, and teachers objected, but Mayor Rahm Emanuel and his puppet board didn’t 

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 5-22-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 2 hours ago
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: [image: Click on picture to Listen to Diane Ravitch] Join Discussion of Parent Trigger Hoax by dianerav Please join this important discussion about the corporate attempt to trick parents into handing their public schools over to private corporations: The Parent Trigger from California to Florida Sunday, May 26, 2013 from 12:30 PM to 1:30 PM Pacific Time We will be hearing from Lori Yuan, a parent in Adelanto who fought the Parent Trigger at her school, and Parents Across America Founding Member Rita Solnet who, alo... more »