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Friday, August 2, 2013

Tony, Florida and Indiana - Foundation for Excellence in Education #Cheats4Change

Tony, Florida and Indiana - Foundation for Excellence in Education:


Tony, Florida and Indiana


 • The EdFly Blog


“I actually like to floss.”
Neil Ruddock
So many things have been said and written about Charles Anthony Bennett this past week.  Reports surrounding his involvement in Indiana’s A-F grading system have been everywhere and extended well beyond the realm of education wonks.  Seeing your close friends and former colleagues on the front pages is not new to me, but the speed at which folks’ existing impressions of Tony (positive or negative) have been repeated and reinforced across all venues is nonetheless a reminder that public service is not for the faint of heart.
Amidst all the commotion, I would suggest that the five words above—calmly spoken a couple years back over an early morning cup of coffee in the Indiana statehouse—illustrate exactly who Tony Bennett is.
K-12 education does not suffer from a lack of viable solutions to its challenges.  Republicans and Democrats do not agree on all the finer points either within their own party or with their colleagues on the other side of the aisle, but the necessary changes (empowering and rewarding great teachers, holding schools accountable, providing robust choices to families) are relatively straightforward.
The issue has always been the political willpower to do what must be done.  And that’s why Tony Bennett is a man whom individuals far more talented than myself have been willing to run through a wall for.
The man likes to floss.
Over the past several years, his children have graduated from great schools.  He has 

Join me at the Education for Democracy convention Aug. 7 in Madison Parents United for Responsible Education

Parents United for Responsible Education » Blog Archive » Join me at the Education for Democracy convention Aug. 7 in Madison:

Join me at the Education for Democracy convention Aug. 7 in Madison

DemocracyConventionI’ll be part of the opening plenary for the Education for Democracy piece of the Democracy Convention next week in Madison, Wisconsin. The session will take place from 9 – 10:30 am on Wednesday, August 7 at Madison College, 211 N. Carroll St. Madison, WI 53703.
I’ll be talking about “The Year Ahead,” part of a roundtable discussion followed by general participation on immediate flashpoints in education, both in the U.S. and globally, looking ahead to 2013-14 year in K-12 and higher education.
Here’s more about the Democracy Convention: 
If you want to strengthen democracy where it matters most … in our communities, our schools, our workplaces and local economies, our military, our government, our media, our constitution … you will find something inspiring in Madison this August. Join us at the second national Democracy Convention.
More than one conference, the Democracy Convention houses at least nine conferences under one roof. As the great progressive reformer Fighting Bob La Follette said, “democracy is a life,” and “involves constant struggle” in all sectors of society. With the Democracy Convention, we recognize the importance of each of these separate democracy struggles, as well as the need to unite them all in a common, deeply rooted, broad based, movement for democracy.

A NEW DEMOCRACY MOVEMENT

A new movement – a democracy movement – was born in the streets of Seattle on November 30, 1999. This movement’s early years were not easy. Pro-democracy organizers faced crisis after crisis: the stolen presidential elections of 2000 and 2004; the militarization of America that followed September 11th; the destruction of the Gulf Coast in the aftermath of Katrina; the Supreme Court ruling that corporations wield constitutional rights to buy elections; and today, an economic crisis that is being used to impose fiscal austerity and corporatization schemes on our states and people.
Through these difficult struggles, the new democracy movement has taken form, expanded, and matured. The first Democracy Convention, held in August of 2011, was an incredible “coming of age” celebration for the U.S. democracy movement. Join us at the second convention. It’s time to take more risks and to begin to win the victories that make another world possible.
The Democracy Convention is a project of the Liberty Tree Foundation together with the conveners of each of this year’s nine conferences. We thank our national partners whose support as Major Sponsors, National Sponsor, Co-Sponsors, Endorsers, and Conference Conveners, has been vital. To find out how your organization, union, business, or community can join us, click here: http://democracyconvention.org/sponsor-convention
Democracy is coming . . . to the U.S.A.
- See more at: http://pureparents.org/?p=20783#sthash.SOjTQgg7.dpuf

IDEC 2013 Begins This Weekend | The IDEA Blog

IDEC 2013 Begins This Weekend | The IDEA Blog:

IDEC 2013 Begins This Weekend

Posted by Dana Bennis on Aug 02, 2013 - 11:43 AM


 
The 21st Annual International Democratic Education Conference gets underway this Sunday August 4th in Boulder, Colorado. This marks the second time IDEC has been in the United States - the first being ten years ago in Troy, NY in 2003 - and it also marks another key gathering point in the 2013 Summer of Movement that began with the Allied Media Conference in June and continued at the Free Minds, Free People conference last month.
From August 4-8th, five hundred educators, youth workers, young people, change makers, researchers, parents, and community leaders from around the world will gather in Boulder for a conference that will be unlike any other. From morning coffee talks that light the fires in participants' minds to home base groups that ground the experience, and from learn and share workshops delving deep into topics to the daily themes moving from history to vision to connection to equity and finally to action -- IDEC 2013 is dedicated to learning, sharing, connecting, and creating.  
Check out the complete IDEC 2013 program.
For 21 years, IDEC has passed from host to host around the world, each conference created by adults and youth committed to education that enables young people to have a voice and be engaged in learning that matters to them and their communities. And with each gathering, more and more people join the movement to build a global network of actors working for a more just and sustainable world through democratic education. 
For those not able to attend, you can learn alongside and interact with participants at #idec2013 on Twitter. And get ready -- it promises to be a lively and fun conversation!

Nite Cap 8-2-13 #BATsACT #thankateacher #EDCHAT #P2 #Cheats4Change

James Baldwin said it best: 

"For these are all our children, and we will profit by or pay for whatever they become."


A BIG EDUCATION APE NITE CAP


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