Latest News and Comment from Education

Monday, February 17, 2014

Rally to Stop Common Core at the Utah State Capitol Tonight | Truth in American Education

Rally to Stop Common Core at the Utah State Capitol Tonight | Truth in American Education:



Rally to Stop Common Core at the Utah State Capitol Tonight

Utah's_Capitol_Hill_in_2010
(Salt Lake City, UT) Utahns Against Common Core will hold a rally on Tuesday, February 18, at 6:30pm to send a message to Utah Legislators; stand up against the common core or prepare to be voted out of office.  The rally will be held in the basement in the Capitol building in the Hall of Governors.  Speakers include Sinhue Noriega, renowned teacher and author, many state legislators, community activists and Rod Arquette.
Common Core was brought to Utah under a shroud of ignorance and secrecy.  Parents, educators, and the public in general were excluded from its implementation and adoption.  This rally will kick off the efforts of a non-partisan coalition of Utahns who will come together and mobilize across Utah with the express purpose of exposing Common Core as a system that treats Utah’s children like political and corporate resources rather than as individuals born with unique talents and needs.
The rally comes on the heels of a U.S. Senate Resolution denouncing the Obama administration’s coercion of the States with Common Core.  The Resolution was recently announced and is co-sponsored by Senators Tim Scott (R-South Carolina), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), James Inhofe (R-Oklahoma), Thad Cochran (R-Mississippi), Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi) and Mike Enzi (R-Wyoming).  The U.S. House issued a similar Resolution sponsored by Congressman Jeff Duncan (R-South Carolina).  Its original co-signers include Congressman Rob 

Hite releases school action plan built on 'bold expectations'

Hite releases school action plan built on 'bold expectations':



Hite releases school action plan built on 'bold expectations'




Hundreds turned out for a strategy, policy, and priorities meeting in which they were broken up into small groups on Jan. 13, 2014. Dr. William Hite, Jr, Superintendent of Schools talks to one of the groups. (CHARLES FOX/Staff Photographer)




Despite enormous, ongoing fiscal challenges in the Philadelphia School District, Superintendent William R. Hite Jr. is thinking big.

How big?

Every 8-year-old in the city reading at grade level. Every student graduating ready for college and careers. Every school with a great principal and teachers. Full funding for great schools.

Centering on those four goals, Hite's 42-page blueprint for the future of the district, to be issued Monday, is full of "bold expectations," the superintendent said.





MORE COVERAGE
  • Read: Hite's Action Plan (.pdf)

  • Incoming School Reform Commission Chairman Bill Green is fully on board with the plan, an aspirational document that emphasizes "evidence-based strategies" and counts on significant changes in the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers' contract, now being negotiated.

    "The current rules in schools will not lead to better outcomes for children," Green said in an interview. "If a principal can't choose the teachers, if we can't reward teachers based on performance rather than time on the job and degrees held, we're not going to be successful."

    Green, who along with Farah Jimenez must be sworn in before an SRC meeting Thursday, said Philadelphia schools won't get the additional funding they need to operate unless those changes are made.

    "If we can't do that, then we need to be looking at other educational choices for parents," choices like charters, he said.

    Hite's "Action Plan v2.0" - the follow-up to his initial blueprint, issued in January 2013, contains four anchor goals. All are pressing, but the early-literacy goal will be the most urgent, Hite




    Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/education/20140217_Hite_releases_school_action_plan_built_on__bold_expectations_.html#GPHs3ikkJQ5JLjfK.99

    Great year for CalSTRS won’t alter need for big increase in contributions | EdSource Today

    Great year for CalSTRS won’t alter need for big increase in contributions | EdSource Today:




    The Assembly committee that will decide how to fix the multi-billion dollar funding shortfall for teacher and administrator pensions will get good – and some sobering – news when it holds its first hearing on the issue this week.
    First, the good news: New figures indicate that impressive return on investments by the California State Teachers Retirement System for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2013, would shave about $550 million from the additional dollars that teachers, school districts and the state will have to pay annually for the next 30 years to erase CalSTRS’ $71 billion deficit, according to CalSTRS.
    Now, the sobering news: Even with that great one-year stock market return of 13.8 percent – nearly twice as high as the assumed return of 7.5 percent – contributions from teachers, school districts and the state combined would need to increase at least $4.2 billion annually, starting July 1, 2015.And if, as is more likely, the additional contributions are phased in gradually over four or five years, that figure will rise to about $4.8 billion per year, diverting more money to pension contributions that would have gone to teachers’ take-home pay and to increasing programs and services for California’s students.
    The cost of delay: Postponing implementation of the increase needed to bring the Defined Benefit Program to full funding would add hundreds of millions of dollars in contributions from employees, school district and the state. Source: CalSTRS memo to its board of directors, Feb. 2014.
    The cost of delay: Postponing implementation of the increase needed to bring the Defined Benefit Program to full funding would add hundreds of millions of dollars in contributions from employees, school district and the state. Source: CalSTRS memo to its board of directors, Feb. 2014.
    The conclusion from CalSTRS’staff in a memo to the CalSTRS board: “No matter how it is measured, the risk associated with excessive delays in implementing the funding solution for the (defined benefit pension) program shortfall is that the cost of that solution … would have a major impact on the budgets of those who pay those contributions.”
    On Wednesday, the Assembly Public Employees, Retirement and Social Security Committee will 

    Newark mayoral candidate Ras Baraka outlines education plan | NJ.com

    Newark mayoral candidate Ras Baraka outlines education plan | NJ.com:



    Newark mayoral candidate Ras Baraka outlines education plan

    ras-baraka-critic-anderson.jpg
    Mayoral candidate Ras Baraka, standing outside Weequahic High School in Newark in December, unveiled his blueprint for improving Newark public schools. (Frances Micklow/The Star-Ledger)

    NEWARK — Positioning himself as the Education Mayor, Newark councilman and mayoral candidate Ras Baraka today detailed a broad plan for the city’s schools, including keeping neighborhood schools open, strengthening pre-school programs and fighting for the return of local control.
    Baraka, a public school principal who is on leave as he campaigns for the May election, focused on collaboration and community engagement, telling his audience at Rutgers-Newark that he would bring every segment of the city together to improve education.
    “One thing I’m sure of is no one can do this by themselves,” Baraka told a supportive crowd at a campaign event that drew some 150 people. “A fundamental piece of our plan is the inclusion of all institutions in the community, all the stakeholders in the community. Everyone who has a stake has to be involved.”
    Baraka’s 12-page blueprint offers a comprehensive approach to fixing the state’s largest school district, which is under state control. His vision serves as an alternative to state Superintendent Cami Anderson’s reorganization, which has been widely criticized.
    Unveiled in December, Anderson’s plan calls for moving, consolidating or closing about one-quarter of the district’s schools and turning four neighborhood facilities over to charter schools.
    Regaining local control of the district is the top priority, Baraka said.
    “The state has had control for 19 years, and everything that has happened falls squarely on the shoulders of those in Trenton,” he said. “We need local control of the school board so we can get the job done ourselves.”
    Baraka wants to create community-based afterschool programs, build a network of parents from charter and district schools, integrate Spanish, Portuguese and Creole languages into all school activities and provide incentives for teachers to work in Newark.
    The candidate made several references to the Newark Global Village School Zone, which he was part of as principal of Central High School. That community-based network was built on partnerships with local universities, nonprofit corporations and cultural institutions like the New Jersey Performing Arts Center.
    “The best practices we (studied) had nothing to do with closing schools or firing staff or co-location or any of that,” he said in 

    more education

    An Open Letter to Bill Gates and a Keynote Challenge | deutsch29

    An Open Letter to Bill Gates and a Keynote Challenge | deutsch29:



    An Open Letter to Bill Gates and a Keynote Challenge

    February 17, 2014


    Dear Bill,
    You don’t know me. I have never applied for one of your fat, corporate-reform-promoting education grants. I am not even tempted to even though I have little money. You see, I am a career public school teacher, and I consider your money wielding a detriment to a healthy democratic society.
    You and other philanthropists have given me a lot to write about over the past year. Whereas I have a book in press on the privatization of public education (and yes, you are in that book), most of my writing I have done on this blog for free. Readers can take or leave my work as they choose.
    What has been wonderful is that I have an ever-increasing following, not because I have purchased anyone’s favor, but because what I write resonates with my readers.
    I am even being offered speaking engagements.
    I know that you also garner speaking engagements– likely far more than I ever will. It seems that people think you are an expert because you give them money.
    Maybe they feel they owe you keynote spots since you slide them millions.
    My first experience with your keynote purchase involved your July 2010 keynote to the American Federation of Teachers (AFT).
    Frankly, your opening to that speech makes me ill:
    Thank you, Randi, for inviting me here to speak. I want to also thank you and the AFT members for supporting historic reforms in public education. You all have surprised a lot of people lately by launching reforms with a long list of unexpected partners.
    Melinda and I are proud to have our names on that list. [Emphasis added.]
    I am an AFT member, Bill, and I do not support your “historic reforms.” In fact, in November 2013, I publicly called out AFT President Randi Weingarten in this open letter for taking your money.
    I asked her to return it.
    She has not done so.
    The same month of your AFT keynote– July 2010– you gave AFT $4 million  “to support the American Federation of Teachers Innovation Fund and the union’s teacher development and evaluation programs.”
    That year on its IRS Form 990,  AFT reported receiving $6.9 million in contributions and grants– almost its entire total revenue.
    So, Bill, you gave AFT more than half of its 2010 total funding.
    Furthermore, it seems that you are the primary funder of the PBS channel, The Teaching Channel– which just so happens to endorse and promote the Common Core State Standards (CCSS).
    As education blogger Anthony Cody notes in February 2014, you get to pump money into the reforms of your choice, not the least of which is CCSS. 
    In 2013, I wrote a series on your CCSS spending– much of which is used to sell CCSS and push implementation.
    You will be happy to know that Randi Weingarten is still pushing your agenda– CCSS implementation down classroom teachers’ throats.
    So is National Education Association (NEA) President Dennis Van Roekel. NEA has also taken several millions from you.
    When I concluded my series on your CCSS spending, the total was $173.5 million.
    And though US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan insists that your money does not buy for you decision making power over American education, I have found that you are even purchasing “restructuring advice” for the USDOE.
    So, the latest news is that you are to give a keynote at the 2014 National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS).
    I knew that NBPTS belonged to the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), but I did not know that you owned it, as well.
    Anthony Cody highlights your NBPTS purchase:
    The National Board has received several grants from the Gates Foundation in recent years. In 2010, the organization actively participated in the Gates Foundation’s Measures of Effective Teaching project, receiving $1,195,639 to score videos of teaching. 
    More recently, The National Board received a Gates Foundation grant in the amount of $3,743,337 ”to support revision of the National Board certification process.” …
    Given the way in which Gates Foundation grants have influenced organizations that have received them, I wonder if the revised National Board certification process will include the use of student test scores or Value Added metrics as part of teacher portfolios?
    The best teacher leadership, just like journalism or any other endeavor that requires integrity, ought to be independent of the undue influence of corporate sponsors, even those willing to whisper praise in our ears. I hope the National Board guards this independence fiercely. 
    Regarding your upcoming NBPTS speech, Cody concludes the following:
    The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) has announced that Bill Gates will be a keynote speaker at their 2014 Teaching and Learning conference next month. If this speech follows recent patterns, he will praise teachers to the heavens, while downplaying the ways in which reforms he has advanced have undermined our profession. 
    However, Bill, I would like to offer you this challenge:
    How about speaking on the destructive influence of unchecked billionaire spending on the democratic foundations of freedom of the press and public education?
    It seems that you have a lot to say about how the world should be run.
    In January 2012, you even gave this speech in which you identify lack of accountability as a primary cause of state education budget deficits– yet you toss millions around with your opinions attached and are accountable to no one.
    Your money is philanthropic cocaine to the organizations accepting your dollars.
    Your millions appear to foster a quick addiction in which organizations bend their agendas to suit the stream of your continued millions– to the detriment of their constituents.
    It is time for you to be accountable, Bill. Toward this end, the best I have is to call you out on my free blog.
    In your 2014 NBPTS speech, break new ground by offering a plan for your own accountability regarding your education reform spending.
    Feel free to share your plan with Eli Broad and the Waltons.
    Perhaps you might form a philanthropic support group to help each other withdraw from the bored-billionaire addiction to purchasing democracy.
    You could be your own “next” project.
    Sincerely,
    Mercedes Schneider
    Public school teacher and self-declared “hundredaire”'


    Another Nimrod of Negativity Bashes Teachers southbronxschool.com

    http://www.southbronxschool.com:



    Another Nimrod of Negativity Bashes Teachers

    We don't have Bloomberg to kick around anymore when the Daily News publishesanti-teacher columns like it did today. I mean does Mort still fear the wrath of Uncle Mike?

    So just who is this Katharine A Stevens that wrote another ill informed hit piece against NYC teachers today?

    Kathy it seems is super duper smart. She is great at telling others how to do things yet never implementing and practicing anything she spews to actually experiencing it. Like a priest who can give marriage advice, Kathy is a professional students and policy wonk who can't and won't put her money where her blue blooded money comes from.

    But wait! She does have skills according to her LinkedIn page;
    Excellent written and verbal communication skills with exceptional talent for building relationships with diverse stakeholders.
    ♦ Demonstrated ability to conduct original, relevant policy research, with special expertise in legislative and regulatory analysis.
    ♦ Strong entrepreneurial and project management skills.
    ♦ Quick learner with well-developed critical thinking skills; ability to operate effectively in complex environments.
    ♦ Creative, resourceful, big-picture thinker with demonstrated capacity to bridge worlds of practice, policy, and research.
    ♦ Fluent in Spanish.
    But let's take apart her arguments from today's article.

    ...the premise of a groundbreaking lawsuit now being heard in Los Angeles Supreme Court 

    Fight With Us Too, Damnit (Educators and Jordan Davis) - The Jose Vilson | The Jose Vilson

    Fight With Us Too, Damnit (Educators and Jordan Davis) - The Jose Vilson | The Jose Vilson:



    Fight With Us Too, Damnit (Educators and Jordan Davis)

    by JOSE VILSON on FEBRUARY 17, 2014
    in JOSE
    When the Michael Dunn verdict came down, I fully expected him to get off on all counts. The Trayvon Martin case only created two pathways for future cases like these: either America – specifically Florida – would learn and do better for the next trial or it would give carte blanche to any white person to take the life of a young person of color on the basis of “threat.” The latter happened, and, while it hurt, I’ve long been desensitized to the tragedies, a condition created by the environment where I was raised.
    For people of color, there was and never has been “the good ol’ days.”
    As the constant observer, I just decided to peruse through my timeline, checking to see if, like the Zimmerman Martin trial, popular educators would quicker discuss listicles and Google Glass than the lynching of children of color. Sure enough, that’s exactly what happened. Very few educators talked about it, and so I flipped:

    The minute this tweet hit 20 retweets, a few educators got defensive, replying back, “Did you see my timelines?” A few others unfollowed. A few others still decided that retweeting was enough.
    I laughed. Why people had such a visceral reaction is beyond me. I just wondered, aloud, why educators so active on Twitter when it comes to issues of educational technology, teacher evaluation, the Gates Foundation, anti-testing, lists that they did or didn’t get on, education
    - See more at: 

    SACRAMENTO PROGRESSIVE ALLIANCE: Organizing in the New Economy Forum

    SACRAMENTO PROGRESSIVE ALLIANCE: Organizing in the New Economy Forum:



    Organizing in the New Economy Forum


     The objective of this event is to bring workers and activists together to hear from speakers and openly discuss building union power in today’s economy. As you know, the nature of work in America is changing rapidly. CEO and executive compensation is skyrocketing, while the middle class is shrinking and suffering from layoffs, unemployment, and stagnant wages. This level of income inequality in the United States has not been seen since 1928, and union membership has fallen to below 1920s’ levels. More than ever, working people need the collective voice and bargaining rights that unions provide. A strong and organized labor force is the best defense against poverty and inhumane working conditions, which is why I am partnering with SEIU-USWW and the Sacramento Activist School to host this timely forum.
    Agenda:
    Opening Remarks Assemblymember Roger Dickinson
    Organizing in the New Economy Lino Pedres
    Income Inequality Dr. Duane Campbell
    State of Our Unions Fred Ross, Jr.
    Immigration Reform Alma Lopez

    DIARY OF A PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHER!: Seniority Has No Privileges:Eliminating Teacher Tenure!

    DIARY OF A PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHER!: Seniority Has No Privileges:Eliminating Teacher Tenure!:



    Seniority Has No Privileges:Eliminating Teacher Tenure!



    I've always equated age with wisdom, thus, leading me to believe that a veteran teacher has a lot to offer.

    Of course, there are older teachers who refuse to change. They are teaching the way they used to be taught, and see the changes in education as
    just another phase.  But there are a number of older teachers, myself included, who have changed, and shouldn't be thought of as someone who should be put out to pasture.

    In the past few years, tenure has been under attack. When tenure is attacked, many veteran teachers fall victim. This article about tenure explains what tenure really is. Tenure is not a way to keep "bad" teachers in the classroom. That is a myth. Tenure is a way to make sure teachers receive due process. Unfortunately, this process is being taken away from teachers.

    Two instances stand out for me. North Carolina is being battered.  They are a right-to-work state, they are suffering from pay cuts, and tenure has been removed. "Teacher tenure has been replaced by a merit-based system that rewards long-term contracts to the top 25 percent of teachers, and shorter contracts to everyone else."  When I asked the question regarding the criteria for the top 25%, one of my Facebook followers said that there is no criteria. Are you as scared as I am? I'm thinking of two ways off the top of my head that a teacher can be placed in the top 25%.  Test scores or your daddy is a good friend of an administrator. Can you say cheating scandal and/or nepotism? Cases like these, those who are really the top 25% wouldn't benefit.

    In California, there is a lawsuit against tenure by students, and a Silicon valley mogul. This mogul set up a nonprofit group called StudentsMatter. The students say it is too easy to keep "bad" teachers because of tenure. Of course there are "bad" teachers. But does this mean you should strip away a process that benefits "good" teachers? They are also worried about 

    “What sober person gives standardized tests to a kindergartner? Ever meet a 5-year-old?” – Part 1 | Teachers' Letters to Bill Gates

    “What sober person gives standardized tests to a kindergartner? Ever meet a 5-year-old?” – Part 1 | Teachers' Letters to Bill Gates:



    “What sober person gives standardized tests to a kindergartner? Ever meet a 5-year-old?” – Part 1

    What Sober Person - Tweet
    Dear Bill and Melinda,
    It is no surprise that 522 + people find the headlines to Nerissa Ediza’s tweet horrifying. Her question is so rational and yet, what is irrational is what is actually happening behind the closed doors of our kindergarten classrooms — testing upon layer of testing – standardized, summative, and formative testing of 5 year olds that is often hidden from their parent’s eyes.   Mandated unnecessary corporate-reform-instigated-standardized testing of 5 year olds is growing at an alarmingly rate, as Race to the Top and Common Core have invaded our kindergarten classrooms.  How can this be? If parents and community members knew the truth, what would they do about it?
    While this tweet is about Oregon, the standardized testing program called Teaching Strategies Gold Assessment Tool (TSGAT) discussed in The Oregonian is ramping-up across America with your financial support. I found several instances of your funding TSGAT.
    Peg Robertson give readers great details about TSGAT in her blog:  “Do Not Go for the Gold (Teaching Strategies Gold) for Early Childhood”.
    You can read The Oregonian author’s report here:
    What Sober Person The Oregonian
    You see, TSGAT is not the only standardized test, nor the only assessment we are mandated to use on our kindergartners. I will discuss my kindergarten testing 
    “What sober person gives standardized tests to a kindergartner? Ever meet a 5-year-old?” – Part 2 Dear Bill and Melinda, I wrote “What sober person gives standardized tests to a 

    “What sober person gives standardized tests to a kindergartner? Ever meet a 5-year-old?” – Part 3 Dear Bill and Melinda, Our last post covered how corporate reform has 

    The Curriculum Conundrum | Truth in American Education

    The Curriculum Conundrum | Truth in American Education:



    The Curriculum Conundrum

    Filed in CCSS Content by  on February 17, 2014 • 0 Comments
    CommonCoreAligned1Below is a guest contribution by Leslie Beck, who is a former math teacher and mom who lives near Des Moines, IA.  She runs the Stop Common Core in Iowa Facebook group and helps me administer Iowans for Local Control’sFacebook page.
    The Curriculum Conundrum
    By Leslie Beck
    Who would have thought that something so seemingly mundane as textbooks could create such a national debate. This is the big question: Do the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) mandate curriculum? The answer is a definite no. The problem, and it is a big one, is that CCSS drive and influence curriculum. In many cases, the influence is having negative consequences.
    The truth is that some school districts are making poor curriculum choices. They are looking for ways to align to CCSS. Schools are seeking curriculum with that "CCSS-aligned" label as if it is a Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval. There are a few problems with that. First, CCSS offers no replacement or refund if the curriculum is defective. Second, anyone can publish a curriculum that is CCSS-aligned. There is no approval process for alignment. The curriculum may be fantastic or it may be garbage. It could be full of propaganda, errors, or inappropriate content and still meet the standards. The curriculum may even say that it aligns even though it doesn’t adequately cover the standards at all.
    So why are we seeing so many issues with curriculum in the news and posted on the internet? Is