Latest News and Comment from Education

Thursday, May 21, 2015

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 5/21/15



Special Nite Cap 

CORPORATE ED REFORM





Washington Teachers Strike Across the State | Al Jazeera America
Washington Teachers Strike Across the State | Al Jazeera America: Washington Teachers Strike Across the State  Hundreds of educators began picketing Thursday in Washington state's Richland, Kennewick, Pasco and Burbank school districts — joining some 60 other districts where there have been walkouts to protest what many say is the legislature’s failure to adequately fund K-12 public schools.They j
CURMUDGUCATION: Is NAEP Really a Benchmark?
CURMUDGUCATION: Is NAEP Really a Benchmark?: Is NAEP Really a Benchmark?The recent Achieve study (the one with the Honesty Gap) is just the most recent example of someone using the NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) as a benchmark test, as the gold standard of Sorting Students Out.But not everybody agrees that the NAEP (aka "the nation's report card) is a good measure of, well
Rauner's peek-a-boo moment at Illinois Capitol supports charter schools | Chicago
Rauner's peek-a-boo moment at Illinois Capitol supports charter schools | Chicago: Rauner's peek-a-boo moment at Illinois Capitol supports charter schoolsSPRINGFIELD — Gov. Bruce Rauner emerged briefly in the Capitol Rotunda on Thursday to address dozens of charter school supporters who were in town promoting school choice.Rauner’s appearance comes in a week when he’s made few of them, instead pen
The Scientific BS Surrounding Common Core and Teaching Vocabulary
The Scientific BS Surrounding Common Core and Teaching Vocabulary: The Scientific BS Surrounding Common Core and Teaching VocabularyMAY 21, 2015 BY NANCY BAILEY LEAVE A COMMENTI am going to be a BS detector. The Common Core State Standards are made to appear complicated. Fancy codes and scientific sounding big words are used to wow the public. But if you look at the standards, they’re nothing inno
Mayor Kevin Johnson’s latest moves and mishaps prove more than worrisome -Sacramento News & Review
Sacramento News & Review - Mayor Kevin Johnson’s latest moves and mishaps prove more than worrisome - Bites - Opinions - May 21, 2015: Mayor Kevin Johnson’s latest moves and mishaps prove more than worrisomeTo be accused by so many women, so many times, it boggles the mindGood for Sacramento City Councilman Steve Hansen, calling out Mayor Kevin Johnson’s backdoor budget buster—a proposed 70 pe
Louisiana Educator: New Orleans RSD Compared to Traditional Schools
Louisiana Educator: New Orleans RSD Compared to Traditional Schools: New Orleans RSD Compared to Traditional SchoolsThe national news media has been reporting for several years now that the "portfolio" of charter schools created to run the state takeover schools in New Orleans have produced an amazing turnaround of those schools in the ten years since hurricane Katrina demolished the pub
Who is Eli Broad and why is he trying to destroy public education?
Defend Public Education - Who is Eli Broad?: Who is Eli Broad and why is he trying to destroy public education?by Ken Derstine(Most recent revision: May 10, 2015. Revisions are not changes of the origianal February 24, 2013 article as written, but added information and links. See "Links to articles" for many news update links to this article.) (Click blue text for links.) IntroductionThe
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Charter school expansion and spin machine in full gear
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Charter school expansion and spin machine in full gear: Charter school expansion and spin machine in full gearSenn Principal Susan Lofton"We have all been working so hard with our community to bring our schools up, to serve the community, to offer the programs our families want and to really engage in this resurgence where the community has a true community scho
Connecticut Charter Schools are promoting greater racial segregation using taxpayer funds - Wait What?
Connecticut Charter Schools are promoting greater racial segregation using taxpayer funds - Wait What?: Connecticut Charter Schools are promoting greater racial segregation using taxpayer fundsAs Robert Cotto Jr. writes about the way in which Connecticut charter school companies are pocketing public funds in his latest CTNewjunkie commentary piece entitled, Stunning Charter School take down by Rob
To Education Post’s Peter Cunningham on His Common-Core-Promotion Effort | deutsch29
To Education Post’s Peter Cunningham on His Common-Core-Promotion Effort | deutsch29: To Education Post’s Peter Cunningham on His Common-Core-Promotion EffortPeter Cunningham is in charge of what blogger Anthony Cody terms, “education’s only multi-million-dollar blog,” Education Post. In an interview with another blogger, corporate-reform bee charmer, Jennifer Berkshire (“EduShyster”), Cunningham
Teachers Under Siege: BATs Call on Federal Lawmakers to Demand Scientific Study on Teacher Stress Badass Teachers Association
Badass Teachers Association: Teachers Under Siege:  BATs Call on Federal Lawmakers to Demand Scientific Study on Teacher Stress Teachers are under siege!  BATs initiated a study to be done on teacher stress by the AFT.  Our collaboration, the first of its kind, shows that a growing number of educators are under siege in this country.  Many are reporting high levels of bullying and stress.  Time to
Accountability? How Overseers Let Charters Off the Hook; $3.3 Billion Spent
Accountability? How Overseers Let Charters Off the Hook; $3.3 Billion Spent: Accountability? How Overseers Let Charters Off the Hook; $3.3 Billion Spent(Photo: Money in the garbage via Shutterstock)ruthout combats corporate power by bringing you trustworthy, independent news. Join our mission by making a donation now!Earlier in this special report series, CMD revealed how states that do not hold t
Why we should diversify the overwhelmingly white U.S. teaching force — and how - The Washington Post
Why we should diversify the overwhelmingly white U.S. teaching force — and how - The Washington Post: Why we should diversify the overwhelmingly white U.S. teaching force — and howStudents have been shown to benefit from having a diversity of teachers, yet the vast majority of teachers in the United States are white and female. What can be done about this? Leslie T. Fenwick, dean of the Howard Uni
Trust: The Foundation Of Student Achievement | Shanker Institute
Trust: The Foundation Of Student Achievement | Shanker Institute: Trust: The Foundation Of Student AchievementWhen sharing with me the results of some tests, my doctor once said, "You are a scientist, you know a single piece of data can't provide all the answers or suffice to make a diagnosis. We can't look at a single number in isolation, we need to look at all results in combination."
Robert Putnam's Our Kids and Reclaiming the American Dream | John Thompson
Robert Putnam's Our Kids and Reclaiming the American Dream | John Thompson: Robert Putnam's Our Kids and Reclaiming the American DreamRobert Putnam, in his seminal synthesis Bowling Alone, recalls the first two-thirds of the twentieth century when "a powerful tide bore Americans into ever deeper engagement in the life of their communities." In Our Kids, Putnam describes the 20th century
Madison schools could be subject to takeover bill | Education - Channel3000.com
Madison schools could be subject to takeover bill | Education - Channel3000.com: Madison schools could be subject to takeover billMilwaukee schools immediately qualifyMADISON, Wis. -A sweeping proposal giving control of the lowest-performing schools in Milwaukee to a commissioner who could fire all the teachers and administrators might also apply to other large, racially diverse school districts i
The financial crisis, as planned by the state, has become a political crisis in Newark | Bob Braun's Ledger
The financial crisis, as planned by the state, has become a political crisis in Newark | Bob Braun's Ledger: The financial crisis, as planned by the state, has become a political crisis in NewarkThey call it reformThe crisis is at hand. The decision by Cami Anderson, appointed by Gov. Chris Christie to run the Newark schools four years ago, to cut neighborhood school budgets by an additional five
Kevin Johnson Truth? Who To Believe In Sacramento? SN&R or SacBee
Sacramento News & Review - Sacramento arena lawsuit unearths new emails, documents that suggest illegal collusion and gifts to the Kings - News - Local Stories - May 21, 2015: Kevin Johnson Truth? Who To Believe In Sacramento? SN&R or SacBeeSacramento arena lawsuit unearths new emails, documents that suggest illegal collusion and gifts to the KingsIs there now proof that majority owner Viv
Parent Trigger Testimony: A One-way Street to Private Control #SB14 | Cloaking Inequity
Parent Trigger Testimony: A One-way Street to Private Control #SB14 | Cloaking Inequity: Parent Trigger Testimony: A One-way Street to Private Control #SB14Parent Trigger is a one-way street to non-democratic, private control of our public schools.During the last round of Parent Trigger law attempts, I wrote about it in the posts Parent trigger laws: Wolves in sheep’s clothing and astroturfing and
History remains battleground in American education as California university equates U.S. history with anthroplogy | Deseret News National
History remains battleground in American education as California university equates U.S. history with anthroplogy | Deseret News National: History remains battleground in American education as California university equates U.S. history with anthroplogyA state university in California has decided that anthropology can be substituted for U.S. history, raising the ire of at least one history professo
L.A. school board seat is a pivotal purchase for charter school movement - LA Times
L.A. school board seat is a pivotal win for charter school movement - LA Times: L.A. school board seat is a pivotal purchase for charter school movementSupporters of charter schools won a groundbreaking election victory in Los Angeles this week, putting one of their leaders, for the first time, on the governing board of the nation's second-largest school system.The triumph of charter school co-fou
The Seattle teachers’ walkout in pictures | Seattle Education
The Seattle teachers’ walkout in pictures | Seattle Education: The Seattle teachers’ walkout in picturesThe Seattle teachers’ walkout in pictures | Seattle Education:

YESTERDAY

SF teachers union elects first new president since 2003 | Education | San Francisco | San Francisco Examiner
SF teachers union elects first new president since 2003 | Education | San Francisco | San Francisco Examiner: SF teachers union elects first new president since 2003 GABRIELLE LURIE/SPECIAL TO THE S.F. EXAMINERLita Blanc, the new SF teachers union president enters a Union meeting at Rosa Parks Elementary school on May 20,2015 in San Francisco, CA.San Francisco’s teachers union has elected new lead
Chicago Teachers Union | CTU Contract Talk Briefing
Chicago Teachers Union | CTU Contract Talk Briefing: CTU Contract Talk Briefing CHICAGO—As bargaining continues at a slug’s pace, the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) offers this primer on our contract proposals and the fiscal crisis created by the District to weaken a new collective bargaining agreement. The CTU and the BOARD will continue labor talks on Thursday, May 14.The Board of Education chose
Sacramento arena lawsuit unearths new emails, documents that suggest illegal collusion and gifts to the Kings Sacramento News & Review
Sacramento News & Review - Sacramento arena lawsuit unearths new emails, documents that suggest illegal collusion and gifts to the Kings - News - Local Stories - May 21, 2015: Sacramento arena lawsuit unearths new emails, documents that suggest illegal collusion and gifts to the KingsIs there now proof that majority owner Vivek Ranadive asked city for $100 million in ‘sweeteners'?Newly acquire
Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 5/20/15
Special Nite Cap CORPORATE ED REFORMRodriguez becomes first charter operator on L.A. school board - LA TimesRodriguez becomes first charter operator on L.A. school board - LA Times: Rodriguez becomes first charter operator on L.A. school boardRef Rodriguez on Tuesday became the first person from the charter-school movement to be elected to the Los Angeles Board of Education.His win, against one-te