Latest News and Comment from Education

Sunday, August 16, 2015

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 8/16/15


SPECIAL NITE CAP 

CORPORATE ED REFORM





When A Budget Motel Is 'Home,' There's Little Room For Childhood : NPR
When A Budget Motel Is 'Home,' There's Little Room For Childhood : NPR: When A Budget Motel Is 'Home,' There's Little Room For ChildhoodIan opens the door to the motel room he shares with his mother, Karen. Their living situation has exposed the 5-year-old to conditions most students his age don't have to confront. "He saw way too much in the last few weeks," Karen says.Tess Vigeland/NPR
What Vaccines Your Child Needs to Start School | Rosemont, CA Patch
What Vaccines Your Child Needs to Start School | Rosemont, CA Patch: What Vaccines Your Child Needs to Start SchoolUnder California law, children must be fully immunized before starting school.As the school year starts, public health officials are reminding parents to get their children vaccinated before starting school.Under California law, children must be vaccinated against a host of diseases,
Blame attacks on public education for teacher shortages, Percy Brown and Tim Slekar say : Ct
Blame attacks on public education for teacher shortages, Percy Brown and Tim Slekar say : Ct: Blame attacks on public education for teacher shortages, Percy Brown and Tim Slekar sayPercy Brown (left), the director of equity and student achievement at Middleton High School, and Tim Slekar, the dean of Edgewood College's School of Education.Some Wisconsin school districts have reported problems fill
Letter To The Editor Of Ebony Magazine - United Opt Out
LETTER TO THE EDITOR OF EBONY MAGAZINE - UNITED OPT OUT: The Movement to End Corporate Education Reform: LETTER TO THE EDITOR OF EBONY MAGAZINE(Photo from: http://www.commondreams.org/views/2015/08/15/new-orleans-washing-machine-style-education-reform)The recent article “What Happened to All Schools in New Orleans?”written by R.L. Hill presents a false and incomplete picture of the K-12 schools in
Russ on Reading: Is First Grade Ready for Your Child?
Russ on Reading: Is First Grade Ready for Your Child?: Is First Grade Ready for Your Child?If you are a parent of a six-year-old about to enter first grade, you are sure to be wondering if your child is “ready for first grade.” You may have already had this discussion with a kindergarten teacher, school administrator or your Aunt Janet who taught school for a while thirty years ago. Everybody seem
Fake Report: No relationship between teacher pay, student results
Report: No relationship between teacher pay, student results: Report: No relationship between teacher pay, student resultsA new report looking at the salaries of the 75 largest school districts in California alleges there is no correlation between teacher compensation and higher student test scores.Transparent California posted the report on their website’s blog on Wednesday morning. The report lo
Common Core: A Real Test For Pearson - Pearson plc (NYSE:PSO) | Seeking Alpha
Common Core: A Real Test For Pearson - Pearson plc (NYSE:PSO) | Seeking Alpha: Common Core: A Real Test For PearsonSummaryCommon Core education requirements are controversial and expensive.Pearson is the market leader but suffering recent setbacks.Demographics provide a rising tide in Education.The Common Core State Standards Initiative provides a framework for standardized testing in English and
The war on North Carolina’s public schools | Salisbury Post
The war on North Carolina’s public schools | Salisbury Post: The war on North Carolina’s public schoolsI am no fan of hyperbole, but I mean it when I say this: North Carolina is waging war against public education.The pathway that brought us here has been paved with underfunded budgets, tactical strikes against public school teachers, fundamental changes in charter school operations, the diversion
Teacher Age Discrimination During a So-Called Teacher Shortage
Teacher Age Discrimination During a So-Called Teacher Shortage: Teacher Age Discrimination During a So-Called Teacher ShortageJeb Bush is 62. Hillary Clinton is 67. Donald Trump is 69 and Bernie Sanders is 73. If these individuals were teaching in a public school, and not famous politicians, what would you bet that they’d still be working?How many older teachers do you know who are still teaching?
CURMUDGUCATION: Backpacks for Clueless Parents
CURMUDGUCATION: Backpacks for Clueless Parents: Backpacks for Clueless ParentsOver at Getting Smart, a website devoted to selling educational product, guest writer Aimee Rogstad Guidera makes her case for more data collection for each student-- because it's what parents want.Parents are eager for information about their child’s education. As a mom, I want to know if my daughter is struggling in ma
Glen Brown. More on teacher Social Security theft. | Fred Klonsky
Glen Brown. More on teacher Social Security theft. | Fred Klonsky: Glen Brown. More on teacher Social Security theft.– By Glen Brown. Glen blogs at Teacher/Poet/Musician/Watch Cat. This is a post from 2012 with current updates.The Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) “was enacted as part of the 1983 Social Security Refinancing Act, designed to shore up the financing of the Social Security Trust Fu
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: McQueary's fake apology. Assures us she is 'not a racist'.
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: McQueary's fake apology. Assures us she is 'not a racist'.: McQueary's fake apology. Assures us she is 'not a racist'.I wrote what I did not out of lack of empathy, or racism, but out of long-standing frustration with Chicago’s poorly managed finances. -- Kristen McQuearyTake note: Whenever a writer has to explain to readers that they're not really a racist or lackin
A Puzzle in the Teaching of History | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice
A Puzzle in the Teaching of History | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice: A Puzzle in the Teaching of HistoryIn my forthcoming book, Teaching History Then and Now: A Story of Stability and Change, I describe teaching history and social studies in the 1960s and in 2014 in two urban high schools, one in Cleveland (Glenville High School) and one in Washington, D.C. (Cardozo High Scho
Geaux Teacher!: The Perils of using Disaster as a Catalyst for Change in Louisiana - Part 1
Geaux Teacher!: The Perils of using Disaster as a Catalyst for Change in Louisiana - Part 1: The Perils of using Disaster as a Catalyst for Change in Louisiana - Part 1Some very good editorials are being published as we approach the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana.  I am going to re-post several of those that particularly strike a nerve with me because they cut through the rheto
There’s one education reform proven to work on a national scale, so why aren’t we trying it? - The Hechinger Report
There’s one education reform proven to work on a national scale, so why aren’t we trying it? - The Hechinger Report: There’s one education reform proven to work on a national scale, so why aren’t we trying it?In the fight over how to close the racial achievement gap in education, you rarely hear about the only policy that’s ever worked on a national scale: desegregation.Reformers push school choic
Schools Matter: Pence Funded by Oregon’s Charter School Libertarian
Schools Matter: Pence Funded by Oregon’s Charter School Libertarian: Pence Funded by Oregon’s Charter School LibertarianBy Doug Martin, Author of Hoosier School Heist(Doug Martin is up for the Best Local Political Activist of the Year Award.  Please go to NUVO and vote for him today and every day until August 21.) The school privatizers are tossing money at Mike Pence right and left.  The governor
How States Rank on High-School Graduation Rates - The Atlantic
Nevada vs. Arizona: Despite an All-Time-High National Graduation Rate, Dropout Factories and Achievement Gaps Persist in Some States - The Atlantic: How States Rank on High-School Graduation RatesNationwide, the percentage of students getting their diplomas is at an all-time high. But while some states have made incredible strides, others have struggled to keep up.More students are graduating from
District riven by religious favoritism claims gets monitor - Yahoo News
District riven by religious favoritism claims gets monitor - Yahoo News: District riven by religious favoritism claims gets monitorSUFFERN, N.Y. (AP) — When his fifth-grade son struggled with a question on primary colors posed by the TV show "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader," David Curry saw just how bad things have gotten in the troubled East Ramapo school district.Divided for a decad
Op-ed: Teach for America stumbles because its teachers aren't prepared | The Salt Lake Tribune
Op-ed: Teach for America stumbles because its teachers aren't prepared | The Salt Lake Tribune: Op-ed: Teach for America stumbles because its teachers aren’t preparedTeach for America is celebrating its 25th anniversary, but, for the second time in two years, its recruitment numbers are down. The program, which handpicks college graduates to teach in high-need schools, has been so popular that 18
Sacramento City Council has inconsistent record of sexual harassment training | The Sacramento Bee
Sacramento City Council has inconsistent record of sexual harassment training | The Sacramento Bee: Sacramento City Council has inconsistent record of sexual harassment trainingA state bill signed into law in 2004 requires that employers in California with more than 50 workers give sexual harassment prevention training to all supervisors every two years. The law – Assembly Bill 1825 – was inspired
Education summit to gauge Kasich | The Columbus Dispatch
Education summit to gauge Kasich | The Columbus Dispatch: Education summit to gauge KasichGov. John Kasich is taking part in an education summit this week in New Hampshire with several other Republican presidential candidates, and he should have plenty to say.Former NBC and CNN journalist Campbell Brown said the idea behind Wednesday’s event is to go in-depth with the candidates — in individual qu

YESTERDAY

The Teacher Shortage - The New York Times
The Teacher Shortage - The New York Times: The Teacher ShortageEducators cite low pay, lack of respect and support, and high-stakes tests as causes.To the Editor: Re “Across Country, a Scramble Is On to Find Teachers” (front page, Aug. 10):We applaud you for shining a light on the economic forces that helped create the national teacher shortage: low pay, higher student loan debt and recession-link
The strange case of Newark’s vanishing principal. Who just reappeared. | Bob Braun's Ledger
The strange case of Newark’s vanishing principal. Who just reappeared. | Bob Braun's Ledger: The strange case of Newark’s vanishing principal. Who just reappeared.Nothing more dramatically shows the contempt the state-operated school district obviously feels for the residents of Newark than the way its leaders–first Cami Anderson and now Christopher Cerf–keep parents uninformed about even dramatic
Seattle Schools Community Forum: FTC Seeks Public Comment on Parental Consent for Children's Online Privacy
Seattle Schools Community Forum: FTC Seeks Public Comment on Parental Consent for Children's Online Privacy: FTC Seeks Public Comment on Parental Consent for Children's Online PrivacyThe Federal Trade Commission is seeking public comment on a proposed verifiable parental consent method that Riyo has submitted for Commission approval under the agency’s Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule.Unde
Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 8/15/15
SPECIAL NITE CAP CORPORATE ED REFORMJersey Jazzman: How Economists Hired By Hedge Fund Maniacs Justify Shafting Puerto Rico's StudentsJersey Jazzman: How Economists Hired By Hedge Fund Maniacs Justify Shafting Puerto Rico's Students: How Economists Hired By Hedge Fund Maniacs Justify Shafting Puerto Rico's Students Diane Ravitch points us to yet another example of how the very wealthiest in this c