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Monday, February 15, 2016

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 2/15/16



CORPORATE ED REFORM



Important ESSA Discussion February 16: Online Streaming Available & Tweet Senator Alexander Your Feelings on ESSA – Missouri Education Watchdog
Important ESSA Discussion February 16: Online Streaming Available & Tweet Senator Alexander Your Feelings on ESSA – Missouri Education Watchdog: Important ESSA Discussion February 16: Online Streaming Available & Tweet Senator Alexander Your Feelings on ESSAAbove is a screen shot from CATO’s announcement for the discussion on Tuesday, February 16 @ noon EST, 11 AM CST, 10 AM Mountain, 9 AM
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: WEDNESDAY'S 'WALK-INS' MEDIA ADVISORY
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: WEDNESDAY'S 'WALK-INS' MEDIA ADVISORY: THE ALLIANCE TO RECLAIM OUR SCHOOLSADVISORY FOR                                             CONTACT: Ira ArlookWEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2016         202-258-5437, ira@fenton.comParents, Students and Teachers Plan “Walk-Ins” at 800 Public Schools in 30 Cities to Demand the Kind of  Education that All Children DeserveAlliance to Re
NYC Public School Parents: Send an Email Now to Mayor and Speaker to Address School Overcrowding
NYC Public School Parents: Send an Email Now to Mayor and Speaker to Address School Overcrowding: Send an Email Now to Mayor and Speaker to Address School OvercrowdingPlease send an email to the Mayor and the City Council Speaker Melissa Mark Viverito, urging them to expand the plan and create a Commission to speed the accuracy and efficiency of school planning and siting.The DOE released its upda
Gates Foundation Coordinates Efforts to Defy Washington Supreme Court - Living in Dialogue
Gates Foundation Coordinates Efforts to Defy Washington Supreme Court - Living in Dialogue: Gates Foundation Coordinates Efforts to Defy Washington Supreme CourtAs the corporate reform project begins to fray around the edges, one of the main sponsors is resorting to more overtly political tactics.The Gates Foundation is ostensibly a charitable enterprise, and enjoys significant tax benefits as a r
Scalia’s death likely to alter outcome in Friedrichs lawsuit | EdSource
Scalia’s death likely to alter outcome in Friedrichs lawsuit | EdSource: Scalia's death likely to alter outcome in Friedrichs lawsuitWith the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, the California Teachers Association will likely gain an unexpected victory, at least for now, in its legal battle to continue the right require all teachers to pay the costs of collective bargaining.That was the
Landry-Walker principal, other administrators, suspended with pay amid cheating probe | The Lens
Landry-Walker principal, other administrators, suspended with pay amid cheating probe | The Lens:Landry-Walker principal, other administrators, suspended with pay amid cheating probeLongtime Landry-Walker High School principal Mary Laurie is among the school administrators  placed on paid administrative leave amid a cheating investigation, the Algiers Charter Schools Association announced Monday.T
Marie Corfield: My Response to the NJ Pension Study Commission
Marie Corfield: My Response to the NJ Pension Study Commission: My Response to the NJ Pension Study CommissionIn a big PR move to sell the state on their recommendations, last week two members of the NJ Pension Study Commission, Tom Byrne and Tom Healey took to the media. Here is my response:My response to the Pension Study Commission's Report can be summed up in one word: No.No, you will not take
Some CT superintendents continue to violate parent’s civil rights and their own Code of Responsibility - Wait What?
Some CT superintendents continue to violate parent’s civil rights and their own Code of Responsibility - Wait What?:Some CT superintendents continue to violate parent’s civil rights and their own Code of Responsibility Parents of public school students in a number of Connecticut school districts continue to report that there are superintendents and principals who are not only misleading parents ab
John Thompson: Opt Out is Frightening the Politicians  | Diane Ravitch's blog
John Thompson: Opt Out is Frightening the Politicians  | Diane Ravitch's blog: John Thompson: Opt Out is Frightening the Politicians  John Thompson, historian and teacher, writes that parents have shaken up the education landscape:“February has always been a time when blizzards keep blowing across the nation but, too often, it now marks the end of meaningful learning in our classrooms. Long before
Judging the Judge: What Antonin Scalia’s Death Means to the People I Love | gadflyonthewallblog
Judging the Judge: What Antonin Scalia’s Death Means to the People I Love | gadflyonthewallblog: Judging the Judge: What Antonin Scalia’s Death Means to the People I LoveI’m not sad Antonin Scalia is dead.Wow! It feels so good to say that aloud!Come on. Admit it. You feel exactly the same way.I know. I know. Everywhere you turn, people are going out of their way to talk about the ramifications of
Seattle Schools Community Forum: On This Presidents' Day - #ArresttheLegislature
Seattle Schools Community Forum: On This Presidents' Day - #ArresttheLegislature: On This Presidents' Day - #ArresttheLegislature Press Release (bold mine):#ArrestTheLegislature Press Conferenceon School Funding and Black Lives MatterWho: All City Black Student Union (BSU) and Black Law Student Association, Garfield High School BSU members, University of Washington BSU members, Chief Sealth High S
The Wister Community Schools Plan – An Alternative To Charter Takeover | WeArePCAPS
The Wister Community Schools Plan – An Alternative To Charter Takeover | WeArePCAPS: The Wister Community Schools Plan – An Alternative To Charter TakeoverEveryone recognizes Wister needs to improve in order to better serve our students and families. Not everyone agrees the only alternative is turning it over to a charter operator.Experience shows schools improve when the commitment, energies and
Jersey Jazzman: Only You Can Stop Data Abuse: Red Bank, NJ Edition
Jersey Jazzman: Only You Can Stop Data Abuse: Red Bank, NJ Edition: Only You Can Stop Data Abuse: Red Bank, NJ EditionData abuse in eduction policy has got to stop.I freely admit that there can be different, equally valid ways of interpreting data. I am the last person to say a data analysis is always "proof" of a particular point someone wants to make. I am leery of the use of overly co
Teacher: What I didn’t expect to learn about people from standardized testing - The Washington Post
Teacher: What I didn’t expect to learn about people from standardized testing - The Washington Post: Teacher: What I didn’t expect to learn about people from standardized testing Amy Roberts has been teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages in New York City since 2002. She currently teaches eleventh-grade English at International High School at Union Square, where the entire student body is
CURMUDGUCATION: NJ: Red Bank and the New White Flight
CURMUDGUCATION: NJ: Red Bank and the New White Flight: NJ: Red Bank and the New White FlightThe Red Bank, NJ, school system is actually a tiny little thing. Three boroughs (Red Bank, Little Silver and Shrewsbury) run their own K-8 schools which then feed into a regional high school.There's one other school in Red Bank-- Red Bank Charter School. Red Bank Charter School is back in the news because i
Jeopardy Question: Where Did Teachers Take to the Streets to Protest Educational Centralization & Authoritarianism? (It’s Not in America) – Missouri Education Watchdog
Jeopardy Question: Where Did Teachers Take to the Streets to Protest Educational Centralization & Authoritarianism? (It’s Not in America) – Missouri Education Watchdog: Jeopardy Question: Where Did Teachers Take to the Streets to Protest Educational Centralization & Authoritarianism? (It’s Not in America)From http://hungarianfreepress.com/2016/02/13/twenty-thousand-protest-orbans-education
NYC Educator: Whatever Eva Wants, Eva Gets
NYC Educator: Whatever Eva Wants, Eva Gets: Whatever Eva Wants, Eva GetsThe big story in reformy Chalkbeat NY's Rise and Shine, of course, is Eva Moskowitz. Moskowitz is under fire for the documented cruelty of one of her teachers. Alan Singer points out that this teacher is not actually certified but a Moskowitz mentor teacher nonetheless. Moskowitz, who refuses to sign the standard agreement for
The Horace Mann League: Asymmetric Information, Parental Choice, Vouchers, Charter Schools and Stiglitz
The Horace Mann League: Asymmetric Information, Parental Choice, Vouchers, Charter Schools and Stiglitz: Asymmetric Information, Parental Choice, Vouchers, Charter Schools and Stiglitz From the Journal of Education Finance,  Fall 2012by Kern AlexanderThe story goes that tuition voucher schools and charter schools are creatures of the spirit of capitalism1 and that public funding of them will incre
A Big Red “F” For Indiana | Live Long and Prosper
A Big Red “F” For Indiana | Live Long and Prosper: A Big Red “F” For Indiana Indiana legislators and “reformers” love letter grades…so communities (via their schools) are graded as A through F using already invalid ISTEP scores. Those grades are good for things like getting campaign donations from privatizers, bashing public school teachers, and directing real estate agents to where the money is,
Sarah Davies: Excellence not Success
Excellence not Success: Excellence not SuccessWaiting in the doctor’s office today, my oldest asked what I was reading. When I told her it was Guy Claxton’s What’s the Point of School?, she looked confused. “Mommy, I know what the point of school is. Why do you need to read a book on it? It’s to learn and be patient and to learn to be nice, and respectful and honest, intelligent, and kind. You go
Success Academies’ No-Excuses Charters: Today’s Dickensian Cram Schools | janresseger
Success Academies’ No-Excuses Charters: Today’s Dickensian Cram Schools | janresseger:Success Academies’ No-Excuses Charters: Today’s Dickensian Cram Schools I am a great fan of the later novels of Charles Dickens—Bleak House, Great Expectations andOur Mutual Friend, but 40 years ago, when I read Hard Times, the fable seemed so overdone as to be far-fetched.  When I picked up this 1854 novel again
Outspoken Candidates Could Revive Rancor on Education Board | The Texas Tribune
Outspoken Candidates Could Revive Rancor on Education Board | The Texas Tribune: Outspoken Candidates Could Revive Rancor on Education BoardRight to Left, Top to Bottom: Georgina Perez, Dakota Carter, Mary Lou Bruner, Joe Fierro, Jr., Jasmine L. Jenkins, Keven M. Ellis Save for some flare-ups in the past few years over what to put in social studies textbooks — and how to handle an error in one of
Anti-Bullying Strategy That Teaches Bystanders To Intervene Is Most Effective, Say Study - Yahoo News
Anti-Bullying Strategy That Teaches Bystanders To Intervene Is Most Effective, Say Study - Yahoo News:Anti-Bullying Strategy That Teaches Bystanders To Intervene Is Most Effective, Say Study A new anti-bullying strategy that focuses on teaching bystanders to intervene has been proven to dramatically cut bullying and also improve the self-esteem of bullied children.Called KiVa, the the new approach
Free-range education: Why the unschooling movement is growing - Yahoo News
Free-range education: Why the unschooling movement is growing - Yahoo News: Free-range education: Why the unschooling movement is growingA once-utopian idea – allowing kids to ‘discover’ their own education path while learning at home – goes mainstream. On a late Monday morning in this rural New Hampshire town, Dayna and Joe Martin’s four children are all home. Devin, age 16, is hammering a piece
ESSA and the shifting landscape at the US Department of Education | Brookings Institution
ESSA and the shifting landscape at the US Department of Education | Brookings Institution: ESSA and the shifting landscape at the US Department of EducationThe year 2015 was momentous for American education for two somewhat contradictory reasons—it marked the 50th anniversary of the passage of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) and the passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA
The biggest regret from a 41-year career in education reporting (and a lot more) - The Washington Post
The biggest regret from a 41-year career in education reporting (and a lot more) - The Washington Post: The biggest regret from a 41-year career in education reporting (and a lot more)John Merrow is an award-winning broadcast journalist who spent 41 years covering public education in the United States for PBS. He retired last year and retired from his Learning Matters production company (which was
WTF: UC says the cost of its secret snooping system is secret - San Francisco Chronicle
UC says the cost of its secret snooping system is secret - San Francisco Chronicle: UC says the cost of its secret snooping system is secretUC President Janet Napolitano had Web scanners installed after a hacker attack at the UCLA medical center last summer. University of California President Janet Napolitano’s office is refusing to disclose the price ofthose controversial Internet snooping scanne

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Majority of U.S. public school students are in poverty - The Washington Post
Majority of U.S. public school students are in poverty - The Washington Post: Majority of U.S. public school students are in povertyThree-year-old Saria Amaya waits with her mother after receiving shoes and school supplies during a charity event in October to help more than 4,000 underprivileged children at the Fred Jordan Mission in the Skid Row area of Los Angeles. Children from low-income famil
Moskowitz’s Success Academy Is Being Sued Again | deutsch29
Moskowitz’s Success Academy Is Being Sued Again | deutsch29:Moskowitz’s Success Academy Is Being Sued AgainOn January 29, 2016, Diane Ravitch posted a piece about New York City charter lightening rod, Eva Moskowitz, demanding that NYC Mayor Bill DeBlasio give her Success Academies a grant for pre-K– without signing the required contract for the money.Included in Ravitch’s post is a copy of an emai
Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 2/14/16
CORPORATE ED REFORMA state judge keeps Newark teachers on edge about health benefits |A state judge keeps Newark teachers on edge about health benefits |: A state judge keeps Newark teachers on edge about health benefitsCerf and Christie: Will they–and George Norcross– determine health benefits for Newark teachers?The future of health benefits for 4,000 Newark teachers and their families is still