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Wednesday, August 10, 2011

School Tech Connect: Penchant For Pensions

School Tech Connect: Penchant For Pensions

Penchant For Pensions

Well, back to the grind. And by grind, I mean defending the pensions. Apparently this is now the permanent, ongoing thing we all have to do on a weekly basis. I'm ready. I'll be revving up the fax tomorrow and recruiting my network of hellraisers.

If you're working in a school, may I suggest that you do like Arne Duncan says to do, and raise the bar. You might even want to change the game. Ask people to post their advocacy letters on a bulletin board; use a checkoff list. Give people little gold stars. Set a goal for x number of letters and faxes by a certain date.

Colleagues sometimes ask me what to write--- and sometimes I help them. The thing is to do a bit of research

All Things Education: Research Papers vs Blogs: Defending "Antiquated" Teaching from 21st Century Education Reform

All Things Education: Research Papers vs Blogs: Defending "Antiquated" Teaching from 21st Century Education Reform

Research Papers vs Blogs: Defending "Antiquated" Teaching from 21st Century Education Reform

Here is the guest post I mentioned earlier today, from Cedar Riener, a college professor of psychology who normally blogs at Cedar's Digest:



Cathy Davidson is making the rounds again in the education blogosphere. A few years ago, she gave up on grading, structuring her classes around peer review. Each assignment was graded by peers (pass/fail) and the final grade was determined by the number of assignments completed. Now she is promoting her new book Now You See It, which, as I see it, is an effort to apply Dan Simons' and Christopher Chabris' Invisible Gorilla to... well, everything. But the edu-blogsphere is all a-twitter through Virginia

Emanuel Chooses a School as a Father Rather than a Mayor « Jay P. Greene's Blog

Emanuel Chooses a School as a Father Rather than a Mayor « Jay P. Greene's Blog

Emanuel Chooses a School as a Father Rather than a Mayor

(Guest Post by Matthew Ladner)

Choice for me but not for thee, episode 5,486.

It’s easy to send a torpedo slamming into the USS Rahm below the waterline on this, but for the record, I think Emanuel should make schooling decisions as a father, rather than as a Mayor or the leader of the Chicago

Teachers Feeling 'Beat Down' As School Year Starts : NPR

Teachers Feeling 'Beat Down' As School Year Starts : NPR

Teachers Feeling 'Beat Down' As School Year Starts

As students prepare to begin another school year, their teachers are hopping mad. They're facing layoffs and deep budget cuts and many say they're tired of being blamed unfairly for just about everything that's wrong in public education. They're so mad that many are bypassing their unions and mounting a campaign of their own to restore the public's faith in their profession.

Betsy Leis, a middle school teacher in Florida, is one of these angry teachers.

"I give my heart and my soul to every single student in my classroom and all I see on the news is that we aren't doing our job. We're constantly beat down. That's why I'm angry," Leis says. "I don't

Jersey Jazzman: Portrait of a Charter Cheerleader

Jersey Jazzman: Portrait of a Charter Cheerleader

Portrait of a Charter Cheerleader

Derrell Bradford, Executive Director of the corporate "reform" shop, Better Education for Kids (B4K), has been pushing charter schools for years. But his Deputy Director's career highlights the very problem with charters Bradford doesn't want to acknowledge: namely, that they serve a far more affluent group of students with far fewer special needs than neighborhood schools.


Unfortunately, this same charter advocate, Shelley Skinner, has used her connections and media influence to obscure the problem: she has repeatedly stated that charter schools serve a disproportionate number of at-risk children, when research shows exactly the opposite.


Maybe that's why she has been rewarded with influential positions in Chris Christie's government. Here's her

Church policy could complicate city’s new sex ed requirements | GothamSchools

Church policy could complicate city’s new sex ed requirements | GothamSchools

Church policy could complicate city’s new sex ed requirements

Public schools located in former Catholic school buildings will have to find another place to teach newly required sex education.

Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott surprised principals last night with the news that sex education will be mandatory in middle and high schools starting this year—a decision the New York Civil Liberties Union called “a great step forward for students’ health.”

For schools that operate in space leased from the Archdiocese of New York, the new requirement could induce a scheduling headache. A Department of Education spokeswoman, Barbara Morgan, confirmed that those schools would have to conduct the sex education lessons off-site in accordance with the archdiocese’

Big Education Ape: 8-10-11 PM "the passion-driven school" EDition

Big Education Ape: Ed News Now
Big Education Ape: Ed News Now
Published by Coopmike48 – 5 news spotters today

In Common Core, Little to Cheer About

edweek.org - Published Online: August 9, 2011Published in Print: August 10, 2011, as In Common Core, Little to Cheer AboutCommentary ByAndew C. PorterThe United States has long resisted a national curriculum, b...

DianeRavitch

Put it into law - Timesonline.com: Editorials:

timesonline.com - Posted: Wednesday, August 10, 2011 4:00 am | Updated: 4:20 pm, Tue Aug 9, 2011. Democrats in Harrisburg ought to make state Rep. Jim Christiana put his legislation where his mouth is. At a hearing ...

DianeRavitch

The NEA’s Circus | Labor Notes

labornotes.org - Despite fewer delegates than previous years—just about 9,000, down from 10,000—the National Education Association’s annual convention is still the largest delegated decision-making body in the worl...

DianeRavitch

PSBA | News Headlines

psba.org - 8/9/2011 Peter L. DeCoursey, Capitolwire Bureau ChiefREPRINTED WITH PERMISSIONHARRISBURG (Aug. 8) -- Education Secretary Ron Tomalis and Senate Education Committee Chairman Jeff Piccola, R-Dauphin,...

DianeRavitch

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Following the Charter Dollars - News & Announcements

lsba.com - Following the Dollars Who benefits financially from the pro-market charter school movement? The charter school reform emerged in part out of a progressive effort to promote innovation that ...

leoniehaimson

SOS March on Washington gives thousands a voice

substancenews.net - Sharon Schmidt - August 03, 2011'Fired' tee shirts told a dramatic story of the teacher bashing policies of the Obama administration. George and Annie Mclaughlin taught at Central Falls High School...

DianeRavitch

Kate Walsh, the NCTQ and US World and World Report

seattleducation2010.wordpress.com - On the news wires this week, U.S. News & World Report and the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) announce today the launch of a landmark survey. The survey will consist of more than 1,000 ...

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SocietySee all

HedgeFund.net: Public news from HedgeNews

hedgefund.net - Ever wonder how a hedge fund manager ended up on the board of directors of your local charter school? That̢۪s the question Don Whittinghill, a consultant to the Louisiana School Boards Association...

mikeklonsky

New images of Britain

michaelklonsky.blogspot.com - Oppression breeds resistanceBut the riots also reflect the alienation and resentment of many young people in Britain, where one million people from the ages of 16 to 24 are officially unemployed,...

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PoliticsSee all

Blog posts on this issue

whitehouse.gov - The White House Office of the Press Secretary For Immediate Release August 10, 2011 James S. Brady Press Briefing Room 12:46 P.M. EDT MR. CARNEY: Why don't we start? I don't have any anno...

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StoriesSee all

Our daily newpapers: four different takes on NYC test scores

nycpublicschoolparents.blogspot.com - The Wall Street Journal says charter schools’ scores – especially those of Eva Moskowitz’s schools -- are so stellar that they should stop opponents in their tracks. Of course! Privatization is...

leoniehaimson

What work is. « Fred Klonsky's blog

preaprez.wordpress.com - What work is. by Philip Levine, the new US Poet Laureate We stand in the rain in a long line waiting at Ford Highland Park. For work. You know what work is—if you’re old enough to read this you kno...

fklonsky

A very sad day in the Co-op world

davisfoodcoop.blogspot.com - Last month I blogged about the good our Co-op is doing in our local community, but today I'd like to point out that we are also part of a national and even global community, which is to say, the Co...

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Chile: Protest in Santiago Grows Violent

nytimes.com - Violence erupted on the streets of Chile’s capital, Santiago, on Tuesday as tens of thousands of students staged another protest demanding increased financing for public education. Masked protester...

fklonsky

BBC News - Parliament recalled to tackle riots

bbc.co.uk - 9 August 2011 Last updated at 06:23 ET Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Amateur footage appears to show a gang of youths charging at police in south-east London Parliam...

leoniehaimson

Bomb Package Explodes Mexican Campus, Injuring 2 Professors

hispanicallyspeakingnews.com - Published at 1:05 pm, August 9, 2011 Photo Credits: Bomb Explodes on Monterrey Institute of Technology Campus Mexico City authorities are reporting a package bomb exploded at the Monterrey Institut...

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Chicago Shopping

chicagotribune.com - By Annie Sweeney Tribune reporter 10:57 p.m. CDT, August 9, 2011 A federal judge has ruled that former Mayor Richard M. Daley can be sued for alleged police brutality conspiracies that happened und...

fklonsky

Chicago Shopping

chicagotribune.com - By Annie Sweeney, Tribune reporter August 10, 2011 A federal judge has ruled that former Mayor Richard M. Daley can be sued for alleged police brutality conspiracies that happened under former Chic...

mikeklonsky

Principal found dead at Tenn. school; student held

boston.com - MEMPHIS, Tenn.—A school principal was killed Wednesday in an apparent homicide at a private school and a 17-year-old student was taken into custody, police said.Officers said the body Suzette York,...

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#eduRead this paperSee all

A Revolution Within the UTLA

bigeducationape.blogspot.com - A Revolution Within the UTLAA Revolution from Withinby Sarah Rosenberg The 40,000-member United Teachers Los Angeles is not known as a leader in education reform. In fact, Los Angeles Mayor Antoni...

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Don't be a Bully | EdNews #Parent

bigeducationape.blogspot.com - Brad Scornavacco – Bullying | EdNews Parent Brad Scornavacco – Bullying *Brad Scornavacco* is a nationally-renowned martial artist who brings the best of the martial arts into the world of schools ...

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Don't be a Bully | EdNews #Parent

bigeducationape.blogspot.com - Brad Scornavacco – Bullying | EdNews Parent Brad Scornavacco – Bullying *Brad Scornavacco* is a nationally-renowned martial artist who brings the best of the martial arts into the world of schools ...

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