Ten minute drawing. Person of the year.
December 20, 2012
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Daily posts from a retired public school teacher who is just looking at the data.
Mike Klonsky’s Small Talk- Put school closings behind us? 'NO WAY'! Families occupy classrooms at Lafayette.Three weeks ago, a well-orchestrated call could be heard, coming from Clark Street and the 5th Floor at City Hall. "“We are putting the past behind us,” Byrd-Bennett said. “It is time to turn the page” on school closings. Yesterday, the community resistance movement answered back.As the first wave of schools were being shuttered, with more than 850 CPS […]
- Put school closings behind us? 'NO WAY'! Families occupy classrooms at Lafayette.
- Glen Brown: Teacher/poet/musician
- Pension Reform Will Not Address the Unfunded Liability. So what should be done instead of a biased conference committee and roll-call vote?“Since there is an impasse, the House and Senate voted to form a Conference Committee that will be comprised of Senate and House appointees. [From the Senate: Kwame Raoul, Linda Holmes, Daniel Biss, William Brady, and Matt Murphy; from the House: Elaine Nekritz, Michael Zalewski, Arthur Turner, Darlene Senger, and Jil Tracy]*... The Conference Committee will […]
- Pension Reform Will Not Address the Unfunded Liability. So what should be done instead of a biased conference committee and roll-call vote?
- John Dillon’s Pension Education
- The Real Pension Obstructionist: A Letter to a LegislatorPension Obstructionist: Chicago TribuneDear Representative and Senator,We do not often get second chances, but all of you in the General Assembly are about to be granted another test of your allegiance to the Illinois Constitution and your political fortitude to find real and honorable answers to the Illinois “pension crisis.”Let’s be clear about one real tr […]
- The Real Pension Obstructionist: A Letter to a Legislator
- Ken Previti’s Reclaim Reform
- The American School for Indentured ServantsCorporate pillage and plunder of school children is not limited to testing, charters, etc. in Kindergarten through 12th grade. Remember indentured servants? College age students are being legally indentured. Here are start-up companies that specialize in this. HERE. For those … Continue reading →
- The American School for Indentured Servants
- Roger Sanders
- PENSION REALITY SHOW - PREVIEW OF SPECIAL SESSIONIt appears as though Madigan will not call for a vote on his amendment to SB2404 today, thus...
- PENSION REALITY SHOW - PREVIEW OF SPECIAL SESSION
- IEA LOCAL 28
- Rogers Park Neighbors For Public Schools
- We're On Our Summer ScheduleSummertime, and RPNPS is going to light scheduling mode. We'll be active in the Artists On The Wall event in June, so look for some pictures later in June.I myself will be out of town until August; I don't have internet service out in the woods, so posting here will be very, very light until we gear up again in the fall. If I'm able, I'll […]
- We're On Our Summer Schedule
- Chicago Public Fools by South Side CPS Mom
- Peoria Story
- Public to school board: keep the green spacePEORIA -- The Peoria District 150 School on June 17 heard more than a dozen different eloquent speakers contend that turing the 82-acre Peoria Stadium site into a Walmart or other big box store is a terrible idea. No one...
- Public to school board: keep the green space
- NYC Educator
- King Reformy John Makes Yet Another Brilliant DiscoveryI've got a little better handle on why King Reformy John decreed that city teachers need to hit 15 of 20 to be effective, while the state says it's only 9. A more informed UFT source tells me it has to do with conversion charts. While this sounds kind of nuts, it has to do with hitting a target. For example, if you hit your target, 60%, in King […]
- King Reformy John Makes Yet Another Brilliant Discovery
- CPS Chatter
- School’s Out for Summer, School’s Out ForeverI’m sorry to say, but there have been some people who have “moved on” from the school closings just like BBB wants. Even I’ve focused more on the assault on our budgets recently with the toilet paper drive and such. The people who have not forgotten are the parents, teachers, and students at the closings […]
- School’s Out for Summer, School’s Out Forever
- Jersey Jazzman
- An Exchange With Jonah RockoffThis is a long post, but I think it's valuable. Let me set it up a bit: Earlier this month, I was given a remarkable piece of audio: testimony by Jonah Rockoff, professor of finance and economics at Columbia University, before the New Jersey State Board of Education. Rockoff's subject was the use of test score data in teacher evaluation, which is o […]
- An Exchange With Jonah Rockoff
- TuttleSVC
- Another Small VictoryNow that there is no principal's union in Providence, school administrators are all on one year contracts, and it is much easier to get rid of them. This is not an entirely bad thing, of course, but somehow the guns always get aimed at the wrong target.Thus KC Perry, former principal of Feinstein High School, now serving as an assistant principal in the […]
- Another Small Victory
- jd2718
- The Fixation With Standardized Test ScoresLynne Winderbaum takes down the new NYC Teacher Evaluation System and standardized test scores I wish Governor Cuomo [link] and Mayor Bloomberg [link] were not on record as wanting to fire teachers. I wish that Race to the Top did not force unproven reforms on states in order to compete for a piece of the pie […]
- The Fixation With Standardized Test Scores
- Diane Ravitch
- Republicans in NC Step Up Their War Against Public EducationFar-right Governor Pat McCrory has brought in an aggressive leader for his strategy to privatize public education and dismantle the teaching profession. That is Eric Guckian, the governor’s tip advisor on demolishing–re, transforming –North Carolina’s education system. Guckian is a TFA alum with long experience in the corporate reform movement. He wants “an […]
- Republicans in NC Step Up Their War Against Public Education
- Ed Shyster
- The Missionary Positionn. pl. mis·sion·ar·ies 1. One who is sent on a mission, especially one sent to do religious or charitable work in a territory or foreign country. 2. People from one culture who travel to another culture to share their religious … Continue reading →
- The Missionary Position
- Schooling in the Ownership Society
- Another attack aimed at colleges of educationThat great "revolutionary" thinker Arne Duncan, set the stage back in '09, when he discredited all colleges of education, labeling them as "mediocre" and calling for "revolutionary change—not evolutionary tinkering."Now the National Council on Teacher Quality has taken Duncan's cue and has come out with what it's […]
- Another attack aimed at colleges of education
Love Karen Lewis….Mayor Lewis?
A far better choice than the one that was actually made.
As far as Karen Lewis’s future (which, of course, is entirely up to her), I see her moving up/laterally to a different union position. Maybe she could take over for Randi Weingarten – heaven knows New York could use her. Or maybe the NEA. As much as she’s had to deal with politics and as good as she is at it, I really don’t think it’s her thing. Too ugly. Her strength is rallying people, giving them hope, and helping them remember that this is a democracy. Not so much in playing hardball in general electoral politics. Although, if she could rally New York and/or some other unions like she rallied Chicago, I could see her being drafted a la James Garfield to serve in an elected capacity.