Rochester and Denver teachers discuss working with community

Posted on March 14, 2011 by admin

I hosted a phone conference today (link to the playback is here) with members of the Denver Classroom Teachers Association and members of the Rochester (NY) Teachers Association, who told the Denver contingent about how they created bonds with parents and community to successfully defeat an initiative launched for mayoral control of the Rochester City Schools district.  They kept their coalition alive and strong, fortunately, because now they’re working with community as the Community Education Task Force, under the umbrella … →

Chris Cerf, there you go again!

Posted on March 14, 2011 by admin

This morning featured an extended story in the Star Ledger examining Chris Cerf, and his record as Deputy chancellor of NYC schools. Cerf has been appointed to be acting New Jersey Commissioner of Education by Gov. Christie, and is intent on implementing many of the same divisive policies that have been tried and failed in New York City, including charter school co-locations and expansion, and teacher merit pay linked to unreliable test scores. He is also now embroiled in the … →

Andrea Mérida on AM760 discussing the dropout rate

Posted on March 10, 2011 by admin

Here’s the sound clip from today’s interview with Mario Solis-Marich on AM760 today. Click to listen to the interview with Mario Solis-Marich on the dropout rate. Here’s the accompanying blog post, with all the data I mention. I don’t mind if you check my numbers!

Leonie Haimson debating class size on MSNBC

Posted on March 8, 2011 by admin

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Fact-Challenged Policy

Posted on March 7, 2011 by pagrundy

From: National Journal Online By Richard Rothstein Last week, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates published an op-ed in the Washington Post, “How Teacher Development could Revolutionize our Schools,” proposing that American public schools should do a better job of evaluating the effectiveness of teachers, a goal with which none can disagree. But his specific prescriptions, and the urgency he attaches to them, are based on the misrepresentation of one fact, the misinterpretation of another and the demagogic presentation of a third. … →

Bloomberg booed and excoriated for attacks on teachers and kids

Posted on March 6, 2011 by admin

Mayor Bloomberg was roundly booed at the annual Queens St. Patrick’s Day parade on Saturday, for threatening to lay off of over 4,000 teachers and his attack on their seniority rights. Check out the video below and excerpts from the Daily News, NY Post and NY1: Chants of “Save our Teachers” rang out from pockets of the green-clad crowd that lined Newport Ave. and Rockaway Beach Blvd. in Belle Harbor…. Anthony Hannon, 80:….“What he’s doing to our teachers and our … →

PAA Affiliate Launches Pay for Performance Petition

Posted on March 6, 2011 by pagrundy

Mecklenburg ACTS, an affiliate of Parents Across America in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, has launched a petition that calls on Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools to remove standardized test scores from their developing pay for performance system. We’re urging parents and community members to stand up for treating our teachers fairly, and to oppose the expansion of high-stakes standardized testing. If parents band together, our voices can be heard! Our petition can be found at www.mecklenburgacts.org. For more information on Pay for … →

This was the week that the real reformers finally broke through!

Posted on March 4, 2011 by admin

On Thursday night, Diane Ravitch with her usual incisiveness pointed out the importance of poverty and the unfairness of teacher-bashing on Jon Stewart’s the Daily Show. According to Valerie Strauss’ Answer Sheet, Ravitch’s book shot up from #758 on Amazon’s list to #35 by the next afternoon. Jon Stewart showed a short clip of the segment on Fox News debate, to ridicule the commentators’ attack on the “greed” of teachers, while defending the huge bonuses and salaries of Wall Street … →

Diane Ravitch and Leonie Haimson on "To the Point," NPR radio March 3, 2011

Posted on March 3, 2011 by admin

How Public School Budget Cuts Herald the End of an American Dream

Posted on March 3, 2011 by admin

Throughout the United States, the nation’s public school system is being savaged by budget cuts that will make a mockery of federal legislation designed to reduce the achievement gap between children in low income and high income districts. In Detroit Michigan, the school district has been told by the state to close half of its schools to close a 347 million dollar deficit, leading to high school classes that could contain as many as 60 students. Providence Rhode Island just … →

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