Really, Jeb? Florida teacher evaluation plan “forging a seismic path”?

Posted on March 21, 2011 by admin

Seismic path in Japan Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush writes in yesterday’s Chicago Tribune about the new teacher evaluation system enacted last week by the Florida legislature. The law will link teacher jobs to student standardized test scores. He praises the move as “forging a seismic path for modernizing the teaching profession nationwide.” Wow. Sure, Jeb’s kinda right. The new law is likely to have a catastrophic effect on communities, families, the economy, employment, and other basic infrastructures of life. … →

Charlotte value-added fight moves forward

Posted on March 19, 2011 by pagrundy

PAA affiliate Mecklenburg ACTS is pressing forward with its challenge to the use of value-added calculations in the pay for performance system being developed by Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools (Charlotte, N.C. ) We’re moving toward 300 signatures on our petition calling for better and fairer teacher evaluations, and have just published an explanation of our stance in the Charlotte Observer, titled “Stand Up for Teachers Now.” We’ll be meeting April 5 to plan our next steps, and will turn out in … →

Parent trigger misfires by disrupting and dismantling local schools

Posted on March 18, 2011 by admin

This was published originally in Silicon Valley’s Education Foundation blog,  “Thoughts on Education.” The PAA position paper on the Parent Trigger is here. By Caroline Grannan and Sharon Higgins Simplistic ideas may look appealing at first glance, but they rarely solve complex problems. Too often they have the potential to make things worse. That’s true of California’s so-called Parent Empowerment Act. It created the “parent trigger,” which allows a majority of parents in a low-performing school to petition for drastic changes, … →

PAA press release on "Parent Trigger" legislation

Posted on March 16, 2011 by admin

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 16, 2011 Contact: Leonie Haimson (NYC): 917-435-9329; leonieh@parentsacrossamerica.org Julie Woestehoff (Chicago):  773-538-1135; juliew@parentsacrossamerica.org Bill Ring (LA): 310-600-2015; billr@parentsacrossamerica.org Andrea Mérida (Denver): 303-550-0677; andream@parentsacrossamerica.org Caroline Grannan (SF): 415-412-5758; carolineg@parentsacrossamerica.org Julia Sass Rubin (NJ): 609-683-0046; jlsrubin@verizon.net Parents Across America: We oppose Parent Trigger laws Reform should rely on proven solutions that involve parents from the ground up and improve rather than privatize schools With California’s so-called Parent Empowerment Act drawing national media attention as a school reform panacea, … →

Leonie Haimson debates Gates Foundation on 'Does Class Size Matter?'

Posted on March 16, 2011 by admin

Listen to Leonie Haimson on Seattle public radio debating Marguerite Roza of Gates Foundation on KUOW Seattle public radio: Does Class Size Matter? Ross Reynolds 03/15/2011 at 12:20 p.m. Is reducing public school class size a cost effective way to improve education? Or is the money better spent elsewhere? We’ll hear both sides and then what you have to say. Guest(s) Marguerite Roza is a senior data and economic advisor for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and author of … →

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. … →

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