GothamSchools — daily independent reporting on NYC public schools

• New York’s RttT application has some sentences only the most jargon literate can decipher.
• The point spread among RttT finalists is so close, it’ll all come down to states’ presentations.
• A new study finds numerous problems with the common standards movement.
• To raise money for Haiti, adults pledged money to P.S. 7 students for their “playathon.”
• A first-year teacher wonders how young teachers should go about distancing themselves from students.
• City Room’s Complaint Box admonishes those who display their brilliant acts of parenting too loudly.
• Emmy Partin writes: states that are finalists for RttT but don’t win could suffer in round two.
• Space-sharing at P.S. 198 and the Lower Lab school isn’t the crisis some say it is, a parent writes.
• The city wants to move one of Eva Moskowitz’s charter schools out of P.S. 123 and bring another one in.
• A member of the UFT caucus ICE says it may be an opposition group, but it approves of some things.
• Be sure to pick up the Sunday New York Times as Elizabeth Green’s story is on the cover.
• Adults surveyed about their experience with high school guidance gave counselors slow marks.
• And Joel Klein ran up the City Hall steps yesterday, right past people protesting his policies.

As finalist states head into the home stretch of competition for coveted Race to the Top funds, who’s running the show could make all the difference, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said today.

Duncan appeared today at a panel with former Education Secretary Richard Riley at a professional development conference for teachers in Manhattan. Speaking with reporters afterward, Duncan reiterated what he has often said: Race to the Top applications will be judged on “the three C’s,” a state’s “courage, commitment and capacity” to put its plans into action.

When I asked him today how the contest’s reviewers will determine capacity, Duncan said judges’ appraisals of the people behind the plans will be the most important factor — more important, he said, than a state’s policy track record so far. (more…)

Every spring, the city’s charter schools hold admissions lotteries and every year, parents applying to multiple charters must fill out a different application for each school. But this year, parents will have a new option: a common application.

The application, which can be sent or turned in to any of the city’s 99 charter schools, is one page long and is available in eight different languages.

It’s not a complete replacement for schools’ individual applications. This year, schools have to accept both the common application and their individualized forms, a change that Department of Education officials hope will make the process simpler and increase the number of applicants. Officials are considering making the common application mandatory in coming years. (more…)

There is a teacher at my school who mumbles every thought that passes through her head. Sometimes when she speaks, it is hard to discern whether she is talking to you or talking to herself. She pulls groups of students and works with them on reading and writing. Imagine her, old as the sun, surrounded by third graders who are all leaning in, striving to understand what she is saying. They are silent, listening. When they finally understand her direction, they get straight to work. When they finish, they hold up their sheets to her and she either mumbles in approval or does not. If she is silent, they set right back to work to find their error and correct it.

Cut to my classroom: I speak very clearly and in a nice loud voice. I give exact instructions; I tend to rehearse each sentence in my head before I say it. Imagine me surrounded by a roiling chaos of second graders, running around the room, throwing dominoes; the worksheets are on the floor, untouched, unconsidered.

What in the world is going on here? Why does Old Ms. Mumbles get total respect, while Young Mr. Reasonable gets none? (more…)

I have three children in school — a fifth-grader who attends a district school in Harlem, and second- and third-graders who are both currently enrolled in Harlem Link Charter School. I am equally motivated and involved in each of my kids’ education, attending teacher conferences and going to events regularly at both schools. I’m also always there to make sure my kids do their homework and help them when I can.

Yet despite my motivation — which some will have you believe is the reason charters succeed — the fact remains that my children get very different educations. A little background: Until last fall, my third-grader, who has attended a charter school for several years, was the only child in my household. But then I got custody of my siblings. My brother is in fifth-grade at a district school, and my sister is in second grade at Harlem Link. When I saw the difference in the charter schools from the district school I became concerned.

The difference isn’t about the resources one school doesn’t have (though after last week’s news that charters get hundreds to thousands less, we should talk about that inequity). It comes from something much bigger.

When I send my fifth-grader to school, I am often left wondering what type of day he will have. (more…)

• New York is a Race to the Top finalist; winning isn’t assured. (GothamSchools, Post, Daily News, NY1)
• Some of the 15 other finalist states seem more likely to win. (Times, Wall Street Journal, AP)
• The Daily News questions whether New York has the political will to win the next round.
• Peter Murphy of the NY Charter Schools Association says being a finalist could backfire. (Post)
• Nelson Denis, a former Assemblyman, says legislators should lift the charter cap now. (Daily News)
• A senior at Queens’ Bayside High School says new bake sale rules are costing student groups. (Post)
• Some schools were wrongly told they could close; a few are closing already. (Times, Daily News, Post)
• IS 89 is among the schools planning to cut budgets by slashing afterschool. (Downtown Express)
• Major protests against education budget cuts swept California yesterday. (Times, L.A. Times)
• Jay Mathews says a local school district is unusual in promoting charter schools. (Washington Post)
• All staff members at six Boston schools will have to reapply for their jobs this summer. (Boston Globe)
• A D.C. parent describes the city’s packed online lottery for seats at top schools. (Washington Post)