GothamSchools — daily independent reporting on NYC public schools

• “From one man without children to another,” John Legend tells Bill Maher, “you’re off base.”
• Arne Duncan is taking two rounds of questions tomorrow on his blueprint of ESEA.
• Eric Nadelstern makes the case for having the first week of school next year be only one day.
• Democracy Now interviews former Khalil Gibran Academy principal Debbie Almontaser.
• Accountable Talk says the union should tie any rubber room deal to four percent raises.
• Hopeful that Michael Mulgrew would be fresh blood, a UFT member says he’s disappointed.
• Norm enters Grady High School to distribute election fliers and encounters the opposition.
• Flypaper has 10 questions for Race to the Top finalists giving presentations this week.
• A teacher says the flip side of blaming teachers for everything is not giving students enough credit.
• Diane Ravitch calls Newsweek’s education story a “parody of a right-wing rant.”
• For every good idea the Obama admin has on education, they have a bad one, writes Jay Greene.
• American Spectator wonders whether unions running charter schools will end up hating their contracts.
• Parents don’t love a PA state senator’s idea to punish parents if their children commit multiple crimes.
• And learning from Chicago, Cleveland is worried about mixing students from closing schools.

In Mr. Arp’s classroom, we have something called the Behavior of the Week, and this behavior is rewarded at the end of every Friday. Last week it was “Staying in your seat and raising your hand.” Instead of standing up to sharpen a pencil or get a tissue, the students raised their hands, so that I could say things like “Excellent staying in your seat, I can see that you are really working on the behavior of the week.”

The students did very well, except Osmo. Osmo, of course not his real name, should have been born in a world without seats. He is a good reader, an excellent storyteller, and a fast mathematician, but seats are like hot coals to him. On Friday, during independent reading, he took a break from his work to run around the class with his arms flailing above his head.

“Osmo,” I said, calling him over to me, “why are you out of your seat without permission?”

“Because,” he said, as if admitting a secret, “I’m happy.”

Ouch. What could I say to that? (more…)

• Implementing Obama’s education law plan will be politically and logistically difficult. (Times)
• The plan will ease consequences for most schools but toughen them for some. (Washington Post)
• The city and the teachers union could change rules for teachers in the “rubber room.” (GothamSchools)
• A Los Angeles panel that includes teachers wants test scores used in teacher evaluations. (L.A. Times)
• The Post says the city is to blame for the Khalil Gibran debacle, because it created a “separatist” school.
• Choice fan Paul Peterson says students do better when their schools compete. (Wall Street Journal)