A teacher shares the story of an eighth-grader in her class who is 17 and seeking a GED. (SchoolBook)
Senate Republicans have pitched a budget amendment to allow for-profit charter schools. (Brooklyn Rail)
A charter school head laments State Sen. Bill Perkins’ behavior at a recent public hearing. (Harlem Link)
A Kansas school district with tiny classes and little diversity posts consistently high scores. (Hechinger)
Ed Sec Arne Duncan said many schools that got SIG grants posted “double-digit” gains. (Politics K-12)
A student at Eleanor Roosevelt High School comments on a report about principal quality. (HuffPo Teen)
A plea for John Dewey High School’s post-turnaround survival from a former teacher. (Mutterschwester)
Teach for America is planning to install teachers in a large for-profit charter network. (Answer Sheet)
The Klein-Rice committee report concludes that education is a national security issue. (HuffPo)
Weighing parent trigger laws, which let parents turn schools into charter schools. (Room for Debate)
After a scary situation, students who don’t read use the middle-school library as refuge. (Ed on the Plate)
Lisa Delpit, author of “Other People’s Children,” offers her prescription for school reform. (The Nation)
Will Johnson: My students don’t suffer from overconfidence; instead, they fear failure. (GS Community)
NYCparent
Re the 17 year-old in 8th grade — it’s appalling the author’s math teacher-husband was able to undo this poor student’s effort to get help through Special Education. Being 17 in the 8th grade almost by definition denotes a learning disability that needs to be diagnosed and remmediated. She can’t do that herself by just “working harder.” What utter nonsense. Read up on learning disabilities, people.
As to Mr. Evangelista taking Sen. Bill Perkins to task for his “tone” at the Success Acad. hearing last week — I was there too; Sen. Perkins was merely speaking the truth in encouraging the students to say “my school.” Speakers who followed told their truths as they experienced them too — including the former Success student who told of teachers going around on test days and telling students to “check that one again.” Perkins didn’t set some “tone” of acrimony; the Success Charter Network sets that tone with its incursions into schools and communities that don’t want or need its schools!
Philip Nobile
I’m supposed to take Joel Klein’s education commission seriously? Is the Pope Anglican? All you need to know about the integrity of his Chancellor years is found in last year’s Wall Street Journal exposé headlined: “Students’ Regents Test Scores Bulge at 65.” (Feb. 2, 2011)
The flagship U.S. paper of his employer Rupert Murdoch reported that Regents tampering was a perennially routine practice in city high schools such that 5-10 percent of the Regents passes in 2009 were actually failures. This means that Klein’s rising graduation rates were juiced and that Mayor Bloomberg’s and Chancellor Walcott’s boast of an historic 65% grad rate for the class of 2010 was likewise a fabrication. And worse, a known fabrication. Nota bene: nobody at Tweed will vouch for the number, specifically not Senior Deputy Chancellor Shael Polakow-Suransky. How do I know? Because I asked him and he could not.
But getting back to Klein’s character, here is the best part: when the WSJ asked him for comment on the cheating that corrodes his legacy, he took the Fifth and declined comment, on the ground that he might incriminate himself I would guess.
SickofBloomberg
“Senate Republicans have pitched a budget amendment to allow for-profit charter schools.”
And there it is! Finally, the truth. All this malarkey about “educational reform”, high pension costs, failing teachers, failing schools, TDR’s, and the shoe finally drops.
I realize that most of the general public will still be oblivious but every teacher in t his country should know that this is what all that garbage had been about.
The next Wall Street backed bubble, For Profit Schools.
I cannot say I will be surprised if this hideous idea gains traction. This country has become that pathetic.
http://ednotesonline.blogspot.com/ Norm
Whatever Perkins did or said it pales in comparison to the activities of Harlem Success. What about using a 6 year old for political ends? And Harlem Link is about to get eaten by the bigger charter chain, which will steal their children in every unsavory way. But first they will steal as much space as they can.
How nervy for him to say it is the DOE that is at fault when it was the DOE that allowed him to start a charter and co-locate.
Evangelista spent 4 years teaching in public schools before turning tail to start his own school instead of staying and fighting to improve the schools and has often blogged anonymously to push the privatization agenda. I believe he once said if his charter gets taken down by the market he would be fine with it. No matter what happens, we won’t see him in a classroom. I still have tape of his testimony in front of the famous Perkins hearing from years ago. I’ll post it the day Eva or Seth take control of Harlem Link.
network mess
PRINCIPAL EVALUATION – JOKE!!! There is a LIST of the worst principals in place as we speak. Principals – Hall of Shame for N.Y.C. No accountability what’s so ever. John Chase, still INTEREM-ACTING 1st year principal — PRIME example of what a joke it is to be a principal. Bronxdale H.S. is a mess because of him. Then again, Ms. Chase, formerly Chancellor Walcott’s hand picked senior advisor to the Chancellor and now, General Counsel must think he’s doing great. They’re probably not related right? OMG!!!
Gorgeorge65
Just googled her, wow. Very sad, hope it’s not true!
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