My Bad - Forgot to Post Sooner
Reminder: Forum with Diane Ravitch tonight at 7:00 at Seattle University. Free to all, but seating is limited. Held in Pigott Building (Pigott Auditorium). (Note: she will not be there in person but via Skype.
Tuesday Open Thread
The speaker list is up for the Board meeting tomorrow; not as packed as I thought with just four people on the waitlist. The majority of the speakers are speaking on high school boundaries (with several wanting to talk about Ballard High). There are only three of us speaking about the Green Dot resolution asking the City to not grant the zoning departures that Green Dot has requested. It's me, long-time watchdog, Chris Jackins, and the head of the Washington State Charter Schools Association, Patrick D'Amelio. (I knew Mr. D'Amelio when he headed the Alliance for Education and Big Brothers and Big Sisters; he's a stand-up guy.)
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Here are more details. Btw, I recommend that everyone arrive early -- doors open at 6:30 p.m. -- because it's limited seating.
We will have tables outside the auditorium with lots of info as well, with representatives from the Committee for Responsible Education Spending, Where's the Math, Parents Across America, Social Equality Educators (SEE), and others, and autographed books for sale by Diane Ravitch and Wayne Au.
“Race to Where?”
A forum on the (mis)direction of education reform
with Diane Ravitch
“I think ‘Race to the Top’ is a terrible program and I congratulate Washington for not advancing. I hope that you don’t win the money, because winning the money means you agree to do things that are very harmful to public education.” – Diane Ravitch, KUOW 94.9 FM., Aug. 2, 2010
SEATTLE, Sept. 30, 2010 ¬¬– Diane Ravitch, education historian and former Assistant Secretary of Education, will head “Race to Where?,” a forum on the damaging realities of education reform, Tuesday, Oct. 5, at 7 p.m., at Seattle University’s Pigott Auditorium.
Dr. Ravitch, broadcasting live from New York University via Skype, will be joined by a panel of local education advocates, include Wayne Au of Rethinking Schools, Jesse Hagopian, local teacher and founder of Social Equality Educators (SEE), Dora Taylor, public schools parent, co-editor of Seattle Education 2010 and founding member of Parents Across America. Seattle Ed 2010 co-editor Sue Peters will moderate the event.
The forum will include a conversation with Dr. Ravitch, an eloquent critic of the Obama administration’s “Race to the Top” privatizing ed reform policy, followed by a Q&A session with Ravitch and the audience led by the other panelists.
The free event is sponsored by Seattle Education 2010, Social Equality Educators (SEE), and Parents Across America Seattle, in conjunction with Seattle University’s Matteo Ricci College and the College of Education.
WHERE: Pigott Auditorium, Seattle University campus, 1016 E. Marion St., Seattle, 98122
WHEN: 7-8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2010. (Doors open at 6:30 p.m.)
ADMISSION: Free. UPDATE: THREE clock hours will be available for teachers who take part in the pre-forum discussion at 5:30 p.m. Limited seating; guests are advised to arrive early.
WHY: Is Seattle the next battleground in the debate over education reform? Seattle Public Schools, under its current superintendent, has fast-tracked a series of reforms in the school district these past three years, most recently a new teachers’ contract that ties teacher pay and evaluations to student test scores. Seattle is also the headquarters to one of the biggest players in ed reform, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which supports RTTT -- merit pay, charter schools and high-stakes testing. So far, Washington has failed to qualify for RTTT funding and state voters have repeatedly opposed charter schools. Meanwhile, a growing number of Seattle parents and teachers are asking: Why should we adopt reforms that research shows are detrimental to our schools and kids? Ravitch, who once supported these reforms as a member of the Bush I administration, agrees, and now warns against them.
[MORE]
Here are more details. Btw, I recommend that everyone arrive early -- doors open at 6:30 p.m. -- because it's limited seating.
We will have tables outside the auditorium with lots of info as well, with representatives from the Committee for Responsible Education Spending, Where's the Math, Parents Across America, Social Equality Educators (SEE), and others, and autographed books for sale by Diane Ravitch and Wayne Au.
“Race to Where?”
A forum on the (mis)direction of education reform
with Diane Ravitch
“I think ‘Race to the Top’ is a terrible program and I congratulate Washington for not advancing. I hope that you don’t win the money, because winning the money means you agree to do things that are very harmful to public education.” – Diane Ravitch, KUOW 94.9 FM., Aug. 2, 2010
SEATTLE, Sept. 30, 2010 ¬¬– Diane Ravitch, education historian and former Assistant Secretary of Education, will head “Race to Where?,” a forum on the damaging realities of education reform, Tuesday, Oct. 5, at 7 p.m., at Seattle University’s Pigott Auditorium.
Dr. Ravitch, broadcasting live from New York University via Skype, will be joined by a panel of local education advocates, include Wayne Au of Rethinking Schools, Jesse Hagopian, local teacher and founder of Social Equality Educators (SEE), Dora Taylor, public schools parent, co-editor of Seattle Education 2010 and founding member of Parents Across America. Seattle Ed 2010 co-editor Sue Peters will moderate the event.
The forum will include a conversation with Dr. Ravitch, an eloquent critic of the Obama administration’s “Race to the Top” privatizing ed reform policy, followed by a Q&A session with Ravitch and the audience led by the other panelists.
The free event is sponsored by Seattle Education 2010, Social Equality Educators (SEE), and Parents Across America Seattle, in conjunction with Seattle University’s Matteo Ricci College and the College of Education.
WHERE: Pigott Auditorium, Seattle University campus, 1016 E. Marion St., Seattle, 98122
WHEN: 7-8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2010. (Doors open at 6:30 p.m.)
ADMISSION: Free. UPDATE: THREE clock hours will be available for teachers who take part in the pre-forum discussion at 5:30 p.m. Limited seating; guests are advised to arrive early.
[MORE]
WHY: Is Seattle the next battleground in the debate over education reform? Seattle Public Schools, under its current superintendent, has fast-tracked a series of reforms in the school district these past three years, most recently a new teachers’ contract that ties teacher pay and evaluations to student test scores. Seattle is also the headquarters to one of the biggest players in ed reform, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which supports RTTT -- merit pay, charter schools and high-stakes testing. So far, Washington has failed to qualify for RTTT funding and state voters have repeatedly opposed charter schools. Meanwhile, a growing number of Seattle parents and teachers are asking: Why should we adopt reforms that research shows are detrimental to our schools and kids? Ravitch, who once supported these reforms as a member of the Bush I administration, agrees, and now warns against them.
WHO: Diane Ravitch is Research Professor of Education at New York University and an education historian. She is the author of 10 books, including "The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education" (2010). She shares a blog, Bridging Differences, with Deborah Meier, hosted by Education Week and also blogs for Politico.com/arena and the Huffington Post. Her articles have appeared in many newspapers and magazines. From 1991-93, she was Assistant Secretary of Education and Counselor to Secretary of Education Lamar Alexander in the administration of President George H. W. Bush. From 1997- 2004, she was a member of the National Assessment Governing Board, which oversees the National Assessment of Educational Progress, the federal testing program. (adapted from: http://www.dianeravitch.com/vita.html)
Wayne Au – is a former public high school teacher, and Assistant Professor of Secondary Social Studies Education at the University of Washington, Bothell, and an editor of Rethinking Schools, a journal devoted to social justice education. He is also the author of Unequal by Design: High-Stakes Testing and the Standardization of Inequality (Routledge, 2009).
Jesse Hagopian – is a Seattle teacher who lost his job due to budget cuts, and a founding member of the progressive union caucus, Social Equality Educators. Hagopian’s writings in defense of public education have appeared in The Progressive, Common Dreams, SocialistWorker.org, Real Change News, Truthout.org, the Seattle PI, and the Seattle Times.
Dora Taylor & Sue Peters – are the co-editors of the Seattle Education 2010 blog, and founding members of the new grassroots public education advocacy organization, Parents Across America (PAA).
Seattle Education 2010 – is a blog of news and commentary created in 2009 by two Seattle parents in response to the reforms imposed on their children’s schools and district.
Parents Across America (PAA) – is a national grassroots organization of public school parents who oppose the current direction of education reform (“No Child Left Behind” and “Race to the Top”) and believe parents’ voices are missing from the national conversation about education.
Social Equality Educators (SEE) – is a new progressive union caucus within the Seattle Education Association (SEA).
FOR MORE INFO, CONTACT: Sue Peters: seattle.ed2010@yahoo.com
--sue p.
WHY: Is Seattle the next battleground in the debate over education reform? Seattle Public Schools, under its current superintendent, has fast-tracked a series of reforms in the school district these past three years, most recently a new teachers’ contract that ties teacher pay and evaluations to student test scores. Seattle is also the headquarters to one of the biggest players in ed reform, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which supports RTTT -- merit pay, charter schools and high-stakes testing. So far, Washington has failed to qualify for RTTT funding and state voters have repeatedly opposed charter schools. Meanwhile, a growing number of Seattle parents and teachers are asking: Why should we adopt reforms that research shows are detrimental to our schools and kids? Ravitch, who once supported these reforms as a member of the Bush I administration, agrees, and now warns against them.
WHO: Diane Ravitch is Research Professor of Education at New York University and an education historian. She is the author of 10 books, including "The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education" (2010). She shares a blog, Bridging Differences, with Deborah Meier, hosted by Education Week and also blogs for Politico.com/arena and the Huffington Post. Her articles have appeared in many newspapers and magazines. From 1991-93, she was Assistant Secretary of Education and Counselor to Secretary of Education Lamar Alexander in the administration of President George H. W. Bush. From 1997- 2004, she was a member of the National Assessment Governing Board, which oversees the National Assessment of Educational Progress, the federal testing program. (adapted from: http://www.dianeravitch.com/vita.html)
Wayne Au – is a former public high school teacher, and Assistant Professor of Secondary Social Studies Education at the University of Washington, Bothell, and an editor of Rethinking Schools, a journal devoted to social justice education. He is also the author of Unequal by Design: High-Stakes Testing and the Standardization of Inequality (Routledge, 2009).
[MORE]
Dora Taylor & Sue Peters – are the co-editors of the Seattle Education 2010 blog, and founding members of the new grassroots public education advocacy organization, Parents Across America (PAA).
Seattle Education 2010 – is a blog of news and commentary created in 2009 by two Seattle parents in response to the reforms imposed on their children’s schools and district.
Parents Across America (PAA) – is a national grassroots organization of public school parents who oppose the current direction of education reform (“No Child Left Behind” and “Race to the Top”) and believe parents’ voices are missing from the national conversation about education.
Social Equality Educators (SEE) – is a new progressive union caucus within the Seattle Education Association (SEA).
FOR MORE INFO, CONTACT: Sue Peters: seattle.ed2010@yahoo.com
--sue p.
Diane laid it all out... how this all started, the flaws in the arguments for charters and merit pay and testing....
She said we are at the most perilous time in this country's education history, and we need unity and a revolution.... Who's in???