Seattle Schools Community Forum

We ask for leadership from Washington that celebrates the glories  of what we can accomplish rather than unrelenting dirges. I am going to send this post to the two candidates for state superintendent of public instruction - Chris Reykdal and Erin Jones - and ask them some questions about it. From Diane Ravitch:

Update 2: this story falls into the category of the "Streisand effect" which is a meme I had not heard of before. From Know Your Meme : Streisand Effect refers to the unintended consequence of further publicizing information by trying to have it censored. Instead of successfully removing the information from the public, it becomes even more widely available than before as a backlash against the censorship attempt. end of update Update: the great public ed researcher/writer Mercedes Schneider penned a letter to the head of PARCC, Laura Slover.  I'd say it hits the mark brilliantly. end of update Jonathan Pelto is a fellow public ed blogger out of Connecticut who writes the blog, Wait What ?  He writes about an event that happened recently when another blogger,  Professor Celia Oyler at Teachers College, Columbia University posted a blog thread at her blog, Outrage on the Page, from an anonymous teacher writing quite openly about the 4th grade PARCC tes...

From Diane Ravitch: Rick Hess directs education studies at the conservative, free-market American Enterprise Institute. We often disagree but I am often impressed that he doesn’t follow “the party line” of free-marketeers. This article is a good example of Hess demonstrating his sharp intellect and his willingness to stray from the right-wing corral. I absolutely echo Ravtich's comments.  Hess may be a right-wing thinker but he's an honest one.  He is willing to call out BS on BOTH sides.  He is also willing to say it like it is which probably makes a lot of people on the right wring their hands. His piece is long but worthy reading.  In a nutshell:

Diane Ravitch had this recording of a weekly ed reform show from Michael Petrilli at the Fordham Institute.  In the first 7 minutes of the show, he worries about the opting out going on in NY state.  It's everything from unhappy tweets to 1,000s of parents (actually hundreds of thousands) opting their kids out and hey, what does it all mean? He and his co-host say they just can't tell exactly why parents are doing this.  They opine that it can't be because Common Core testing is costing so much the arts are being cut (surmising that "affluent" schools just can't be cutting the arts).  They fret over this "big deal now" and what if it spreads nationwide? He says: If this goes national, this whole school reform thing is in serious trouble." Sorry, Mike, the genie is out of the bottle. Speaking of Ravitch, she also has news from Minneapolis via the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

At her blog, Diane Ravitch brings together three stories about the recent convictions and sentencing of 11 Atlanta educators who cheated to raise their students' test scores.  The eleven people were lead away in shackles, some to sentences up to 20 years.  Let's just all agree that what they did was wrong.  But they were tried and convicted under the RICO Act.  You remember that one - it's the one the Feds like to use for racketeering.  So let's compare and contrast. One was by Richard Rothstein . In this brilliant article, Rothstein argued that the 11 convicted educators were “taking the fall” for a thoroughly corrupt testing regime that set impossible goals and punished those who can’t meet them: Rothstein writes: Eleven Atlanta educators, convicted and imprisoned, have taken the fall for systematic cheating on standardized tests in American education. Such cheating is widespread, as is similar corruption in any institution—whether health care...

I wouldn't exactly call this hell freezing over but maybe it's a bit of a frosting over.  I cover two views about accountability and NCLB. From The Hill (a blog about Congress) comes this op-ed from two different leaders of ed reform - corporate and reality-based.  The authors are: Linda Darling-Hammond is professor of Education at Stanford University and faculty director of the Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education. Paul T. Hill is research professor at the University of Washington and founder of the Center on Reinventing Public Education. (Disclaimer: I think Darling-Hammond is brilliant and should have been Obama's pick for Secretary of Education.  On the other hand, I have very little appreciation for Dr. Hill's thoughts on public education.)

No matter how many tweets that DFER or ReadyWashington or any other group that supports Common Core send out saying that it's here to stay, the evidence is mounting that it may survive but not in exactly the way its end game was pictured. Update on CC across the country: Indiana has already bowed out of Common Core but only to replace it with their "own" standards which appear to be a cut-and-paste of CC.  Minnesota adopted the LA standards but kept their own math standards saying they are "more rigorous" than CC.  The Oklahoma state legislature, both houses , approved a bill to exit their state from Common Core standards.  It is going to their governor's desk soon.  Rep. T.W. Shannon had this to say: The federal government sold Common Core with the promise of increased standards, but instead gave us an inflexible curriculum that does not equip our children for college,” said Shannon. “The federal government has disregarded parental rights, over-r...

From her blog: For the past decade or more, a bevy of very powerful people have savaged our nation’s public schools while calling themselves “reformers.” It is perfectly clear that they have no desire to “reform” our public schools but to privatize and monetize them. The Bush-Obama era of “measure and punish” has not reformed our public schools but has plunged them into unending disruption, demoralization, and upheaval.  The so-called reformers have honed their PR message well. They couldn’t very well go to the public and say “with the help of some Wall Street billionaires and foundations run by billionaires, we have come to demolish your community’s schools and hand them over to corporations.” That wouldn’t play well. So they sold their goals as “reform,” even as they used the power of the federal government through No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top to close community public schools, to demean the teaching profession, and to make pie-in-the-sky promises abo...

I am so excited to be attending this new conference.  It will be great to meet other education writers and bloggers from around the country.  The keynote speakers will be Diane Ravich and the head of the Chicago teachers union, Karen Lewis. Los Angeles special education teacher Vincent Precht will be carrying the conference on his channel here, at SchoolhouseLive.org The conference will begin at 8:30 am Austin time, which is 9:30 am Eastern. We hope to livestream from the start, but some portions of the conference may be delayed, because of their location.

Remember the uprising in Egypt (that really started in Tunisia) called the Arab Spring? We have just such a movement happening - Education Spring - that is traveling across America and nobody is waiting for Spring.  Exhibit A: the uprising against testing in Buffalo, New York (and I believe the courageous action by the Garfield High staff has triggered this "we can change this" attitude that is spreading).  From the Buffalo News: Reform of high-stakes testing for schoolchildren, a groundswell movement of lawn signs and small-scale protests, became an earthquake Wednesday evening.  The Summit for Smarter Schools, organized by a group called the Partnership for Smarter Schools and hosted by State Sen. Tim Kennedy, D-Buffalo; Assemblyman Sean Ryan, D-B...

Garfield teacher and MAP boycott leader Jesse Hagopian was named the " Secondary School Teacher of the Year" last Saturday by the Academy of Education Arts and Sciences International in Washington, D.C.  His "Bammy" award was also joined by a "Grammys for Teachers", a special achievement award, for his work. The annual Bammy awards recognize educators from across the education field: teachers, principals, librarians, nurses, school-board members, superintendents, and others. The presenter told the audience this Bammy was for “a demonstration of courage” because, he said, courage is necessary “when doing what’s in the best interests of children…” He added that sometimes courage “means going against accepted policy, going against what is accepted convention.” “This is a victory for all of the students, parents and teachers at Garfield who refused to give the Michelle Rhee-endorsed MAP test, and who stood strong in the face of education-corrupting...

To note for today: - Diane Ravitch , talking about her new book, Reign of Error, at UW's Kane Hall at 7 p.m.  It should be full so I would advise getting there early. Diane will be on KUOW at 1 p.m. today.   - another taskforce meeting on the Mann building from 5-7 p.m.  at JSCEE.  You'd have to call the district to find out which room because it changes.  I am not surprised they are still having these meetings since no one at the district will verify what is happening with that building and its occupants. - School Board candidate debate at the Vera Project at Seattle Center from 6-8:00 p.m.  My caution here is that it is co-sponsored with City Club by the so-called Our Schools Coalition and the Alliance coached the students who will act as the panel. 

Not a lot on the district front except for the Growth Boundaries community meetings. Monday, Sept. 23 Growth Boundary Meeting in the Mercer Middle School lunchroom, 1600 South Columbian Way from 6:30-8 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 24 Growth Boundary Meeting in the Commons at Nathan Hale High School , 10750- 30th Ave NE from 6:30- 8 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 25 Growth Boundary Meeting in the Commons at West Seattle High School, 3000 California Ave SW from  6:30-8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 25th  No Growth Boundary Meeting but two events to choose from:  - Diane Ravitch at Kane Hall at UW from 7-8:30 p.m. speaking about her new book, Reign of Error .  This event is free and open to the public. - Student-lead School Board debate at City Club from 6- 8 p.m. (this is also an awards program so I will have to check how the format will go).  The Palace Ballroom, 2100 Fifth Avenue.  CityClub/Crosscut members $10/General Public $12/Door $15.  UPDATE: This deba...

From the New York Review of Books comes a comparison review of Diane Ravitch's new book, Reign of Error: The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to America's Public Schools and Michelle Rhee's book, Radical: Fighting to Put Students First .  (Ravitch's book just came out and is now #1 in sales at Amazon.  Ravitch will be speaking this week, Thursday the 26th, at UW's Kane Hall  from 7-8:30 p.m.)                             What is striking about this review comes almost at the end when the reviewer, Andrew Delbanco, gives them each a fair pro/con assessment. You would think it possible to take ideas from both sides and put them to work together. In order to agree that America’s schools ought to be better (Ravitch), we don’t have to believe that they are worse than ever (Rhee). We don’t have to think, as Rhee does, that “great” teaching is a magic bullet in ...

Contract talks march on.  Diane Ravitch endorses Sue Peters for School Board. Addicted to your computer (or is your child)?  Here's an article from the NY Times with a couple of book suggestions. Speaking of algebra, I came across this website recently - The Algebra Project .  What's on your mind?

With her new book ( Reign of Error ) on September 26, 2013.   Her talk will be at Kane Hall (Red Square on the UW campus) in Room 130 from 7-8:30 p.m.  Free and open to the public.  REIGN OF ERROR. An incisive, comprehensive look at today’s American school system that argues against those who claim it is broken and beyond repair; an impassioned but reasoned call to stop the privatization movement that is draining students and funding from our public schools. Note: the book comes out on September 17th and is naturally available for pre-order at bookstores and on-line retailers.  Books will be available at the talk and Diane will be signing them from 8:30-9:00 p.m. that evening.   Diane Ravitch is a historian of education and Research Professor of Education at NYU and Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. For more information contact: kenzeich@uw.edu or tepinfo@uw.edu .

Scholastic is launching a new Harry Potter Reading Club for the start of the school year.  There will be a live webcast with J.K. Rowling and she will answer questions from kids. Teachers can sign up now (it's on October 11 at 9 am our time).   As well there are welcome kits to the first 10,000 registrants (but you can download it as well). Hilariousness with an sober side.  It seems that there is this new idea for merit pay for teachers called "loss aversion." Economist Roland Fryer has been trying for years to find the magic incentive that would produce higher scores. He tried merit pay, and that didn’t work. He tried paying students to get higher scores, but that didn’t work. Now, he has at last found the key: He and his colleagues have perfected a technique called “loss aversion.” They give teachers a bonus (say, $4,000) at the beginning of the year. If the scores go up, the teachers keep the money.  If the scores don’t go up, they lose the...

One of the BEST things ever written about public education here at The Answer Sheet at The Washington Post.   This is a guest post by Jeff Bryant, a marketing and communcation consultant for nonprofits.  He writes about public education policy. Here's his bottom line (to me - emphasis mine): Furthermore, nothing about school choice, regardless of the form, guarantees parents get the kind of school quality they desire . Studies have shown that in a typical school choice program, the private school services that parents mostly desire — small class sizes, well-rounded curriculum, individualized services — will still be out of reach for most parents. He  talks about people getting a laugh over the Texas GOP's education plank of their platform but goes on to say we really should be worried about Dems.  He's right.  If Obama doesn't watch out charters/TFA will be his NCLB (as NCLB is the tattered legacy of George W. Bush). Speaking of Bush, here's...

Update:  the final word? From Jennie Shanker, Albert Shanker's daughter; she passes her father's legacy NOT to neo-liberal ed reform but to Diane Ravitch: Your stance on this issue is diametrically opposed to his values and intent, and you are dead wrong to shame Diane Ravitch for her position. Indeed, if you consider your thinking to be in line with my father's, I recommend that you champion her work, as my family does.  If anyone can speak for my father in this day and age, the person who should be most trusted is Dr. Ravitch. It's unfortunate that many people who read your article will not see this comment. I would like to respectfully request that you reconsider further publicizing your characterization of my father's position on this topic. From what is in evidence in this article, despite your love for the man, you are in no position to speak for him.  Kind of a "I knew Jack Kennedy and worked with Jack Kennedy.  You sir, are no Jack Kenn...

I just wanted to put forth some of what Diane Ravitch talked about in her recent appearance here in Seattle at the elementary/middle school principals convention.