Seattle Schools Community Forum

Man, did they ever.  From the LA Times : The clash over education had been building throughout the three-day convention, underscoring a larger debate taking place in education circles.  California Democrats on Sunday condemned efforts led by members of their own party to overhaul the nation's schools, arguing that groups such as StudentsFirst and Democrats for Education Reform are fronts for Republicans and corporate interests. Before delegates overwhelmingly passed a resolution excoriating the groups on the final day of the party's annual convention here, speakers urged them to focus on protecting students and teachers. "People can call themselves Democrats for Education Reform — it's a free country — but if your agenda is to shut teachers and school employees out of the political process and not lift a finger to prevent cuts in education, in my book you're not a reformer, you're not helping education, and you're sure not much of a Dem...

Diane Ravitch and other noted public education activists have joined together to form a national group, The Network for Public Education . Here's what they are: We created the Network for Public Education as a way of connecting groups and individuals around the country who are devoted to preserving public education. This is no small task. We're up against a well-funded corporate reform movement that's waging a slick PR campaign based on misleading information and junk science. But while they may have the billionaires, we have something far more powerful: the authentic voices of teachers, parents and students who understand that public education is a pillar of our democracy. The NPE website will be at the very center of our efforts. In a matter of weeks, an all-volunteer team has begun to create a site that can function as a clearing house for public education advocates. With the help of our network of academic experts , we're pulling together reliable, easy-to-use...

Do you hear that sound echoing across the country? It's the sound of parents saying "Enough."  And it is spreading throughout the country and I believe if parents stay strong and united, it will defeat this tide of ed reform and testing craziness that is really the problem with making strong academic outcomes for all students. In Missouri , from the Fired Up! website, a story of Michelle Rhee's StudentsFirst group trying to create "grassroots" interest in her initiatives.  Last Wednesday they held a luncheon.  The invite went like this:  Do you want get involved in the effort to improve Missouri schools? Come down to The Fig Tree Café and Bakery to share some good food with other Missourians who care about education. Find out more about how we can keep great Missouri teachers in the classroom and increase the number of quality public schools in our state.  Fired Up! says this: The funny part? No one showed up.  Not one grassroots activist came.  ...

So the on-going battle for the education soul of the Democratic party in Washington State goes on. Over at Publicola , WEA President Mary Lindquist shot back at heavy Dem donor Nick Hanauer over his e-mail to her. (She is right on one point; he made it sound like every single change put forth in the Legislature has been blocked by the WEA. That's just not true.) What puzzles me is who gave the e-mail to Publicola? At the end of the e-mail, Hanauer says " share this with the gang ." But you'd think he might not have wanted it shared publicly or, just maybe, he did . Maybe he wanted to test the waters of public opinion. The problem is that he wants to make this about the WEA versus ed reformers and that's sure leaves out a lot of other interested parties. The Times then writes an article that puts this all on display. What's interesting is they have Hanaeur, as well as some other wealthy donors, along with Lisa MacFarlane (holding down the DFER fort all b...

Lisa Macfarlane, who helped co-found LEV, has moved on and is now the head of Democrats for Education Reform (DFER) with this modest-sounding goal: "..a political organization focused on encouraging a more productive conversation within the Democratic Party on the need to fundamentally reform public education.  DFER operates at all levels of government to educate elected officials and support reform-minded candidates for public office." Basically, a PAC for ed reform.   (One thing that strikes me is all these ed reformer love a new org; I'm thinking it makes it look - to elected officials - like "hey, look at all these groups for ed reform" when it is generally the same 25 people.) There is a national DFER and it's supported by the infamous Koch brothers as well as Steve Klinsky, a former hedge fund manager and founder of the for-profit charter company, Victory Schools, Inc.   He gave the max he could to DFER but it was the only Democratic group he su...

Last month, noted educator, Diane Ravitch, had an op-ed in the NY Times called Waiting for a School Miracle .  In it she reviews how NCLB, adopted 10 years ago by Congress, mandated that all students must be passing math or reading by 2014 or their schools would be deemed failing.   It is now mid-year 2011 and the stats don't look good.

So this thread is a bit of mind-wandering on my part but maybe you can tease out something to comment on.  It came from a couple of places.  One was this that a friend wrote on his Facebook page: "Remember when teachers, public employees, Planned Parenthood, NPR and PBS crashed the stock market, wiped out half of our 401Ks, took trillions in TARP money, spilled oil in the Gulf of Mexico, gave themselves billions in bonuses, and paid no taxes? Yeah, me neither."

Thanks to a reader for a tip-off to this well-written and hilarious piece by Gene Lyons of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette which came via Salon.  I needed a laugh and this delivered.  It is entitled Michelle Rhee; Education Reform Huckster .

From Crain's , Cathleen Black, the newly installed Chancellor of Schools in NYC, has resigned.    No big surprise because: Ms. Black ascended to the city's top education post last fall amid heavy criticism that she was not a suitable choice. She had no professional background in education and no direct experience with the city's public school system, having sent her children to boarding school in Connecticut.  Critics said her only qualification was that she traveled in the same high-powered Manhattan circuit as Mr. Bloomberg. It was only after the Bloomberg administration struck a deal with the state Board of Regents that Ms. Black was granted a waiver (for not having the required education experience) that she was allowed to become chancellor.  In that deal, a largely unknown former principal and education administrator was appointed to the newly created post of chief academic officer. It was hoped that Shael Polakow-Suransky would silence c...

Update: It's not just Obama but also Patty Murray wants your education thoughts especially around No Child Left Behind. From the White House blog , Melody Barnes, one of the President's senior advisors on education policy, is soliciting opinions from parents, teachers and students on what works and what needs to change. From the blog: You can add your voice to the conversation by answering one or all of the following questions at WhiteHouse.gov/Advise : Parents: Responsibility for our children’s education and future begins in our homes and communities. What are some of the most effective ways you're taking responsibility at a personal and local level for your child’s education? Teachers: President Obama has set a goal of having the highest proportion of college graduates in the world by 2020. How are you preparing your students for college and career? What’s working and what challenges do you face? Students: In order to compete for the jobs of the 21s...

A good article at Crosscut by Anthony B. Robinson about the role poverty plays in education and is it being considered by ed reformers. To whit: Schools do a very good job with many kids who come prepared to learn. Does the big money behind education reform focus on schools' problems to the point of ignoring the societal issues of poverty that lie behind many of the challenges for schools? He references an article that many of you have recommended and I add my voice to that chorus because it clearly lays out the issues around philanthropy and its power to sway the course public education takes. It is from the on-line magazine, Dissent, by Joanne Barkin called, " Got Dough? How Billionaires Rule our Schools. " It should be required reading for every elected official who cares and/or has a role in public education. From the Crosscut article: One thing a good education teaches is to be skeptical of simple answers. Laying all blame for student failure (or credit f...

Update: So what did the President say about education? I was really pleased with how he started. He started with parents and what happens at home like telling kids to turn off the tv/computer and do their homework. Because, yes, it starts at home. He moved onto teachers but wasn't too hard on them. He talked about the need to support teachers (big standing ovation) and exit poor performers. For a split second, I thought he was going to talk about TFA but no, he asked students who want to help/serve their country, to consider teaching. He talked about RTTT and how it spurred states to create innovative plans. What was really startling (but maybe I missed this somewhere) was him saying RTTT would "replace" NCLB. Last, it was interesting because he didn't directly reference the failed Dream Act but stated that students who are the children of illegal immigrants who wanted to go onto college should be encouraged as well as those legal students who get exited from...