Say no to high-stakes testing!

Say no to data mining of your children ,

Say no to corporate reform!

Say no to those who want to monetize our children!

Here is a report from Bob Schaeffer of Fairtest:

Anyone who still believes that the resistance to testing misuse and overuse is confined to a few big cities and “liberal” activists, should click through this week’s news clips. In fact, testing protests are spreading across “deep red” states” such as Alaska, Tennessee, Texas and Utah. And “conservative” commentators are speaking out against standardized exam overkill.

A Strong Right-Wing Voice Joins the Chorus: Revolt Against the Tyranny of Standardized Testing
http://washingtonexaminer.com/revolt-against-the-tyrants-of-standardized-testing/article/2545914?custom_click=rss

Countering Fears About Opting Out
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/claire-wapole/the-fear-of-opting-out-isat_b_4993818.html

New School Tests Don’t Make the Grade
http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/3/25/new-school-testsdontmakethegrade.html

Alaska Legislature Advances Bill Repealing Exit Exam, Awarding Retroactive Diplomas
http://peninsulaclarion.com/news/2014-03-20-0

Chicago Parents Irate About School Officials Questioning Children About Test Boycott
http://www.suntimes.com/news/26334435-418/parents-livid-over-cps-investigators-questioning-kids-over-isat-boycott.html

Opt-Out Movement Gains Momentum…

Conservatives—studies show they are better organized than liberals—are great at spreading cherry-picked facts (better known as propaganda, lies and misinformation) to fool and confuse America, and I read an example of this recently. I wasn’t sure it was an example until I did some Google digging.

Newsmax.com (March 23, 2014) reported a Fox News Poll that claimed President Obama’s Approval Ratings Keep Sliding. “The Fox poll shows 54% of Americans disapprove of how he has done his job.” Reverse that and he enjoys a 46% approval rating.

But what happens when we compare President Obama’s approval rating with others. For instance, the Republican Party.

Examiner.com reported in January 2014 that “According to a recent Washington Post-ABC News poll, 80 percent of Americans don’t trust the Republican Party.” Wow, does that mean only 20% trust them—less than half Obama’s trust factor?

I wonder why neoconservative Rupert Murdock’s Fox News…

Rocky Killion, the superintendent of West Lafayette, Indiana, public schools and his film crew created a fabulous documentary about the greatness of teachers, of our kids and our public schools.

They traveled across the nation to interview leading policy experts, and spent lots of time in classrooms interviewing teachers and principals.

They produced “Rise Above the Mark,” which is inspiring. It is about an hour long.

You can contact the team and get a showing by going to the website www.riseabovethemark.com

The Chicago Teachers Union is getting politically active on behalf of public education and teachers. It supported candidates who oppose school closings and privatization via charters. Note the lessons: The last one is: “This ain’t Wisconsin.”

NEWS RELEASE

IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                   CONTACT:   Stephanie Gadlin

March 19, 2014                                                                                                                            312-329-6250

LESSONS LEARNED IN PRIMARY 2014

Incumbents seeking to erode retirement security in Chicago had better beware

CHICAGO – Throughout this primary season, the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) has been a strong and vocal advocate for voters on the South and West Sides of Chicago—many of whom have been most impacted by the foolishness of education deformers and pension thieves. It is time to stand up to the predatory corporate and political interests that seek to threaten the economic security of thousands of workers. Incumbents seeking to steal our retirement security, beware.

“The Chicago Teachers Union expressed people…

This just in. On Saturday, the Texas Democratic Party passed the following resolution:

WHEREAS Houston billionaire John Arnold, a hedge-fund manager and former Enron trader, is bankrolling an effort to transform all of the Dallas Independent School District into a so-called “home-rule charter district” that would not be subject to essential safeguards in state law for students, parents, teachers, and citizens of the district;

WHEREAS John Arnold is notorious for funding a nationwide attack on public employees’ pension funds, including state pension funds for school employees, and for funding various efforts to privatize the operation of public schools, including substantial financing of organizations that promote private-school vouchers;

WHEREAS the “home-rule charter district” idea that Arnold wants to impose on Dallas ISD is the brainchild of former Republican state Rep. Kent Grusendorf of Arlington, who managed to insert this option into state law in 1995 as a vehicle for nullifying many…

“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”
―Sun Tzu, The Art of War

I read Diane Ravitch’s Blog daily and the names of wealthy robber barons and wolves of Sesame Street appear often, because these billionaire oligarchs are behind the push to destroy the democratically run public schools in the United States and then use that tax money to fund for-profit private schools that usually aren’t better than the public schools and are often worse. And little seems to stand in their way.

Taking advice from Sun Tzu, I wanted to understand the enemy—as I see them—and decided to do a bit of research starting…

Dale Hansen in the Detroit News explains in this blog post how Governor Rick Snyder has underfunded the public schools while claiming (falsely) to have increased funding.

By the way, the title of his article is: “Governor Rick Snyder Is Working to Destroy Public Education.”

He shows how the Governor is pushing teachers out of the pension system, contributing to its woes as there are fewer teachers to pay into it.

He shows how the Governor favors charter schools, and will continue to convert public schools into charter schools wherever and whenever possible.

More than 80% of the charters in Michigan are operated for-profit, meaning that taxpayers’ dollars are going to pay off investors and stockholders, not into the classroom where they belong.

Hansen writes:

Regardless of all of these potential problem areas, Rick Snyder and Michigan Republicans know that every school they deem failing will simply be converted…

There has long been evidence that charter schools are more segregated than the districts in which they operate, and a few scholars–like Gary Orfield at UCLA have systematically documented the segregating consequences of charters. Public officials tend to shrug off such concerns as irrelevant to the quest for higher test scores or just an unfortunate fact of life over which they are powerless.

But now there is a scholarly research review by Iris Rotberg of George Washington University. It appears in the Phi Delta Kappan with ample documentation.

Rotberg writes that the Obama administration’s Race to the Top has promoted charter schools, implicitly encouraging segregation. Despite Arne Duncan’s belief that the research is not in on the matter, Rotberg shows that the research is decisive and unambiguous.

She writes:

“The fact is we don’t have to guess about the consequences of one of the Obama Administration’s most visible policies: the…

Larry Lee, a native Alabamian who is devoted to public education, is an admirer of State Superintendent Tommy Bice. Here he explains why:

Education Matters

By Larry Lee

How many legislative hearings have I attended in my life? Too many is probably the correct answer. But I recently witnessed something in one that I’ve never seen before. A standing ovation.

It was a joint meeting of the Alabama Senate and House education ways & means committees. Dr. Tommy Bice, state superintendent of education was making his presentation.

He took the members of the legislature and the audience through a day in the life of the Alabama K-12 public school system. With a power point he put faces to numbers. For instance more than 50 percent of the state’s 740,000 students ride a bus to school. More than 7,500 buses cover nearly 500,000 miles a day with many routes beginning before…

The first annual Network for Public Education (NPE) Conference was this past weekend, on Saturday, March 1, and Sunday, March 2, 2014.

Below is a news brief on the conference:

I participated in the NPE conference as a member of three panel discussions, the topics being investigative journalism, philanthropy (as such is undermining the democratic process) and the Common Core (CCSS).

Click here for the published conference agenda.

Approximately 400 people attended, including but not limited to classroom teachers, university professors, parents, grandparents, retirees, journalists, bloggers, researchers, elected officials, students, administrators, and other advocates for the cause of public education.

I met scores of people. However, outside of my formal conference involvements, I spent most of my time enjoying the company of Jennifer Berkshire (Edushyster) and Gretchen Conley (her Edusister); Darcie Cimarusti (Mother Crusader); DC cheating whistleblower principal Adell Cothorne; Lee Barrios (Geaux Teacher