Here is a stunning infographic that demonstrates the value of early childhood education.
It appears on Julian Vasquez Heilig’s website called “Cloaking Inequity.”
We know how busy our elected officials are. They don’t have time to read research papers. Just show them this simple yet profound illustration of the benefits of early childhood education.
From an AFT press release:
CHICAGO—Teachers and staff in the one of city’s largest charter school networks overwhelmingly have chosen the Chicago Alliance of Charter School Teachers and Staff (Chicago ACTS), an affiliate of the 1.5 million-member American Federation of Teachers and the Illinois Federation of Teachers, as their bargaining agent.
The decision involves more than 400 teachers and staff in 13 schools operated by the United Neighborhood Organization. In March, UNO and the AFT reached a neutrality agreement under which UNO agreed not to take a position on whether its teachers and staff organized. Some 87 percent of the 415 workers who voted approved Chicago ACTS as their bargaining agent.
The decision by UNO employees to join Chicago ACTS means that more than 20 percent of Chicago’s charter school teachers and staff are now unionized—the highest union density where charter school employees do not automatically have a union.
The Bush-Obama education policies have led to a destructive overemphasis on testing. The very nature of schooling is changed for the worse when higher scores become the goal of education. As we lose sight of the true purpose of education, we lose many fine educators who will not abandon their principals. Here is one whom we have lost due to misguided federal policy.
Just hours after the defeat of parent trigger legislation, some of its advocates moved key portions into another bill.
In this case, this provision was salvaged:
“A bill focused on charter schools (HB 7009) was amended Tuesday afternoon. It now requires that children in classes taught by teachers with an “unsatisfactory” or “needs improvement” ratings during the current school year could not be taught by similar teachers in the same subject next year.”
Sounds reasonable except that the state’s evaluation system is ineffective.
Never say die, especially if there is a chance at harassing public school teachers.
More of the “punish don’t support” theory.
The legislature in Louisiana is turning a cold shoulder to Governor Bobby Jindal’s plans to demoralize teachers and dismantle public education. The bills that sailed through last year, when Jindal was riding high, are in trouble now.
Only Stand for Children, once thought of as a civil rights group, insists on firing teachers faster and somehow finding great teachers to replace them .
Another one of those zany testing stories.
In California, the staff gets the kids all excited about doing well on the state tests. They ave pep rallies, pizza parties, motivational assemblies, prizes, and anything else that might encourage the students to do their best.
But here is the odd part. The tests have no stakes for the students. Their purpose is to evaluate teachers, principals, and schools. The kids have no skin in the game.
Al Shanker used to say about merit pay (I heard him say it): “Let me get this right. The kids will work harder so the teachers can get a bonus? How does that work?”
In California, the kids have it in their power to fire their teachers and close their school, should they choose to do so. Is this a crazy country or what?
Peter DeWitt writes a regular blog for Education Week. He is the principal of an elementary school in upstate New York. In this column, he says that Michelle Rhee’s organization does not put all students first. DeWitt describes the Tennessee legislator who was named “Reformer of the Year” by StudentsFirst. This legislator is known for his anti-gay proposals, as well as his efforts to increase the number of charter schools and evaluate teachers by test scores. DeWitt had a Twitter exchange with an official for StudentsFirst, who claims that the organization didn’t notice what else their honoree supported, and had they known, well, they would have done something different.
From a teacher who gave up:
After 13+ years as a successful special education teacher in Los Angeles and then Virginia, I resigned last year. I just felt like I could no longer teach one more year in the current atmosphere that the teaching profession has become. I decided to take at least a year off, but it may be permanent. I know I have helped so many students and families over the years, and the students remained the only pleasant part of being a teacher at all. The excessive paperwork and lack of funding and support from society, the administration, and the government got worse and worse with every year, and the major down-slide began with No Child Left Behind and the increasing emphasis on test scores. The pressure for my students to pass standardized tests became unbearable even though many did pass and advance in terms of progress, but who cares about progress if it isn’t a passing score, and who cares about whether my students have disabilities, and most importantly, who cares if one test taken on one day cannot possibly assess the many successes and advances my students make yearly? Maybe I will go back to the classroom one day, but for now, I sorely need a break from the circus education has become.
AFT President Randi Weingarten called for a moratorium in the rush to impose the Common Core. Several states are considering proposals to withdraw from the Common Core. The Republican National Committee lambasted it as federal intrusion. Progressives like Stephen Krashen and Susan Ohanian object to standardization. Defenders try to paint critics as far-right extremists.
Is the Common Core too much, too soon? Did the Obama administration nd the Gates Foundation move too fast, without adequate buy-in from educators?
What happens next? Stay tuned.
From a reader:
Libbie, my daughter with Rett Syndrome, could not talk or use her hands functionally to communicate, yet she was forced to go through the state testing every year. Her IEP “accommodations” forced her teacher to work with her 1 on 1, and ask each question so Libbie could eye-gaze at her chosen answer, as an “alternative assessment”. In 5th grade, she figured how to “opt-out” on her own. She would simply close her eyes and refuse to participate. Her teacher frantically called me to somehow remedy the situation, but I only smiled with pride at my silent daughter’s wise choice. She took a nap, rather than take a test.
Libbie passed away 3 years ago, due to complication from Rett. In my grief, I have become so angry at how much time she spent in school being tested, precious moments of her already difficult life completing meaningless tasks. I hate standardization of all children, especially our beautiful ones with special needs.
Diane Ravitch's blog 