NYC Moms/Priincipal's Open Letter to Ms Obama to Help Stop Ed Madness

Red Hook Principal+Mother's Open Appeal to Ms Michelle Obama to Help End Common Core Madness

dianeravitch posted: "Jill Berardi is the parent of a child in kindergarten in New York. She is also the assistant principal of a middle school in Red Hook, New York, in the Hudson Valley. Here she appeals directly to Michelle Obama to take action to help children like her own" 

New York Parent to Mrs. Obama: Save Our Children! by dianeravitch Jill Berardi is the parent of a child in kindergarten in New York. She is also the assistant principal of a middle school in Red Hook, New York, in the Hudson Valley. Here she appeals directly to Michelle Obama to take action to help children like her own. Please feel free to share this letter on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media sites. Maybe The First Lady will read it. Mrs. Obama: Save our Children! Dear Mrs. Obama, Your husband, our president, is surrounded by policymakers who are not listening. It is high time that mothers evaluate what is best for our children! I am writing you an open letter because you receive much mail and my letter could be tossed aside by one of your aides. I am also interested in consensus and feel that this is a time when the more voices that are heard, the better our correction course may be! My son started kindergarten this year and one of the first letters home was about the Common Core Curriculum and how there would be homework every night. And so it began, it is mid-year and I have hundreds of worksheets at home. This is because I only allowed him to do what could be done in a half an hour. He started the school year at four years old and needs time to play, eat and talk with his parents. Had I allowed him to do all of the nonsensical worksheets that were stamped Engage NY from the New York State Education Department, his parents would have spent more than an hour every evening with a child, who according to good education theory should not be holding a pencil yet. Those who can afford prestigious private schools are buffered from the impact of U.S. education policy gone very wrong. For the rest of us, our children are being oppressed by developmentally inappropriate curricular materials designed by non-educators. Some of the worksheets are not understandable to me and I find myself wondering how much stress this must cause to mothers who have several children and do not have a Master Degree in Education, as I do. You see, I am writing to you as a parent, but I am also an assistant principal in a high-performing middle school. In response to this outrage, I am writing a curriculum that will address the “whole child.” Like teachers, children cannot be reduced to a numeric score! The fragmentation that some cavalier policy entrepreneurs think will help kids excel is in danger of producing stress, breakdown and the first generation of American conformists as everyone competes for the correct answers. This unfortunate situation is motivating the design of my social curriculum, which is based on brain-based theories of development related to the main principles of healthy communication, working with others, working independently, empathy and evolution of personal strengths. Personal resilience and wellbeing are the educational foundation that all children deserve so they can learn, thrive and grow. There are so many things wrong with politically driven education reform that it is difficult to figure out where to start to make sense of a high jacked domain! As a parent of a kindergarten student and an assistant principal in a high-performing middle school, I am asking you to stop the test score harvesting debacle known as RTTT. By removing the number score on teacher evaluations that is related to student performance, much of the unhealthy tension and nonsensical tests and formulas will be lifted off U.S. public schools. If you would like to meet or speak with me, I would be very happy to come and help you understand how as First Lady you can save a generation of students from the fall-out of a failed education policy. Jill Berardi dianeravitch | January 3, 2014

 Letter from CECs and Citywide Councils to Mayor-Elect de Blasio

Education Councils representing parents citywide have signed on to a letter to Mayor-elect de Blasio.  In this unprecedented show of unity, the Councils have issued a statement to de Blasio raising concerns in numerous areas, including the decision-making processes put in place by the Bloomberg administration. A copy of the letter, an Executive Summary, and Press Release are attached hereto.

The statement calls for, among other things, reform of the Panel for Education Policy, a return to a Community School District structure, serious changes to the way that decisions are made concerning the space allocations to schools and future construction and educational programming, and reversal of the contested co-locations approved by Bloomberg’s Panel for Education Policy late this year.  The statement seeks immediate review of the City’s assessment and delivery of special education services.  In addition, the statement seeks parental and community input into the selection of the next chancellor, urges the City to follow state law concerning payment of rent for charter school co-locations, seeks engagement on the Common Core, seeks a moratorium on the use of standardized testing in high-stakes decisions, and asks the mayor-elect to protect student privacy.

 

As of December 16, Community Education Councils for Districts 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 20, 21, 22, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, and 31, as well as the Citywide Council on English Language Learners, Citywide Council on Special Education, and the Citywide District 75 Council and individual signatories from the Citywide Council on High Schools and Community Education Council 23 have signed on to the letter.  Additional Community Education Councils and Citywide Councils are expected to be added througout the month of December. 

Our Schools Are Not For Sale!

Our Philly Schools Are Not For Sale!!

from Media Mobilizing Project TV Plus

Public education is under attack. Will we learn to live with a two-tier education system where money comes first, or will we come together to guarantee a quality education for every child and young person? 

Our Schools Are Not For Sale is the story of Philadelphia's teachers, parents, students, and communities who are fighting for public schools that are well-resourced, high-quality and available to all. Watch how local communities are responding to a year of unprecedented attacks, including the closing of 24 schools, layoffs of hundreds of teachers and counselors, and the elimination of school libraries, art, music, and sports programs.

This video is a message to everyone who cares about the future of public schools. Now more than ever, we need to reach out and begin conversations with neighbors, friends, coworkers, and students about how each of us can contribute to the fight for public schools. Contact Media Mobilizing Project to host a community screening today!

Our Schools Are Not For Sale from Media Mobilizing Project TV on Vimeo.

NYC Students' & Parents' Video Plea For a Pro-Education Chancellor

Here is a moving video plea to DeBlasio to do the (Human) Right Thing and appoint a pro-quality education Chancellor who is beholden to the students, parents and educators and not to the Big Education Privateers.

Needed For the Next New York City Schools Chancellor: 

An Open Process!

SOURCE: http://manhattantimesnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/MT-11-20-13-PAGES-LRS.pdf

The Making of an Education Catastrophe- Mark Naison- Notorious Phd

Mark Naison is Professor of History and African American Studies at Fordham University. He is the author of four books and over 200 articles on African American politics. During the last five years, he has begun presenting historical "raps" in Bronx schools under the nickname of "Notorious Phd" and has been the subject of stories about his use of hip hop in teaching in the The Daily News, Bronx 12 Cablevision, and Fox Business.

ALEC Behind Common Core Education Standards

 by Alisha Mims • ringoffireradio.com

September 9, 2013-- In 2010, the United States adopted the Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSSI), purportedly to streamline states’ education curricula using standards-based education reform principles. The controversial decision to implement national educational content standards has been referred to as an “uncommonly bad idea” for American education by many. Recently, educator and education advocate Morna McDermott has illuminated the initiative’s extensive corporate ties, many stemming from the American Legislative Exchange Council.

McDermott, an associate professor in the College of Education at Towson University, has mapped out CCSSI’s corporate connections in a flowchart. Her chart shows that many corporations and organizations that are members of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) have “funded and perpetuated Common Core standards throughout the states,” Truthout reports.

The CCSSI initiative is part of a broader movement for “accountability” in education, which began with educational trends of the 1970s. According to Allan Ornstein’s, “The Evolving Accountability Movement,” the idea is partially rooted in “the ideas of Leon Lessinger and Sidney Marland, who translated business concepts of accountability into the educational arena.”

Essentially, “accountability” in education means that teachers and students must meet a “standard of competency or performance,” which is measured through standardized testing. “Accountability” targets both the processes and products of education, and there continue to be numerous opponents of standardized testing and the “accountability” method of education.

Within the last decade, states were given the incentive of “Race to the Top” federal grants, if they adopted the Common Core standards. President Obama and Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, announced the competitive grants in 2009 as a motivator for states to adopt the Common Core. Standards for math and English were released in 2010.

McDermott has written about the “damaging effects” of standardized testing on education. But policy makers’ views on requiring standardized tests has not changed because they are getting “big money” from corporations who profit off of standardized testing and the standards-based education reform movement.

In her recent research, McDermott exposes a tangled web of corporate backing of the Common Core initiative. Common Core is sponsored by the National Governors Association (NGA), the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), and Achieve. Her explanation of Common Core’s corporate connections is extensive and pulls from peer-reviewed academic research. For example, McDermott explains:

The National Governors Association partners with Achieve for the Common Core. The National Governors Association also partners with the College Board. The CCSSO partners with Pearson for the Common Core (to create) the materials. The CCSSO also partners with ACT, which is funded by State Farm, which is a member of ALEC. Pearson, among other things … acquired Connections Academy, which is a member of ALEC. Connections Academy (via Mickey Revenaugh, senior vice president of state relations for Connections Academy as of 2011) was actually the co-chair of the subcommittee for education in ALEC. Pearson also acquired America’s Choice, which sponsored a program called the NCEE, which also partners with the CCSSO. The NCEE is funded by Walton. … The Walton Foundation, which is a member of ALEC and is basically associated with Walmart, directly funds the Common Core State Standards.

The Common Core connections to ALEC that McDermott has exposed are numerous, and can be fully visualized by viewing her chart, and reading the full report.

In July, the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) issued a report, “Cashing in on Kids,” which covers ALEC’s attempts to spread for-profit education nationwide. At least 139 ALEC-designed bills have been introduced across 43 states in the last 6 months alone. Programs designed to divert taxpayer money from public schools to private and religious schools have been spreading across the country for over two decades.

Alisha is a writer and researcher with Ring of Fire. Follow her on Twitter @childoftheearth.

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